A Twist of the Wrist

Not too long ago I read an article about the number of sport bikes with less than 500 miles on them that one could find in the moto-graveyards. The point the author sought to make was that the sportbikes available on the market today are WAY more powerful than most average riders can handle. When you have 150 horses right out of the box and can do the quarter mile in under 12 seconds but don't have the proper training or situation in which to do so safely, it is a prescription for disaster. Even though we know better, the simple truth is that most of us men, regardless of our training or actual ability, imagine that we can handle it. The axiom here is "If you have Throttle you will use Throttle" and whether or not you know what you are doing is moot!

The same is true for us men in many arenas; take explosives, for example. My son-in-law Justin (who is really a great guy - I tell my daughter Carly that if she ever gets a divorce I am trading out and keeping him, and she thinks I am kidding!) had some pretty powerful firecrackers one time and just couldn't resist sneaking out to the driveway and lighting one of the little buggers off. The upshot is that he cracked the windshield and blew the trim and blinkers off his wifes car ... who no longer allows him to play with firecrackers!

The point is that power - any kind of power - in the hands of a man is a dangerous thing. Psychologically I suppose it has to do with impulse control, but I prefer to think that we can't help it - it is in our DNA. We are pre-programmed to do stupid stuff; it is our default setting.

Which of course leads to trouble, like blowing up cars or in my case almost having a very long hike. I was riding my Kawi cruiser on a deserted road in western Kansas; it was a beautiful day and I was going WAY too fast. I looked down and realized my carefully calculated MPG had been cut in about half through my over-zealous twist of the wrist and it suddenly became very doubtful that I would reach the next fuel stop. I literally coasted into the gas station. Dumb. But typical. I can't help it - I'm a man. And I have buddies who want me to install a computerized power commander which will boost output. Just what I need, another opportunity to do something stupid. I already scared the bejesus out of myself when I made a few mods to my 1986 Harley and increased torque so much that it jerked my head back the first time I punched it. And the second time ... and the third ... you get the point.

Power of any sort is a dangerous mistress. And we are learning that the seductive nature of power is not limited to men ... the current political situation is demonstrating that a woman is just as prone to mis-using power as any man. It seems that the adage If you have throttle you will use throttle applies to all sorts of situations and can often lead to disasterous consequences.

That's why God gave us a brain and rules, so that we can over-ride our default settings. But it sure ain't easy ...