SPEED
It was Baudrillard who defined a condition called hyper-real. This is allegedly more real than real. It encapsulates all the emotion and aspiration that the human mind and body can bring to and derive from a particular experience. For want of a better description, the hyper-real is orgasmic. It is a sensation that can be encountered on a motorcycle, particularly at high speed.
The mind becomes focused, to the exclusion of all else. You are still aware of your environment, because that is part of the riding experience. But you are sharply aware of riding in that environment. Where-ever it is you are riding, the faster you go, the more your condition intensifies. Speed, in the flesh and metal, and lots of it, changes your fundamental state of existence. To attain this with any degree of purity, your auto-pilot conditioning has to be advanced. A bike in excellent running order, with an ability to out-run even your greatest effort, creates a margin of performance in which you can attain hyper-reality.
Of the ton-up, some people have said: “We’ve all done it, but there’s nothing there.” Maybe there is nothing there at the ton, because some people go looking for it at ever greater speeds - 200 mph is within the capabilities of some 21st century bikes. Some riders meet plod, some of them meet God. The speed limits imposed in most countries can lead to licence confiscation, so it’s all academic really. The ton is one of those things in life that just has to be tried at least once.
The power of bikes is still one factor that attracts enthusiasts and repels the dissenters. The consensus with Bikers is that 80 bhp - which will easily take a bike over 100 mph - is enough for the average road-going enthusiast. Straight-line speed does become tedious eventually, and most biking thrills can be achieved at lower speeds on the twisty back-roads. It is more of a challenge to corner quickly yet smoothly than to just hang on at speed. It’s the getting there that counts. Bearing in mind that record-breaking machines are only usable in a straight line, there is a speed ceiling, above which, the ride looses its over-all pleasure. Riders who ascend that ceiling are often the ones who end up in fields - or obituaries, so self regulation rules here.
In 1990s Europe, whilst arguments about speed rather than power dominated safety and legal issues, voluntary horse power capping (of 100 bhp) seemed preferable to any clumsy rulings. By March 2000, the larger bike manufacturers had decided that such a limitation was not the way to go. A restriction of the bikes capability as speed rather than horse-power was agreed, at 186 mph, with a probable fall to 155 soon after. Those who feel safe doing these phenomenal speeds felt betrayed by this. But social commenters had decried exceptional speeds as socially unacceptable, making it politically incorrect to ride quickly. Yet who among these dissenters can put their hand on their heart and swear that they never EVER ONCE drove a car at 40mph in a 30 limit zone?
It now seems that another element of choice is being removed from Biker’s lives. Even though there can be few places on the planet where such as 100-plus bhp can be used. Not even the racing circuits all allow for much over the ton. Where rapid bikes are enjoyed, by those who talk of speed in three-figure numbers, are often autostradas and the like. There are some amazing roads where high speeds can be sustained for lengthy periods. But they are still just roads, not racing circuits.
To allay some of the madness on the public highway, track days are organised at racing circuits. Clothing and bikes can often be hired, or you can use your own, as long as it meets certain safety standards. Whichever route you take, it is still rather costly for some. And there are those who prefer the realism of the road. Life in society means that riding has to be executed in a socially acceptable manner. But no-one has the right to tell anyone how fast they should drive. Unless they each own vast areas of private road, Bikers must rub along with society with minimum friction, for the sake of their survival.
Speeding bikes are not the only ones to come under criticism. The green-lanners have been derided by walkers, who regard them as a nuisance. To some extent, they are justified. However, since travel began to include transport, things like carriages as well as coffins have kept open UK rights of way, for the general good. Green lane Bikers have even been known to discover long lost rights of way, and re-open them - there are laws that state that usage is the only factor in maintaining the right of way. And even though the natural countryside is diminishing too rapidly, there are some routes that are suitable for biking. The problems arise from those who abuse rather than enjoy the natural environment with vehicles. Destroying habitat is as unpopular with some Bikers as it is with animal activists.
Many Bikers would have a bike for every mood if they could. But most roads can alter your mood. Some just beg to be taken flat out, but the majority of Bikers will only do so bearing in mind the unpredictable - that’s why many who moan about bikes haven’t been run over by one. Common sense attitudes aside, the feeling here is that the dissenters despise biking fun because it’s often noisy and in their face.
Speed is a kick - a gargantuan thrill, but if an addiction to that alone occurs, then so much is lost. Swiftness and rapidity are better words for the average ride, but are not to be mistaken as euphemisms for excessive speed. It’s not how fast you ride, but how and where you ride fast that counts.