Top Ten Ways To Do More Ridin'

1. Commute. Keep a weather radio in your bathroom. Install an indoor/outdoor thermometer in the bedroom. Leave a cover or lock at your job’s parking place. Carry a garage door opener or parking ramp card that’s usable without dismounting. Arrange security in advance and be willing to pay for it. Once a week take a longer than necessary route to work.
2. Arrange your gear by the door or garage. Separate out your trip and camping stuff. Have your gloves and boots setup for selecting, depending on the days destination and weather conditions.
3. Get a smaller size motorcycle. Modern small bikes can do what old big ones did, easier cheaper and more fun to ride. Just like cars.
4. Ride in the rain. Go on purpose when nobody else is outdoors. Ride around for a look. If you get wet you won’t drown.
5. Ride at night. If you don’t have to get up for work the next morning there is nothing like enjoying a two am stop at a lonely all-night coffee shop, after a hundred miles of scary back roads. Full moons are best. Watch for deer and small animals.
6. Always have a way to haul stuff. Wear a Courier bag or backpack. Carry a bungee net, bungee buddy, an empty tank bag or some bungee cords. As a last resort, leave saddlebags on all the time.
7. Get a ‘beater’ motorcycle. Or make your bike into one. True beaters can be interesting and fun to ride and don’t attract vandals or thiefs. TT500’s, Ascot’s, Sabres, Interceptors, Titans, GS’s, /5’s, etc... Like blue jeans, most cycles are better when they show some wear. (Too much bike polishing leads to idolatry. Moses shatters the original 10 commandments...)
8. Have two or three different helmets at the ready. An expensive full coverage one for serious rides and an easy to use open or hinged chinbar type for everyday urban riding or use on super-hot days. Having several types of gloves, boots, jackets, etc...for different situations is also good.
9. Plan rides. One Sunday a month do an all-day local ride or an overnight. Invent some game of it. In cities, try riding only alleys or only to overlooks or only across all the bridges. What is the longest continuous street in your city? Have you ever ridden it end to end? Put a marked map or list on the tankbag or in your pocket, and carry a compass. Out on the road, go to the smallest roads, to the small places.
10. Ride very early in the morning. Dawn rides can be the best hour of your day. No traffic, clean air, good sights and sensations. A shower and breakfast after a sunrise ride are wonderful. This is best done when the days are the longest in June and July. It does not apply if your bike has open pipes, especially if you ride an H2 with chambers. Then, stay in bed.

Philosophy bonus A: Ignore what everyone else thinks. Riding is a better way to get around. Ride paranoid and keep your skills sharp.

Philosophy bonus B: Ride with somebody who’s better than you. You will pick up a handy trick or new skill just about every time you are out.