Speeding is illegal, yet we sell racing motorcycles and cars which are so powerful and look so intimidating that a police man could write the owner a ticket even if it were parked. Take today’s crotch rocket, nearly all of these motorcycles can barely get out of second or third gear going sixty miles per hour. 

We complain when our teenagers drive these bikes like they are meant to be driven. Silly of us to think that anyone is going to drive these bikes and never speed?

Any one who has ever gotten on a race bike and felt the acceleration knows that such temptation is just to great. Once you give it some throttle you want to take it thru the gears. Yet, if you do choose to take it thru all the gears and redline the sixth or last gear you find yourself often over 135 miles per hour even on a 600 CC race bike. On the 750’s and 1000 plus CC race bikes you are well over 160 miles per hour at redline. 

Those of us who dare know that you must really pay attention when you are going at such speeds while sitting out in the open, namely you need to hang on.

Why do we sell these motorcycles to teenagers if we know that there is no possible way and no current teenager alive who owns one who has not sped on it? It is safe to say that such a statement is correct.

Perhaps we ought to have speed limits within reason; for instance if you have taken a super bike class and have shown you can handle the raw power and speed; then you should be allowed to open it up all the way when no one else is around to get hurt. Montana use to have such a law on their roads, unlimited speed limit as long as you were not endangering others, this seems to be a good rule. 

Germany has the autobahn, yet we are denied the pursuit of happiness because some lawmaker who has no balls is afraid we might get hurt and it might go into the newspaper and make a few weak voters sob? No one has the right to deny those capable and willing to push the envelope a little our pursuit of happiness as such rules are in complete contrary to what it means to live in a free country.

Just because there are Jerry Springer guest stars out there still wearing their free T-shirts for being on the show and a few Jeff Foxworthy “here’s your sign” recipients is no reason to make laws to protect the weakest link of humanity from their destiny and happiness. The need for speed is an innate characteristic of mankind and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. For those who cannot perform, they can win the Darwin Award, but we should not make laws to protect the stupidest human and deny the crème of the crop their destiny. Think about it.

By Lance Winslow