Dancing and Motorcycles

[Taz]

I just want to see if you guys think I'm talking sense here. I was at a do tonight where they had a disco. Well, I said to a girl there that I wouldn't be any good at that stuff, I'd just look like a right prat if I tried. I then said that the nearest I'd ever get to dancing would be riding a motorcycle. Thing is, whilst riding I sometimes feel that it's some sort of dance but on a motorcycle, what with all the eccentric moves and making your body move independent of the bike an' all. You can see it more so with the World Super Bike riders, especially with guys like Chris Walker. I remember watching him moving around on that saddle like a mad thing and it did look like some sort of weird dance! The girl didn't understand what I was meaning. She said that riding was just balance. Yes, maybe on push bikes, but motorcycles it's a different thing. What do you fellow riders think? Do you view riding a motorcycle as some sort of weird dance routine, a body language all of its own, or just merely a matter of simple balance?

[Rubberchicken]

Yes.

[Taz]

Yes what?

[Rubberchicken]

Both.

Riding is balance. Dancing is balance. Riding is dancing. If you're just sitting there you're not going fast enough.

That said, I know what you mean with the prat bit... I Don't Dance. Except on 2 wheels.

[McVicar]

Taz, with that line in chat I take it you went home alone.

[Tarka]

The link between riding a bike and dancing is stronger than you`d believe.

Done 'correctly', riding a bike should be smooth and seamless,a graceful transition from one bodily position to another ...thus resembling a dance routine.

Feck it up and come a cropper ,and you`ll resemble someone 'Body Popping'

[Taz]

Taz, with that line in chat I take it you went home alone.

Unfortunately I think she thought I was a bit of a loon. It's either talk about that or some of my more geekier hobbies, or the dodgy subject of politics with me I'm afraid, neither of which tend to go down too well. So I figured motorcycles was the best subject to stick to.

But my point still stands. In fact, after consideration even some push bike riding can be considered dancing of a sort. For example, there's those BMX riders who do all those stunts and hopping onto fences. It's a way of expressing one's self, but nowhere near on the level of riding a motorcycle 'cause of the limits of a push bike.

For another example, would you say that you all have your own riding styles? I have. I'd say that after a bit of experience all bikers develope their own style of riding, which kind of expresses who they are and how they're feeling as a person to some extent. Again, this is on a parallel with dancing, 'cause if you are proficient enough on the dance floor you can express yourself through your dancing. And as Tarka said, if you can't dance properly then you can 'cause one hell of a mess on the floor.

[Sharribee]

I agree with you Taz, if your are riding well and getting corners right taking roundabouts well it does feel really graceful. I can see why your lady friend didn't understand because she doesn't ride.


Also you make big dramatic movements in some places and just a little bum twitch to move in other places so it can me dramatic or very subtle.

There again maybe we are all just completely mad

[Taz]

I remember watching an episode of Street Hawk when I was a kid, where Jessie's out on the bike on empty streets at night with nothing to do and obviously feeling playful, so he started swaying the bike from side to side all over his lane of the highway as he was cruising along (done that myself!). I always thought that that looked liked dancing too. Then there's the bikers who do wheelies and even standing wheelies. Yes, they are stunts, but they could also be described as a sort of motorcycle dancing as well. Unlike driving cars, riding motorcycles can be made into an art form, where you become an extension of the bike, rather than simply sitting there turning a steering wheel like in a car. I feel that I have a lot more freedom to express myself whilst riding a motorcycle than I ever would whilst driving a four wheeled vehicle.

[Dee Duble Yuh]

There again maybe we are all just completely mad

Admitting the possibility yourself is the first step on the road to recovery, Mabel.