And as I started to explain how I had ridden one over 1000 miles in two days, I looked at his shirt. "If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand" it read. And he was right, he didn't understand. And knowing what he rode, I understood. Here is a guy, who probably never rode his bike twice in the same day, wondering was it comfortable to ride 100 miles. All at once! And that I must be nuts-yes, and that he was normal-no. Since 1974 I have been riding cafe racers. The first thing we did when we got a new bike was to put on low bars, not because it was uncomfortable, but because it was more comfortable, particularly at higher speed on the highways. Granted, the SE 675 is not my first choice to ride coast to coast, but I would not let it stand in my way of going or not. You need to sit somewhere, why not where you are comfortable?
I guess I could have really confused him more by saying my wife rode her Bonneville 1100 miles in one week, with me on my Scrambler-my 1500 miles on a bike with knobby tires, and only a small duffle bag, no cup holder or fairing. For you see, there is a mentality out there about what a touring bike is, but maybe it is more about what a touring rider is. The man makes the bike, not the other way around. That is why 20 miles and $20,000 don't make a biker.
Go to any rally, and count the number of trailers-for bikes not ridden there. That is the other end of the spectrum of the 1000-pound, accessory laden, trailer pulling two wheelers called touring bikes. Honda influenced this idea, and with some success, started this push when they named their touring model an Interstate. And my thanks to them, as these guys stay on the interstates, leaving the back roads to those of us who ride without trailers, radios, or plush animals impeding their 55mph cruise controlled pace, no matter what the speed limit. A religion with boundaries, not one I choose to live.
One of my favorite stories just happened. My friend Eddie just got back from Mozambique delivering talking Bibles. While there, he met some guys who had a motorcycle, a 200cc Chinese bike, that didn't run. Being a biker, he rides a KTM and spent the day with them tuning it up, cleaning the carbs, adjusting the chain, and showing them how to do these things so when he left., they could continue to ride. A biker who was the answer to another bikers’ prayer. By spending the day fixing their bike showed the Gospel to them in ways no sermon could. He changed lives that day, just like Jesus does. The story of the man who brought the Bibles and fixed their bike will long be told during many bench-racing sessions. A touring-rider, who just happened to be a continent and two oceans away.
Makes me think of CMA and Missionary Ventures providing motorcycles to pastors in third world countries. Never do you hear, "where is the DVD, or cruise control?" They take these small, 200cc bikes, and tour the jungle, taking the Gospel to villages on regular basis, where on foot they couldn't before. Touring-riders, not restricted by a mindset, but enjoying the true freedom of riding a motorcycle, and the True Freedom found only in Jesus Christ, and no fairing either.
Remember how good the wind in your face felt the first time you rode? Are you riding more and enjoying less? Remember the first time you asked Jesus into your life, and the freedom you felt? Are you still that free, or have religious denominational boundaries detoured you from that freedom? Do you know more of what you shouldn't do, rather than all that you can do in the spirit? Do you wake up on Sunday morning “having to go” to church, or do you want to go? If I have to explain, you probably won't understand.
Today God offers you roads to ride on, some old, some new. It is your choice on which ones to take. Trust God and take a road never taken before. Fill your tank twice in a day, and go home with memories and excitement that you never had before. You may even see a dead end that allows a return trip, although the same road is taken from a different perspective. Thanks Dick and Steve for that one-it's true. And if that road leads to a church with bikes out front, go in. Colors and all. Look for a biker and make a new friend. He might introduce you to a new friend of his named Jesus. Then you will find a freedom that only the message on a t-shirt promises to become real. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is Freedom. God said it, don't you wish you did?
Check and see which road you are on-it isn't too late to change. In Christ you can go where you never thought possible. Just ask those guys in Mozambique. Jesus Christ changed their lives that day; He just did it with the Gospel and two wheels. He rides, and tours. He even gave instructions to His disciples on how to pack-light. He might even ride a bagger, but only to haul more Bibles.
Any bike, any size, in any garage is a touring bike. But not until YOU decide it is. Only better decision is to allow Jesus into your life. A tour that isn't restricted by boundaries, but only the desire of your heart. I can't explain it, no one can… it is better than understanding.
We live, eat, breathe, think, drink, sit, tour, live, and love motorcycles. I live, love, eat, ride, tour, and breathe Jesus Christ. My life is my explanation. What's yours? Where you go with Christ is up to you.
By Mike Mohn
