What is the deal with motorcycles in America?
Why are so many people just flat-out against motorcycles? I’m not just talking about casual indifference, or even a well-reasoned preference for 4 wheels. But many people in America harbor an irrational fear of motorcycles that often verges on outright hatred.

It is true that many Americans have been killed and maimed in motorcycle accidents. People who experience, directly or indirectly, any type of tragedy tend to avoid opportunities to repeat the horror. But that’s not always the case, for many more folks are killed and maimed in automobile accidents, bus accidents, train accidents, airline accidents, boating accidents in this country than are injured in motorcycle accidents. Yet they continue to participate in these activities

More people die in their bathtubs each year, than die in motorcycle accidents, but there have been no calls to outlaw bathtubs. More people burn to death in their homes, than die in motorcycle accidents. More people kill other people with blunt instruments, than die in motorcycle accidents. Yet motorcycles have been virtually vilified in this country for over 50 years. And it all started after W.W.II...

So what is the deal with the motorcycle hatred? How is it that General Motors, one of the largest companies in the World, a veritable transportation colossus, maker of cars, trucks, tractors, busses, (fucking satellites, even!), not be a part of the worldwide motorcycle industry? The same question can be asked of that other giant American automaker, Ford. What are they thinking?

This stands in stark contrast to the other worldwide auto companies. Daimler/Chrysler does not make motorcycles, but the guy who founded Daimler/Benz also invented the first motorcycle, so they get an honorable mention. Bayerische Motoren Werken, a.k.a. BMW, is known around the world for their fine cars and motorcycles. And of course Honda, a recognized leader in automobile and motorcycle technology and sales, is often credited for jump-starting the modern American motorcycle industry.

The Europeans, the Japanese, and the rest of the world obviously do not share the American sentiment towards motorcycles. So what is the deal?

Ask yourself. Or let me ask you this: Do you ride? Have you ever been on a bike? Was it fun? Were you scared? Would you do it again?

I can no longer remember exactly how I fell in love with riding, maybe it was a gradual thing but it seems like I’ve always been into bikes. I mean, look at them! How can anyone fix their gaze on a parked, freshly washed motorcycle of any type and not like it? A transportation device of the highest order, nicer than the nicest bicycle, but with the same feeling of being connected with the environment. On a motorcycle, not being closed in a cockpit, you experience moving. You feel the scenery going by, rather than just watch it. You’re not on the road, you’re in the road.



Going down a shady lane on a warm, late Fall afternoon, with the setting sun peeking out between the trees, in a sporty convertible, is a dream. Doing it on a nice motorbike, with your honey snuggled up behind you holding on tight, is almost heaven. Doing it with your significant other riding next to you on his/her own bike is even better. Huh?

Because in order to share the experience, you really have to share it. You both have to ride, in order to know what it’s like to ride. Then you can make those outings on just one bike even more romantic...

You know what, though? A lot of Americans will never experience this because so many Americans have a major problem with the entire concept of rolling down the street on a motorized two-wheeler. And it’s not the bikers, or the Hells Angels or anything like that. What used to be a so-called “bad image” for motorcycling has been it’s fastest growing segment for a while amongst the rich white elite. Think of Jay Leno on one of his Harleys leading the Annual Love Ride in California and you get the picture. Even the late founder of Forbes Magazine, Malcolm Forbes, helped fuel the yuppie demand for the last remaining classic American motorcycle company (Motor Company is what Harley Davidson calls itself).

And it’s a shame, because we are missing out on a great opportunity to be proactive about the environment, without a whole lot of sacrifice. If mass transportation really worked, as a nationwide solution, that might be a great thing. But it doesn’t because most of us highly value our personal freedom to come and go as we please. Personal transportation is the hallmark of freedom in not only this country, but many others as well.

Look no further than Germany and Japan. Relatively small countries where space is at a premium. As mentioned before, they collectively produce the world’s finest cars and bikes. And their citizens regard and embrace motorcycles as the inexpensive and efficient, yet stylishly elegant personal transportation devices that they have become.

And here in America, we can build Cadillacs and Corvettes, supersonic jets and Space Shuttles, but we haven’t some much as squeaked out a decent scooter. Oh yeah, we have Harley, and a couple of very obscure dirt bike companies. But no one really capitalizing on a perfect market opportunity.

Wake up, America! Do us all a favor: go learn how to ride a small motorcycle. Use that for your little errands to the store, for your shorter commutes to work. Use less gas, foul less air, have more fun. Enjoy this world as you travel through it, not just when you get to the destination.

The auto manufacturers are promoting tiny electric cars as “green” personal transportation devices. Same thing as a regular car, only smaller, slower, with a shorter range. Motorcycles are much more practical, and almost as green. And an electric motorcycle will be even more efficient than it’s 4-wheel counterpart.

Is it clear yet? We need to start thinking, seriously, about what we have been, and continue, to do to our world. Sometimes the answer is right in front of you. Motorcycling is right for our time.


More later…
Paul