Of course, expectation is a killer isn't it mate. I went the exposure therapy route by deliberately engaging in high stakes competitive activities that I knew nothing about and found a type of salvation through suffering. The ultimate goal being to being able to be free to 'ganbatte' especially when all hope is lost.
There is another elephant in the room that might be underlying this and that is decline. One of the number one causes of suicide in middle aged men is the loss or decline of status. Status is actually a vital component of the social fabric and in times gone by would determine if the tribe would help you if you got sick, forgive you if you made a mistake or leave you behind..
It is commonly divided into three types:
Dominance (using fear and control)
Competence (being very good at something of value to a group)
Virtue (demonstrating consistent values when tested)
Status games get a bad wrap because people conflate it with the first type. While the last two add a lot to developed societies. (The first one is the best for survival in Somalia or Libya.) Fast cars, bikes, boats and planes fall into the second.
So what does this have to do with the org? Well it is probably no surprise that the heyday for this community was when the Gen 2 reigned over all. Now Gen 3s get beaten by random naked bike in roll races and every new sports bike is over 200hp.
The marque still carries some esteem but it is definitely waning.
One of life's great lessons is learning to deal with failure and also learning to let ones self loose for the win. Likewise learning to deal with decline and loss of status is as valuable and meaningful and the lessons in failure and loss. We all eventually grow old, hopefully, some what disgracefully
Suicide or enjoy the ride? Personally I choose the latter, along with throwing everything I can at a Gen 3 to try get the best of both worlds. (And still get overtaken on the track by 600s!
Personally I love this place and I love the Hyper bikes. They can tour and track (fit me) and to my mind look right (unlike all of the 'adv' bikes out there)
We are putting together a stand at the upcoming annual Auckland motorcycle show with an anthology for just the hyper bikes starting with a 1998 Gen 1 carby Blackbird, through to the Gen 3 Hirebus and the ZX14R SE, should tell quite a story, just like this place.
Ganbatte!
