The Psychology of the Motorcyclist

As someone of a rather philosophical bent (or, if you prefer, someone who likes mulling things over whilst enjoying a cold beer), I think about the psychological implications of motorcycling and its role in the greater scheme of things a lot, or at least until the can is empty. Of course, this is a natural consequence of experiencing the effects of spending a few hours on the bike and feeling your head getting clear of most of the crap that usually swirls around in it and which obfuscates your outlook on reality. There are many activities out there that get you to this state - snowboarding has been, for me, another such one. When you're on the snow, you cannot imagine not being on the snow, and wonder what the hell you've been thinking, spending all that wasted time in the office.

 

This is perhaps one of the things which give motorcyclists such an air of smug superiority. Let's face it: we can be real snobs sometimes. The world is divided firmly between the biker and the cager, much like you'd expect a fierce mountain lion will look down on its captive brother in the zoo. (That simile already indicates the kind of thinking going on here - you'll notice that I used a mountain lion and not, say, a gibbon.)

 

What also contributes is that we are a minority, at least in the West. We also like to think of ourselves as endangered; although we certainly aren't in any danger of declining significantly in numbers, we are under constant siege by jerks in pick-ups, RVs, SUVs and massive semi trucks. We like to think we're bad-ass because we're on motorcycles. Even if you're a careful, conservative rider - come on, a part of you likes to think you're just that much more hard-core because you ride a motorcycle.

When on the motorcycle, I experience a counter-intuitive psychological effect. You'd think that anyone in such a vulnerable position would be extremely cautious and quite frightened of the consequences of, say, hitting the pavement at 100mph. And yet that's not how we (I suspect I'm not alone here) approach biking, at least not after we've gained some control over the bike. No, if anything we feel less vulnerable, because we're sure our maneuverability and speed can get us out of any situation.

Oh, and we love peacocking. Harley riders like wearing Harley jackets, superbike riders look like spacemen, and most of the helmet designs out there can hardly be called conservative.

So, we're smug and arrogant and we regularly overestimate our own abilities, and many times only survive because our bikes are actually a lot better than we are. On my motorcycle, I'm Steve McQueen, and I love it.