Do You Ride or Drive a Motorcycle?

Motorcyclists are riders—they ride motorcycles. Yet, now and then, you hear someone refer to the act of operating our favorite two-wheeled conveyances as “driving.”

As the copy editor of RoadRUNNER, I’m an unapologetic word nerd. So, in my mind, this difference in word usage raises the question of why. Why do some people ride bikes while others drive them?

Here in America, we always ride a bike, whether motor- or pedal-powered. Hop over to Royal Enfield’s current home in India, however, and suddenly everybody is driving their motorcycle.

So, which is the correct word to use? Climb on the pillion, and I’ll take you on a thrilling trip through motorcycle linguistics.

No, I’m serious.

The Dictionary Definitions

To begin with, we have to consider what “ride” and “drive” actually mean; not just by their dictionary definition but also historical context. First, let’s unwrap what riding is.

The modern English word “ride” comes from the Old English (spoken between c. A.D. 500-1100) word “rīdan,” which meant to “ride on horseback.” In this sense, the word hasn’t actually changed all that much.