The Overlooked Psychological Benefits of Motorcycling and Mitigating the Risks of Riding

On May 25, 2024, a few University of California - Davis students arranged a group motorcycle ride on the long, winding roads to Lake Berryessa. Joining these students on their ride, I recount the experience. 

When motorcycling, the wind subtly brushes against your neck as you speed down the road. Occasionally, a fly splatters across your helmet’s face shield or a leaf plasters itself on your arm, just to flutter in your trail a second later. The reverberations coming from the mechanical horse’s engine keep you in tune with its every action. As you lean, each turn can be likened to the twists of a rollercoaster. When stopped on the side of the road, the sparkling water of the lake mixes with the heat emanating from the motorcycle’s tank and evokes the feeling of laying in the warm sand outside of a beach vacation home. This is the side of motorcycling that no one talks about.

Most people shun the idea of motorcycle riding because of the dangers involved, but there are many motorcyclists who ride for the pleasure and enjoyment the activity provides them. While there are safety risks posed by motorcycling, there are also numerous positive reasons for riding a motorcycle.

One positive benefit of motorcycle riding is that it boosts the rider’s sense of self-worth and self-esteem. This is because motorcycle riding can be categorized as serious leisure. Serious leisure is, as defined by sociologist Stebbins, “the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer core activity people find substantial, interesting, and fulfilling.”

According to College of Charleton professor Frash Jr., “participants in serious leisure tend to identify strongly with their chosen pursuits [and] provide the serious leisure participant with a sense of belonging or membership to a wider social group.” 

This is particularly true of motorcyclists who often find other motorcyclists to ride with. When riding, motorcyclists even tend to tag along with other motorcyclists they have never met before. By giving the motorcyclist a sense of belonging, Frash Jr. mentions that the motorcyclist’s “feelings of self-worth and self-esteem [are enhanced].”

Another benefit of motorcycling is the pleasure the motorcyclists feel by riding. According to Dr. Sebastion Will, a researcher at Würzburg Institute for Traffic Sciences, the two types of pleasure that motorcyclists feel while riding are physio-pleasure and psycho-pleasure. Patrick W. Jordan, a writer and government consultant, notes that “physio-pleasure is a result of positive sensory stimulation [and] psycho-pleasure is a result of joyful interaction with a product characterized [by] high usability.”

Psycho-pleasure is specifically notable in motorcycle riding because of the skill involved in maneuvering the motorcycle. To put it in perspective,  a few of the factors involved in turning a motorcycle are the rider’s position on the motorcycle, the motorcycle’s position in the lane, the speed of the motorcycle, and the amount the motorcycle has to lean. If any one of these factors are off, the motorcyclist can end up running wide in a turn and endangering themselves.

Because of these factors, the pleasure that a rider feels is greater when the roads are more curved. This is seen in an experiment run by the Würzburg Institute for Traffic Sciences.

"Relation between the utilized range of longitudinal acceleration and maximum absolute lean angle for different levels of subjectively rated riding pleasure" (Sebastian Will et al.).

For roads that are more curvy and winding, the motorcycle is required to lean more in order to successfully complete the turn. As seen in the diagram and according to the Würzburg Institute, a greater lean angle in the motorcycle is correlated with an increase in riding pleasure and “the perceived riding pleasure is on an absolute high level on curvy sections.” 

In the Würzburg Institute’s experiment, it was also found that stronger acceleration and braking maneuvers are also associated with an increase in pleasure for the rider. Considering the most critical factor driving psycho-pleasure is the usage of high-skill maneuvers, riders can gain psycho-pleasure regardless of the difficulty of the roads they encounter as long as the rider performs particular maneuvers.

One point that is important to note in the Würzburg Institute’s experiment is that they are unaware if the ergonomics of the rider’s clothing affects the amount of pleasure the rider experiences. The reason this is crucial is because most motorcycle riders wear protective gear in the event of an accident. Although there is no legal requirement on wearing gear in California, other than a helmet, the majority of riders still tend to err on the side of caution and wear full leather jackets.

Why wear protective gear?

While car drivers have a metal cage to protect them in the case of an accident, motorcyclists only have their clothes. Although motorcycle riders can still get seriously injured while wearing protective clothing, there is evidence that the extra protection prevents fatalities. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 2021 motorcycle crash data sheet, “in States without universal helmet laws, 55 percent of motorcyclists killed were not wearing helmets, as compared to 9 percent in States with universal helmet laws.”

If the statistics do not make people wear protective gear while riding, then other motorcycle riders definitely will. The majority of motorcycle riders actually tend to call out other riders that do not wear gear. There are many motorcyclist instagram profile pages where people take pictures of themselves near their bike only wearing dresses and hoodies. In the comments of nearly all of those motorcycle instagram posts, countless individuals tell the owner of the profile to wear gear while on the motorcycle.

Some riders tend to not wear gear because it can be particularly bulky and irritating. Nicholas Rusali, a Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering student at UC Davis who rides a motorcycle frequently, notes that full protective gear uncomfortably warms the rider. Nevertheless, Rusali takes pride in the fact that he wears gear and states, “im ATGATT.”  ATGATT, which stands for all the gear all the time, essentially means they always wear gear when riding a motorcycle. While it may seem annoying to go the extra step to wear gear, the extra protection can definitely prevent excessive injury.

Although everyone has their own views on motorcycling, the general consensus among non-riders is that riding a motorcycle is practically a death-wish. 

The negative reputation of motorcycle riding is partly because most people believe that the danger in motorcycle riding is due to factors outside the rider’s control. Jerish David, a software engineer who has been riding motorcycles for more than 20 years, shares this sentiment and states, “there are a lot of crazy drivers on the road and it just takes one of them to cause an accident.” 

While it is true that motorcycles are less visible than cars are, the fact that most accidents are out of the rider’s control is not entirely accurate. 

One way to avoid accidents is to learn how to properly handle a motorcycle. Many new riders underestimate the difficulty of proper motorcycle handling. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), “36% of motorcycle riders involved in fatal crashes in 2021 were riding without valid licenses.” Without proper training on how to handle a motorcycle, one can easily get into an accident. In fact, when not paying attention, even riders who are licensed can easily make mistakes in motorcycle maneuvering. According to the NHTSA, almost 44% of fatal motorcycle crashes only involve the motorcyclists and a fixed object. 

Another way to avoid accidents is to avoid drinking alcohol before riding a motorcycle. While it may seem obvious to some, there are a surprisingly large number of people that get into alcohol-related accidents every year. In 2021, according to the NHTSA, “motorcycle riders involved in fatal crashes had higher percentages of alcohol impairment than drivers of any other motor vehicle type (28% for motorcycles, 24% for passenger cars, 20% for light trucks, and 3% for large trucks).”

By simply learning to operate your vehicle and avoiding alcohol before driving, the odds of an accident significantly decrease. Nevertheless, even with the statistics and positive benefits, some people are unwilling to risk riding a motorcycle. Chiropractic Nanny Do states, “I have a wife and kid, it would not be fair for me to risk my life to have a bit of fun.” 

While motorcycling is not for everyone, for those who do ride, there are significant mental health benefits ranging from a better mood to increased pleasure. Even though there are health benefits, it certainly is not unreasonable to say that motorcycle riding is dangerous because there are risks, such as lack of protection and decreased visibility to car drivers, involved. However, it is also important to note that the risks can be mitigated through adequate practice and wearing the proper attire. Above all else, it is important to make good decisions and not drink before operating a vehicle.

Bibliography

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2. Frash, R. E., & Blose, J. E. (2019). Serious leisure as a predictor of travel intentions and flow in motorcycle tourism. Tourism Recreation Research, 44(4), 516–531. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2019.1626118

3. David, Jerish. Personal Interview. 2 June 2024

4. Do, Nanny. Personal Interview. 23 May 2024

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