r/Fortnine

From the Cambridge Dictionary:

• Delusional: believing things that are not true.

They also add: *Delusional thinking is common in schizophrenia.

In other words, being delusional is accepting a reality that is completely different from most people's experience, and typically contrary to a consensus of what is "true."

By this logic, Einstein, Newton, Hypatia, Galileo, Da Vinci, and countless others could also be called delusional, dare I say schizophrenic. And in fact, they were, in their times, given the reality most accepted as True. While this is completely unrelated to motorcycling, it is the starting point of today's discussion.

Because the imaginary space of possibility is not something that is inherently negative. I believe it's an avenue to manifest a reality we long for, despite the odds. When we start off riding, we have so many deluded expectations about what the sport will provide. Joy, clarity, freedom, connection, thrill, etc.

Somewhere down the line, we might forget about these aims and just practice riding as muscle memory, as functional transport, and, in doing so, lose sight of the very illusion that pulled us toward it in the first place.

I call it an illusion because it begins as an image before it becomes a fact. Before the trip, there's this imagined version of it. Before the rider, there's this fantasy of the kind of rider we want to become. And this might be much more important than we tend to admit.

Delusional thinking can be productive. When we hold onto a vision of something that does not yet exist in our lives, it can still feel deeply meaningful to us. It's a certain kind of freedom. The fact that this vision is ahead of us, and not yet confirmed by reality, is precisely what gives it force.

There is often a distance between what is real and what is imagined, but that distance can be narrowed through perseverance. We keep riding. We keep acting as though the reality we long for deserves a place in our lives. And over time, that inner image starts to impress itself upon the outer world.

I think this is especially true in motorcycling, where so much begins as a projection of meaning. We picture the trip before it happens. We picture the connection before it exists. We picture ourselves as more capable, more fulfilled, more alive than we currently feel. Sometimes that image is exaggerated and naive. But if it's meaningful, it can still guide us. It can still move us.

I think simple perseverance is enough to make that imagined world feel real. You follow through on the ride. You meet the people who belong to that version of your life, and you create the exact kind of bond or experience that once existed only in your head.

And it boggles my mind that this can actually happen! A meaningful dream can outgrow its original "unreality" and begin to shape the life around it. It enters the world through effort and repetition. Through faithfulness to something you cannot fully justify yet.

So, all this to say that there's value in keeping certain delusions alive, especially the ones that give us direction. If a dream gives your riding a sense of purpose, then perhaps it deserves some attention, instead of being disregarded as pure folly. Perhaps our quest is to protect this internal flame long enough for reality to catch up with it.

And when it does, even partially, the gap between the imagined and the real feels smaller. More human. Maybe that's one of the miracles of our time in this world: the ability to take something that only existed in the mind and give it shape.

In a way, to forge Truth itself.

—

This goes out to all the deluded minds that made our lives and knowledge of the world more complete, comprehensible, and meaningful.

Without them, what are we, really?

This week, it's a community post, though the topic does tie into rider psychology in a way I'll outline briefly.

Forums are littered with "most hated" topics, and it's quite engaging to talk about the things we all commonly dislike, since the effect this produces seems to draw us closer rather than divide us. Out of curiosity, I thought: Would the opposite do the same?

I have a feeling that it's easier to dislike a certain machine based on its obvious flaws, but can we, as a community, come to some consensus about which motorcycle is flat-out impossible to talk ill of? Is there such a machine, one that transcends style and time, with little to no haters?

While there might not be just 1 right answer, I do think that the qualities tied to such a classification will bring out universal traits we all value as motorcycle enthusiasts. It's common ground to just talk about motorcycling in the purest sense, without all the stylistic add-ons that often sway our preferences in one direction or the next.

Terrain is also a factor, so for the sake of establishing some kind of specificity in this post, let's focus on road bikes. They could be cruisers, tourers, sportbikes, streetfighters, classics, do-it-alls, and everything in between.

As a tentative discussion starter, I have a feeling that the essential characteristics of a universally loved machine are, but aren't limited to:

1. Reliability
2. Accessibility (includes price tag)
3. Ease of use
4. Maintenance
5. Fun (quite the subjective point, yet still important)

Considering this, my personal "un-hateables" are, in no particular order:

• Yamaha MT-07 or Tenere 700 (or just the CP2 engine) - it's tried and true, it's built to last, it's powerful enough, it's fun, relatively inexpensive, and although it's relatively new, it has amassed a ton of street cred since its inception.
• Honda Super Cub (idk if this would be considered un-hateable for most, but it's definitely proven just how reliable it can be, blowing much, if not all, of the competition out of the water) - If I were stranded on some huge island and needed to get around for as long as possible (assuming there are gas stations and some small supply of oil), I'd pick the Super Cub 9 times out of 10.
• Suzuki V-Strom 650 (comfortable, bulletproof engine, can do literally anything, good 2-up option, easily modifiable to address suspension concerns) - Overall, the near-perfect blank canvas to etch your riding journey onto.

Being "un-hateable" is like being ordinary... forgettable, even. But we might underestimate just how important forgetting about the bike actually is. Because everything else is what we care about: the journey, the miles, the people we meet, and wherever the invisible machine can get us to without too much fuss.

It's a riding philosophy that might not resonate with everyone, because it's not the coolest, nor the flashiest, but I don't think that makes it in any way insufficient.

It's motorcycling, stripped down to the bare essentials. Everything else is just life.

So, my AGV was stolen. I was too tired and forgot it on the bike and went to sleep... anyways, I got a two day old NXR2, I opened the padding to adjust the cardo cable (installed in the store) and noticed small scratches and a small hole in the EPS. probably from the plastic clicking thingy that connects the padding to the helmet or a production defect or something like that. I'm an anxious dude about safety and it's a lot of money for me and I wonder if such a thing has any negative effect on safety and if Shoei's warranty will apply in such a case? I didn't find any way to contact SHOEI themselves as they just redirect you to your local guy. The EPS isn't soft, production date is late 2025, and it seems like it's the only noticable defect.

The store is pretty far but I didn't contact them yet as I don't trust a merchant to honestly tell me if it needs a replacement, as he's the one losing from it. I first want to know if it's even justifies the hassle - I mean maybe a non-trauma/impact 1mmX0.5mm scratch hole just doesn't have any safety effect and I'm just in my usual anxiety loop after buying expensive stuff? or maybe I'm wrong. idk. what's y'all opinions?

Here are several photos of the "hole" and another one of small scrates. maybe happend when the guy installed the cardo, maybe not, as I said. thanks.