Journal - 5th August, 2025

I have no business wanting to jump on a two hundred kilogram pile of metal and cogs and cruise the winding roads, and yet I cannot get them out of my mind. I think I’ve caught a bad case of motorcycle fever. But what the heck am I doing dreaming about motorcycles?

The last time I rode a two-wheeled chair with an engine strapped to it was in Bali, 2016, when my friend Hannah and I rented some 125cc mopeds and cruised around the coastal streets of Amed in the north east for a couple of hours. I remember being a little apprehensive when I sat on my Honda Vario (F1 edition!), but it only took about five minutes before I felt like a natural on it. After all, it was an automatic so there’s very little to think about and I’d ridden bicycles all my life, so balancing, turning and braking was simple.

Fast forward to the first day of my motorcycle pre-learner’s course in July of this year when I sat on a (puny little) Honda CB125E and lifted the weight off the kick stand. Woah, this thing is heavy, I thought. Much more so than I remember the moped being. I suddenly had the sensation of hurling myself into the deep ocean with sharks swimming around me. My god, I have to keep this weight upright? How does that even happen? And here I am having ridden a moped already and bicycles all of my life.

We did a few engine-off manoeuvring exercises before going on our first few little straight line runs with some throttle. Eventually we started doing some very basic manoeuvres and finally stopped to have a break and talk. My hands were cramped like hell and the nerves in them were buzzing like electricity was passing through them. It took a good half hour for me to feel it disappear. A classic case of overgripping (read: holding on for dear life).

We finished the rest of the day with some basic riding exercises, like clutch control and stopping and starting and some more theory. I honestly left feeling quite daunted. This motorcycle riding thing was completely different to what I thought. I’d been driving automatics ever since I got my license. I never wanted to drive them anyway, so I just scrapped the manual driving lessons and got my auto license all of 19 years ago.

Now I had to really do this clutch thing again. The second day came around and I woke up with the idea of just going and seeing what happens. While I stalled the bike a generous number of times, I had a lot more fun, didn’t overgrip, and quickly began to feel the joy of moving, turning, fixating on the corner and having fun in simulated traffic with the other learner riders. By the end of the day I was no longer stalling at takeoff and really felt my intuition of manoeuvring on a motorcycle at speed begin to improve. It was loads of fun! I passed the pre-learner’s course and was able to get my RE-L license after a quick online multiple choice test the next day. I’d done it!

Two weeks later and I haven’t ridden a motorcycle. It’s a bit of a sad state of affairs (first world problems!), but I can’t wait until I can try this riding thing again. The biggest blocker right now isn’t money, it’s where do I put a bike?

I live in a unit building with a secure carpark, but my campervan is over 5m long and takes up essentially all of the parking space I have. There’s a few nooks and crannies around the small two story carpark complex where I could maybe stash a motorcycle, but not really.

I’ve been dreaming of taking one of these for a spin, the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450! It’s a LAMS bike, so that’s handy.

Perhaps I could rent a small motorcycle storage garage for a per-month fee until I can figure that out. I face the other issue that I can’t even ride on the road by myself without supervision (a wise choice to be honest, I’m still an absolute beginner). So those are my current hurdles. Not insurmountable, just a little inconvienient.

I made the most of my recent monday off by heading over to one of the TeamMoto stores in Virginia to take a glance at and sit on my current “dream bike”, the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 adventure bike. I know it’s just your average middle of the road motorcycle, but it’s a fair bit more intimidating, heavy and large than the Hondas we rode in the training course, so I’m letting that simmer after taking the weight off the kick stand and sitting on it for ten minutes.

It’s a LAMS approved bike and honestly would likely be plenty of bike for me for a good deal of time. BABY STEPS, Nick. There’s no rush!

So, why do I want to ride a motorcycle?

The question brings to mind a quote by Zaphod Beeblebrox of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fame. It goes a bit like this:

"Well," said Zaphod airily, "It's partly the curiosity, partly a sense of adventure, but mostly I think it's the fame and the money."

Well, we can rule out fame and money. Motorcycles are clearly wallet reducing machines. I don’t know! I suppose I’ve been watching Long Way Round and Long Way Down too many times and suddenly a few relays in my head clicked over and some new pathways in my brain started desiring things two-wheeled.

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s shows really have a great way of getting my adventure engine going, and having also stumbled upon the likes of world-motocycle-explorer Itchy Boots and numerous POV-style motorcycle riding videos on Instagram, I think I’m now positively done for. It just looks so fun, a completely different way of going from A to B.

I’m not new to adventure and have had my share of road trips, mountain backpacking adventures and camping weekends. Frankly, riding a motorcycle down a dirt road and setting up a tent in a beautiful glade under the stars feels like a new version of what I already love. I’ve also been reading the LWR/LWD books, Noraly Schoenmaker’s Free Ride and have picked up Neil Peart’s Ghostrider book as well for my next read. They’re all inspiring and very personal stories of living life.

This all feels like a very new skill and frankly, while I’m intimidated by the weight and potential danger of motorcycles, I’m also very eager and confident that I can see it through. I’ve driven for almost 20 years and have seen my share of accidents and narrowly avoided some myself. I think the key thing is to not exceed your skill level while you’re learning, especially when the consequences could be severe.

I honestly cannot wait to improve at this new skill and see that confidence grow. I love it. It’s exciting.

Until next time.