What is better... Pain or no pain?

Ok, on the surface, this may seems like a fairly simple minded question. But please, read on and see what I mean.
Two weeks ago, a car hit my motorbike from behind while I was waiting for a traffic light to take a right turn. Apparently, so did the driver who hit me in a green Volvo, so he had already applied the brakes until he rode perhaps 40 or 30 kilometres per hour. The lack of speed was negated significantly but not completely of course because I never saw him coming and thus could not even subconsciously 'brace' myself for impact.
Now I have a whiplash (luckily enough it's only mild and should be completely curable).
Now that I have given you the circumstances, I come to the real question. I have to be careful, am not allowed to drive my motorbike or even bycycle, and have to periodically apply a hot compress to my neck.
All this bugs the hell out of me, since I am not in any real pain. Perhaps eight years ago or so, I sprained both my wrists, and then I was in pain whenever I tried to do something. That wasn't fun either, but the pain both alerted me to the fact I had a problem and warned me to take it easy. Furthermore, by the steady decrease of pain I could to a certain extend 'observe' the healing process by myself.
Such is not the case now. I try to take it easy, but my insurance agent warned me that it is hard to take the 'middle road'. Most people either do to little, keep their neck still and thus become stiff. Others overexert themselves and strain the muscles even further. Not anymore, but it is hard for me to tell whether things are improving. All I can do in order to hear this is listen to the expert, who tells me it will take several weeks just to be able to make a reliable prognosis.

Naj.