How to justify a scooter vs. a car

[thomason2wheels]

Originally Posted by ebacherville

if you drive a motorcycle or scooter... My tips.. been riding on 2 wheels for 20 years.. first vehicle was on 2 wheels.

1. ALWAYS wear a helmet.. no exceptions.. yes even at 35mph on a 50cc scooter..
2. drive like every vehicle on the road is piloted by a comi-cozy A.D.D. piliot.. Defensive driving is key..
3. Know your bike, know its limits. know your limits.. don't push them
4. speed kills.. faster you go the more those odds that you die go up
5. always in every situation have a exit strategy, if its driving into the shoulder or speeding up or slowing down, or sliding the bike on its side.. whatever, always look for a why out of the situation if something went bad.. like a car pulling out in front of you.. If you have a exit strategy you might be able to pull it off when you need it... with out the strategy you'll be sure to crash.

Well said....

[alvaro84]

I'd also advise to wear full protective gear whenever possible at all. Nasty things can happen to your body when you're slipping on the road, or hit something.

[renault_megane_dci]

Motorcycle is not a rational choice (scooter is not rational either).

In fact, the rational choice is to do what you're told :
buy big SUV,
ride with A/C on,
buy fancy alloy wheels, top notch stereo and whatever is a the trend these days
stay stuck in trafic,
have it maintained at a dealer's store, twice a year, to be sure
do not hypermille it (could be dangerous being concentrated, who knows ?)
renew the car every two year,
contribute to lungs disease, skin cancer, global warming and all.
THE SOCIETY MUST NOT CHANGE
(and don't hesitate to put your remaining savings at the bank for them to play with)

Irony aside, I have been riding a motorbike for 10 years now, played my luck sometimes, never got in an accident (except the usual drop of the bike in a parking lot), my motto has been : "stay in front to stay alive".
However, if I could have ride a bike to work, I would have and obviously an electric assisted bike is much better.

[Ryland]

A cheap clean option is an electric bicycle because in a lot of areas you can get away with ridding on bike trails and bike lanes with an electric bike, it's pushing the limits of what is legal but most of the time the police will look the other way unless you are doing something stupid.
I've put many miles on electric bicycles, mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles and never lade one down, when I took a motorcycle safety class (very good idea) they handed out a sheet of accident statistics and most of the time the person who got in an accident was speeding, drunk, not wearing a helmet or otherwise doing something stupid, but the number of accidents that involved someone who was driving reasonably was really low, around 2% of the total accidents involving motorcycles.

I would not want to drive a scooter any long distance or on roads with higher speed limits, but if you live in a small town and want to be able to park on side walks or at bike racks then a scooter can be really practical, but wearing a helmet eve while operating a scooter or moped is a very good idea, my full face motorcycle helmet has a lot of chips from gravel hitting it, lots of bugs on it and it keeps your eyes from drying out so you can see better, I also find that my hearing is improved while wearing a helmet.

[renault_megane_dci]

Originally Posted by Ryland

wearing a helmet eve while operating a scooter or moped is a very good idea, my full face motorcycle helmet has a lot of chips from gravel hitting it, lots of bugs on it and it keeps your eyes from drying out so you can see better, I also find that my hearing is improved while wearing a helmet.

Isn't that mandatory anyway ????

Helmets on bicycle are becoming mandatory in France !!!

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by renault_megane_dci

Isn't that mandatory anyway ????

Helmets on bicycle are becoming mandatory in France !!!

Not here, here you are only required to wear a helmet if you only have a learners permit, otherwise you are only required to have eye protection.
I prefer full face motorcycle helmets and buy a new one every 10 years or less.

[roosterk0031]

Some states don't require helments at any speed. Personal choice, I couldn't imagine choising not to as riding with is so much more comfortable(most of the time), but some of my young/dumb nephews don't. My kids do putting around the yard on the 70-80 without me even reminding them.

[Gealii]

Originally Posted by roosterk0031

Some states don't require helments at any speed. Personal choice, I couldn't imagine choising not to as riding with is so much more comfortable(most of the time), but some of my young/dumb nephews don't. My kids do putting around the yard on the 70-80 without me even reminding them.

agreed I will always wear at least a partial helmet when riding any smaller vehicle wether it be a quad or a bike above 20mph. As far as the helmets my area is one of those i see people going across the state line stopping just to take their helmets off

[roosterk0031]

Yeah it's funny (IMO) to see HD riders most often with the beanny cap's on the rear seat. Just part of the costume.

Years ago I had a goldwing rider bump my car from behind, max 5 mph hit. I was stopped at a light behind 10 other cars, bridge of his nose kissed his windscreen and split his nose flush to his checks, nose was dropeing 1/2" maybe little more, bleeding like a nose does. His helment was in his trunk, bike didn't even fall but was totaled. I bet that nose is still mess up.

Fun yes, save money not for most.

Saw a nice 2005 FZ1 with only 3110 miles for $3900 on Craiglist(not much of a economy bike but I had a 01 still like them, 45 mpg), 7 yo still original tires, about $4000 less than it would have cost new, over a $1.33 a mile in depreciation, plus 7 years of insurance, license, probably over $2 a mile.

If you think you'll buy new and ride alot, what makes you think you are that much different than the average guy selling his 5-10 yo bike with less than 10,000 miles. And how many miles with the Chinese scooter will last. Even if it last 6000 miles without any extra expense, that 0.25 per mile, equivalent of 14 mpg, maybe you get a really good one, it last 12,000 miles, $0.125 /mile ooohh 28 mpg. Add the other expenses and it's under 20 mpg equivalent.

[ecomodded]

Here in the great white north(Canada) we are even required to wear helmets when bicycling,which is a sensible request. They made it law about 25 years ago, promoted to save many children and adults lives and prevent countless brain injuries, which it does.

When i ride i always wear a helmet, my mtb routinely travels at break neck speeds and i have wiped out while at near top speed coming down a gravel logging road. Hit a rut carved out by a excavator to limit access. I went sailing down into it, both my shocks exceeded their limits and bottomed out, then the momentum and shocks sprung me out in the same direction i was headed,only upside down. I landed 25 feet away threw some brush on the side of the road.Skidded on my helmet upside down with the bike clipped to my shoes. Ouch luckily just the wind was knocked out of me. Thanks to my helmet.