Why We Ride

Gizmo rated at 🛵🛵🛵

Like a lot of other motorcyclists, I watched the Why We Ride documentary with expectation that it would explain why "I" ride. After an hour and a half of watching other people eloquently state why they ride, I realized that my reasons for loving motorcycle riding are my own....and mostly inexplicable.

The truth is that few non-motorcyclists care about why we ride. Motorcyclists are an oddity to them; mostly something else on the road they are forced to tolerate on their mundane workday commutes.

Too many motorcyclists rub the automobiling public the wrong way more often than not. It might be an obnoxiously loud exhaust, a long string of motorcycles out for a group ride or 20 Harleys lined up outside of a bar. No amount of toy runs and charity rides will ondo the damage done by clueless bikers to the image of motorcycling. Of course, there are cars, pickups and semis guilty of similar behavior but they mostly get away with it because they are not so "out there".

I state these things because trying to explain why we ride is a lost cause. The general public does not care if motorcyclists feel good when they ride. They don't care if we use less gas, take up less parking space or reduce traffic congestion. They don't care if bikers get more enjoyment from life. After all, how can riders do normal road stuff like eat junk food and Starbucks, apply makeup, scold kids in the back seat, text, watch porn, constantly chat on the phone, throw cigarettes and beer cans out the window, listen to crappy music or even crappier talk radio all while trying their best to control that ever-simmering road rage?

And so, I give Why We Ride three scooters out of five. Nice try. It was nicely filmed and presented various aspects of why some people ride motorcycles. The film also presented motorcycling in a positive manner while trying to portray us as normal folk, which we are, but, for me, it never gets to the real reasons why. Perhaps it could have been done with more riding and less talking but they chose a different tactic that mostly missed the mark.

I will watch Why We Ride only one time and I'll reserve my wintertime motorcycle fix for a truly great motorcycle movie called Wild Hogs!