General Cycling Discussion - Man! I'm the only 16 year old who hates driving!

Well now is the time that my friends and I are all getting our permits, and they're all loving it.


Except me!




I just can't get into driving. Everything feels to... soft, the steering, brakes, acceleration. I think my bike spoiled me :p I tend to drift of while driving and thinking about how much more fun the road would be on an Allez I so greatly desire, fortunatly my wonderful mother is there to scream at me when i start to drift :eek:


So anyway, this has me greatly desiring a motorcycle. But my practical and "don't get yourself killed!" sides of my brain are rather opposed.


Oh well. I should try a stick shift, mabey i'll find that a bit more enjoyable. It drives me nuts when the car is shifting around on its own :mad:



Anywho, thats my anti-driving rant.

Now I have to sell enough of my posessions to buy an Allez O_O


--James

uh.... it's cuz you've never driven a nice sports car....

on a bike, there's nothing like the feel of steeply banking into a fast, tight turn.

however, you can't experience the G forces that you can in a car with a sweetly tuned suspension... usually .8 to .9 Gs in "sporty" cars.... upwards of 1G in real sports cars.

i only drive a stick, i dislike automatics except in bumper to bumper traffic in dress shoes. My VW has an awesome 5speed it shifts awesome. We also have an auto car that i hate driving.

yeah, stick makes driving really fun too :)

JasBike: I also hated driving when I first learned to drive... because I was driving my mom's '86 Buick Lesabre.... now when you talk about soft.... THAT'S soft!!!

i drove one of those a few times, it was so annoying to drive. Soft and loose.

I love my 4x4 truck, goin off-roadin is soooooo funny. But then my friends 500hp 300zx is quite the fun and scary machine

oh man, i tend to look at drining like cycling, its a sport and if its not fun, dont do it. I drive a jeep, and its got a 5 speed in it with enough pep to spin the wheels and cool stuff like that. but Sticks are great, i dont know if i ever could go auto again.....

Make of driving what you will, if you live in a place where you bike is better transportation, there is no "need" to drive, but where I live, i needed to drive :) good luck and i hope you have no accidents, those are scary.

-Ross

Buy yourself a 1999 or newer Mazda Miata. Install tires recomended by the guys at Miata.net and your senses will be rewarded. Everything is razor sharp...steering, shifting, cornering....

To put it simply, if you don't enjoy driving, don't do it.

Chris L: would you give the same advice to someone who's just starting to get into biking?

"If you don't enjoy cycling, don't do it"?

What if the only reason they don't like it is because they're on a poorly fitting, butt-hurting Walmart bike?

Chris L: would you give the same advice to someone who's just starting to get into biking?

"If you don't enjoy cycling, don't do it"?

What if the only reason they don't like it is because they're on a poorly fitting, butt-hurting Walmart bike?

Hey, didn't we all start on junker bikes? I still enjoyed it. I just got more enjoyment out of it later when I upgraded. At least the junker bike I started on was relatively cheap and didn't lose it's value before I'd actually paid for it.

lol true...

my point is this... there is nothing like the joy of helping someone to enjoy something that they never enjoyed before. that said... i would not let one negative experience with driving, cycling, or any of the other hobbies i enjoy deter me from continuing to encourage that person to keep trying.

for example... one of my good friends really didn't like biking when she first started out... but because of my constant encouragement, she loves cycling now.

Well driving is a necessity these days, so I'm going to keep going.



Actually I covet a Miata very badly.. or a Z4 or Z3 or other small coupe. I could prolly enjoy driving one of those around :)

If only insurance wasn't so prohibativly expensive for me :(

JasBike...........don't give up...there's always professional help available.

well, really if you drive any small car, I think you will get the "quick" feeling you are coveting. I learned to drive on a '96 ford windstar, and man...it handled like a freakin dog. it did have a surprising amount of pickup, I'd find myself going 80 and I wouldn't realize it! nonetheless, I hated how I had to almost stop in corners, the way it leaned, etc. When I learned to drive stick, I learned on and now drive a '91 saturn SL sedan with 85 HP. its only about 2000 pounds or so (I think its the dent resistant panels :) ) and it has really short gearing so it is a peppy little car. The light weight and stiff suspension give it a sharp feel, even with 14" wheels with 65 series tires. I won't be beating any corvettes, but it handles sharply and it is a fun car to drive. The only thing bad about it is that it has the SOHC engine so there arent any aftermarket mods that would work on my car...bummer. I think I might get rims anyway. we'll see.

Jas, I think you just need a smaller car, not just a miata. better gas milage (I gotta pay for gas), better handling, and your friends aren't always hitting you up for rides. The focus, sentra, protege, civic, cavelier, corolla, and of course the saturn, would all be excellent bets, and most can be obtained for not a whole lot more the $10,000 new. used, you can get them cheaper then a lot of bikes. its all about the compacts, man

just thought of something else. Another reason why everything feels slow is becuase you are driving with your parents. Personally, I know that my mom literally screamed every time I took a turn a little quick, accelerated a bit aggressivly, or braked a tad late. My dad was a lot mre chill, but i still had to drive like I was on valium. don't worry, you'll be able to drive normally once your parents aren't in the car with you any more.

Sounds to me like you're destined to be car-less :D

Go ahead and rebel, it will be the first step to your eventual guru-like status in the cycling activist circles. Cars are not a necessity these days, as proven by so many people that don't own a car and survive quite nicely.

All you've got to do is make sure you get a girlfriend that rides, too, so she doesn't complain about you picking her up on your bike.

[QUOTE=gonesh9]
Cars are not a necessity these days, as proven by so many people that don't own a car and survive quite nicely.
[QUOTE]

This might be true where you live, and in most well-populated areas. But when you live out in the country,it becomes more difficult, and it's damned near imposible in my case since I live on top of a 1000' foot mountain (hey, it's a mountain for us jersey folks!) and the town is in the valley. And that's a little more than I want to go through after a long days work or for a gallon of milk.

I, as well as others I'm sure, would love to go car-free. But it's not always practical.

Get a Honda S2000! :D

I guess they're the S2200 now ... RWD, 260 hp (?), open top ... and you can't beat that short throw shifter tied to the high revvin engine!

Oo! I sort of hate it. Well I hate paying for gas. I used to drive a lot more, then I got my bike and now just drive to and from school with my sister. Kind of cool when you put about 6x the miles on your bike per week than you do with the car. And next year I may be able to eliminate the car altogether by riding to college.

I am about triple your age. Eh god..After all those years of commuting on clogged freeway-well, there is one advantage of getting older than dirt. With the way the economy is going and all the congestion, a rocker on the front porch 15 years from now,seems too far away..
I would love to live in a culture where alternative transportation is considered a high priority.. I predict with pending increases in energy for Americans, that will happen; but the conversion of our values will be too late and a rough switch..
It is great to put your bike on a train and ride home.
As to speedy, hot red sports cars..Don't see the fun,when freeways are too clogged to move..I do see idiots attempt to use all that horsepower, by passing in the median lanes, once in awhile..Can't speed up for too terribly long however, before they run into some immoveable object.

I had a similiar experience at your age, what made me get a car was the dating thing. It's hard to go on a date with the honey on the handle bars. I commuted with the bike, rode the bike to school occasionally, and rode some great weekend rides but I had to have the car for other stuff. I spent a lot more on my first bike than I did on my first car.

Get a cheap car that you can work on. This will give you a feeling of ownership beyond the title. A hoopty that you fixed up is more fun to drive than a nice car that you just bought, at least IMHO. It will also force you learn maintenance, something that will save you big bucks in the long run.

Dave

Unless you are an amoutee then drive a standard shift. Also the lest power assist things the better. A 1960s era sports car would be perfect.

Joe

Well I'd love to get my own car, and if I did, I would prolly get into driving. My grandfather is a used car dealer, and gets some perfectly usable cars for anywhere between 50-500 dollars. However, my mother says that insurance for me would be ~3,000 dollars, which I cannot afford. So therefore, I will not have my own car for a long, long time.

However, my mother says that insurance for me would be ~3,000 dollars, which I cannot afford. So therefore, I will not have my own car for a long, long time.

If I were you I'd ask your mom if she could add you on to her policy. You would then pay the same rate as she is paying. I did this and I'm only paying ~$650 (US) a year, and I'm 18 (still in the insurance "danger zone"). The only problem with this is if you get into an accident you better run like your @$$ is on fire! But I would discuss it with her, and if she trusts your driving enough she might let you do it.

Good luck,and keep us posted!

Driving to me is nothing more than transportation.

I *enjoy* riding my bike in the woods, I *enjoy* driving my car, yes, but I'd much rather spend my hard earned dollars on a sweet mountain bike than on a really nice car.

My viewpoint is this: No matter what car you own, there's still a speed limit. If you modify your car and make it all nice & pretty, people will either attempt to steal it, mess with it, steal your stereo, or key it. (no matter where you are, even in the burb's where I live). No matter how fast your car is, you'll always be limited by insurance, slow drivers, and cops. You're restricted on everything you do, and to get around it either requires being a millionaire with a good lawyer, or having your own private circuit.

Therefore, to be able to do what ever the hell you wanna do, you can do it on a bicycle.

Thank you for listening / reading my rant. LOL.

-Matt :D

If I were you I'd ask your mom if she could add you on to her policy. You would then pay the same rate as she is paying. I did this and I'm only paying ~$650 (US) a year, and I'm 18 (still in the insurance "danger zone"). The only problem with this is if you get into an accident you better run like your @$$ is on fire! But I would discuss it with her, and if she trusts your driving enough she might let you do it.

Good luck,and keep us posted!





Would this require me to share a vehicle with my mother/father? Or could I have a seperate car?



I'm going to investigate a little, I got the insurance company we are using, so I'll check this out.

Get a Honda S2000! :D

I guess they're the S2200 now ... RWD, 260 hp (?), open top ... and you can't beat that short throw shifter tied to the high revvin engine!





Yes, yes! BRILLIANT!



*makes 40,000 dollars appear*


Thanks for the advice! ;)

I drive a 99 Suzuki Swift, something like what you need, not alot of power but with the five speed you can make it go pretty good, on long trips I do between 80-90mph. Also has manual steering so that it handles better, dosen't wander as easy.

If you modify your car and make it all nice & pretty, people will either attempt to steal it, mess with it, steal your stereo, or key it. (no matter where you are, even in the burb's where I live

heeheh that is why i drive a 1985/1986 Volvo 740 GL ;) nobody wants to steal my hunk of junk. Sad thing is that its older then me :D

Another good point for my Suzuki Swift, nobody wants to steal a gutless little car that can only fit two people. I never wash it so it is always dirty and looks aweful too.