The popularity of motorcycling is really on the rise at the moment, partly due to the pandemic as folks realise that a bike is the perfect way to get around, completely socially distanced, no need to rub shoulders with the crowds on public transport and beating four wheeled traffic hands down for getting around town and swerving the traffic jams, but are there other factors too?

Is practicality the main motivator for riding a motorcycle? People who have been riding since they were knee high to a grasshopper have various opinions about this and maybe even new riders might have some thoughts once they have tested the motorcycle waters.

Motorcycles can take us from A to B in the quickest way possible, filtering through and bypassing the traffic jams for cheap petrol costs so that's a great start! Is motorcycling, for some, just a leisure pursuit – what is nicer than to go out for a country ride or on the Hogsback of a weekend just for the fun of it and the camaraderie with other like minded riders?

Perhaps we ride because we like the challenge of riding and using our honed skills in a busy multi-traffic environment? Or maybe part of the appeal is that it is a chance to play and be really free, a welcome antidote to the desk bound existence which many of us have to live these days.

There are many different reasons and connections with our bikes as there are people on the planet. For some it is just a workhorse to get us around, for others it is a status symbol or a key to a group of like minded riders on similar machines and interests. Some riders even say it is a form of meditation!

Riding puts us up against the elements, road conditions and other drivers or pedestrians, testing us to the full. Perhaps while our senses are thus fully engaged as we ride and concentrate, we can clear our mind for a while and literally focus on what’s in front of us.

It would seem that everybody's parents told them to give up motorcycling when they first started as it was seen as dangerous, but many riders just gain experience with each passing year of riding and actually get safer the longer they ride. Some hop onto a bike and get it immediately, while some have to learn the skills slowly, building them up until they have fully mastered their bike. Both have their merits and both can lead to the same result in the end, great motorcyclists!

So why do you ride your bike? And what kind of motorcyclist were you when you were learning, a natural or someone who got there with solid work?
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