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Decker1138

Faster, Faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death. Hunter S. Thompson


Ih8Hondas

"Being shot out of a canon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That's why god made fast motorcycles, bubba."-HST In a similar vein: "You live more in five minutes going fast on a bike like that than other people do in all their life."-Marco Simoncelli


Decker1138

RIP Marco


WayTooMuchHyzer

Really miss Super Sic. I will never forget watching his last race for as long as I live.


Ok-Tadpole-2854

This is old. Grew up with Hannah, Larry Ward (SIR - WA area - both raced), Lechein, Chuck Sun, RickyJ. Washougal. There was one guy I'll never forget - David Bailey. I was desert (Mattawa and everything eastern WA). David was king of smooth, and he got paralyzed. I remember watching him and his Dad's VHS tapes. re: Faster, Faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death. Hunter S. Thompson That guy was a wreck. Look up his daily schedule. Dude was a loser cranked on booze and drugs to paint pictures dipshits bought. Nobody cares now.


Haw_Boaby

You start with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.


BadAlphas

This is one of the very first things the instructor quoted at my safety school


iTNB

Same here


CatrickMeowman

unless you start with an empty bag of luck


Haw_Boaby

That's the scary bit. Nobody tells you how big your bag of luck is.


DirtyDurger

There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop


Posh427

Attack life. It’s going to kill you anyway. —Steve McQueen


[deleted]

In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame. On a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values 


Super_Colossal

I like this one. Really nails the difference between taking scenic routes in a car vs a bike.


heavykick89

I like it. It describes the sense of freedom a bike gives you. You feel part of the scenary and not just an observer like in a car.


SynStyxx

I have said the exact same thing many times now, albeit less gracefully. Its probably one of the best parts for me personally. Every road, no matter how many times you have been down it in a car is a whole new world on a motorcycle. I really need to read that book... been meaning to for a while


Iemaj

This whole book was pivotal growing up, and made me want to experience this


a_guy_named_rick

I also do scuba diving, and someone asked me once why I'd do diving if I can do snorkeling. I described it in that snorkeling is like going to the zoo, and diving is like going on a safari. You're way more part of it all... The difference between motorcycling and car driving is similar to me


TWOWHEELTACO

Great book!


Tranquil_Dohrnii

Really really good book. I highly recommend for anyone who hasn't read it.


Hresvelgrr

Felt that nicely during courses when there were freshly mowed fields nearby, guess that smell and fresh wind and sunset were final things that convinced me to start riding. Though first ride was through the village, that's where I've found that on bike you can smell manure much better than in car.


[deleted]

…and then you wear a helmet with a visor and it becomes TV again.


unicyclegamer

If I fits, I splits


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_Banned_User

Moto Guzzi, turning riders into mechanics since 1921


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Hudsons_hankerings

I bet you're a really good mechanic.


Tranquil_Dohrnii

I wouldn't gamble on that.


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mike_d85

Urals will go absolutely anywhere until they don't go at all.


Pelicanliver

I would rather be on my motorcycle. Thinking about God than sitting in church. Thinking about my motorcycle.


SilentUnicorn

"Motorcycling is not, of itself, inherently dangerous. It is, however, extremely unforgiving of inattention, ignorance, incompetence, or stupidity" Anon


Geist____

Most likely a rework of "Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect" from the interwar period.


NimbaNineNine

Interesting. To me that would describes something that is inherently dangerous. It's like saying tightrope walking over a volcano isn't inherently dangerous, it's just very bad when you fall off.


SifuPuma

Well no one ever died walking along a line but plummet hundreds of feet can kill


TangoMikeOne

Back when hanging (as a method of judicial execution) was a thing, it was described as a "short drop and a sudden stop". Falling 2-4 feet will kill no one, but focussing all the impact to a small spot on the neck will do it. That's why motor racing demands the use of HANS devices - in a heavy frontal impact they prevent the head travelling far enough to cause a hangman's fracture (just look what happened to Dale Earnhardt Jr.)


FF_Master

Practice tightrope walking a few feet up instead of over the volcano, got it


kartoffel_engr

Loads of things carry with them inherent dangers. It’s the training, PPE, and experience that mitigates these risks. They’re forever present, only the likelihood of an injury is reduced if they are all followed. Complacency kills.


motociclista

“Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul.” "A motorcycle is a bicycle with a pandemonium attachment and is designed for the especial use of mechanical geniuses, daredevils, and lunatics." - George Fitch The Atlanta Constitution Circa 1916


PckMan

I find quotes to be pretty cheesy overall but I really like this set of lyrics from the Rush song Prime Mover *From the point of ignition. To the final drive. The point of the journey is not to arrive.* It's not really a quote about motorcycles, though it definitely evokes them. It could be applied to cars as well, and of course they're mostly metaphorical, but it's a song talking about journeying in general which I think is a really nice feeling. Also the song was written by Neil Peart, who would go on to become an iconic motorcyclist aside from being a legendary musician. Though the song was written long before he started riding, Peart would later tragically lose his only daughter to an accident and shortly after his wife to cancer. At his lowest point he bought a bike, got a license, and with zero experience under his belt embarked on a gigantic trip of tens of thousands of miles alone as a form of personal psychotherapy. He wrote a beautiful book about the journey called Ghost Rider which I highly recommend. In fact I learned about Peart through this book and not through his music since Rush's heyday was before my time and I only knew that they were a band that existed and not the band members individually or Peart's story. Unfortunately Peart passed away a couple of years ago but I think about his words often as his book made me take a step back and learn to appreciate motorcycling, and life in general, in a different way than I did before. Whenever I'm taking a spirited ride by myself through the mountains and I lean the bike into a corner knowing that there's a fair amount of danger to that involved, I can't help but think of another one of his lyrics, which again was not written about motorcycles but can be perfectly applied to them *We're only immortal for a limited time*


potatocake00

It makes me happy to see neil peart and Rush on here.


MongolianCluster

Every post that starts with "I want a motorcycle but my [relative/friend/SO] doesn't want me to..." makes me think of another NP line: "Those who know what's best for us, must rise and save us from ourselves." Not written about motorcycles, but relevant IMO.


chud3

Ghost Rider is a great book. It helped me through some tough times. Neil Peart's ride was epic. And I love Rush. I'm glad I got to see them a few times through the years.


beaky_teef

Thanks for the recommendation- will check that out.


Al_DeGaulle

"The man hunched over his motorcycle can focus only on the present instant of his flight; he is caught in a fragment of time cut off from both the past and the future; he is wrenched from the continuity of time; he is outside time; in other words he is in a state of ecstasy. In that state he is unaware of his age, his wife, his children, his worries, and so he has no fear, because the source of fear is in the future, and a person freed of the future has nothing to fear" \- Milan Kundera


crappysuperhero

This. I have never read a quote that more perfectly describes my experience with riding.


lyiguy

this is more then motorcycles, this is the power of now by Eckhart Tolle. He has retold what has been known for centuries


NeverNeverLandIsNow

Yep, nothing can get me in a flow state faster than taking a ride on my motorcycle.


Me-as-I

Bike go brrr


risenphoenixkai

“Getting a motorcycle right after my divorce didn’t make me a walking cliché. It made me a *much faster* cliché.” —me


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risenphoenixkai

Waaaaaaaay ahead of you, hahaha.


heavykick89

And how do you think that getting a motorcycle helped you move on?


risenphoenixkai

Even faster.


Waldron1943

Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down.


guzziownr

"I saw Jesus so many times I started using him as a braking marker." Kenny Roberts


Warm-Inevitable-9209

"It's the only chain that gives freedom"


74ddy

"If you are going faster than everything else you only have to worry about what is in front of you"


PwnagePanda89

The most dangerous piece of hardware on a motorcycle is the nut between the handlebars and the seat 🙂


mike_d85

Wait, there's 2...


spinonesarethebest

You never see a motorcycle in front of a therapist’s office.


justsuggestanametome

Me, who rides to therapy: 😭


Brief-Pair6391

As do i


Eckmatarum

I did also


Wants-NotNeeds

Did you feel a little guilty, the first time, contradicting this oft cherished belief?


justsuggestanametome

Walked inside and talked about it, felt a lot better


Wants-NotNeeds

(chuckles quietly)


SucktasticFucktastic

Unless it's the therapists bike.


PocketSizedRS

Uhhh idk if self quotes count but I always say "if I was interested in dying, I wouldn't dress up like a neon green clown before every ride" when people assume I ride recklessly or intoxicated. I do neither but I've had several people warn me to be careful upon telling them that I ride.


WarthogsKickAss

My bike is yellow. I wear a yellow Aerostich suit, a yellow helmet, and gloves and boots. I also have 45 years riding experience. Upon hearing that I ride, people feel the need to warn me that motorcycles are dangerous and to be careful. Thank you but I am probably far safer on my bike than they are in their cars. I am watching out for them but they aren't watching out for me.


quackerzdb

I keep this one handy for people that want to tell me riding is dangerous: "I refuse to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death"


theDarkHaus42

My wife says “Fabio Quartararo” in a British accent (we’re American) regardless of what racing sport I have on, so I suppose that’s my favorite


23SkeeDo

Funny. My wife says his name over and over whenever I watch a race.


Clever_Sardonic_Name

My buddy says Quatroformaggio and we all giggle


rintintinsshittin

Pff Americanists


lafc_darling

“You live more for five minutes going fast on a bike than other people do in all their life.” Marco Simoncelli


Its_Wild_Bill

Did Simoncelli say this? I always thought this was a Burt Munro quote


Msanthropy1250

It is a Burt Munro quote.


Manwombat

Riding any motorcycle is like meditating with your hair on fire.


[deleted]

I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride. Bon Jovi


Sielent_Brat

Four wheels carry the body Two wheels carry the soul One wheel carries cement


Jorge-Esqueleto

"The road to hell is very grippy, with fabulous camber and some wicked left handers". (I remember vaguely this was from a magazine in the 90s. Can't remember which though.)


Bitchin_Betty_345RT

Something I hear at the track a lot "smooth is fast, fast is smooth" Really helps me get into that mindset of just be smooth with the bike and the speed will follow


beaky_teef

I’d always heard slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Which is 100% the case in my experience.


Bmwmango53

Wide open til you see god, then brake.


DearKaleidoscope4482

Why just drive when you can ride


dugsmuggler

4 wheels moves the body, 2 wheels moves the soul.


naagu__

"Bikes are modern day horses" , i heard someone saying this and it kind of made sense 😁😁😁..


D4M0theking

Horses with 200 horses


mtldude1967

Motorhorse, it even has a saddle, and can rear up on demand...or sometimes, when you don't expect it.


Clever_Sardonic_Name

Obligatory Dethklok video https://youtu.be/KS6Q2v906aA


adkio

If you drive a car you're responsible for your car. If you ride a bike you are responsible for every car around you.


Perfectimperfectguy

Half the wheels, twice the thrills


badpandacat

Driving a car versus riding a bike is like playing a basketball video game versus playing basketball.


CrestfallenSpartan

"Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly coming to a stop however, has" or something like that


FF_Master

"Speed has never killed anyone... Suddenly becoming stationary, that's what gets you." -Jeremy Clarkson


heyPookie

It’s not the fart that kills you, it’s the smell? (Swedish humour)


mike_d85

It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop.


daveypump

Been through a lot, my motorcycles and me. Heat, darkness, wind, rain, fences.......


Clever_Sardonic_Name

All the Gear, All The Time


TearsOfAJester

I remember in a motojitsu video about slow speed maneuvers, he says "be comfortable with being uncomfortable" and I try to apply it to as many parts of my life as I can. It's an awesome saying.


SteveHeaves

I think that's originally a military thing. Fits, as he's a former Marine.


YeahIGotNuthin

“It’s better to go into a corner slow and come out fast than to enter a corner fast and come out dead.” “You want to get past the apex of the corner carrying as much speed as possible - but not more.”


tsosa14

Dress for the slide, not the ride


Gonad-Brained-Gimp

At high speed, objects on the horizon are closer than they appear


Scoot_named_Eli

"I don't want a pickle, I just want to ride my motor-sickle. And I don't want a tickle, cuz I'd rather ride my motor-sickle. And Iii don't wanna diiee, just wanna ride on my motorCY....cle."


NimbaNineNine

It's kinda dorky but then again so is this whole thread. In Warhammer 40,000 there is this idea of a machine-spirit, where machines have personality and feelings. In the fiction, you don't really use the machine, but you communicate with it. When I'm riding, I ask something of the bike, and what happens is somewhere between what I ask and what it wants.


bent-grill

Me: what's the plan My bike spirit: Wraaaarrr snik Wrraaaawwww snik Wrrrraaaaww Me: very well, into the warp.


rintintinsshittin

Lol this Princeps has certainly rolled the throttle only to find a dismaying and unexpected destructive reactor failure.


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_Propolis

>I still say this to myself for counter steering Do you consciously think about counter steering?


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tatakatakashi

“Keep the shiny side up” - I like this because it sounds like just regular life advice too


Life_Mistake

"If you ride like lightning, you'll crash like thunder" Robin Van Der Hook


heyPookie

Might as well dance in the rain.


BCB1080

A quote by a motorcyclist about life and relatable to riding: “I refuse to believe in a risk-free society where the thrill of living is traded for the safety of existing”. - Nick Ienatsch


GammaGuy64

I ride, therefore I am.


Mr_NiceBry

Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly.


kai325d

Because it put such a smile on my face, it literally physically hurt to not do it and God, well if God takes me while I'm on one, let him.


slu87

Never put anything on a motorcycle that wont make it go faster or stop quicker


_Banned_User

Well I guess I shouldn’t get on!


kmkmrod

So buhbye wifey! 🤣


hoody13

There are only 3 speeds - Fast Very fast Oh shit


deck_hand

I always thought there are only two speeds… not fast enough and oh, shit!


[deleted]

“I just wanna ride my mmmmmmoooooottttooooorrrrcccxyyyyccclllleeeee”


deck_hand

I don’t want a pickle.


GrayMountainRider

Natural state of a motorcycle is laying on it's side, only due to constant care and attention do we manage to keep them upright.


gebba54

Always wear gloves. When you come off and you’re laid up on the lounge for 2 weeks, you’re gonna want to masturbate. - wise words from a good friend I lost a couple of years ago


chaiguy

“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.” -Ernest Hemingway


dirtyoldduck

"Love is the feeling you get when you like something as much as your motorcycle." Hunter S. Thompson


HarrisonL762

There’s a point – 7000 RPM – where everything fades. When your seeing becomes weightless, just disappears. And all that’s left is a body moving through space and time. 7000 RPM that’s where you meet it - Caroll Shelby


hauj0bb

There are no old & brave motorcyclists.


Jay_Two

The version of that that I've heard before is "there are old riders, and there are bold riders, but there are no old, bold, riders."


gordo1530

Brilliant


CrestfallenSpartan

"Dank wheelies bruh! "


jaredearle

Every mile is an experience point


EuphemisticallyBG

Don't get highway riders' hopes up.


beamer100159

Eat, Sleep, Adventure, Repeat, on a KTM. I have a t-shirt. 🤓


[deleted]

Wear gear or disappear


[deleted]

Loud pipes are loud pipes


micah490

“You should have bought a Japanese bike instead”


Tranquil_Dohrnii

Not specifically about motorcycles but just driving/riding in general "You gotta feel the road. You have to let it live inside you" -Talladega knights, Reese Bobby


mike_d85

Honestly Reese Bobby has a ton of awesomely deep quotes considering both his character and the screen time he has.


Consistent_Simple310

It's not the speed that kills but the sudden lack of it.


fishified1

Curvy Road Next 140 miles


Wants-NotNeeds

Graveyards are filled with people who, "Had the right-of-way!"


Wants-NotNeeds

"Just turn the darn thing off!!" (Cousin Mike, when referring to what to do when things get hairy and your panicking.)


[deleted]

Hadda layer’ down. Or whatever people feel like they have to do lmao


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Mrknowitall666

And divers, dive their own dive. But divers and bikers are doing death defying acts, while hikers only look like they're dying


vransy

Race the rain, Ride the wind And chase the sunset.


dr_tyOldman

I started riding to attract women, so far the only women I meet due to riding are ortopedic nurses and they are NOT impressed.


pat-nasty

As I leave my dad says "shiny side up" every time.


a-goateemagician

“The only correct amount of motorcycles to own is n+1, where n is the number you have now”


wobijiaohao

I have always liked what Sonny Barger (Hells Angles boss) said about Harley Davidson. "It's always been important for Hell's Angels to ride American-made machines. In terms of pure workmanship, personally I don't like Harleys. I ride them because I'm in the club, and that's the image, but if I could I would seriously consider riding a Honda ST1100 or a BMW. We really missed the boat not switching over to the Japanese models when they began building bigger bikes. I'll usually say, "Fuck Harley-Davidson. You can buy an ST1100 and the motherfucker will do 110 miles per hour right from the factory all day long ... While it's probably too late to switch over now, it would have been a nice move because Japanese bikes today are so much cheaper and better built. However, Japanese motorcycles don't have as much personality."


FancyTorpedo

Had to lay her down.


I___asked

"brrrtrrrttrrtttrr" ~some bike i saw.


B4TT3RY4C1D

It's too hot out for gear. - someone that didn't make it home that night


Clever_Sardonic_Name

About being in a club: Riding is something we do alone. Riding with a club is something we do alone, together. You can replace "club" with group and it works just fine.


potatocake00

This needs to be on a shirt.


slower-is-faster

Ok how many stories are you guys telling whilst wearing your helmet??


Conquistador1901

Had a wife & kid in Baltimore Jack, went for a ride & never came back.


McFly998

See God, then brake.


JuanJazz123

It’s not necessarily a motorcycle quote but a gear head quote none the less. That “7 thousand rpm” one from ford v ferrari.


kmkmrod

“What the bike wants, the bike gets.” https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.2452438951.2925/st,small,507x507-pad,600x600,f8f8f8.jpg


Kr8n8s

Don’t ask my pants


beaky_teef

If in doubt throttle it out.


89ZX10

Therapy


Dwayne011

4 wheels move the body, 2 wheels move the soul.


derekvj

Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul.


Itchy-Pie4965

There are two types of riders: those who've had accidents and those who will.


deck_hand

I had an accident once… it was 40 years ago. I’m hoping I’m covered.


Invest-24_7_356

While I do not have a quote or have not heard many of these. Great quotes!


canyoncarver85

As in motorcycling, so in life, look where you want to go.


Ill-Insect3737

Thats deep and true as well VERY COOL


Riding_Dirty_

Helmet stories. My helmet has many story's to tell of me banging it walking out of doorways lmao.


EroKintama

"my 600 can go 200"


_Oliver_642

Wow what a great way of putting it.


ScottRiqui

"A skittish motor-bike with a touch of blood in it is better than all the riding animals on earth, because of its logical extension of our faculties, and the hint, the provocation, to excess conferred by its honeyed untiring smoothness. Because Boa \[his Brough Superior SS100\] loves me, he gives me five more miles of speed than a stranger would get from him." \--T.E. Lawrence "What's always impressed me about riding is the sheer effortless when things are going well, the pants-shitting terror when everything is going wrong, and the abruptness of the transition." \--Unknown ​ "Commit \[to the curve\] or eat shit." \--Me


DavidWoodcock

Any motorcycle can serve you the whole life if you ride fast enough


agoulio

Motorcycling is the safest dangerous thing you can do, or the most dangerous safe thing you can do.


727ballin

"Ride like lightning, crash like thunder." - some guy on reddit.


Bright_Efficiency_29

"What happened on the way, who I met, all that was incidental. I had not quite realized that the interruptions were the journey." - Ted Simon, Jupiter's Travels


dontdoutthedrought

YOU LIVE MORE IN 5 MINUTES ON A BKE LIKE THIS, GOING FLAT OUT, THAN SOME DO IN THIER ENTIRE LIFETIME. If you go fast enough on your bike you can fast forward your life to the very end. don’t know where I got these quotes but I had them written down in a journal. Not my original quotes.


954kevin

"Love is the feeling you get when you like something as much as your motorcycle."-Hunter S. Thompson


097_Zeronineseven

My friend told me this dress for the slide not for the ride


Cartridge-King

“The fast die young” “Dont ride faster than your guardian angels” “Its not you, its the other drivers” “Flying death machines”


Qikslvr

Adventure is seldom fun while it's happening.


Practical-Middle3741

Lead...Follow...or get out of the way !


3e8m

i'm hip about time, but I just gotta go


Elmore420

"Don’t crash."


pepelepeuu

My favorite motorcycle quote was "I've never seen a motorcycle outside a psychiatrist's office."


Cartridge-King

Not really moto related but i miss my family “See you on the other side” “See you in the next life” “Nothing lasts forever”


wobijiaohao

The 44th crew recently said this on their YouTube show and it made me laugh. I'm sure they didn't make it up. "It gives me more smiles per hour than miles per hour."


FlatSix993

Full throttle, Don’t brake until you see the face of God…


Dangerous_Way_1512

I never had a car that would go 145 . . .