Riding a bike is a very intimate experience. A die-hard rider is not just in sync with their bike but also speaks the same language as the bike and converses with it (And yes. I am using a gender-neutral ‘their’. Why? Read here). Every rider worth their money provides personal attention to their bike. The experience is akin to tuning a guitar or, for that matter, any musical instrument. It is cathartic. No wonder many choose to customize their bike.
The experience
Again, this is a transcending experience beyond throwing around money and getting someone to do your greasy work. Customizing a bike to create the bike of your dreams is a fulfilling experience.
At this point in the article, you might have begun to wonder when I will stop faffing around and gushing over the experience of customizing a bike and start with the ways to customize. You might be slightly disappointed, but the customization part will come in articles.
This article is to focus on and relishes the experiential process purely. Also, there is no way that one article will be enough to customize your ride. A series about that will follow shortly.
So, getting back to the taste of bike customization. Whenever I start working on or even chalk out a plan (customization is no child’s play and needs immaculate planning), I am unmistakably reminded of a certain Dominic Toretto from the Fast and the Furious series.
Fast and Furious
A typical alpha-male image pops into my head. I know. That statement reeks of misogyny. But it is what it is. Also worth remembering is that the female characters from the movie series have never shied away from working their magic on the mean machines (hoping that I redeem myself with this).
After sighting that example and establishing that both genders indeed love working on paying personal attention to their pair of wheels, it won’t be a far-fetched statement to say that the whole process is very much like art.
So, go on. Paint your canvas greasy. Create your dream masterpiece. And flaunt it to the world.
