I heart I4s

I have been infaturated by motorcycles as long as I can remember. Sportbikes specifically. I can remember asking my mom to pull over on the way to church so I could check out a Yamaha yzf and check the price. Doesn’t matter that I was like 12 and didn’t have a dime to my name. I always loved to be stuck behind them in traffic and stare at that sexy rounded back wheel and listen to the rumble. I don't care what the salesmen say about me when I leave, every now and again I need to go to the dealership and put my ass on some seats.

Year’s later, I’m out of school but now I have a wife and kid and adult responsibilities. Not to mention a lack of disposable income. Over the years I’ve managed to bum rides on bikes every now and again and even gotten to ride a few on my own. This has been very sporadic but the memory lasts me until I get the chance again. Now that the weather is getting nice the bug really hits again. The sound of an inline 4 (or 3 if it’s a triumph) hitting the powerband gives me a little chubby every time.

The mere mention of all those beautiful acronyms get me so excited. CBR, YZF, GSXR, DRZ, ZX…….on and on they go.

I can honestly say that it is a good thing I never had the money or permission growing up. I was an ass like just about every young driver. I’ve been off the road a number of times and gotten a few tickets and done the highway racing thing. On two wheels with 100hp I probably wouldn’t be hear today.

Part of the reason is being able to interact with the bike. Cars have gotten so comfortable and boring. Climb up and into your cushy seat, put on the radio and cruise control and go to sleep. I love the idea of being a part of the bike not just a passenger behind the wheel. I love manual cars for that reason, it feels like I'm doing something and it keeps my mind where it should be.

Although gas is expensive a bike is still mostly a toy. When all other expenses are caught up, I have wonderful life insurance and the ability to pay for gear and consumables I hope to fiiiiiiiiiinally get onto 2 wheels. Until then I wish everyone else would just keep theirs in the garage so I don’t have to see and hear them.

I don’t want to bore you all with my pining and whining so I’ll bring in a little bit of controversy. What do you guys think about lane splitting? The ability for motorcycles to ride the dotted line between cars during traffic? There are rules of course. Such as you must not go faster than 10mph faster than traffic and you cannot exceed the speed limit.

I think it’s a great thing for a few reasons. You don’t have to worry about getting rear ended. You keep moving and in a small way help reduce traffic during congestion (one less spot in line). It’s minimal, but it also reduces emissions since you’re not sitting there idling. Lane splitting is legal in Europe and California it still hasn’t caught on with the rest of the states. It really doesn’t make any sense for a 1 person vehicle to sit in traffic for no reason other than to be “fair” to the people in cars. That 5-8 feet between them is just wasted space. What do you think?