A rider's journey — schizophrenia to the open road

Hear MeOn The Road

Not for pride. Not for noise. But so drivers know I'm there — and I make it home.

£0 raised
Goal: £25,000
Be the first to donate — help Dan get on the road.
The Man Behind The Ride
Dan's Story

"I've literally out-thought my own thoughts. That's what schizophrenia teaches you — your mind is both the enemy and the way out."

Mod 1 & 2 Certified ST1100 Rider Road Safe Fighting Back

Most people don't know what it's like to be at war with your own mind. Dan does — and he's been winning that war, quietly, for years.

Schizophrenia doesn't announce itself politely. It isolates. It tells you the world isn't safe, that people can't be trusted, that the only option is to retreat completely. For Dan, there were years where being around anyone — anyone at all — felt impossible. The outside world was a place he watched from the other side of the window.

But something changed. Slowly, painfully, and without any shortcuts — Dan began to study his own mind. Not with a therapist's vocabulary or a textbook's distance, but with the raw intelligence of someone who had to survive. He learned to observe the thoughts that weren't his, to stand apart from them, to let them pass. He built a kind of internal discipline that most people will never need and could never understand.

"I've literally out-thought my own thoughts."

— Dan, on living with and overcoming schizophrenia

Today, Dan has a girlfriend. A life. A community. He went from someone who couldn't step outside his door, to someone who passes his motorcycle tests — Module 1 and Module 2 — and rides an ST1100 with the kind of quiet confidence that only comes from having fought for every inch of it.

The road gives him something back. It's focus. It's presence. It's proof, every single mile, that he is still here — moving forward — and the noise in his head doesn't get to win.

Now Dan has a dream. A Harley-Davidson Low Rider S. He's not asking for it out of vanity. He doesn't care about turning heads. He wants to be heard — by car drivers who don't check their mirrors, by people pulling out at junctions, by the world that too often doesn't see motorcyclists until it's too late. This is a safety issue. And it matters.

But there's one more piece. Before the bike can come home, home needs to be ready. Right now there's no driveway — nowhere safe and secure to store a machine like this. Part of this fund goes toward getting a proper driveway installed — a solid, practical base so the Low Rider S has a place to live when Dan isn't on it. No driveway, no bike. It's as simple as that.

How Far He's Come

A Road Built Mile
By Difficult Mile

The Hard Years
Isolation & Survival
Schizophrenia made being around other people feel impossible. Dan spent years in a battle that few around him could see or understand — fighting internally while the world carried on outside.
The Turning Point
Learning to Out-Think His Thoughts
Through sheer will and years of self-study, Dan developed the ability to observe his own thoughts — to recognise what was the illness and what was him. A skill most people will never need, and could never acquire the way he did.
Recently
A Relationship. A Life.
From unable to be in the same room as another person, to building a genuine relationship with a partner. Progress that doesn't get applauded publicly — but is everything.
Two Years Ago
Module 1 & 2 — Passed
Dan earned both his motorcycle test certifications and now rides an ST1100 — a technically demanding machine that demands total focus. The road demands presence, and presence is exactly what Dan has been building.
The Dream
Harley-Davidson Low Rider S + A Driveway
Not a trophy. Not a status symbol. A machine whose presence on the road means other drivers actually notice him. Plus a proper driveway installed at home — because none of it works without somewhere safe to keep the bike. Two practical needs. One goal: £25,000.
The Dream Machine

Harley-Davidson
Low Rider S

The Low Rider S is built on the Milwaukee-Eight 117 engine — the most powerful V-Twin in Harley's Softail lineup. It has a presence on the road that commands attention. Not because it looks flashy, but because it sounds like something you don't ignore.

For a motorcyclist sharing the road with distracted drivers, sound is survival. The Low Rider S isn't a luxury. For Dan, it's armour.

117ci
Milwaukee-Eight Engine
163Nm
Torque
~96dB
Exhaust — Heard
£25k
Fundraising Goal

Not For Pride.
For Safety.

Every year, motorcycle accidents happen because drivers simply don't see — or hear — the rider until it's too late. Loud pipes aren't about ego. They're about occupying space in the awareness of drivers who aren't paying attention.

19% of all UK road casualties involve motorcyclists — despite bikes making up just 1% of road traffic. Presence matters. Sound matters. Being noticed is the difference between coming home and not.

When Dan says he wants people to hear him on the road — that's not vanity. That's a man who has fought too hard for his life to have it ended by someone who didn't check their mirrors.

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