What does freedom mean to you, is it the open road in the desert at dusk or the wind in your face as you make your way through winding roads in the mountains. Whatever it is it that helps define your reasons for riding a motorcycle and making it part of your lifestyle, the only absolute is the motorcycle! Bikers come in all shapes, sizes, colors and depending on who you ask…There are no two alike.
It seems that just about everywhere you go these days motorcyclists are growing in number; maybe is the high cost of gasoline, or maybe motorcycles are the high powered tool to beat the traffic on congested streets and highways. What ever the reason it is safe to say that motorcycles and the people who ride them are here to stay and we should embrace their individual style, and unbridled spirit.
In days long since past, the motorcycle was a tool; it proudly served in our World Wars, gave the police an edge in catching speeding automobiles, and after becoming part of the lives of Word War II veterans returning home it now was the bold symbol of the American bad boy Marlon Brando in the Movie “the Wild One”. As the younger crowd accepted and embraced the motorcycle as more than a tool or convenient mode of transportation a new lifestyle of freedom and absolute individualism was born!
Hollywood played a big part in both building the reputation of the motorcycle and tearing it down; With the war effort in full swing newsreels and movies could be seen with American military men serving their county atop various models of Harley Davidson motorcycles, but with the many outlaw biker gang films produced from the 1950′s through the 1970′s, following the Hollister riot on July 4, 1947. “Harley Davidson” for the long time was synonymous with the Hells Angels and other outlaw motorcyclists.
Throughout all of the controversy one thing remained, there were those who never cared what the general public thought about motorcycles and the people who rode them, maybe in part because the desire unrestricted freedom is the driving factor in the biker lifestyle. Motorcycles and the men who love them have enjoyed a rich freedom that is almost impossible to explain to the average person, but even though considered by some to be nothing more than the outlaw symbol of yesteryear, the motorcycle has been part of world culture as early as 1885 with the first internal combustion petroleum fueled motorcycle offered by Daimler Reitwagen. It was designed and built by the German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Bad Cannstatt.
Motorcyclists use the word “freedom” to describe the feeling they get when they ride, associating it with the open road, the wind in their hair, escaping into the grandeur of the mountains and canyons.
Freedom is of course relative to another man’s freedom. Where I might consider myself free, another man claims I’m limited and bound. It’s dependent on natural conditions like stopping a ride to answer the call of Nature. There are social conditions as well; if my thoughts and opinions were influenced by the society I grew up in, am I truly making choices all my own?
Some motorcyclists like to do camping weekends, some like riding down scenic highways, others like speed, some like hair pin turns, others prefer great sweeping curves or prefer to ride in the dirt. So it is important to seek company of like-minded people. Other motorcyclists only wants to ride a bike of a particular brand like Harley Davidson motorcycles, but whatever they choose, their freedom is only reinforced as long as they continue to ride!
If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident, don’t let it steal your freedom! Call 1-800-4-BIKERS to learn how an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer can get your bike fixed, money for your medical bills and compensation for your pain and suffering.
