huhenio

.... and I missed my bicycling

BADLY

It is weird ... but my bicycle routine is better than the motorcycling one.

Just a thought.

mconlonx

Agreed.

While a motorcycle still trumps a car any day, bicycling is a whole other thing entirely...

And switching from mainly bicycling to a motorcycle is strangely unsettling for me--same exposure, same maneuverability, but no pedaling and if you're in a bicycle mindset, all of a sudden things are happening much faster. For me, it's a more jarring transition to be on the street on a motorcycle after biking for long periods, than the same transition into a car.

fordfasterr

true.

RogerB

I used to want a motorcycle for summer commuting so I could save gas at least part of the year. (Too many "chauffer" commitments during the kids' school year.) But now that I've started biking again, the bicycle makes more sense. I get my own workout, and the kids can do it with me.

BTW, in all my recent research of bicycling safety statistics, I've found bicycles to be safer than cars, and motorcycles to be frighteningly unsafe, relative to cars (in terms of fatalities per hours spent.) I used to think that both forms of two-wheeling were about equal, or that bicycles might be worse off based on my perception of "vulnerability." I used to think I wanted a motorcycle someday, but now I'm not so sure.

BroadSTPhilly

You can ride more than one motorcylce at a time? Awesome.

d2create

I don't agree. Statistics are worthless. Give a bicycle to the same idiot riding a crotch rocket motorcycle at 120mph on public freeways weaving in and out of traffic with no helmet and his girl perched on back in a tank, shorts and sandals and they will do something equally idiotic to kill themselves.

I've found that two wheels is two wheels and if used safely and with common sense you have equal chances of getting creamed by other vehicles.

dgu56

I rode a motorcycle seven years day in day out, had no car, etc.. So I rode every day rain or shine. In my opinion, and for what's it's worth, bicycling is much more dangerous. The cars constantly passing you are dangerous; any one of them can clip you. We've all seen this happen, no doubt.

With motorcycles you can at least stay with the traffic flow, and you aren't relegated off to the side. On the other hand, we have all seen those crotch rocket idiots who make life into a game of chance. With motorcycling it seems to a great extent you control the danger with your own actions. With bicycling you are at the mercy of any cager squeezing your ass off the road because the fool thinks you don't belong.

Still, I'd rather bicycle. Nothing quite like it, is there?

RogerB

An idiot on a motorcycle can easily kill himself. An idiot on a bicycle usually requires the help of someone in an automobile.

dgu56

Very true. Anybody remember Barbara Savage? Rode aroung the world, wrote a classic book about it, then was hit and killed by a motorist while riding around her neighborhood. She never got to see her book in print, which sold very well.

ChikkenNoodul

I'm a current motorcycle commuter, entertaining the idea of maybe becoming a bike commuter.

Just started riding bicycles again after 12-13 years off.

I feel safer on the motorcycle so far in Boston area traffic than I do on the bicycle. The rapid acceleration is a huge asset in staying out of harm's way around here. The vastly brighter lights are helpful for visibility even during the day.

I also feel naked riding the tiny ( It's probably heavy by today's standards, but feels light compared to a 500lb motorcycle ) bike without a full-faced helmet, armoured jacket, pants, and boots

I expect it'll get less daunting the more I do it, and I think I can get halfway to work without having to be on the streets at least.

dgu56

I remember in the 70's the big push to get bike paths set up. Real, honest to god bike paths that led places with their own bridges and all. The whole movement fizzled out. I rode through Davis, CA where they actually followed through on the idea and it was the best thing I ever saw as far as bike ways. Now all we get is a painted line on the side of the road where all the cars park anyway.

huhenio

No less than 5 a day for some reason or another.

UmneyDurak

I commute on both (not at the same time). They are different, but I like them both. I don't find transitioning from bicycle to motorcycle a big deal.

huhenio

The gear up on the motorcycle, the lack of excersise, and the fact that my commute had to be on I25 instead of the bucolic and quiet neighbourhoods and MUP has to do with me missing my bicycling.

-=(8)=-

When I lived in PA, I had three motorcycles and a scooter in my shed.
When I switched to bicycle commuting, after I got used to it, I was and
still am happier with the bicycles because of how uncomplicated it was.
Motorcycles are cool, and Ill probably get another one when I get back
to civilization, but they still dont compare to bicycles

UmneyDurak

I kind of see your point. For me the days I am not commuting by bicycle I am doing two hour training rides, so don't miss the exercise. When I commute on a bicycle it's on an expressway. Similar to riding a motorcycle on freeways just cars are passing me instead of other way around. There is a MUP, but after riding on it once I prefer to ride on expressway. Gear... meh don't really mind. When I ride a bicycle I am also in "gear" just different kind.

mrhedges

i want a motorcycle but not for city riding. I want to use it to go on long country rides and camping. I want to ride west from chicago on back roads and catalog ghost towns along the way. the american west is such an intresting place to me I could bicycle through it but it would take months while it would take weeks on a motorcycle.

I think bicycle are safer you need a much slower reaction time to avoid disastor. 10-15 miles per hour VS. 30-65 mph. also you can get up and dust yourself off after a wreck at 10 mph but not so easy at 50mph.

paulwwalters

Squids are just as likely to be killed on bikes as on motorcycles. Be smart, and you're just as safe as the next guy.

ironhorse3

I think there is some exercise on a motorcycle but nothing to compare with cycling. I had a 10 mile route planned out for my motorcycle (I had to exercise IT occasionally, to keep it from gumming up etc). I ride the same 10 mile loop for my bike exercise now and can repeat ad lib. When I used to pass cyclists when motorcycling, I thought they were envious of me. Now it's the other way around. Oh the ironies of life.

Catgrrl70

I ride a motorcycle as well, but only use it for work when I can't get to a destination on my bike or bus...like to my dentists office - it's faster than my bike so I can stay at work longer and not arrive all sweaty and stinky for my appointment (it's a long ride). In fact, my work does not charge employees for motorcycle or scooter parking - it's free b/c they consider it alternate transportation and there's a good many people riding, esp. since this spring. Even though it's free, I still bicycle. I get my exercise, and I don't get stuck in traffic. There's no lane splitting here so my motorcycle and I get stuck in the same traffic as everyone else - and it's no fun if it's hot out sitting in leathers baking on the freeway.
I do love my motorcycle though and my husband and I take distance trips on them regularly.

I don't have a big transition issue going back and forth any longer. I used to feel so exposed when riding my bike, but as I got better and the years accumulated, I don't think that so much any longer. Two wheels rool.

benda18

i could buy a new bicycle every 2 years for the same money i spend on mc insurance, or tires/chain/sprockets, or gas. or like 5 bikes for the cost of a new mc.

i let my mc insurance lapse in june bc bicycling is where it's at financially.

JanMM

No fitness benefit to riding a motorcycle.
It would be like bicycling downhill all the time. Fun but sorta dishonest.

mconlonx

You'll get where you're going faster on a bicycle than you will on a motorcycle. I commuted 7 mi, Medford/Malden to So. Boston for a year--riding the motorcycle in rush hour traffic down 28, over to the McGrath Hwy, by the Museum of Science, and into the city used to take the same time as a car, about 45min. I could do the same ride on a bicycle in about 25 min.

Acceleration on a motorcycle is definitely a plus, but don't count on daytime running lights for visibility--even with lights on all the time, drivers still don't "see" you anymore than they "see" bicyclists.

I also feel naked on a bicycle with just a little half helmet, especially when hitting 30+mph on long downhills.

Boston drivers are actually not that bad--they seem to be used to seeing and dealing with bicycle traffic, moreso than more rural towns. Just don't expect them to be any more polite to you on a bike than they are to other drivers...

ChikkenNoodul

I think you're correct, traffic seems to have gotten worse this fall. It shouldn't take 40 minutes to go 7 miles.

True, I've been hit by a car once on the mc, you have to ride as if you're invisible.

So far it seems that way too, bikes in the right side of the lane are many around here - riding the mc in inclement weather seems to confuse the heck out of them though

hairlessbill

I don't find the transition back and forth from motorcycling to bicycling difficult but I do find that when switching between the two seems to help increase my riding skills on both. When I switch from the motorcycle to the bicycle, I tend to take corners faster because it is so easy to lean even my 30lb Surly after dragging a 400lb Ducati around turns. Back on the moto, I get more confidence in turns because I realize how much lean you can actually put into a bike (motor or no motor). It's kind of a symbiotic relationship; I remember reading how a lot of mountain bike racers also train with motorcross/off-road motorcycles to increase their bike-handling skills.