Ride Em, Don't Hide Em

"Just look at that sustain" Nigel, Spinal Tap.
That scene always comes to mind when I am in my garage admiring one of my bikes. Its fullfilling just to look at bike. How can that be? Well, like Nigel and his guitars, I simply love motorcycles.
However, I don't want to become what Nigel was in that hilarious scene. I do not want to get to the point where my bikes are so precious that I can't take them out to ride. Granted, I do not have any classic, mint bikes. Still, If I do get a 1958 Bonneville or a mint Tiger Cub, I hope that I have the soul and the stones to hit the drag with it.
If motorcycles have spirits (we all know they do), I believe that spirit cries to be on the open rode, or on the sandy loam, or on the steamy asphalt.
The beauty of a bike can never be fullfilled in the garage. I saw a classified ad or maybe it was an article about a 1974 YZ 360 that a guy owned that had never been started! That does not impress me at all. At least not in a positive way. It is a sad story to be sure. Like a quarter horse that was never saddled or a Les Paul that never had strings put on it. It does not make the piece more precious. To me, it makes the piece pathetic in a way.
To bring the spirit of the machines to their fullest potential, we must ride our bikes. There is a dude in my neighborhood that has a sweet Interceptor. Like a real Tom Cruise replica. It oozes Top Gun. Perfect shape. The thing that makes the bike so damn cool though, is the fact that the dude RIDES IT. He goes full tilt. Jeans, black boots, pilot shades, white T-shirt, its awesome.
So go buy a pudding bowl helmet if you have an old BSA and take that beauty out for a spin. Not just today, but as many days as you can.
Nobody will ever lay on their death bed and say, "Gee, I wish I would have ridden less".