ABSTRACT
The examination of how enjoyment and risk interact for motorcycle riders indicated that in situations considered risky by riders enjoyment was seldom found. enjoyment was usually the product of the rider being challenged by the riding activity. This is reminiscent of what Csikszentmihalyi described as the flow state (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi 1988). enjoyment appears be found in two ways; ‘Rush Based enjoyment’ (RBe) where speed-generated adrenalin rush gives rise to enjoyment; and ‘Challenge Based enjoyment’ (CBe) where pleasure is derived through feeling ‘at one’ with the bike while meeting the challenges of the road. This second type of enjoyment is more closely associated with the flow type experience. Up to now the discussion has centred around the experience of Powered Two-Wheeler (PTW) riders with the argument that as most riding is expressive, then it is fundamentally different from most driving. The argument being that the purpose of most transport is to travel from A to B safely. While car driving may be quite enjoyable at times, it is mainly concerned with arriving at the destination for some other purpose. Although PTWs can serve this purpose, often riding is mainly about the journey itself. Therefore, when riding a PTW, the journey is more likely to be the primary fixation and the destination is of secondary importance. This contrasts to most driving where reaching the destination is the primary consideration and the drive is the ‘means to an end’. If this is the case then it would be expected that the relationship of risk and enjoyment would be different. This chapter compares these aspects of riding PTWs with the experiences of driving cars to identify the similarities and differences between the two modes of transport.
