There are many fractions within the motorcycling community. From the trailer happy weekend warriors, to the iron butt cross country Goldwing champions. Though separated specifically by bike class, demographics, and geographic features, the passion for open air, two wheel propulsion bonds us all as motorcyclists.

Personally, I identify most with the big bike adventure crowd. I ride a 2005 BMW R1200GS with over 50,000 hard earned miles. I love the adventure crowd. Not the ones who bipp down to the coffee shop on $25,000 show pieces, in their $2000 pristine looking bike suits, but the ones who enter the wild on their bikes – Exploring the less traveled road, camping, and enjoying nature and wildlife along the way.

To me the joy of riding is that it’s the best way to travel, but make no mistake, the travel is only part of the overall goal. The larger goal is ultimately to explore and seek the adventure of great new places. Simply riding isn’t enough for me. I want to see things and experience new places. A dual sport bike is, in my opinion, the best way to enhance these kinds of trips because it will create a greater level of access than a road bike or sport bike. A visit to the Grand Canyon for example is wonderful. But a visit to the Grand Canyon on your motorcycle adds more to the experience.

I find myself trying to dissect the anthropological similarities and differences within the larger motorcycle crowd. This isn’t a dissertation on the paternal shortcomings of Harley riders or the one foot in / one foot out nature of dirt bike riders, but a closer look at the spirit of our kind. Are you really a motorcyclist if you need a truck and trailer to get where you are going? If you grind out the street miles your 250cc to tear up a recreation park, more power to you. You’ve earned it.

Ultimately, the bond we all share comes down to enjoying the process of two wheel travel. The amplification of your senses that comes with piloting a motorcycle. That heightened awareness of sight, sound, smell, touch, and that unmistakable feeling of coming over a hill and absorbing the drastic temperature change. When you ride in a car, you turn on the AC and manage the climate, you turn up the music to change the sounds and alter your mood. You make an effort to remove the variables of the road. On a motorcycle you actually look for the opposite. You embrace the humidity changes, you cherish the new smells around each corner (mostly). The experience of travel is not simply enhanced. It becomes appreciated.