Oh, I could do it.
Wouldn\'t be much use for anything else for the rest of the week.lol
Car, bus or bicycle...
- Thread starter Einion
- Start date
Wouldn\'t be much use for anything else for the rest of the week.lol
freakinacage
Well-known member
i would love to walk or cycle everywhere. sadly i keep getting my bike nicked and several thousand pounds later i don\'t trust leaving it in the garage, so the cycling option will have to wait! not that i could cycle to work anyway, it\'s only 12.5 miles which is easy enough but it\'s a mental road which is also very hilly. i\'d be incapable of doing anything then till i had to cycle home!
walking is a pain coz it\'s just sooo slow. if i could run everywhere, i would (i\'d be like forest gump without the style!)
local public transport is shite. if i were to take it to work, i would have to catch a 7am bus to get there for 9 (it\'s a 40min journey) and at a fiver a day to work, petrol is cheaper.
walking is a pain coz it\'s just sooo slow. if i could run everywhere, i would (i\'d be like forest gump without the style!)
local public transport is shite. if i were to take it to work, i would have to catch a 7am bus to get there for 9 (it\'s a 40min journey) and at a fiver a day to work, petrol is cheaper.
Bigdennis52
New member
I recently had an insurance issue with my car which resulted in me currently having to wait out a suspension (DMV mix up I really dont understand) but whatever, :cussing:, I have realized how much more eco-friendly I have became. I used to drive my car everywhere... I mean it got as bad as I would drive to something I could see down the road.
The weather isnt great where I am at, still have snow/winter conditions but I have tried to walk more and even some days I walk back from my job (around 3 miles) I hope I keep it up once I get my car back in a couple weeks. It made me really think \"do I need to drive there?\"
Also this current situation I am in, makes me multi-task when I have errands to run, whereas I used to do one thing, go here-go there, and it was pretty ineffective especially for times sake.
Old saying comes into mind \"live and learn\"
The weather isnt great where I am at, still have snow/winter conditions but I have tried to walk more and even some days I walk back from my job (around 3 miles) I hope I keep it up once I get my car back in a couple weeks. It made me really think \"do I need to drive there?\"
Also this current situation I am in, makes me multi-task when I have errands to run, whereas I used to do one thing, go here-go there, and it was pretty ineffective especially for times sake.
Old saying comes into mind \"live and learn\"
freakinacage
Well-known member
christ, only 3 miles, i would at least cycle. i\'d love that. do it, you know you don\'t want to drive!
Brother Captain
Member
I wonder why no one mentioned the other alernative: Motorcycle. It\'s quite nice and involves less hasle about parking etc. Plus it\'s more eco-friendly than a car and can cover more distance than a bicycle.
What realy sucks is that after 6 years of motorcycle riding I finaly got a flat tire. And to make matters worse the tire cannot be repaired and has to be changed.
Anyway I consider myself lucky since I don\'t work and I only comute to university which is around 35 mins by tube and 25 mins by motorcycle. So I just choose according to weather and mood.
It\'s quite nice and involves less hasle about parking etc. Plus it\'s more eco-friendly than a car and can cover more distance than a bicycle.What realy sucks is that after 6 years of motorcycle riding I finaly got a flat tire. And to make matters worse the tire cannot be repaired and has to be changed.
Anyway I consider myself lucky since I don\'t work and I only comute to university which is around 35 mins by tube and 25 mins by motorcycle. So I just choose according to weather and mood.
Brother Captain
Member
So I gues if your wife was an airplane crash investigator you\'d never get on a plane? ???
After driving motorcycles for 9 years I realy don\'t get it why motorcycles are considered so dangerous. At 150mph I understand it but for comuting, inside a city they\'re much safer than let\'s say a bike. Better brakes, much more grip, throtle to get you out of a bad situation etc. Plus you are obliged by law to wear a helmet (a much safer helmet than those used in bicycles) and most people wear at least a motorcycle jacket and gloves. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that motorcycles are not for fools; you can do stupid things on a car and get away with it but not on a motorcycle.
I can undertsand all other arguments about motorcycles being uncomfortable in bad weather (sometimes it\'s awfull), unable to carry much lugage, more difficult to drive than a car etc but I don\'t get this whole safety issue. Sure if one is like some people I know that do 150mph on a ring road with heavy traffic your lifespan will be quite short. However most sensible people I know are quite safe using a motorcycle. That is appart from a good friend who has a tendency to drop his bike while parking and gets teased a lot but that\'s all I guess. lol
If it was true that motorcycles are unsafe for comuting in a city, then bikes should be banned for safety reasons.
I used a bike to comute in the past and it always struck me as odd how people consider bikes safer than motorcycles. I almost got killed twice on a bike.Not to say that a motorcycle is safer than a car but if we only look at safety one should use a tank to go to work (which would be great fun as well). And sometimes there are other issues; I consider bikes less safe than a motorcycle but if someone cannot afford to buy a car or motorcycle or prefers to combine his daily excercise with his comute who am I to judge him. Plus it\'s a matter of where you live. If I lived somewhere else I might prefer a bike myself. If I feel that I enjoy comuting in a certain way and it\'s enjoyable as well, I won\'t change it becuase it\'s not the safest option.
Damn, I hate writting long posts! It feels like writting an essay and it doesn\'t even contribute to your degree results.
alextheartist
New member
For the lower powered bikes or scooters say 125s or 50ccs, the petrol cost is seriously minimal... my friend drives about 10 miles to work everyday and other places at night and petrol costs him about £7 every two weeks...
Alex
Alex
freakinacage
Well-known member
work in casualty for a week. more cars on the road but more bikers are proportionally injured, in my experience. also the injuries are worse as you have very little protection, unless the car you are talking about is a ford ka. was talking to a paramedic the other day and apparently most people get pulled out of them dead (you are the crumple zone!)
anyway a plane crash investigator only deals with planes, sounds like his missus is an a/e nurse or something. they see all sorts
Brother Captain
Member
Not saying that motorcycles are safer than cars just that it\'s crazy that people are more negative againsts motorcycles than against bicycles where you are even less protected and more vulnuerable. And if people who can\'t drive properly or are careless drivers could afford a car that does 0-60mph in 3 seconds as easily as they can afford a motorcycle with the same performance then you\'d see the percentages evening up. As I said before motorcycles do not tolerate stupidity as easily as cars.
Anyway not to get too sidetracked I think that comutting gets borring either way becuase of the routine of it. That\'s why I envy people who comute in unusual ways. If I got to choose I\'d like to live in Venice and comute with a boat (after finding a house and a workplace with boat parking and my personal boat-chaufer). Sadly the best I can do is choose between my motorcycle and the 2 alternative tube routes to university.
lollollollollollolHave you tried via Kirkby?lollollollollollol
I\'d rather walk through a warzone.
Shaz I\'ve had enough \"experiences\" just driving through Liverpool, to make me keep the doors locked, the windows up and my wallet hidden.
Dodging \'Night Shift Girls\' still touting for business at 08:00 at Lime Street Station, was bad enough.
The first \"problem\" with motorcycles are that they tend to attract the more \"impulsive\" drivers. - This can ofcourse be remedied by driving safely.
The second \"problem\" is that they are a lot harder to read by the other people in the trafic because of their small size and high acceleration and speed (compared to bikes). This leads to a lot more accidents proportionally - every statistic confirms this.
The third problem is that when you get in an accident you´re only protected by a second layer of skin (cow?), and a helmet. This means that when you get in an accident it´s gonna be lot more serious every time (unless you get touched by the hand of god). Every statistic AND doctor (my wife is a doctor at the trauma-canter) will confirm this.
THAT is why I´m not gonna touch motorcycles.
Edit: and statistically flying is the safest mode of transportation - even if you´re fu..ed if they crash
The second \"problem\" is that they are a lot harder to read by the other people in the trafic because of their small size and high acceleration and speed (compared to bikes). This leads to a lot more accidents proportionally - every statistic confirms this.
The third problem is that when you get in an accident you´re only protected by a second layer of skin (cow?), and a helmet. This means that when you get in an accident it´s gonna be lot more serious every time (unless you get touched by the hand of god). Every statistic AND doctor (my wife is a doctor at the trauma-canter) will confirm this.
THAT is why I´m not gonna touch motorcycles.
Edit: and statistically flying is the safest mode of transportation - even if you´re fu..ed if they crash
freakinacage
Well-known member
thats because cyclists are often going too slow to do any damage (lower top speed, slower acceleration) and also tend not to drive in areas where a motorcycle would, ie dual carriageways, motorways etc
but as you said, motocycles are less forgive of eejit drivers
i\'d be dead in a week, which is a shame as a 125 would cut my commute in half and decrease my petrol
Brother Captain
Member
Welll even a 29 km/h (last glimpse on the speedo before flying over the bars) crash in a bicycle is enough to kill you. Especially if you get the bike on your head after hitting the tarmack. Luckily it was the frame that hit me and not the crankset. It must have left me with slight brain damage though as the first thing I did after getting up was checking my bicycle for damage. lol As for speed I\'ve been overtaken by bicycles often in city streets. And every time I used the dual cariageway for comuting everything was moving at a steady speed of 40 -50mph. The only real danger for a crash comes if you decide to filter through the traffic at high speed which I don\'t do as it\'s also very tiring. Most commuting accidents I\'ve seen so far involve someone going a lot faster than the other people in a road with heavy traffic.
It\'s no wonder bikes atract more impulsive drivers. The percentage would be even if you could buy a used Porsche or Ferrari at 5000 pounds and its maintnance costs were reasonable.
Concerning visibility motorcycles are forced by law to have their headlights on even at daytime (new motorcycles have, by design, their headlights on as long as the engine is running) and most riders wear reflective vests (at least in London).
As for protective gear I\'ve seen guys walk up after 80 mph crashes on a bike so it works quite well unless you hit a wall or you get run over. I myself had nothing but sore...buttocks after a 30mph crash some years ago. Bear in mind that a reasonably priced motorcycle will have way better frame, suspension, brakes and tires than the average car which means that a skilled rider can avoid a crash more easily. It\'s a safety factor that is often overlooked in motorcycles.
And statistics are quite relevant. I wouldn\'t trust the worst airline in the world no matter how safe planes are. And I wouldn\'t trust someone who drives like a lunatic no matter if he drives a motorcycle, a car, a bicycle or even a scateboard.
Again not saying that I\'d vote motorcycles as the safest mode of transport but I\'m quite amazed at the attitude of many people. IMHO it\'s beacause of stupid people who buy a 100bhp sportsbike with no prior experience and then try to imitate Valentino Rossi on a public road that this attitude is preserved.
Yes bikes have a degree of danger. Yes some people are stupid and should never have been alowed near a bike or anything that has a mottor. But treating motorcycles as the equivalent of running with a bucket of nitroglycerine in a mindfield as some peope do is a litle over the top.
Trying to get back on topic (if such thing is possible) commuting will always be boring as it\'s something you HAVE to do. Try doing the same route you do for comuting in other circumstances and you\'ll see what I mean. Going for dinner is not the same as going to work even if the route is the same.
Another funny thing is that when you like a means of transport a lot sometimes that makes you not want to use it for comuting. When I was doing mountain biking, every time I used it in the city I was thinking how much better it would be to ride in the mountains instead. Same happens with the motorcycle. Every time i\'m stcuk at a traffic light I think about twisty b-roads with no traffic and no scenery. Anyone else feels the same way or it\'s just another sign of my head not fuctioning roperly.
I still hate writting long posts.
