Motorcycle advantages over a car include:
- Cheaper to run
- Easier to repair
- Easier to park
- Harder to tow
- Can stop anywhere
- More flexible in traffic
- Less boring
- Looks better?
Cheaper to run
Motorcycles usually use less than half the petrol a car would. A motorcycle saves money you would otherwise burn up in smoke. It also saves your country money, as if a more people rode motorcycles, dependence on foreign oil would reduce. Motorcycle riders are leaders in petrol conservation.
Easier to maintain
Motorcycles are easier to repair. Firstly the engine is more accessible. You go to the bike, pull off a side cover or seat, and there is the engine. Secondly, there is less to maintain, e.g. two wheels not four. In many ways, a motorcycle is only half a car. If your costs for routine maintenance are not less than for a car, consider a new garage. Finally, many repairs you can do yourself, like changing spark plugs or fitting a new battery.
Easier to park
Motorcycles are easier to park than cars. People who take half an hour to get to work, may take just as long to find a park and then walk to work. What if you could ride right up to your building, get off, and walk in? For most motorcycle riders this is the case. A bike parks in a third of the space of a car, so you can angle park a hundred bikes where only 30 cars will fit. Even in the busiest of places, there is usually a spot to park a bike.
Harder to tow
Being towed is a reality of life, along with death and taxes. If you are the wrong place at the wrong time you will be towed. For cars, they just lift the front or back, and tow it off. Towing a big bike is more difficult. They can’t just drag it away. It must be winched onto a trailer, and then carted off. If you chain the bike to a fixture, like lamppost, it is even more difficult to tow, as the chain must be cut. Even for a clamped bike, the owner can often lift it and cart it away. However it is not impossible, so be careful.
Can stop anywhere
The ability to pull over anytime is a real bonus. Imagine cruising a big city on a bike, and you get lost. On a bike you can pull over anytime, look around, read road signs and check map directions. In a car, stopping in a city will usually block the traffic flow. When a bike pulls over, traffic flows around it, but in a car, the traffic flow forces you on, even in directions you don’t want to go! Sometimes people end up miles from where they want to be, because they could not stop and look at a map. Even on narrow city streets, a motorcycle can pull onto the sidewalk, for a brief “reconnaissance”. Riders can stop and look at the view, when a car must press on. A motorcycle is great for sightseeing and looking around new places.
Flexible in traffic
It is a terrible feeling of helplessness, being in a stationary line of cars with some block up ahead. Maybe someone had a crash. In a car, you have to wait, however long it takes. You dont even know how many miles the line stretches ahead. However in traffic jams, a motorcycle can usually wend its way forward. Flexibility is why many cities are bringing back motorcycle police – they can go where cars cant. A motorcycle needs only half the space of a car to move. A common city situation is drivers who cant go when the light turns green because there is no room on the other side of the intersection. However a motorcycle can always find a space on the other side where they arent blocking traffic. It is a rare case when a motorcycle has no movement options at all – after all, you can even get off and walk the bike along!
Less boring
The main cause of car accidents is inattention. Falling asleep at the wheel, often momentarily, happens more often than most people think. A car is comfortable, so if you are tired, your body tells you it is time to take a nap. Unfortunately, even a brief mini-nap can put you into oncoming traffic. In contrast, motorcycles wake you up, as on a bike you feel the wind, the wet, and the cold! So you are less likely to nod off “at the handlebars” than at the wheel. Riding can be unpleasant, but boring it is not, and this is an advantage.
Looks better?
The bad-boy rider certainly has appeal, but riding to look cool, and attract the opposite sex, is a poor reason to ride, as “showing off” makes you do stupid things, that defy common sense, like “wheelies”. You already have two wheels instead of four, why cut it down to one? If you want get girls, get a car. Girls are more comfortable in a car for a start. There is not much conversation on a bike (some guys find that a plus). Putting on a helmet messes up hair and make-up. Riding picks up road dirt. Those spare gloves can smell If it rains, forget taking your girlfriend on a bike – unless it is a test of love. What girl wants to arrive at a party looking like the thing from the swamp?