The Zen of Motorcycle Dream Maintenance
used with permission, written by Jack Schwartz psyjack@email.msn.com

Freud once said “sometimes a Harley is just a Harley”, or maybe it was a cigar he was talking about. No matter, Harley riders, more than anyone else, are dreamers. The dream of the open road laying before you like a long black carpet; with the wind at your back and your “buds” roaring at your side.

As a shrink, I do a lot of work with dreams. Reflecting on motorcycle dreams and their meaning, I immediately think of a patient who was a Harley rider during his “bad boy” days. He would dream of his chopper, flying into the air, like a bird, only to come crashing to earth in a ball of fire. Ouch. He would laugh during the session and say, “that’s me, live fast die young.” It was a fairly accurate interpretation. Although the flying in his dream alluded to some other things he was into that enabled him to “fly”. 

Symbolically, the motorcycle itself, is the ultimate escape vehicle. Just think of Steve McQueen hurling over the prison fence in the Great Escape. It represents both liberation and freedom. The freedom to be liberated from the middle class way of life and to move like the wind. To crash or have the bike break down in a dream, may both reflect actual memories of these events, but may also psychologically represent the obstacles and dilemmas that often hold a biker back. “Do I go on a ride today or take the kids to the zoo?” – hmmm. It is safe to assume that when someone dreams of their bike, they are dreaming about themselves - who they are and the self they want to project to the world. Always study the bike itself in the dream; its size, the engine, and its condition. Is it beaten up or highly chromed and polished? Further, it wouldn’t be far form the truth to view the bike in a dream as a metaphor for the rider’s body image. Check out those big exhaust pipes. Well, you get the idea. The understanding of any dream is always found in the subtle details that make up the dream. So pay close attention and keep your eyes open - so to speak.

Freud also said that dreams are the “Royal Road” to the unconscious mind. So fill your tank, drop your shades, juice that throttle and head out on that open Royal Road.