Two wheels, a few tradeoffs, and gas prices

buildsjets

I get it, I have over 60,000 miles commuting on two wheels (Most of them on my 2003 Kawasaki ZR-7s that I have owned since new and just rode to work on Thursday), in all kinds of inclement weather, primarily to avoid parking hassles and traffic. But I'm also lucky to be alive, because one day, I was waiting at a red light, and the guy who was stopped about 2 car lengths behind me was so drunk he hallucinated that the light turned green, punched the gas, rear ended me, and drove me and my bike into the 3 cars ahead of us. I was remarkably uninjured, but could easily have lost my legs or worse. There was nothing I could have done or forseen to avoid the collision. My wife had a separate motorcycle accident on her Ninja 500r that she caused by turning left against oncoming traffic and getting T-boned. The car bumper hit her directly on the right foot, breaking most all the bones in her ankle, then flipping her over the hood and breaking her femur. She had to have bunch of bones in her foot fused, walks with a pronounced limp, and can't go to any event where she has to stand for more than 30 minutes at at time. We used to go to all kinds of rock concerts, now she has to skip the pit and is stuck in balcony seating. Motorcycles can be convenient and a whole lot of fun, but do not underestimate the statistical likelihood of a life-changing accident, especially if you are in a position where you have dependents that you have financially and emotionally committed to. I have cats, they won't care if I eat it, so long as THEY get fed by someone.

ctippett

I've lugged my biking gear across two continents because I keep telling myself I'll get another bike, and when I do I'll need my gear! Commuting to work in peak hour, zipping past all the gridlocked traffic on the motorway (filtering is/was legal) and then cresting over the Auckland harbour bridge on a sunny day... Absolute bliss. Except after 15 years I'm less convinced I'll own another motorcycle. Maybe I'll settle for an electric scooter instead.

thenewwazoo

Cars lie to us and tell us we’re safe, powerful, and in control. The air-conditioning fans murmur empty assurances and whisper, “Sleep, sleep.” Motorcycles tell us a more useful truth: we are small and exposed, and probably moving too fast for our own good, but that’s no reason not to enjoy every minute of the ride. - Dave Karlotski, "Season of the Bike" https://the751.com/1998/06/15/season-of-the-bike/

stanski

I'm not so sure that motorcycle emissions are much better than a car's, even if they do consume less gas. Cars have very complicated emissions systems and are under stricter regulations. I've also never been able to get anywhere close to 3l/100km. As soon as you move onto bigger displacement bikes, you're looking at around 6l/100km, which is comparable to a hybrid car that weights 5-6 times what the bike does! It's far from an extremely efficient mode of transportation given the significantly reduced utility. Regardless, ride as long as you enjoy it, or until you have to recalculate the amount of risk you can afford!

foco_tubi

If you think this guy sounds preachy now, wait ‘til he hears about bicycles. I rode 100K on Friday, fueled entirely by Coca Cola and gummy bears. Zero direct fossil fuel consumption! It also took 5 hours.

danans

> Electric motorcycles are on the way too, though the range isn’t there for my riding patterns yet. A small battery pack charged from French nuclear grid electricity would eventually make the per-kilometer carbon math very hard to beat. I'd love an electric motorcycle to replace my previously owned motorcycle, though household rules say it can't happen until the kids are grown up, and for many of the same reasons as in TFA: environment, fun, etc. One issue with electric motorcycles is that they are inherently disadvantaged by the fundamentally poor aerodynamics of motorcycles coupled with the fact that battery range doesn't scale down as well as it scales up - due to space constraints and fixed minimum weight overhead for inverters, etc. This would be compounded because my use case would be longer distance pleasure rides, not daily commutes.

CobaltFire

Rode for nearly 100k miles before giving it up (had a 100 mile/day commute, plus leisure). Too many close calls, and since giving it up lost five coworkers to accidents. Still miss it all the time, but it's just not worth the risks. I don't even bicycle on public roads (in the US; I do in Japan) any longer due to too many close calls and several injuries in my social group.

gravypod

We will not reverse climate change by consuming less. The solutions are equally political and technological. Driving a smaller vehicle does help but real solutions would be: building homes next to jobs, public transportation, electrification, and carbon capture. > On a motorcycle, you’re in the environment instead of sealed off from it. Lavender above Grasse in June, a 5-degree temperature drop when the road cuts through a forest, leaning into corners with your whole body Very romantic, but not very realistic. Most commuters need to show up for work in heat, rain, snow, etc.

mperham

I retired from motorcycles a decade ago but still get my two wheel fix with the e-bikes I own. They make those 2km errands easy.

comrade1234

I got my motorcycle license so that I could split lanes when I lived in California. It's legal in the sense that there's no mention of it in the books. So you can split lanes as long as you're not being reckless. Some car drivers had a problem with it and when they saw you coming up behind them they'd move into your space to block you. Bizarre.

UncleEntity

My first motorcycle was fast enough to get out of the way of stupid drivers (and be fun) while my last one was so fast it still amazes me to this day that I'm still alive. Apparently it was amateur raced with all the things that entails, which is probably why I didn't die as it was so obnoxiously loud people knew there was a motorcycle around them so I couldn't really hide in their blind spots, not that I would ever do that because that's a quick way to get a free ride to the ER. $2500 for a vehicle which could most likely top out around 200 mph probably wasn't the smartest purchasing decision I've ever made. The only smart thing I ever did was there was always something suitably wrong with it I never took it out into the desert to see what the real top speed was. My Fiat 500 has the same size engine and keeps me out of trouble. And around the same MPG...

drivingmenuts

I recently bought an e-bike for running errands and so on (I do not own a car). I got it put together, hefted it outside (it weighs rather more than I expected), fired it up and rode 10 yards. It's a moped-style bicycle that rides like a motorcycle and I HAVE NEVER OPERATED A MOTORCYCLE. Bicycle, yes. Motorcycle, no. I'm going to have to find a large grassy area to practice riding on before this is useful. If I had it to do over, I'd pick something that's more bicycle than motorcycle. But I don't, so I just have to make do with what I did get. Feel free to call me an idiot.

mcmoor

About the risk part, I'm still not really sure how third world countries traffic change the equation. There are a lot of them so cars have to already account for them by default. The sheer quantity also makes traffic slower, and when accidents do happen, when it's between motorcycles there's not that much energy involved compared to cars accident. Also people here rarely have motorcycle with >150cc so accident impact is reduced even further. But we also have much worse roads and people drive much more recklessly. But maybe this is risk compensation in action. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation

mulanroo

Motorcycles are everywhere in the Philippines, and there are far more now because of delivery riders. They make sense here: they get through traffic and park anywhere. The tradeoff is the roads, which can be rough, and riders squeezing through whatever gap they can find. Accidents are common. I don't ride myself, but it's obvious why so many people do.

ahf8Aithaex7Nai

Riding a motorcycle is one of the things in life that puts me in a good mood. I live in Germany. Traffic here seems to be pretty orderly. I don’t feel like the cars around me are putting me in danger. I have protective gear for cross-country rides and tours, but most of the time I ride without it, especially in town. It’s important not to equate the joy of riding with speed and recklessness. You should ride with foresight and defensively, without rushing unnecessarily and with great consideration for other road users. Then everything should be fine. I hope I haven’t jinxed it now and won’t get hit by a car tomorrow or something. Of course, something like that can always happen. Right now, I only have a big street bike with over 70 hp. But I remember from back in the day how much fun small engines are, so I’m thinking about getting something with 125cc or even 50cc again for riding around town. A Honda CB125F, Super Cub, Skyteam Skymax 125, or Mash Fifty. 125cc is more than enough! 50cc is really quite small, but it still gets you from A to B with plenty of fun, and you avoid the mandatory vehicle inspection that’s otherwise required here for all vehicles every two years.

rienbdj

The noise pollution can be awful. If you’re not going so far, can an eMTB be even more practical?

abstractspoon

Virtue signalling?