37. Living with a superbiker

The post below was sent to me by a wife of an extremely obsessive superbiker....



The wife of a veteran superbiker once said to me" there is a thin line between passion and obsession". For most superbikers this is the dilemma they live, breathe and struggle with daily. But they are not the only ones to face it. Having read most of the articles on vijay's blog I found the superbike and the superbiker but an important element was missing – the family! The L Twin and V Twin engines may create the spark in a rider but it's the real flesh and blood type engines (aka superbikers family) that has to live with a petro head's madness day in and day out. The make and models may differ but they all have clear views and opinions on the subject and will not shy away from expressing it to the world. So here I am the wife of a superbiker unequivocally sharing my view on how it is and what it takes to live with a superbiker.



In short you have to be a nut! Not the mad kind (though you need a bit of madness to live with a crazy biker) but the one that holds together all the components that make a superbikers family work. Balancing family life with bike time!



We could make ourselves sound extremely important and call ourselves the skeleton or the body frame on which the rest of the parts rest or even better call ourselves the engine --the heart that pumps life into the bike and its owner but that would be like blowing our own trumpet. In truth we are happy to be the little people who live in the shadows of a superbiker. Like the pit crew of an F1 rally driver we silently support, protect, pray and share the triumphs and sorrows of a good ride vs. a bad one.



We make sacrifices everyday – from cutting our saturday night dinner short to ensure the superbiker is well rested for the morning ride the next day, to choosing our family holiday destination from places that support good bike stores, or spending the extra cash saved on a good Alpine protective riding gear vs putting it aside for a rainy day. We even help clean and polish the bike to get the perfect gleam and shine on both the bike and the biker. Yes, we do all this and ask for nothing in return. Okay, the last bit was a bit exaggerated but you get the point.



To keep peace in the house, one has to constantly negotiate and balance the two key elements required to run a happy family – time and money. Sometimes the balance is achieved by smoothly purring like an engine and at times it takes a roar like a termignoni exhaust just to be heard!



So why do we do what we do? For me personally the answer is simple. The sparkle in the eye after a exhilarating fun ride and the million dollar smile of an exhausted but happy rider (my husband) which he attributes to the rush of the ride, the bond of riding with like minded superbikers and the opportunity of letting his hair down after a tough week at work. It's like watching an excited three year old after he has finished playing with his favourite toy – tired yet content!



But like the lady Said "there is a thin line between passion and obsession" it is always good to support the passion but when the fine line is crossed well that's another story 