It’s been said that cleaning anything is a thankless task because it just gets dirty again. This is true of most things, particularly motorcycles (that is, if you believe in actually riding them, which I do. After all, isn’t that kind of the point?).
Recently, I cleaned my bike, which I’ve been putting off. I washed it down, I got all the mud and dust and tar marks and dead bugs off (clearly, the bugs are hardier than I thought, as there are still a few around, despite the winter). I dried it off, I polished it up.
I went for a ride.
This is the thing about bikes, which doesn’t apply so much to cars. You can’t go for a spin first, because you can’t clean them until they’re cool. A bike’s engine is not conveniently encased in metal.
Of course, while I was riding, rain came out of a clear blue sky and there was mud. Naturally.
I need to clean it again. That’s not as disheartening as it sounds – there’s a certain zen state to cleaning a bike, when you’re not really thinking too hard about anything other than getting the tar mark off your exhaust.
So maybe cleaning things like motorcycles isn’t such a completely thankless task, even if it isn’t ever completely done.
This is the thing about bikes, which doesn’t apply so much to cars. You can’t go for a spin first, because you can’t clean them until they’re cool. A bike’s engine is not conveniently encased in metal.
Of course, while I was riding, rain came out of a clear blue sky and there was mud. Naturally.
I need to clean it again. That’s not as disheartening as it sounds – there’s a certain zen state to cleaning a bike, when you’re not really thinking too hard about anything other than getting the tar mark off your exhaust.
So maybe cleaning things like motorcycles isn’t such a completely thankless task, even if it isn’t ever completely done.
No comments:
Post a Comment