Nobody needs an excuse…

By Joe Berk

…to go for a motorcycle ride.  On the other hand, I’m always finding reasons not to go to the gym.  But I think I found a solution.  Lately, I’ve been riding the Enfield to the gym.   I’m more interested in getting on the motorcycle than I am in going to the gym, but if I ride the Enfield to the gym…well, you get the idea.

There are usually two or three other guys who ride to the gym.  Two have Harleys, another guy has a new Guzzi, and there’s even a Yamaha V-Max parked there on occasion.  I’ve spoken with a few of those guys, and like me, they’re not spring chickens.  I think they’re younger than me, but I suspect we’re all qualified for the Silver Sneakers subsidy.  We’re old and we’re all trying to stay young.  Such is the way of the world.  The motorcycles help.

We’re lucky here in California; we can ride pretty much year round.  I’m at about 1700 feet above sea level, right at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, and even in the winter months it’s usually in the high 60s or low 70s during the day.  That’s perfect riding weather.  It can get cold at night, but who rides at night?

Well, I guess I do, sometimes.  Always by myself, and if it’s a night ride, it’s always short.  There’s something about a late night ride that’s simultaneously invigorating and relaxing.   The last few nights, it’s been warm enough.   Everything seems more focused on a motorcycle at night.  I hear the engine more clearly, and I see what the Enfield’s headlight wants me to see.  I love the Enfield’s instrumentation, especially at night.  It’s a simple two cup cluster…a tach and a speedometer.  Just like my Triumphs were in the 1960s and 1970s.  I really don’t need anything more.   I rode a new motorcycle for one of the manufacturers a couple of weeks ago and the instrument cluster was way too complex.  It had a brilliant TFT display and computer game graphics, but overall it was distracting and actually took away from the riding experience.  Just a tach and speedo is all I need or want.  Even the tach is kind of silly (I never use a tach to shift).  But it looks, you know, balanced with the matching speedometer.

When I lived in Fort Worth about 50 years ago, I rode a Harley Electra Glide. All that motorcycle had for instrumentation was a speedometer and I never felt an info deficit.  Late night solo rides were my favorite rides.  Fort Worth summers were brutal (well over 100 degrees during the day and very humid).  At night it would drop into the high 90s (still with tons of humidity), but it felt way cooler.  Sometimes I’d stop for a cup of coffee at a 24-hour donut shop on Camp Bowie Boulevard.  Sometimes I’d just ride, heading west toward Weatherford and the great beyond (once you pass Weatherford, there’s pretty much nothing until you reach Midland/Odessa). One time I realized it was time to go home when I saw the sun coming up.

Back to the Enfield:  It’s a much better motorcycle than the Electra Glide ever was and it’s a hoot to ride.  Circling back to my opening line, riding to the gym makes for a good excuse to get on the bike.   Not that anyone ever needed an excuse to go for a motorcycle ride.  But it defeats the excuses I make for myself when I don’t feel like going to the gym.

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