-^-for posterity-^-

i rented a motorcycle for a year. i rented it from a friend of a friend for a relatively wonderful price. it’s black and fast and i look like james dean.

it’s handlebars are straight and short. they make me lean over when i ride. it has a clutch and most bikes over here don’t have one. they’re automatics. i like clutches. it’s a short bike with a high back end. it has a small, round light in the front and multi-colored wires poking out everywhere.

it has only four gears and a small engine. you have to have a special permit to drive anything over 175cc. the gearshift is different than any other bike i’ve ever driven. it is, as always, below the left foot. normally you have one lever you push down when shifting up through the gears. when you want to shift back down you have to slip your foot under the lever and push up. this bike has two levers, one in the front and one in the back. you push down on the front to shift up through the gears and push down on the back one to return to neutral. i would imagine it’s because everyone over here wears sandals. if you’re wearing sandals, it’d be pretty hard to slip your foot under a greasy leaver and push up.

i rented the bike so i could drive around the mekong freely. there aren’t too many busses that stop off in remote places so a bike is a nice way of moving around. this is a very rural area and if i’m ever going to fully understand it i have to be mobile.

now i hop on, violently kick the kick start, rev the engine, thump it into gear and zoom off in a cloud of dust and exhaust.