I love New York City. It’s a wonderful city with more
interesting places to eat, see, and things to do than one could experience in
two lifetimes. It also has the best public transportation system I’ve ever
used. You can get from one end to the other of the sprawling 5 boroughs for
$2.25. As a result, car and motorcycle ownership is relegated to a luxury, at
least in Manhattan. I’ve been stubborn enough to keep a car in Manhattan for an
extended period, but soon grew frustrated enough to retain only the motorcycle.
The other problem is that in NYC, motorcycles can very
easily be brought down to pure utility vehicles. Lately I’ve ridden the
motorcycle more for practical reasons rather than for the pure enjoyment of
riding itself. There are a few causes of this.
Because I’m poor, I park on the street. This means my bike
gets knocked over about once a month and, as a result, I’ve got little dents
and scrapes and a broken front fender. Knowing it’ll get knocked over again in
a few weeks, I’m not inclined to fix the cosmetic issues with my bike, so it
starts falling into the ‘streetfighter/rat bike’ territory. Don’t get me wrong,
I love my little SV. It’s the perfect city bike and it has served me very well.
I’ve even upgraded the suspension and brakes, things that are unlikely to get
ruined by someone parking by feel, but I can’t justify repairing it to a point that
I’d be proud of it at a bike night.
Another problem is created by the nature of traffic in NYC.
It can certainly be fun to dice it up with the cabbies, trucks, and delivery
guys on electric bikes. I love weaving through a somewhat crowded street,
particularly on a summer night when the air is cool and the lights flashing by
add to the sensation of speed. The problem is that, while you get a great
traffic sense and grow eyes on the back of your head, you really never get a
chance to explore the limits of the bike. I might get wide open throttle for a total
of two seconds at a time, and that’s on a relatively underpowered bike. A liter
bike would never be able to use its power in the city, unless on one of the
highways.
The real problem, though, is that there is no way to do any
serious cornering. The traffic and roads are simply too unpredictable to ride
anywhere near 7/10ths, let alone higher. Swing around a corner with a knee
down, and your likely to be rewarded with a cab stopped to pick up a patron or
a slick steel plate covering a recently cut hole in the earth.
Knowing I needed to exercise myself and my bike, I planned a
trip into the country to visit Kevin in upstate NY. Kevin recently bought and
restored an old bolt-action shotgun and was itching to try it out. I was a
little late on the way up, so I took the Taconic Parkway. It’s pretty boring
until you get to the Fahnestock State park, which has some great, higher speed
corners that are fun if traffic is light. It was nice to get out on the open
road and stretch the legs of the bike, though. The SV, being naked with GSXR clip-ons,
isn’t the best highway tourer in the world, but the windblast was welcome after
spending so much time in stop and go traffic.
Kevin and I spent a few hours walking around in the woods
ostensibly hunting turkey, but in actuality we shot a great deal more tin cans
than birds. There is something very satisfying about a big, heavy, bolt-action
weapon. I have the same appreciation for old guns as I do for old machine
tools. There was a time when things were built to last forever. Cases and parts
were made out of cast iron rather than thin stamped steel. Sure they were heavy
and cumbersome, but they still work long after their original owners have
passed on. My mill and lathe are from the 1940’s and they still work incredibly
well. Somehow I don’t think the lightweight mills coming out of China now will
manage the same feat, but I digress…
After I had topped off both the SV’s and my body’s fluids,
it was time to do some more hunting, this time for corners. Rather than take
the straight shot down the Taconic, I took Rt.84 to the Western shore of the
Hudson where I picked up 9W going South. 9W, being a river road that follows
some mild mountains, tends to have great twists and turns. It also is much less
populated than the Taconic, allowing for some faster riding. Having scoured my
iPhone map for windy roads, I also spotted this little section of 202 back on
the east side of the river. Unlike similar roads in Harriman state park, there
was no traffic whatsoever on this road when I was riding on a Sunday afternoon,
and the corners were tight enough to give me a great workout. I will absolutely
be returning here soon.
Cruising back into Manhattan, I remembered why I love riding
so much. When I got off the bike and sat on the couch with a well-deserved beer,
it felt like the volume on everything else in the world was turned down three
notches. I wasn’t dreading going back to work on Monday as much as usual, and
my goals for the week seemed to be much clearer and easier to achieve.
Being a motorcycle guy in the city can be hard. Because we
can’t just lock the bike up safe and sound in a garage, we deal with more negatives
during the off-season than most riders. I know I’ve spent more time in the past
year wrenching on my bikes than riding for pure pleasure. Occasionally, I
forget why I push the damn thing across the street every other day for
alternate side of the street parking.
Mercifully, all it takes is clear weather and a good road to
bring it all back.
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