How can a person not love
motorcycles?
Understanding that this editorial is appearing the pages
of Clutch and Chrome, the absolutely free online
resource for riders, I’m pretty much preaching to the
choir.
Regardless, don’t you catch yourself asking the same
question?
And it hits you at the most random of
moments. It’s not necessarily when every detail of nature
has conveniently fallen into place to give the most perfect
ride from the warming sun, to the cooling wind and best of
all, an open road. The thought can pop to mind when a
beautiful bike rides by the outdoor restaurant you’re eating
at, or passes on the highway as you suffer four wheels
instead of the preferred two.
And
then a motorcycle media event comes along that creates such
a stir it would seem every able bodied person would want to
sit in a saddle. I’m referring to the recent celebrity story
that appeared in money magazines, on entertainment news
programs as well as in the biker press.
Tom Cruise took delivery of
Ducati’s new limited edition Desmosedici RR, reportedly the
first one to make into any customers hands. Putting aside
how well the Italian manufacturer did financially in 2007,
Ducati probably couldn’t afford the immense amount of free
publicity they garnered from just one of their most famous
customers.
What I found most interesting from this
story was sources revealing Mr. Cruise had to put down a
deposit like everyone else.
Really?
If Michael Lock, head of Ducati North America had bothered
to ask I would’ve told him that to my mind, Tom’s good for
the bill when the bike’s delivered. After all, some estimate
the actor spent $1 million in 2006 on fuel alone for his
various cars, planes and other fast toys. And let’s not
forget the aftermarket sales opportunity from Mr.
Scientology, who crashed his other turbo-charged Ducati
after skidding on a patch of oil in March of 2005 in Beverly
Hills.
Interestingly, Tom’s new ride is a far
cry from the Kawasaki Ninja he rode in Top Gun. I guess it
was good for him to give up that Navy pilot gig and hit the
private sector.
At the end of the day, even though A-List celebrities are
able to buy themselves into the limited edition run of 1500
Desmosedici RR’s while the rest of us are happy just to see one
in real life, we all have more in common than it appears.
We all love motorcycles, which makes us
more similar than we are different.
This played out last weekend while
suffering a day long ride through a Florida winter of 75
degrees under a cloudless sky when I decided to take a rest
at two separate biker bars. Although in different cities,
they certainly weren’t civilizations apart but the type of
clientele from one to the other would leave you fumbling for
a passport.
One bar had older, weathered riders who
all seemed to know each other, if not when arriving
definitely by the time they left. The other bar was friendly
enough but patrons seemed to keep to their groups, clicks
and clubs. One, long hair and worn leathers populated by a
plethora of pins. The other, short hair, coordinated
apparel, riding custom bikes.
Both bars were great places to stop,
rest the butt, grab a beverage and talk motorcycles, life
and whatever comes up in between.
And
as I sat at the different bars, watching the crowds it
struck me. Regardless of what they rode or what patch they
wore, everyone watched the bikes as they came in and most
walked the line of parked motorcycles, studying and
devouring every detail of the different rides. Riders went
from bike to bike, old and young eyes alike danced around
the frames seemingly taking in every little detail,
alteration and modification.
Because we all love motorcycles.
All of the staff around the Clutch and
Chrome offices surf the internet reading various motorcycle
forum boards, blogs and generally anything concerning
two-wheels. We are all amazed by the subject matter, number
of posts and passion countless bikers write, trade and
practically fired at each other in cyberspace.
Why should total strangers meet at this
imaginary place which only exists through a series of bits
and bytes on some hard drive, somewhere in the world to
state opinions or enthusiasm about motorcycles, latest ride
or quirky questions?
Because we all love motorcycles.
This very website, Clutch and Chrome is
created on a daily basis by a group of people who never
would have met if it wasn’t for that two wheeled treat
parked in the garage, backyards or parking lot. What makes
us hit the keyboard day after day, racking the brain for
some sign of creativity?
Because we all love motorcycles.
It’s because of this passion not only
to motorcycles, but to make this website the best damned
cyberstop on the internet that we’re bowing to your
opinions, knowledge and best of all, random thoughts.
The
first ever
survey is being conducted
where we have collectively arrived at a series of questions
to help us understand what you want to find at the end of
the cyber-rainbow when cruising the internet. Like the
biggest group ride you can imagine, we want your help to
plan the route and point out where we need to stop during
the trip.
Would it be exciting to have a Clutch
and Chrome Forum Board, or are there too many already?
What about a social network, a myspace
for bikers? We know there are a few out there, but should we
do something slightly different to make one more
interesting?
Nervously, we’re handing you a great
power.
Just kidding.
So head on over there, give your
opinion, answer what you want and we look forward to working
our way through your thoughts.
While we’re waiting, we’re going to
clean our rides one more time. Did we mention we love
motorcycles?
The Editor
Passion
or Possession?