So I always told myself I’d never get a bike as I figured, given how I’m such an adrenaline and speed junky I’d probably get myself killed. But then I moved to the big island of Hawaii. And my first thought while driving the roads here, especially the high altitude roads near the town of Waimea, was “god damn these gorgeous windy roads are perfect for a motorcycle”. And so the seed was planted.

Still I never had the money to buy one, that is until one thing led to another – my Suzi Samurai broke down, my buddy traded his fugly yellow Civic for it, then the fugly yellow Civic was stolen, and all of a sudden I had an insurance check. “Fuck it” were the words that came to mind. Suddenly I was buying a bike. The next day I was taking the permit test. And the next day I was on the road. All it took was a trip around the island with friends, including a rite of passage of crossing the saddle in rain/wind/fog and I was comfortable and feeling that pure, ecstatic exhilaration of Freedom. Pure freedom.

I love that the motto of this sub is “release yourself from the cage”. I’m a man who has always valued the feeling of freedom the highest in life; whether it was from a young age being claustrophobic and needing the windows open and fresh air flowing in house and in car no matter what the weather, only feeling truly alive when flying down a mountain on my skis or mountain bike, or just my overall deep connection the wind, open air, and open space, and deep hatred of feeling stuck, trapped, held back, it seems I was meant for this.

So I just wanted to share in my enthusiasm. I’ve loved this Rebel but I’m already selling it as I commute quite a bit and this puppy isn’t exactly the ideal above 60mph bike, so it looks like I’ll be moving up to a 750 – looking at a Shadow and a Marauder this weekend if all turns out. Glad to be a part of the clan.