My son is a pretty shy guy, but he’s an instant celebrity on the bike. When we ride home kids who might not otherwise acknowledge him want a wave. The bike seems to produce fame on demand!
On my way in this morning on the Concours a little girl went running down the sidewalk next to me waving and giggling insanely. That kind of thing doesn’t happen when I’m driving the mini-van. Kids’ eyes are drawn to motorbikes like they are to anything awesome.
Two hundred metres further down the road another kid riding his BMX bike gave me a serious nod and his gaze lingered. Perhaps that’s the magic of motorcycles, they are the adult evolution of what we loved to do as children. Kids can see themselves on a motorcycle because it’s the technological enhancement of a device they are already familiar and in love with. Adults in cages have no analog for children, but motorcycles are immediately familiar.
Unlike the desperately-seeking-cool types on cruisers, I’m always happy to grin back and wave.
You have to wonder how hard we work on kids to scare them out of getting around on two wheels as adults when it’s such an intrinsic love for us when we’re children. For the lucky few who find themselves back on two wheels as adults the magic can keep happening for the rest of your life.
