Nice Bike!

It's really funny to see the way people react when they see me on the motorcycle. They smile and wave, and grab their children and point to me. Children will just stare at me, mesmerized when I walk by them in my gear at a gas station. Women look at me out of the corner of their eye, and giggle with their friends. I kinda feel like a super hero or something. I would say that people treat me in a way that's at least twice as positive whenever I'm out on my motorcycle.

And almost everyone says the same thing when they drum up the courage to talk to this travelling two-wheeled hero. "Nice bike!" they say. Everyone says "Nice bike." I've probably heard that phrase thirty times in three days of travelling. It's really funny, 'cause my bike isn't really that nice. It's kinda small, has lots of scrapes, burns, bangs and bruises, and electrical tape on the turn signals.

I sometimes think that when they say "nice bike" they mean to say, "You have a bike!" But that would be weird, just a statement of the obvious. Kinda like if I responded with, "You have an arm!" Really, most of the people that say this wouldn't know a "nice bike" if they were riding one. People who know about bikes say things like, "Nice day for a ride, no?" and "What's the RPM when you are on the interstate?" and "My brother has a Ninja, but it's a 500cc. Do you like the 250?"

Yet now that I think about it, it's interesting that even those guys that know about motorcycles come up and talk to me. I mean, if a guy pulls up next to me in an Acura Integra at a gas station, I don't say, "Nice car! I used to have an Integra years ago, I bet she takes those mountain turns really well, doesn't she?" I just go about my business. Yet motorcyclists have this sort of community... I may post more on that another day.

I feel like the "Nice bike!' thing is an interesting social phenomena. Something about a motorcycle inspires people to step out of their comfort zone and meet a stranger. And I guess that's kinda cool. I'm the kind of person that will say hi to strangers in almost any situation, but with the motorcycle, others seem to beat me to the punch.

I like travelling solo, but at least whenever I pull over on the motorcycle I am never without someone to talk to.

So, next time you see someone at the gas station, filling up their motorcycle, just call out, "Hey man! Nice bike!" He'll understand that you just mean, "Hey man! You have a bike!" And he'll probably appreciate the hello.