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| carlosthejack... |
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carlosthejack...
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 Posted: 16:07 - 25 Jun 2011  Post subject: Zen... |
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...but not the art of motorcycle maintenance.
I've noticed, very quickly, that riding takes on a very Zen-like experience. Anyone else feel a "one-ness" with the bike when the weather's good, the sun's shining, the roads are clear, engine and exhaust screaming and throbbing? It's almost hypnotic. I really do feel connected to the machine. It's way more involving than driving a car, that's just a cocoon to get you from A to B. The bike is like a whole body experience. I don't feel like I'm commuting, I feel energised - the noise, the feel, the smell.
Every day I'm beginning to understand a little more about why this is such a fulfilling experience.
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Responsibility. It's a difficult reality for some. I'm running the 2014 Sheffield Half Marathon on behalf of Bluebell Wood Childrens Hospice. Please sponsor me, even if it's just a quid.
DonnyBrago: "I think you may be confusing rain and napalm..." Paulington: "It's not what you ride, it's how you ride it."
Current rides: '05 VFR800 VTEC, '57 Mondeo 1.8 TDCi #58LEGEND |
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| Eddie Hitler |
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Eddie Hitler
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| TheManWithThe... |
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TheManWithThe...
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| Cheeseybeaner |
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Cheeseybeaner
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Posted: 16:59 - 25 Jun 2011  Post subject: Re: Zen... |
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| carlosthejackal wrote: | ...but not the art of motorcycle maintenance.
I've noticed, very quickly, that riding takes on a very Zen-like experience. Anyone else feel a "one-ness" with the bike when the weather's good, the sun's shining, the roads are clear, engine and exhaust screaming and throbbing? It's almost hypnotic. I really do feel connected to the machine. It's way more involving than driving a car, that's just a cocoon to get you from A to B. The bike is like a whole body experience. I don't feel like I'm commuting, I feel energised - the noise, the feel, the smell.
Every day I'm beginning to understand a little more about why this is such a fulfilling experience. |
Yes its something which only true bikers can understand and appreciate, the feeling of being at one the rider has with his mount and his environment which is completely different to the experience offered by other modes of transport.
Its intensely physical and the bike becomes like an extension of your body, not a detached mechanical device responding to detached mechanical processes like a car but something which you are interconnected with and which responds to your every bodily movement while exposing you fully to the consequences of your actions and requiring both judgement and skill to pull it off... |
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| Deckx |
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Deckx
Nearly there...
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Posted: 17:07 - 25 Jun 2011  Post subject: |
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sorry.... but am i the only one who thinks this thread is
A. GAY
B. Too American to be any value to the real world
plus, quotes like 'intensely physical and the bike becomes like an extension of your body' sounds really disturbing to me  .... |
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| Cheeseybeaner |
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Cheeseybeaner
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Posted: 17:46 - 25 Jun 2011  Post subject: |
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| Deckx wrote: | sorry.... but am i the only one who thinks this thread is
A. GAY
B. Too American to be any value to the real world
plus, quotes like 'intensely physical and the bike becomes like an extension of your body' sounds really disturbing to me .... |
Well I'm certainly neither American nor 'GAY'! Homophobe!! |
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| carlosthejack... |
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carlosthejack...
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| Posted: 17:48 - 25 Jun 2011 Post subject: |
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| Cheeseybeaner wrote: | | Deckx wrote: | sorry.... but am i the only one who thinks this thread is
A. GAY
B. Too American to be any value to the real world
plus, quotes like 'intensely physical and the bike becomes like an extension of your body' sounds really disturbing to me .... |
Well I'm certainly neither American nor 'GAY'! Homophobe!! |
Me neither. 
____________________
Responsibility. It's a difficult reality for some. I'm running the 2014 Sheffield Half Marathon on behalf of Bluebell Wood Childrens Hospice. Please sponsor me, even if it's just a quid.
DonnyBrago: "I think you may be confusing rain and napalm..." Paulington: "It's not what you ride, it's how you ride it."
Current rides: '05 VFR800 VTEC, '57 Mondeo 1.8 TDCi #58LEGEND |
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| SirEdward |
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SirEdward
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| Posted: 17:51 - 25 Jun 2011 Post subject: Re: Zen... |
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| carlosthejackal wrote: |
Every day I'm beginning to understand a little more about why this is such a fulfilling experience. |
Oooh, exploring new venues of pleasure, young padawan.  Seriously, though, motorcycling for me is about self-control, or it can be about total control to others... Say, you don't like very rough sex (women, bears & the sofa), do you?  Self-discipline also comes into play... somewhere.
I'll need to take mine out for a ride at constant 13k RPM to further contemplate on your concept of Enlightenment.
____________________
"Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.
Pardot Kynes in "Appendix I: The Ecology of Dune"" |
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| carlosthejack... |
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carlosthejack...
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| Posted: 17:56 - 25 Jun 2011 Post subject: Re: Zen... |
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| SirEdward wrote: | | carlosthejackal wrote: |
Every day I'm beginning to understand a little more about why this is such a fulfilling experience. |
Oooh, exploring new venues of pleasure, young padawan. Seriously, though, motorcycling for me is about self-control, or it can be about total control to others... Say, you don't like very rough sex (women, bears & the sofa), do you? Self-discipline also comes into play... somewhere.
I'll need to take mine out for a ride at constant 13k RPM to further contemplate on your concept of Enlightenment. |
I think you're right. Thinking on it more while doing my other Zen practice of cooking, I was considering the fact that it's about control. Understanding more completely the physics that lead to the control of the machine until it becomes an unthinking experience. That's what I meant by the "oneness". Once you're stopped thinking about what it is you're doing you're free to experience enlightenment.
Until that idiot pulls out in front of you, you kak your pants and you come tumbling back to the reality of life and it's inherent fragility.
Oh, and to address your other point, I've had sex with rough women on sofas. Is that the same? And cuddled a few hairy blokes, if that counts?
____________________
Responsibility. It's a difficult reality for some. I'm running the 2014 Sheffield Half Marathon on behalf of Bluebell Wood Childrens Hospice. Please sponsor me, even if it's just a quid.
DonnyBrago: "I think you may be confusing rain and napalm..." Paulington: "It's not what you ride, it's how you ride it."
Current rides: '05 VFR800 VTEC, '57 Mondeo 1.8 TDCi #58LEGEND |
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| SirEdward |
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SirEdward
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Posted: 18:01 - 25 Jun 2011  Post subject: Re: Zen... |
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| carlosthejackal wrote: | | SirEdward wrote: |
Oooh, exploring new venues of pleasure, young padawan. Seriously, though, motorcycling for me is about self-control, or it can be about total control to others... Say, you don't like very rough sex (women, bears & the sofa), do you? Self-discipline also comes into play... somewhere.
I'll need to take mine out for a ride at constant 13k RPM to further contemplate on your concept of Enlightenment. |
I think you're right. Thinking on it more while doing my other Zen practice of cooking, I was considering the fact that it's about control. Understanding more completely the physics that lead to the control of the machine until it becomes an unthinking experience. That's what I meant by the "oneness". Once you're stopped thinking about what it is you're doing you're free to experience enlightenment. |
If you're of rational nature, being on a single axis - two wheels also spices life with responsibility. Buying an R1 without understanding the intricate forces, which operate and are being constantly applied, canceling each other out, is nothing more than ignorance - such people, even after a minor accident abandon biking all-together... there is no Zen for them, only routine.
| Quote: | life's inherent fragility. |
Ah, but then you'll be reunited with Nature, for further recombination into beautiful organisms, that inhabit this planet.
Incidentally, I can do daily 400 miles on a sportsbike without feeling mental pain. Man, but the back! The back ache is there, and at the same time it isn't.
____________________
"Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.
Pardot Kynes in "Appendix I: The Ecology of Dune""
Last edited by SirEdward on 18:05 - 25 Jun 2011; edited 3 times in total |
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| swiftb |
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swiftb
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| Dazbo666 |
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Dazbo666
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| Posted: 18:11 - 25 Jun 2011 Post subject: |
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Yes I understand just how much more involved and fulfilling riding a bike is, compared to riding in a cage...
as refers to a cliche phrase
"Four wheels moves the body
Two wheels move the soul"
(.... or something along those lines)
____________________
1st bike (Sept'06 - May'10) : 1991 GPZ500S / Current bike (since Nov 2009) : 2003 Suzuki Bandit 600N
Word of the day : DILLIGAF |
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carlosthejack...
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| Cheeseybeaner |
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Cheeseybeaner
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| SirEdward |
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SirEdward
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| Posted: 18:15 - 25 Jun 2011 Post subject: |
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I think gay was used in the sense of it being 'uncool'. Or it could be a ploy, provoking people to reveal their sexuality, so swiftb38 can have a go via PM.
Disclosure: straight. 
____________________
"Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.
Pardot Kynes in "Appendix I: The Ecology of Dune"" |
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Cheeseybeaner
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carlosthejack...
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keggyhander
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| SirEdward |
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SirEdward
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| Posted: 19:03 - 25 Jun 2011 Post subject: Re: Zen... |
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| keggyhander wrote: | | carlosthejackal wrote: | The bike is like a whole body experience. I don't feel like I'm commuting, I feel energised - the noise, the feel, the smell. |
Fun for about a week until you realise you can't be arsed to get the bike out, you have to give yourself more time to get kitted up, the morons at rush hour are all driving with their eyes shut, you can chill out with the air con and stereo on, you can walk straight into your job dressed for work and not have hair like Ken Dodd.
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Ah, yes. EXACTLY THIS. I've felt this way, when I had to take my first big trip (not that trip): recurring thoughts of a large storage space of a car warmed my heart, as I tried to get that 40 L backpack off... But then, you have to choose: either being stuck in a routine, or live life the way you want. The way I want, you say? How do I do that? That, my friends depends solely on the person in question.
If you want to ride your bike, but can't due to practical reasons, change your life style and fuck the rest. The only way I'll switch to 4 wheels, is for me to purchase a Porsche Cayman... CONVERTIBLE. HAHAHA.  
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"Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.
Pardot Kynes in "Appendix I: The Ecology of Dune"" |
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| carlosthejack... |
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carlosthejack...
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| Posted: 19:11 - 25 Jun 2011 Post subject: Re: Zen... |
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| keggyhander wrote: | | carlosthejackal wrote: | The bike is like a whole body experience. I don't feel like I'm commuting, I feel energised - the noise, the feel, the smell. |
Fun for about a week until you realise you can't be arsed to get the bike out, you have to give yourself more time to get kitted up, the morons at rush hour are all driving with their eyes shut, you can chill out with the air con and stereo on, you can walk straight into your job dressed for work and not have hair like Ken Dodd.
I go to work on the bike once in a blue moon. |
The music is the only clincher there for me. I don't go to work at rush hour (there's a whole other topic there about how different the traffic volume is at 0655 as opposed to 0710. How CAN 15 minutes make such a mahoosive difference?), I have a large locker room/changing/ showering facility where I work and there's loads of fit freaks who live closer and run/cycle in, so that's no hardship. And I have no hair, I'm shaved down to the wood. My hair's always done.
I do need to invest in some windproof gloves though, I can't be doing with cold fingers.
I've got to get the bike out to go to work, it's likely th eonly time I'll ever get it out. When I'm off and the missus is off, I spend my time with her. She's my reason to be, the bike it just the icing...
____________________
Responsibility. It's a difficult reality for some. I'm running the 2014 Sheffield Half Marathon on behalf of Bluebell Wood Childrens Hospice. Please sponsor me, even if it's just a quid.
DonnyBrago: "I think you may be confusing rain and napalm..." Paulington: "It's not what you ride, it's how you ride it."
Current rides: '05 VFR800 VTEC, '57 Mondeo 1.8 TDCi #58LEGEND |
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| SirEdward |
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SirEdward
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| Posted: 19:13 - 25 Jun 2011 Post subject: |
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A few tidbits: being able to reach 1/4th of the speed of sound on a personal land vehicle is not something the average mind can comprehend, or experience without operating said vehicle. Now... are there any private jets, that can break the sound barrier? I need things to aspire to. 
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"Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.
Pardot Kynes in "Appendix I: The Ecology of Dune"" |
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| Teflon-Mike |
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Teflon-Mike
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| Posted: 20:47 - 25 Jun 2011 Post subject: |
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| SirEdward wrote: | A few tidbits: being able to reach 1/4th of the speed of sound on a personal land vehicle is not something the average mind can comprehend, or experience without operating said vehicle. Now... are there any private jets, that can break the sound barrier? I need things to aspire to. |
I believe not... unless you ant to buy a former Soviet Union Mig 21 from Lithuania or Georgia or other newly impoverished... sorry, 'liberated' Soviete nation..... and de-armament it.....
Ridiculousness, I believe that there are quite a lot of such vehicles in the USA..... and you can even hire them by the hour, from flight schools and clubs!
(I seem to recall that there are even a couple of 'Air-Towns' in the South West, housing estates where they have runways instead of roads, and hangers instead of garages!)
I worked on a project, umpety years ago, an anti-noise / anti-vibration system for Lear-Jets.... As I recall, they had 'ideas' for a super-Sonic exec-jet, as there were a lot of requirments in the project brief about the fatige and vibration at mach speeds.... but the 'active' anti vibration project was shelved due to cost cuts and much of the technology 'nicked' for adaptive ride suspension in cars!
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?' |
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| Adamantis |
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Adamantis
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| Posted: 21:29 - 25 Jun 2011 Post subject: |
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"Gay" as it might be, I agree entirely with the sentiment.
When I was off work with stress/work-related depression, nothing sorted my head out more than jumping on the bike and going for an all day blast (once the meds settled down, anyway)...
And I love my commute - even when I go in late and have to deal with 0830 London traffic. Just being on the bike, with the music on or off, is enough to set me up for the day! And the ride home acts as a lovely divide between the work/home environments that public transport never managed. I think it's the concentration required - stops me going over work crap on my way home.
Anyway, bikes rock.
____________________
Rides: '91 CG125 (Sold), '00 CB500S (Sold), '97 Thundercat (Sold), '99 KTM EXC 300 (SOLD), '99 RSV Mille (stolen. Thieving SCUM!!!), '94 DR350 (sold), '10 Vstrom 650 (hated it so much I gave up riding), now on the OH's CBF1000 until I can afford another Mille... |
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| keggyhander |
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keggyhander
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 14 years, 208 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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...........and requiring both judgement and skill to pull it off... 
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