Yes strictly it's outdoors, but...

[DJ-Daz]

I used to ride motorbikes, and after computers it was focus, even hyper-focus. I stopped in 2004 because my job as a HGV driver meant I needed to carry a LOT of gear for tramping (living in the wagon all week). So I needed a car.

But I'm hoping soon my path is back to riding motorbikes in and around Yorkshire.

Oddly enough, you know that inner monologue that never ever shuts up? It disappears when I ride, and it's truly the only time I ever found peace.
I did post about it on Reddit /adultautism, and I was shocked at how many other autistics love to ride motorbikes.

I started on the venerable SV650s
https://www.ridelikeaturtle.com/sport/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IMG_1605-scaled.jpg

 

[Outdated]

I was never that confident a rider and I never really took to bikes, motor bikes anyway, I rode bicycles everywhere for much of my life. I'm not sure if my lack of enjoyment in them stems from a lack of confidence, or if instead the lack of confidence came from simply not being all that interested in riding so it wasn't something I did all that often.

Practicality was always a big thing for me too. Bikes aren't a whole lot of fun in winter and aren't very practical if you need to cart anything (or anyone) around. They're not exactly gentle on your body if you have to travel any great distance either, and that's a big issue in Australia. The shortest distance between any of our big cities is between Adelaide and Melbourne - 800 Km. Also bike versus wildlife doesn't always end well.

 

[DJ-Daz]

I was nervous for around 6 months, and I did ride year round in the UK, so some horrible weather too. Once I relaxed I noticed the peace, and I even slowed down my riding and enjoyed it even more.

For a ride around Yorkshire they're fantastic, I couldn't imagine going more than 100 miles at a time, it would be backbreaking and wrist destroying.

I don't have any fear of being on the road, even on the busy roads of the UK, I have a full license, cars, bikes, HGV's, and buses. I think my hyper-vigilance (PTSD related) makes me a very observant driver.

 

[Outdated]

I was nervous for around 6 months, and I did ride year round in the UK, so some horrible weather too. Once I relaxed I noticed the peace, and I even slowed down my riding and enjoyed it even more.

Maybe that was another aspect of it for me too, because I never owned my own bike so I only rode occasionally.

I think my hyper-vigilance (PTSD related) makes me a very observant driver.

This is also true for me with driving, nearly 50 years now and I've never had an accident, there's plenty of times when I've left the road to avoid one though. There's some real dickheads on the roads.

 

[DJ-Daz]

There's some real dickheads on the roads.

LOL so true.
It's funny, it absolutely infuriates me to watch bad driving on YouTube, but I also can't stop watching it.
I do plan on riding again next year, but I do think of the safety aspect.

 

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I love the Instant Karma videos.

 

[DJ-Daz]

@Outdated I'd love to give your post a double thumbs-up. Aussie instant karma is my favourite kind, and the roar of the police cars. What are they? Certainly V probably V-8 or maybe V-12, man do they sound nice though.

Someone took Mad Max literally. Another brilliant film though, and very heavily cut in the UK for some 20 years or so.
Oh and I hate the ones where the huntsman crawls up the windscreen.
BTW I have a lot of family in Dandenong, it used to be out in the sticks, now I think it's just part of urban sprawl.

 

[Outdated]

@Outdated I'd love to give your post a double thumbs-up. Aussie instant karma is my favourite kind, and the roar of the police cars. What are they? Certainly V probably V-8 or maybe V-12, man do they sound nice though.

Mostly hotted up Beamers. A few Audis too. No australian car manufacturers left now, jap cars are too under powered and yank tanks handle like a wet sponge so now it's German cars all the way.

 

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BTW I have a lot of family in Dandenong, it used to be out in the sticks, now I think it's just part of urban sprawl.

Yep, that's pretty much all part of suburbia these days. There's still a lot of very beautiful countryside around that way though. It's a lovely part of the world to live in.

[Edit] Their climate is probably similar to southern England.

 

[Outdated]

There's one video that got a lot of reactions on Youtube. It's just an Aussie bike rider in the Dandenongs getting pulled over for speeding. There's absolutely nothing odd about the behaviour of the rider or the cops, it's a perfectly stock standard interaction and it's the way most things go here.

The police are polite and professional. They are armed, and especially in Victoria they have a strong reputation for shooting if they decide they have to, but in general as long as you're not going out of your way to antagonise them they're very easy going and easy to get along with.

That seems to fascinate a lot of people in other countries. They're also surprised that the rider is automatically tested for alcohol and drugs and he doesn't protest about it. That's the law here, one of the conditions you have to agree to if you want a driver's license. They can and do pull over any one at any time and do random tests, sometimes completely blocking off a whole road and testing every driver.

 

[DJ-Daz]

Wow that's strict. Nothing like it is in the UK.
I was stopped once for speeding, and yes it was on the motorbike, I was doing 65 in a 30 zone. Similar speed-gun too, but the officer was brilliant. He only gave me an SP30, so 3 points and £60 fine. Of course I was fascinated by the job, and asked loads of questions, which he took the time to answer.

Double the speed limit is an instant ban here. You're walking home too. I think because of my attitude, polite, curious, and friendly he made it into a tiny slap on the wrist.

As we say in't Yorksha, "now't wrong wi' reet folk". Translation, there's nothing wrong with right people. It carried a lot of weight that day.

As for family, they moved in shortly after the "£10 poms", set up a home (with several acres of land too), so now it must be worth a fortune. Isn't Melbourne one of the most expensive places on Earth now?

 

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Isn't Melbourne one of the most expensive places on Earth now?

Nah, that's Sydney. One of the most expensive cities on the planet to live in too. But at the same time you're dead right, if your rellies have acreage in the Dandenongs then they made a very good investment.

Double the speed limit is an instant ban here. You're walking home too. I think because of my attitude, polite, curious, and friendly he made it into a tiny slap on the wrist.

Here it's if you're doing more than 30 over the limit, but it's not instant so get get a chance to get your life a bit better organised before the red letter arrives.

 

[Outdated]

I think because of my attitude, polite, curious, and friendly he made it into a tiny slap on the wrist.

That's a gift I always had too, the cops let me get away with blue bloody murder compared to a lot of other people but I was always friendly to them and always treated them like fellow tradesmen just doing their jobs.

Whenever we had to deal with the police my mates always wanted me to do all the talking because then we'd just get a warning. They couldn't have stopped me from stepping forward anyway, it's just what I do.