One of the best ways to describe a motorcycle is freedom. ‘Thrill’ works, but it’s not as reliable or consistent as ‘freedom’. It delivers a high dose of ontological experience which is quite unrivaled.
That said, how does it really work?
This question establishes the technical aspect as well as the epistemic value of the human experience. But to avoid redundancy, I believe the technical/scientific views are well addressed. So, we will not be delving into that. What I am interested in is that which is unspeakable, and that language has not evolved well enough to describe.
The depiction of the motorcycle as the doom machine or the widow maker is as dry wood to fire; only amplifies the immediate need of the felt moment. Quite frankly, an urgent obsession strides in the shadow of the mind. So, what is so intriguing about the motorcycle that one would risk death, the company of angels or demons (if we must bring them into this) or even the risk of being flung into limbo?
It could not have hit me harder if the temptation in the garden of Eden was a motorcycle. I will prove this in the nuance of this article, so indulge me a while longer. The temptation proves ineffable.
In order to describe the motorcycle, we must look at the engine. This is its true embodiment. The human, aptly called the ‘tool making species’, has brought forth a marvel with the engine. There are also contributing revolutionary ideas that preceded the engine, like the invention of the wheel or levers. Thus, it is but an offspring of these essential concepts. What can we say but that it is a gift of the 20th century?
The introspective notion is that tools are an extension of the human device. Everything that so far civilization has brought forth is but a projection of the intrinsic aspects of the human. So, what does the engine resemble most, the brain, heart or the lungs? The entire body perhaps…? I will settle for all the above if not more. This should not be taken as a point of fact, rather, an exploration of abstract ideas; nay, mythology. Eric Neumann describes the human body as a closed Ouroboric circuit. This analysis is sincere of the engine as well.
The carburetor, the crucible where gas and air mix in certain ratios for combustion, closely resembles the digestive system which deals with the intake and assimilation of raw, unrefined energy. If I were to extend this metaphor to the cylinder head, there appears the image of the stomach which pretty much breaks down food into finer components. That which is external is imbued for energy, the carburetor finds its proper advocacy.
Division is essentially an illusion
Further on, the cylinder head where combustion takes place, goes on to reinforce a more complex image. This is where kinetic energy is converted into mechanical energy via the piston. Laws of circular motion take over from here onwards as every other part is but a circumambulation of other parts. There is hardly any linear motion. The synchrony of the crankshaft, piston, sprocket and rock arms reveal a sort of heart system.
So, to say, when looking at the composition of the engine, we invite other modes and principles that add to the poetry of connectivity; division is essentially an illusion.
Within the cylinder is a four-step process: intake, compression, expansion and exhaust. This also corresponds to the four seasons. The emergent feeling of the connection between man and machine starts to take on higher forms upon which, that which is human, is also suggested in the totality of the cosmos. Joseph Campbell analyzes this interactive simulation of being through the lens of mythology and so in turn we are confronted with the idea that not only does the engine reflect the human body, but his psychological principles as well.
Electricity is the initiating force required for combustion. The spark plug, wiring system, CDI and starter are in function to the supply of this. The electricity is generated by the starter which relies on the principle of the opposition of magnetic fields along a conductor; and like the mitochondria, it produces refined energy.
I cannot imagine the zeitgeist of the industrial revolution, information age as well as AI without electricity, and so if I were to extend the argument, Electricity, seems to be a corresponding image of the human spirit. Upon this, the mandala emerges.
The feelings and intuition brought forth are synonymous to watching the stars, a beautiful sunset or walking on the beach.
The overall feeling of an engine is that of the cosmos. The symbol here to watch out for as I had pointed earlier on, is the Ouroboros; essentially, continuity. The feelings and intuition brought forth are synonymous to watching the stars, a beautiful sunset or walking on the beach. There is an instant revival of the mind. The thrill we have on a motorcycle is the idea that we are embedded in it as much as it is embedded in us; the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis and the sage receives his enlightenment. The ego is transformed, and we are reinvigorated once more to face our fears. This is the soul of man, made visible.
For this, the engine, cannot be reduced to mere facts without the indulgence of the metaphysical or the spiritual. The motorcycle provides the nutrients to which the soul must live on. We are bound to the cycle of eternal gratitude. To live truly is thus to be continuously immersed into the rhythm of the engine. This is the first and most sincere function of beauty.
