Taste of Freedom

The man jumped down, throwing his weight against the resting beast beneath him. It let out a loud pop, sputtered dark smoke from its nostrils, and resumed its rest. For years, the once savage creature slept, yearning for a rider to stir her slumber and bring her back to life. Longing for a taste of freedom, the man caressed the outer shell which held the monster’s lifeblood. “Come on baby, you got this,” he pleaded to the machine beneath him.

The man moved the lever outward and took his position. He stood up, took hold of the beast’s reigns, and jumped again, throwing all his weight down as he kicked his right leg with all his might. The internal organs of the beast moved, and the spark ignited with fuel vapors to resuscitate its beating heart within the parallel twin. Belching a cloud of smoke from its exhaust pipes like a dragon being awakened from its slumber, the disobedient monster roared to life. He twisted his right wrist and the engine roared. White smoke puffed out and thinned with each twist. The tachometer needle floated high, and after the white smoke cleared, he reached down to the carburetor and turned the choke off. The engine calmed and steadily rumbled, the tach needle fell and hovered around 1,200 RPM. He stepped off the beast and looked beneath it, a small drop of its black blood dropped out and hit the concrete garage floor beneath. He shrugged it off and made a mental note to fix the seal after. Unsteadily, the beast rumbled, but evening out as time passed. The man stood up, grabbed hold of the right handlebar, and flicked his wrist again. The rider listened to the engine roar, inhaled the exhaust fumes and tasted them filling the atmosphere, he watched the tachometer needle jump and fall, and felt the vibrations quicken and slow with each twist. Satisfied with the performance, the man swung his leg over his steed.

He moved the kickstand upward toward the frame and held the machine upright between his thighs, gripping the handlebars. Squeezing in the left lever in front of the hand grip, the man lifted his right leg to the foot peg and clicked the gearshift up into first. The beast twitched forward with a click. He pulled the throttle back a little and slowly released his grip from the clutch lever. He gave his right wrist a slight flick and began his gallop.

The untamed power pulled away with a roar. Steady vibrations came through the rubber mounts and reached his thighs like the foreshock of an earthquake. The throttle snapped forwards as the man let go and squeezed the clutch. He found second…