The Bangkok Motorcycle Awakening

Last August I woke from a deep, car-induced slumber. After 13 years I began to notice sleek, exciting, fast, plastic coated things flying past me as I sat in traffic jams.

My mind returned to heady days in the early 80's when, astride a Yamaha FS1, I was the slowest student dispatcher in Berlin - always lost, always kilometers from a phone, always in a sandwich bar. We had to call it a day.

But at 33 I realized it was not too late. It was just possible to pass my test, buy a motorcycle and not be accused of going through a mid-life crisis. I tried a couple of shops and found a reliable shop at Petchaburi Road, the owner even spoke some English and seemed to have the best sense of humor. Or was he not kidding..

After a few days waiting, it was my time to do the motorcycle driving test, the theoretical part I past without any serious difficulty. The whole administrative fee for a Thai motorcycle driver's license is 55 Baht. I remember the guy who going to do the driving tests with me; I was sure that I going to fail, he looked like ex-police guy and probably was. But I got not much remarks and clear the driving test, bought a 47,000 Baht Yamaha Spark 135 and rode into a new life.

Today 12,000 kilometer later I find myself free, despite the rain, for which I needed to buy a serious rain suite, I can go places on time I can see things more clear. And when I stand at the traffic lights at Sukhumvit Road together with my hundred or so motorcycle buddies I look at the cars standing behind me and think "someday brother, some day you also see the light" And then the green appears and me and my motorcycle buddies open the throttle to launch our self into our new destination.