After recently purchasing my first motorcycle at the age of 20, it has become a major talking point between my family and friends in recent weeks. Many of my family members want to know if it’s safe, my friends want to know how I talked my parents into letting me buy one, and yet, others ask why on earth I would want to risk my life to drive a vehicle known to be notoriously “dangerous”. Being on two wheels really comes down to me following my dream and feeding a bit of my adventurous side, but let me explain myself a little better.

I have wanted a motorcycle for as long as I have yearned to drive a car. When I turned 16, I quickly learned the joys, freedoms, and adventures a car could bring me. As a young adult, this responsibility was one of the biggest I had ever been given. It was thrilling, yet intimidating, as I now had a variety of new doors of opportunity opened to me. Anything from driving to school or taking a girl on a date, had an entirely new feel to it. It was this sense of freedom that a vehicle gave me that I have cherished for the past four years of my life. Although, financially out of reach at the time, obtaining a motorcycle was always in the back of my mind when I took to the roads. This connection I feel with the freedom of an open road, made my decision to purchase a motorcycle hard to overlook. This choice made it possible for me to experience a freedom that so many others share. It was through a combination of family, good luck, and hard work that I was able to make this dream a reality.

Talking to your parents about purchasing a motorcycle is no small task, or so I thought. After four years of driving with a clean record it was my actions that spoke the loudest in my justification as to why I wanted a motorcycle. It was something that I did not really need, after all I had a perfectly good car and I live in Michigan, which meant 4, maybe 5, months of riding before the dreaded snow flew. After promising to take a safety course and purchase the proper safety equipment, they were very open to the idea of a motorcycle. It was settled as simple as that. I began purchasing my equipment and quickly enrolled in the next open motorcycle safety course.

Now, many of you who cruise around on four wheels may think that riding a motorcycle is a daring and carless action. Yes, statistically, there are more motorcycle deaths than car. After all, a simple fender bender in a car could be much more serious on a motorcycle, but that is not a fair representation of the risk. For example, almost a third of motorcycle rider deaths involve alcohol. It is no surprise, as riding a motorcycle requires all your senses to be alert and in peak condition all of the time. Rider deaths as a result of not wearing a helmet also contribute to a part of that statistic. You wouldn’t go out onto a football field without the proper gear, because you understand the risk involved in the sport. Similarly, you can’t head out onto the road in a tee shirt and a backwards baseball cap and expect to be fine if you get in a crash. With the risks of riding comes a great deal of respect for your motorcycle and the way you ride. As the words of a great automobile enthusiast David Freiburger once said, “Since Sonny Bono dies skiing into a tree, should we stop all skiing or should we cut down all the trees? No. The passions of the many outweigh the losses of a few.” So yes, there are risks but, the sense of freedom and sharing an identity with a group of people who also appreciate the experience offered through riding, brings a certain type of satisfaction that you just can’t beat.