Need quickly to hear from someone who gets around on a motorcycle --

I ride a motorcycle--a big thumper.

Rear saddle bags hold about a dozen quarts of room for small personal gear.

Gas milage is great. Open air riding is exhilarating--sense of wonder, adventure, and freedom. Packin' a babe is great "togetherness." No parking problems.

Frequent breakdowns, dead batteries, spills, legs burns, and wild bastards that try to run you off the road are the disadvantages. It's dangerous as hell. There ain't no "if you're going to go down" but when. Bikes require more periodic inspection/repair than cars, and they're more tempermental.

Tri

My husband rides a bike to work for the sole purpose of using the diamond lane. Among the other disadvantages listed above, some smart ass opened his door on the freeway and my husband did a digger over it and a face plant onto the hood of another car. Luckily he was only going about 25mph.

You know what? Yes, it does happen. Especially if you're riding chopped. There's always some nut case out there that doesn't really like bikers at all. I've been cut off, flipped off, and nearly run off the road. That's when I rode full time for years and years.

Tri

I would say ride.

I found the biggest dowb side to be rain and bad weather in general. Both unpleasant and dangerous and struggling in and out of raingear is a pain.

Not much you can add here, tri got about it all.. definitely "ride"
I don't street ride anymore because its pretty much a much a death wish, but i still moto-cross which is still a blast for me.

I've owned four motorcycles. My first and second ones were all I had for over a year. The upshot was it felt great and was liberating. The down side was I didn't like the wind. I didn't mind wet weather as long as I had my rain gear. Forgetting gloves was a pain--literally. Raindrops hitting my hands stung.

Also had to be careful with shopping. Everything had to fit into a backpack or my tank bag. I didn't have saddlebags then.

Those who take a ton of clothes with them when they go on vacation are missing out. I took a two-week motorcycle trip on my BMW and only had one saddle to pack all my clothes. Having to be so restrictive with clothes is great!

I have a fairing that also protects my hands, so I don't get wind chill, but my fairing does not protect my legs, so i'll get rocks that cut and bruise my legs (tho w/out cutting my jeans). Carharts, doubled canvas of tighter weave than jeans are great, as I usually cannot be bothered to wear my chaps--whci are actually my horse riding chaps so are quite horsey and not something I'd wear into most restaurants...

In addition to getting to use the hig occupancy lanes, we get to bypass ferry waitlines --at least for the Washington State ferry system.

Passengers are a concern. I'm not particularly big and will not carry a passenger who outweighs me, as it makes handling the bike difficult.

If your character gets insurance through USAA, the usu one for military families, s/he will not insure the motorcycle thru USAA but with anyone else. This is because, being the military insurance, USAA has a disproportionately high number of young males, who are also the lion's share of bike riders, thus USAA carries far more motorcycle riders and has much, much higher rates.

There are other little things--we're particularly careful not to overfill the gas tanks, as gas would then drip right onto scalding hot metal after it drips off the tank that is in front of the face. We're particularly careul after first rains, because all of the transfered rubber and lost oil/other vehicular fluids make the roads a mess and make the foot slip when we have to set a boot down.

PM if your character wants to talk, especially if she's a she.

When I used to ride, I always payed sharp attention to occupied parked cars on the street, esp a one way street, because the driver often would not see you coming and open the car door right in your path.

As I was watching one such individual, the guy in the back seat flung open his door and caught me by surprise.

I had friends who carried pool balls with them to throw through the windshields of cars trying to run them off the road.

I used to hate cars. Now that I don't ride any more, I hate bikes.

My beloved Hubbe always carries some ball bearings in his pocket and lets one go if someone is tailgating him to close. It doesn't really harm the car behind him, but makes a terrible noise and forces them to slow down.

I ride with him every chance I get. We are planning an extended trip this summer. I like the fact that we have to pack light. Strangely enough I feel safer on the bike than I do in a car. My Hubby says the same. I love the freedom, the wind in my hair and all the smells that I can't smell in a car. I also love the intimacy of it all.

Perks said:

A couple of quick questions, as I've only ever been a passenger on a motorcycle, and that very infrequently:

1 - Do you say that you 'drive' or 'ride' the thing?

2 - Are there any storage compartments on a typical motorcycle, somewhere to put small items that you might take around with you? What do you call it?

3 - If you use a motorcycle as a frequent form of transportation, what are the upsides? The drawbacks?

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Don't know if this is too late, but here you go:

1 - You "ride" Definitely ride.

2 - You can usually stick things beneath the seat. that's about it unless you buy saddle bags. You can also buy magnetic bags that you put in front of you on the motorcycle itself.

3 - Upsides - good gas mileage, can accelerate faster than a car, smaller than a car so you can weave in and out better

Downsides - weather, if you ride to work you either have to wear your dress clothes or bring them, then you have to worry about how you're going to bring everything you need, cars do not pay attention to you at all. They really don't. You have to be totally proactive and anticipate everyone else's movements.

Don Allen said:

Not much you can add here, tri got about it all.. definitely "ride"
I don't street ride anymore because its pretty much a much a death wish.

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Man you should ride over in Taiwan. Everytime you get on the bike you have to watch every angle. I pray for protecion EVERYTIME i ride. No joke!!!

I would just agree to what everyone else has already said it's a blast until someone wants to play "kiss". I did my superman impression but the was some kryptonite coz i bounced and broke 3 ribs. It Totaled (spelling) my bike and the guy scammed me by disappearing so i did get hardly any money of him.

Kev

I raced pro for a couple years. short-track, half mile and mile, and road race.

I say 'ride'

riding on the street is a LOT more dangerous than racing.

riding on the street is dangerous due to auto drivers. the biggest annoyance is the weather.
IMO

rugcat said:

I used to hate cars. Now that I don't ride any more, I hate bikes.

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See, now why do you have to go and say that? Unless you were one of those riders who weaved in and out and did crazy stuff, and now you assume that everyone who rides is like that. We're not. Some of us, like me and my husband are safe, fun riders that respect people in cars and expect the same treatment in return!

I used to ride. Haven't in years (switched to just dirt bikes and now atv's)

1. I rode (not drove).

2. My purse was a leather fanny pack. (still is) It holds everything that you need. If I was making a short trip, I might stick my license in my sock and leave the fanny pack at home.

3. Everyone else has listed the upsides. The only downside that I didn't see listed was road conditions. Man! There are so many craters in the roads! Not only do you have to deal with things coming at you from four sides, you have to worry about a hole swallowing you from below .... and bird poop/bug guts from above.

But, even though I don't ride anymore, I still occasionally yearn for it. I feel especially bad because when I stopped riding, my husband did too. He eventually sold his bike - Not because he didn't want to ride anymore - but because he didn't want to ride without me.

He should get another one!

I know of stories, and I'm sure that most riders do, that would put some people off using m'bikes.

As I cannot drive I ride a pushbike and motorbike.

Here in the UK, tax and insurance is cheaper than for cars. It only costs me around £10 for a full tank of fuel--10 litres which lasts for 70-80 miles.

Car drivers are a pain and sometimes they literally do not see bike riders--this has been proven in a scientific test. I've had a guy pull almost fully into the lane I was in before pulling back into his lane after he saw me.

I do weave through traffic, some cars move out your way, a few less move in your way--most do not bother to move. When waiting at queues for traffic lights I sometimes pass the queue to wait somewhere near the front.

Bad weather is horrible, though bareable. The worst is wet weather at night: you have all the head lights shine though the rain drops on your visor--try driving in these conditions without using your wiper. Also in cold weather your visor can start to mist up--not nice.

But for the great sides, the freedom and fun of riding the bike more than make up for the problems I've had.

I've been riding for about 5 / 6 years and only come off twice, both of which have been down to me. I've also had a lady slam her breaks on in front of me, making me run into her car--her fault if you ask me, my fault if you ask the insurance company.

Oh, and another downside--it's always the m'bike's fault, never the car...