Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than squeezed out of a tube

I have ridden a 500-pound Vincent through traffic on the Ventura Freeway with burning oil on my legs, and run the Kawa 750 Triple through Beverly Hills at night with a head full of acid. I have ridden with Sonny Barger and smoked weed in biker bars with Jack Nicholson, Grace Slick, Ron Zigler, and my infamous old friend Ken Kesey, a legendary Café Racer. Some people will tell you that slow is good-and it may be, on some days-but I am here to tell you that fast is better. I’ve always believed this, in spite of the trouble it’s caused me. Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba.

Hunter S. Thompson
Song of the Sausage Creature
Cycle World; March 1995