Christine, who blogs on "Christine's Corner", is thinking about selling her Harley, feeling as if she needs to find a greater calling in life.
She mentioned to her friends about quitting her riding hobby, and then one of them responded that it's not a hobby, but a lifestyle. And this is what Christine wrote in response...
Deciding to ride or not ride doesn't change me or my values or the way I will choose to live my life. Riding is not my life...I work in an industry--as like the majority of the folks that do motorcycle--that has nothing to do with motorcycling. The folks that do work in the motorcycling industry--well, they are the lucky ones--if they are indeed doing what they love.I think Christine is correct.
Of all the riders that I personally know, not a single one of them live the "biker lifestyle". Some of them might think they do, but in fact they don't. And for the record, I don't live the lifestyle either.
A lot of people talk about the "lifestyle", but probably 1% of 1% of these people ever actually achieve the lifestyle. It's that hard to achieve.
You've heard the term, "Live to ride, ride to live". That pretty much sums up the biker lifestyle. But it's rare to find someone can who actually live up to that creed. There are some that exist, but very rare. Most of us live for other things as well, most of us have other things that depend on us, and most of us are governed by other things.
Whether its our spouses, our kids, our jobs, our businesses, or even Uncle Sam, most of us are tied down. Someone who lives the biker lifestyle doesn't get tied down. The biker lifestyle is about freedom, the freedom of the road, and being free to go whereever.
Living the biker lifestyle is like being a vagabond on two-wheels, travelling around the country, and never really staying in one place. It about making friends, and letting them go. It's about waking up one morning and not knowing where you'll be sleeping. There are some people that do this, but it's very rare.
Some people think that being a member of a 1%er club, or 3-piece patch club, means living the biker lifestyle. Wrong. That just makes you a club member. Others think that going to rallies and runs and partying with bikers means living the lifestyle. Wrong. That just makes you a partier.
The biker lifestyle is not about socializing. It's about being free. "Live to ride, ride to live": how many of us have the balls to let go of everything that chains us down, and live up to that creed?
8 comments:
Wow! In order to live the biker lifestyle I have to be a vagabond. What if I simply collect old motorcycle parts, spend the majority of you life working on, riding, traveling and turning others onto the "activity" of motorcycling all while living in one location and maintaining long term relationships. I suppose that a biker lifestyle is nothing more than subjectivity.
Anonymous, if that's what the "biker lifestyle" means to you, then so be it. This blog is just what I feel, not what is factual.
Live to Ride and Ride to Live: That really does sum it up. I gave up that life style 18 years ago when my OL at the time told me she was pregnant. Looking back now I don’t know what I was thinking. I hung up the leathers, sold my last bike when my son was 5, went to college, got a white collar job and other than the brief times I did get to spend with my son have been miserable for years now. I spent years trying to live myself and provide for my son what I thought was a normal life. If I had to measure my success at that I would have to say other than my son being alive healthy and intelligent I have nothing to show for it. At 50 years of age I am realizing that the “Biker lifestyle” is in my blood and by attempting to be someone other than who I am I have done the greatest disservice to my self and my family. I am currently on a quest to throw off the shackles of society I so willingly put on earlier in life and return to my true self and be free once again.
Being a 'biker' and living the 'biker lifestyle' is as different from one person to the next as it can be.
Anyone who thinks their personal definition is the right one is a bit deluded. At best, we can generalize. One thing we can all agree on is that, generally, people consider a biker to be someone who regularly rides and who's love of riding is a predominate identifier in their lives.
Anyone who takes the slogan, 'live to ride and ride to live' literally is in trouble. It is a slogan that nobody can literally live up to so why fool ourselves.
In our world, reality for the majority is what the majority believes it to be. If you want to know what a biker is, ask yourself what the majority believes it to be.
What defines us is what we do and how we live. If we ride and riding is the predominate identifier in our lives, chances are we will be considered by most to be living the 'biker lifestyle'.
Nobody else gets to decide alone what that definition is.
Ride on,
Biff Sacred
I never gave up riding, although my riding has morphed from long rides to commuting to work and my bikes have changed from big Harley to bigger Old Gold Wing to battered Buell Blast as my money decreased and domestic responsibility increased -- wife, kids and mortgage.
Times are tough and to make more money I teach MSF classes. I ride to work all year long and, if I have to travel for work, take the bike.
I can't say that I live that free biker lifestyle. I can say, however, that my motorcycle is a way of life.
Freedom is just a word. You have to write the definition it for yourself.
The lifestyle is more than just riding. It is about being who you are and not conforming to society because they want you to. It is also being true and honest to your family and friends no matter if it hurts. You also must learn to live today for today because you don't know if ther will be a tommorow. I could go on and on but those of you who think you live it step back and ask yourself do I love to ride,or do I live to ride. Thats a question only can answer.
I have been on 2 wheels all my life from age 14 to now. I'm 51, I lived to ride ind road to live. when I was younger road all over this country. With a tent and a sleeping straped to my sportsetr. Then I got married sold the bike raised kids want got a job as a plumber then in IT. I only went 2 years with out a bike. I'm devoriced have a cruser v-twin thumper and ride every chance i get. which is when Im not working or sleeping. My curtent OL rides to and trust me I live the life and always have. P.S. anyone who says they road with a 1%er is mostly talk.
I rode after I returned from the service in 1970. Everywhere. I went to college on the GI bill and rode all four years. Then I got married and bought a new bike, not understanding the committment of marriage and the responsiblity of being a father all that well. My bike garnered a few miles before it rusted away in storage after a few years of unuse. Recently my kids have grown, my wife has a life of her own, and I have retired after purchasing a new cruiser. She and I pounded out over 20,000 miles and disolved 6 tires the first year. Year two promises even more. Does that make me a bikerholic suffering a relapse? Not really. I've always been a biker if you can define a biker by the desire to be free. The only difference is that I am acting on it now. Again.
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