Cool Mini Documentary About Motorcycle Builder Shinya Kimura

This is a cool little documentary, and Shinya Kimura's bikes are sweet.



Click here for Shinya Kimura's blog.
Click here for the Chabott Engineering site.

If You're Going to Embrace Discomfort, Don't Be Stupid and Die

After a couple of days to think over my recent posts*, I realized that I was urging you to embrace discomfort and adventure without an important caveat: Don't Be Stupid and Die.

Frankly, I think that "Don't Be Stupid and Die" should go without saying but, as Irondad mused upon in a recent post on his blog, sometimes we start to base our sense of self on the amount of discomfort and adventure we're willing to endure, to the point that we can get ourselves in to some very bad situations because we think our reputation somehow depends on riding across Death Valley in the midday heat in August without water.

The difference between hardcore and stupid is slight, but important. A hardcore rider is certain he/she can handle a challenging situation because he/she knows his/her limits, and the limits of his/her machine. A stupid rider, on the other hand, is simply certain he/she can handle a given situation because, hey, he/she isn't dead yet.

A hardcore rider and adventurer knows that, every now and then, it is best to simply not ride (or stop riding briefly, if conditions demand it).

So, please, keep riding boldly forth, just don't be stupid and get killed. I won't think any less of you - really, I won't - if you decide not to ride now and then because you don't like the conditions.

Just don't be a wussy all the time.

*The recent posts in question:

Comfort, Safety and Other Illusions That Are Bad For You

Thirst For Adventure

Comfort, Safety and Other Illusions That Are Bad For You

According to my halfway reliable sources, the temperature when I left the garage Thursday morning was fifty one degrees Fahrenheit. After a couple weeks of temperatures in the thirties, it felt pretty good.

As I was walking in to my office, another gentleman followed me in, and made a comment along the lines of "chilly morning for a ride." I told him that it was actually nice out, all things considered.

He said, "I'm a wuss, I can't ride in this cold weather."

I laughed politely and hurried away, worried I might catch a nasty case of total pansy.

Encountering admitted slaves to comfort freaks me out a bit. You can spot them because their reasons for not doing things can always be distilled down to "I might have to tolerate discomfort, so I'm not going to do that."

Comfort is nice, in moderation, but it shouldn't be the motivation behind every action, nor should it be an excuse for not doing things. Comfort becomes a distraction, and a trap. Looking a little harder, perhaps this need for comfort is actually a thin disguise for a desperate desire for safety. If it isn't comfortable, it might not be safe, and if it's not safe, I'm not doing it seems to be the logic behind this excuse.

Sometimes in our modern life, however, comfort actually masks a very real and very close danger. Consider, if you will, the comfort of the modern automobile. The seats hold the passengers in remarkable comfort, with modern climate control systems ensuring the perfect temperature. They're so quiet inside it becomes unsettling. Luckily, modern automobiles have excellent stereo systems to block out all that silence. Driving a modern car is, in every way, a very comfortable experience.

It's so comfortable, in fact, that it's boring. And it's so comfortable that it's easy to forget that driving is inherently dangerous. People feel safe in their cars, when they're anything but. A lot of people get killed or injured due to automobile crashes. Chances are you've known several people killed in car crashes. But it's easy to forget about all that danger in a modern car. After all, they're comfortable, and the manufacturers are happy to tell you how safe their new cars will keep you.

So we get people falling asleep, texting or talking on their cellphones and otherwise not paying any attention to the fact that they're still supposed to be controlling a ton or two of fast rolling steel.

Maybe if they were a little less comfortable, they might notice driving is anything but safe.

Safety, security, and comfort are all illusions. You can have some safety. You can have some security. You can have some comfort. Sometimes you can briefly have them all at the same time.

But if you're doing anything worthwhile, chances are these states are temporary at best. So embrace discomfort, take safety into your own hands and while you're at it, forget about security because there's no such thing.

But I'm probably just talking crazy.

BMW with a Secret Note

So, if your Dad had an old motorcycle decaying in the garage, and after he passed away you found a note from him, telling you to restore it... would you even have a choice about whether or not to do it?

Sweet video (watch in full screen in order to actually read the note).



(via Jalopnik)

Thirst for Adventure

To paraphrase Thornton Wilder, an adventure is when you'd rather be at home. By extension, an adventurer is one who would, most of the time, rather be at home.

The fact is, you aren't having an adventure until things really suck. When everything is going to plan, you're just having a pleasant experience. It's not an adventure until you start wondering if maybe, just maybe, you'd made a poor decision. If you're cold (or hot), wet, and somewhat freaked out, you're probably having an honest-to-God adventure.

This is the perfect time to embrace the experience.

Cold (or hot), wet, and somewhat freaked out is the natural state of an adventurer. Bored and comfortable is, in my always humble opinion, a sign that something has gone terribly wrong. Bored and comfortable is for cats. Real life is neither boring, nor comfortable.

But real life, and I mean real life, not the drudgery the dull little people who tell you to be realistic are talking about, requires a willingness to take responsibility for one's own existence. When life is a drag, you can be boring and comfortable and complain about it to your boring comfortable friends, or you can take charge and tumble head first into some kind of awful, exciting, uncomfortable adventure. Why not say, "to Hell with comfort"?

Being uncomfortable on a regular basis is important. Extended comfort is unnatural, and excessively dull. And besides, a dry, cozy place is most comfortable after you've been subjected to a lot of discomfort.

You can be cold (or hot), wet and somewhat freaked out, and still love every minute of it.