Ramblestream Podcast

Beyond Speed: Finding Freedom at 60 MPH

• Janus Motorcycles

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 36:03

The fastest way to miss the point of riding is to treat every mile like an obstacle. From the Ramblestream studio at Janus Motorcycles HQ in Goshen, Indiana, we follow that idea wherever it leads, starting with the machines in our orbit: Richard’s revived 1980 Vespa PK50 that can barely touch 25 mph, Jansen’s upcoming Phoenix 450, and a brutally honest rant about a Can Am Spyder that somehow becomes the perfect contrast for what we love about two wheels.

We also get nerdy in the best way, tying a poem about building art from scraps to a real piece of Janus history: an early battery housing that now lives on the desk as a Sharpie holder. It’s a small story, but it points to a bigger design philosophy and a bigger motorcycle mindset, where usefulness and memory matter as much as specs.

Then we hit community and calendar: Rambler’s Roundup (the Janus Owners Rally) ticket tiers built for accessibility, Discovery Days reopening for the summer (owners can use the code “Disco Day” for a free ticket), and upcoming live Ramblestreams on the road. From there, we answer a question we hear all the time, straight up: are Janus motorcycles for everyone? No and that’s okay. If you want interstates, speed, and efficiency, there are amazing bikes for that. If you want the ride home to be the highlight, we think small displacement motorcycles and back roads can deliver something modern life keeps trying to erase.

Listen for our favorite framework, Fun Number One vs Fun Number Two, plus why the rides that go “wrong” often become the ones you remember. If this hits home, subscribe, share the show with a fellow rider, and leave a rating or review.

SPEAKER_01

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Ramble Stream Podcast.

SPEAKER_02

I'm Richard. And I'm Jansen. Each week we sit down for rambling conversations about motorcycles, the experience of riding, design, and whatever else catches our fancy. Bring a beverage of your choice or stories, and we'll see where this takes us.

SPEAKER_01

If you're interested in thoughtful conversations, friendly and informative banter with fellow riders, and the latest dispatches from Janus Motorcycles headquarters, you're in the right place. Let's get started. My name is Richard Worsham, co-founder and head of design here at Janus Motorcycles. I am broadcasting from the Ramble studio at Janus HQ in downtown Goshen. It's not dark outside. It's not, which is incredible. It's kind of different. It's so nice. I can see light coming through the window. Yeah. Um, and I ramble with I've got some new additions to add to the um not that I'm not made any new I haven't made any new acquisitions, but um I've resuscitated some older vehicles. So I'll start with um the well, I've got I just rolled into the shop a 1980 Vespa PK50, which was one of it's the first two-wheeled vehicle that I rode with any regularity. Uh it's a classic Vespa two-stroke, but it's kind of a rare one because it's only 50cc, which means it goes about 25 miles an hour. Me top speed. That's wild. And I grew up riding that around Richmond, Virginia. It technically belongs to my mother. Uh and so my goal here this spring is to get it running.

SPEAKER_02

We should have rolled that thing in here and made it the thing for tonight. That would have been a really good idea.

SPEAKER_01

Maybe we should. Um, it's it's in fine Italian form. Use it. It's got a bastion front fender, it's got some rust on it. Uh, it's a great little little uh little Vespa. Um I also ramble with a 2009 Cal Psychic KLR, which has seen a lot of riding this last couple of weeks, and a 2017 JNS Halcyon 250, number 68, which went on a nice ramble on Friday with number 15. So 68 and 15 went on a ramble out to one of our favorite locations where a river crosses a road and also crosses a railroad track. Very good. We got some shots. We got some shots of the train going by with a river flowing. Nice. That was nice.

SPEAKER_02

You also owned a a spider?

SPEAKER_01

Can is that is that correct? Can't I rode a Canon spider on was it Friday? Friday. Friday. And I don't mean to insult any of you all if you own a Canon Spider, but it was the worst motorcycle experience I've ever had in my life. It was terrible. Uh that's I will never ride one again.

Poetry And A Battery Becomes A “Thing”

SPEAKER_02

I don't want to ride one. Well, I kind of do just to just ride one. But I've gotten my my experience in. I don't need to. I yeah, I I technically am not allowed to have an opinion, I guess, yet. Uh my name is Jansen. I am also coming to you live from and I'm sipping on the water tonight. Yes. Thank you. Sorry. Didn't mean to cut you off there. Uh coming to you live from the Ramble Stream Studio at Janus Motorcycles World HQ, sipping on. I'm going out of order here, some ride or die, like I have been the last few weeks. This stuff is so good. I say I'm just done. I'm done talking about it now. But it's really good. That's actually for sale. Um, still on Journeyman's website, uh, plug plug plug. Uh I am rambling currently in a Ford F-150 Lightning and soon to be rambling on Phoenix 450 number four, which I am going to just call four for now. Um, we were talking a little bit about can you ramble an electric motorcycle during the pre-ramble?

SPEAKER_01

Um we're gonna we're Justin Jameson was just talking about how 32 degrees in spring is better than 32 degrees in like November. Um 100%. And thinking ahead for a summer, which is maybe not too far off. This is from Richmond Lattimore, uh Sestina for a far-off summer collection of poems. And um, this one is collages and compositions. Use force and chisel, be lapidary, not any cut stone arranger, fear finished counters, take splinters, make grammar out of nails, paper, rubber bands, placed by hands be mused, rags, pins, a piece of string, anything but ready-made lovely matters. Flowers whose rapt hours arranging builds on material, glory already shaped and sweet, pebbles, snowflakes are no stuff, not perfections, only broken stones, hot shirds, bones, scraps of felt pinched in a wire vice can surprise, or willful sense flash taken wrong, half bird song misremembered, shining phrase reworded, not recorded, used, abused, retaken from the cannibal heart. This is art.

SPEAKER_02

Man, I don't I like that one. So he's this is not here to give me a hard time, but that I was trying to pick a poem out of this, and he's got some deep cuts. I'm trying to think of a different way to explain the capital T thing. And I would say what what can we go down this uh this path for a little bit? A thing is something that is uh able to be helpful and useful, whether that was its original intent or not. Can we say that? Uh you're taking inspiration from tonight's thing. I'm taking inspiration from tonight's thing. This was the thing. It was the lamp. You remember that? I well, I watched it. I watched it this morning. The thing is, one great classic, one great classic Skiffy. That feels like a McRyder. That feels like an old school. I know what sci-fi is, but I don't know what Skiffy is. Oh my god. The lack of space, the lack of a space there is driving me nuts. I'm not gonna say anything. It looks like it would hold a model airplane Lipo battery.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, well, that's what it was, basically. Um, our very first bikes used a very, very small battery, and we replaced it with another very small battery, which we now we joke about. They're slightly bigger. Um, and then we went to a bigger battery. But this is actually aluminum uh and it's it's polished. That's cool. And it has all the internals, and there's a couple of these little 50cc ones around. We went to the larger battery, which some people still run. If you can still find those batteries, um, they're still polished. There, those are stainless steel, um, but they make a nice pin holder. The polish is is sharp on it. I think this actually is the OG. Like the like one of the first. Like I'd be the first. Straight out of the upgraded the one on the even the prototype has a bigger battery. Where's where does the prototype live? No. Hanging on the wall in the back.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Which one is oh, that's a 250 at the coffee shop. The coffee shop.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, yeah. Uh some of the first 250s had the the next size up from this. Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Well, like, was the original intention because the 50cc were were keeping it?

SPEAKER_01

No, it was just that we just thought we were not used to having batteries on on any of our two strokes. And so we're like, oh, we'll just put a battery on it. And this is a small one that'll fit fine. And then we realized that it actually they worked, they worked, um, but they didn't have much there was very, very low cranking amps. I mean, I think it was like under 25 cranking amps, which is insane.

Rally Tickets And Discovery Days

SPEAKER_02

But every time I reach for a sharpie or a whatever, a fork or or an extendo pointer finger, I get a little joy because it reminds me of our batteries. We've got some news and events for you. Richard, you want to take the first one?

SPEAKER_01

Owner's Rally is live. Uh the tickets are available. The weekend, September 17th through 20th. And we it's called the Rambler's Roundup.

unknown

Right?

SPEAKER_01

It's got a kind of a Western theme this year. Everyone has to wear cowboy hats.

SPEAKER_02

The Rambler's Roundup. The Rambler's Reunion. Reunion.

SPEAKER_01

I didn't fully sign off on the title of it. Here we are. I'm marketing it, so it's great. It's awesome. It's the best thing ever. It's gonna be amazing. Cowboy and tickets are available. They start at a much more affordable entry point, which is called the Get Me There ticket, which basically it gets you here. You can participate in all the kind of larger events, rides and stuff like that. And then you and then if you want a VIP ticket, you can get that, and that gets you access to all events. Um, we're basically trying to make this as accessible as possible to folks that you know, getting here if you're in California, um, it's not cheap. So we want to help you to get here. Yeah. And then if you want to, you can even uh pay for some things kind of a la carte as you go, or you can purchase tickets by the day. Um, always that we're just trying to make this more accessible um to everybody. So we're we're as always very excited. We are we're gonna have an event organizer this time. Show not somebody from the GNS team that was gonna have but but somebody that's local, a local uh connection, shall we say? So we're very, very excited about it. Um it promises to be better than ever. Um what is this like the eighth? I don't know. Oh man, I couldn't even tell you. When we get to the 10th one, we're gonna have a we gotta throw a party. This is gonna be a party. Uh, we got a lot of new ideas that were circulating. So we look forward. We are that my goal is to get more bikes here. So if you've been considering one in the past, this is a great year to start. Um, we have a lot of so it's gonna be easier than ever to get here. And we have a great program we're looking forward to, and we're adding to that. Cool. We have more time to plan.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah, it's gonna be super cool. We've got some other uh special ramble streams coming up soon. Uh that's right. I forgot about that. Uh oh in May is I don't know enough about it. Sure. We'll just we'll just tease it for now. Uh just stay tuned for some dates uh on some special ramble streams.

SPEAKER_01

If you're in the Detroit area, we'll be uh going up to an event at Modo. Yeah, what? The end of next month, I believe. No, or maybe maybe it's May. I think it's May. It's May. It's May. Uh up at Modo in Ferndale. And I think we're gonna do a live ramble stream from there. We'll we'll we'll we'll put up the dates and I'm not even sure that's on the website yet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun. Or Amy can sing out in the chat. Yeah, Amy, if if you've got that locked and loaded, that would be awesome. Lots of the dates. Um, our second news and events, or shouldn't I know how to say it? Our second thing, uh, we are opening Discovery Days back up uh for the the summer. This normal. And the first one is this week this weekend.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

This is for if you own a uh a Janus motorcycle, and if you don't, you can come hang out. Uh, if you do already own a Janus motorcycle, these are free for you. Uh just go ahead and you have to get a ticket though. When you guys are checking out, use the code Disco Day, D-I-S-C-O day. Uh no spaces for a free ticket. And if you guys aren't Janus owners and you do use this code, we're gonna know.

SPEAKER_01

Uh, May 31st, Moto Market at Moto, Michigan. That's this promises uh Hunter, who did Moda Winter Moto Camp, which we did a video on, um, is putting this on at his facility. It is prom it will be amazing because he is really good at curating events. Yeah, um, it's an incredible venue. There's a bunch of bikes, a really amazing community of riders up there. Um, so we're looking forward to that. Yeah. A lot of vendors.

Are Janus Motorcycles For Everyone

SPEAKER_02

That's gonna be a lot of fun. Um, I'm excited to go up there. Uh, we are going to be getting into the ramble here soon. Janice motorcycles, are they for everyone, Richard? No. No. All right, see you guys later. Why not? What are what what is a I guess a good place to start would be.

SPEAKER_01

So the idea for this is is not what it's not totally. I mean, obviously we've thought about this a lot. That and we've said something to this effect that you know, if uh Janus is is it doesn't, it isn't there is no such thing as a universal motorcycle. Uh, even if there's something called a UJM, there is no universal motorcycle for every use case. And so, you know, the there are some people that are not going to appreciate a Kawasaki H2 supercharged motorcycle. They're just it's just not going to be their cup of tea. There are some people that are not going to appreciate a JNS motorcycle because it doesn't do everything. Um, and we so we I I was watching, I don't know if any of you all are familiar with the YouTube channel. I think it's called uh Darcy and the Old Man.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Is that what it's called? Yeah. Uh they do just really, really fun stuff. And they a lot of times they're talking about raw infields. Um they they like funky different bikes, but they were talking about how a royal infield rides and how especially the smaller displacement, more old, the older uh designs. And they just they did a really good job talking about it. Why are we riding these things? Yeah, what what what is the point? What's the point? Right. Exactly. Um, so he was he basically said that this is not for you if if the the getting is an obstacle. I think that's the best way I have to thought about it. Like if if the if the mileage between where you are and where you want to be is a is yeah, literally it's like an obstacle to you, then you what you're trying to do is you're trying to get there faster. Um you're trying to go faster, you're trying to pass people, you're trying to use the interstate. And I'm not saying that that's a problem. You can choose to do whatever you want. There and there are fantastic machines for that. But if you treat that like an obstacle, then a Janus motorcycle is not the right motorcycle for you. It is something that makes the the um the the the getting that that it turns that obstacle that typically is an obstacle to me being at work or me getting to dinner or me the obstacle is distance, yeah, and time and delays and weather. Those are obstacles, right? And what a genus does is it intentionally turns that obstacle into the whole point of why you're doing it.

SPEAKER_02

Right. Yeah. And and I think a good way to like kind of encapsulate this feeling uh is the feeling like after work or after um like an event that you're at, or if you're out to dinner, or like if you're doing something and you kind of get like that that giddy feeling of like, oh, I I can't wait to just go home. Because you know that going home requires a ride in between, and uh, and always looking forward to that, like, oh, I'm definitely like I'm gonna I'm gonna take a ride, but the intention, like, yes, I will end up at home after work, but I'm probably gonna take a lot longer than what I like what it would take me. I remember my wife exactly my wife always being kind of upset. She bought me this motorcycle, okay? But she always kind of like upset because I didn't communicate what I was doing. I told her I was on my way home, but I didn't tell her exactly what I was doing.

SPEAKER_01

On your way home, it might be two hours later.

SPEAKER_02

Right. Because I rode to work and I'm riding home from work. So I I think that like when I think about this this feeling or this ex this this thought process or this through line, that's what I think of is like the ride home from work that usually turns into something more than just a ride home from work. Which is a little bit of yeah.

Fun Number One Versus Fun Number Two

SPEAKER_01

I mean, sometimes when you're on an adventure, you just do want to get it over with. But yeah, I think that that that maybe is a little bit of a fun number one and fun number two kind of aspect.

SPEAKER_02

Do you want to? I think it might be helpful to explain fun number one and fun number two in this conversation.

SPEAKER_01

So fun if you're if forgive me if you've heard this or if you've read the Rambush companion, but fun number one is the most sort of um what would I how would I describe it? Um immediately rewarding kind of fun. It's like uh eating a, I describe it in the Rambush, like eating a candy bar. You know, you're immediately like yum, yum, yum. Eat this, you know, eat this up. And then maybe afterwards you're like, shouldn't eaten that whole candy bar. Or that's a lot of juggling. Or or it's it's it's the immediate gratification. And that's fun. There's a certainly a level of fun to those kinds of experiences. Um number two is the kind of fun that can be somewhat arduous. It can even be dangerous, but it's where you where you're going through some sort of like you get stuck in the rain, or you have a flat tire, or you there, or you get you're out on a camping trip for whatever, you know, whatever happens. It's unin sometimes it's unintentional, sometimes it's an accident, sometimes it's intentional, sometimes it's just a long ride that maybe takes a little longer than you thought, or your butt's a little bit sore. But the they're the kinds of experiences that that write themselves in your memory. They scrub, it's like a it's a it's like engraved into your memory in a different way than the sort of fleeting. It's interesting that like sometimes those things that are more immediate tend to not last as long. Whereas the things that are hot flame. Yeah, yeah. It it it just is very quick and it and dissipates. Whereas some of these things that are more um measured or more um uncomfortable tend to uh be the things that you actually remember, right? The things that you remember are typically involve some kind of fun number two.

SPEAKER_02

This fun number two. The the best way that I've been able to wrap my head around fun number two is uh kind of what you're speaking to already. Um, but you don't know you're having fun until you look back. It's all in hindsight, it seems I think that that's one.

SPEAKER_01

Certainly sometimes fun number two can literally be like you're not having fun. But I think is there a portion, I think that there is a sort of practice that we can get at existence and at pursuit of things and or maybe it's a habit that we form. I mean, really, I'm not just you know saying this because we talk about it, but like all the titles of yeah, but if you if you if you practice an activity, you gain the ability to exceed the fun in it when others wouldn't. Interesting. And you can start actually more and more and more seeing fun number two in the moment as well as after the fact. And I think we can all recognize those moments like, yeah, sometimes there's like a ride. Like I took a ride two springs ago, and it was not a ride that I thought was gonna be especially. It was we were going out to visit um Terry, um Mark and Terry, uh, good dear customers of ours. And uh, we were gonna go camping on their property. And like I just threw some stuff in the pack of my my 250 in the panniers, zipped out of town, and then like I heard this clink, and I just didn't think about it, and I'm like zooming along, and then I'm like slow down at the stop sign, and I go to downshift. I think I've told the story, and I couldn't downshift like then I realized that I was like that little clinking sound. So I turned around and like like like you know, slipped the clutch, and I found my shift lever and I had to steal a piece of hardware off my earbox to attach the shift lever. That's good in this lady's and I found this lady, she was like, she had a bunch of geese she was feeding. Very interesting experience. But then I continued to ride, and it was a little later than I intended to be, and it was this beautiful road, no corners. It was just straight, but it sunset, and I got to where I was going, and I'm like, but mean in the during the ride, I was like, this is fun number two, and I'm realizing it right now, right? Like it wasn't uncomfortable or anything, but it was just sort of like a really kind of mediocre ride that. I wasn't looking forward to you to Laporte. Right. Laporte and Niana. Like Laporte. Oh, exciting. Laporte. And it was the most when I got to the destination. I think I told some of the other Janison players, I was like, that was a better ride than some of the like riding um Big Sur. Yeah. Wow. Wow. Like it was amazing. Yeah. And I was able to experience that in the moment. And I think if I wasn't really like used to that, I would have just been like, oh man, I'm getting sore. I lost my shift lever. I'm late. I'm late.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah. So I think that I mean, that's a good definition of what it feels like, not all the time, but that the propensity to have to experience uh the feeling of fun number two is a lot higher on a Janus motorcycle, I would say.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's what they're designed to do is to bring that out. And I think again, it gets to the idea that like they are if you perceive this the getting there as an obstacle, if you perceive if you're worried about what perception is, like you know, a lot of times, while you're gonna have to have the like those we have this image of a motorcyclist as a grill as this just like meaner, badder, uh more cool than anyone else. And somehow that's what motorcycling is, as opposed to all the things that everyone on that we, you know, all of you all and we know motorcycling is about finding your limits, uh um transforming yourself, uh agency, you know, you know, under understanding your machine.

SPEAKER_02

It's a it's a lot more personal than that. It's a little more personal than just being like, I'm gonna be the coolest dude out here on the streets.

SPEAKER_01

Right. And I'm not downplaying that completely because I think in in every every motorcyclist, we talked about this a little bit. Everyone you want to be cool, right? And motorcycles are cool. And if you if you weren't interested in being cool or doing cool things, you just wouldn't be like, oh, motorcycles, those are dangerous. Right. I couldn't believe you enjoyed the motorcycle.

SPEAKER_02

What are you gonna do if you get in an accident?

SPEAKER_01

So there's an element of that, but that that isn't everything to right. And I think that so much, so many of so many motorcyclists take that as the be all and end all. And to the point where it's literally a costume that they put on when they ride, and it's instead of being who they really are when they're riding a motorcycle, like and enjoying it and getting the most out of it. Right.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, yeah. So yeah, there there are these times when um that water is just delicious.

SPEAKER_01

Slightly coffee flavored.

Slow Down And Use Your Senses

SPEAKER_02

Because there was coffee. There's coffee in it today. Um, there's the question then, like, uh why we've we talked about this a little briefly, but like, why do we ride? Um, what is the purpose if not to enjoy it, if not to uh learn and grow from it? So what would you say to someone who um isn't used to this way of thinking? Um, and they're thrown into like, hey, you have to ride this small displacement motorcycle uh across the state?

SPEAKER_01

I mean, if if I was if you if I was to force someone was forced to do it, and then and then I would say slow down and both ph physically and mentally, or what do you mean by slow down? In every in every sense of the word, slow down, calm down, and use your senses, um, whether that's your your clutch hand, your shift foot, your brakes, your nose as you, your, your whole body as you experience changes in temperature, that's like your this thing that you've treated as like something you you just kind of blast through isn't an obstacle. And I mean that analogy, I think, can be taken to a limit. I mean, I think even you know, your your uh every motorcyclist knows all this stuff. I don't want to pretend like this isn't an object.

SPEAKER_02

Like this is yeah, like this is a new thing.

SPEAKER_01

We've they've chosen motorcycles because even if it is a uh a massively powerful or very loud or very fast or very, very comfortable bike, they're riding a motorcycle because you all are riding motorcycles because you want something better than a car. Right.

SPEAKER_02

When we were talking about this on Friday, we uh the thing that kept on like coming to mind when we watched the video that we showed you guys, it uh it's like if you guys want to the I think the the statement was if you want to uh not go above like like 60 miles an hour, but you're going around corners and you're using like every ounce of the bike and you're like enjoying the moment present, like it feels like a well, well, well duh. Like that's yeah, that's right. Like that's that's the only the only thing is I want to do on a motor when I ride a motorcycle is I want to go around corners, and oftentimes when I'm going around corners and like driving on the roads, riding on the roads that I want to be riding on, I'm not going above 60. Right.

SPEAKER_01

And like, yeah, like well, are are are we doing you want to spend all your time on the on the slab on the interstate? Right. On on eight inches of concrete? No. I mean, I've I've ridden lots on the interstate, and typically it's because I have made the thing between two points an obstacle to get through as quickly as possible. Whether or or or the the thing between two points, time. The time is an obstacle. Yeah, I have to get from one place to another in a certain period of time. Right. And that's fun, especially if you're on an iron boat ride. Yeah, that's that's that's a different kind of thing. That obstacle you've now made into an entire saga. Right. Because that obstacle is now a thousand miles.

SPEAKER_02

Right. Right. And and it's and it that's like substantial. It's like it's a challenge.

SPEAKER_01

So maybe we're illustrating just that there are lots of motorcycles, and if getting from one point to another or covering a certain number of distance or going a certain speed is something that you find the reason that you ride, then maybe a Janus isn't for you. Right. But but that's okay. Yes, it's okay. But I would venture to say that for most motorcyclists, much of the time they're riding. They're they're they're chasing the same thing every Janus rider is. And and and and they wouldn't they would appreciate that experience. Yeah, but it does take a sort of letting your letting all your preconceived notions about motorcycling and setting them to the side and then re-evaluating them. Um, I was just talking to one of our our dear dear customer who's was in today. He's picking up his second bike tomorrow. Nice. And he was talking about he's never taken he read, he used to have a real infill. Oh, yeah. Um, 500. Very similar to the video we just watched. He's like, he's never taken in on the interstate. He never rides on the interstate. He barely drives on the interstate. And how much he enjoys the people he runs. And he was talking about this, he bought the people he bought the the shop he bought his real infill from, which is these two old guys that he would bring the bike in and they would they would all pull up chairs around, smoke cigars, look at the bike, and like point out things, and then like they'd go to BS, they were members of the BSA club, and they'd go to and it's just that it's almost a different world. Like, how could you run a business today like that?

Rebellion And Real Life On Two Wheels

SPEAKER_02

Well, yeah, it does well, it doesn't make sense, right? It doesn't, it's it's inefficient. And and that's what I think a lot of us, a lot of people who ride are searching for that that feeling, and it's hard to pinpoint sometimes. But the the feeling of like getting away with something, besides like breaking the sp like the law, right? Like running away from the cops is a completely different like feeling. We don't condone, we don't condone, and you you shouldn't. Um, but how can you legally feel like you're getting away with something? And there's tons of ways. This is like the a lot of the points that you bring up. It's like every time you say you ride, I'm speaking for you here. I don't know why, but you because you're here. But like I think I can say it myself as well. Like when I'm riding and I'm going on sidewalks and like doing things that I couldn't do in a car. Like it's like do you get on the sidewalk often? I mean every once in a while. Every once in a while. Kind of you gotta be a No, I get I know I know exactly what you're saying. But I mean everyone's looking for that feeling. Yeah, and there are a couple of different ways to accomplish it, but the best way I think is dare dare I say it really is to to to to uh to pursue this kind of writing is the ultimate kind of countercultural activity. 100% it's a very rebellious thing to do.

SPEAKER_01

It is, and it does, and it takes uh shedding a lot of uh preconceived notions um uh to be able to enjoy that kind of and and and and it brings with it incredible rewards.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's it's almost like um you mentioned uh often, Richard, that uh it seems like the whole world is just in their WALL-E chairs. You guys have seen the movie WALL-E. It's the they've got these people sitting in chairs, and the chair takes them where they need to go, and it feeds them and feeds them all this, both both like the it feeds them blended food and it feeds them information and they don't have to lift a finger. Um, and I feel like that's oftentimes what people can slip into. And what's the idea? The modern idea of efficiency, that is the end product. And you're like taking a bridge over like real life in a in a way. But I feel like rambling and and being intentional with with how you're riding, whether it's on a Janice or not, right? Like a small displacement motorcycle that forces you off of the interstate and out of places that you normally go, like you get to experience real life. That's what real life feels like.

SPEAKER_01

Imagine a high-speed chase on a Janus. I I I uh was not almost in one, but I got pulled over a couple of years ago on a Janice. Um, I think uh they thought I didn't stop at a stoplight or stop sign. I may have kind of rolled through.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you know, I didn't set my feet down and whatnot.

SPEAKER_01

And I pulled over and then I was like, I'm in the highway, so like I'm gonna pull over a little bit more. And the cop thought I was gonna was like running. So he like flipped out. And of course I wasn't. I was and then he's like him, he's like, Why are you you can't, you know. I was like, Did you think I was gonna try and run away? Like try and escape?

SPEAKER_02

And that's when he was like, Well, uh, no, not really. I was like he generalized every single motorcycle rider and said, This is what he's doing. I did not get a ticket. That's awesome. That's awesome. No, I but I I I think it's true, right? Like, it why would you want to skip over real life? And uh I think we should take uh every single opportunity to experience real life. But if you don't want to do that, then sure. Don't get a Janus. Don't get a Janice because they're not free. Not free at all, actually. Well, I think that was the most just speaking about efficiency, the most efficient like ramble we've ever had.

SPEAKER_01

Typically long distance riding is you you gotta be in sync. So you gotta be same kind of sync. Either that or you just do it on green.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that's fair.

SPEAKER_01

That's fair. Group iron butt. I mean Yeah, that the problem with iron butts in large numbers of people is that you every person you add is another variable. Um, so typically I like to keep it to two max. Yeah, maybe three on a if we if we ride well together, we have all our machines sorted. You gotta have all the bikes completely shaken down. Yeah. Yeah. Um iron butt rally.

SPEAKER_02

That would be wild. Iron butt rally. I mean, okay, hold on.

SPEAKER_01

You know, before I like maybe before I die, I can do an iron butt.

SPEAKER_02

We're we're over time. I do want, I'm very curious. Um, is there a Guinness world record for the most amount of riders completing an iron butt challenge? I'm sure there probably is. Can we beat it? We should beat it.

SPEAKER_01

That would be a lot of fun. If someone just I mean, just they're they're not they you're taking it's not the safest thing in the world. Right. Because you're kind of pushing. That's the other reason to do it. Like in small groups, is I don't want to be responsible for everyone can sign a waiver. Yeah, well, they sign a waiver when they take a bike out for a test ride.

SPEAKER_02

Who falls behind is left behind. Pirate. That's true too. Yep. Well, it's been a great show. Uh I'll Google it and I'll come uh loaded with some information next week uh for episode 123. Well, one, two, three, yeah. 123. 123. Uh, we will see you all next week. Thank you so much for tuning in, and we'll see you later.

SPEAKER_01

That wraps up this episode of the Ramblestream Podcast. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the show, subscribe wherever you listen, share it with a fellow rambler, and please consider leaving a rating. And join us live every Monday at 7 p.m. on YouTube for our weekly ramble stream. You can also find us at ramblestreampod.com and on social at ramblestream. We'll be back next week with more conversations, more stories, and of course, more rambling. And remember, many of those who ramble may very well be lost, but that's probably the point.