The case for commuting by motorcycle

Despite the reputation, it's better, more practical transit than you might think.

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[AusPeter]

Where I live, I detest the loud Harleys. No, they don't save lives, its called Doppler effect and I only hear you as you pass or from behind, and rattle our windows. How some don't wear helmets is just asking for Grim Reaper or deafness.
Too many distracted drivers. Else yes, I would ride an electric motorcycle or Motorbike (BMW) to work and for travel. But you are limited to weather. Better have your bloodtype/Med ID on your self. (friend is EMT. He told me how he took Helmet Extraction training. I don't ride now).

I used to ride many years ago and took all the safety precautions and dressed for survival and not fashion/comfort. I now live in NM where motorcycle helmets are optional, and people on motorcycles dress as if road rash is not a thing. So I cringe whenever I see such an idiot go by. But what I can’t comprehend is how these riders avoid heat stroke when riding with a bare head in summer.

In car comparison the bicyclists generally all wear helmets.

 

[AusPeter]

Hold it right there. "I had to lay it down" is pure fiction. Rubber has a much higher coefficient of friction than steel or aluminum does. A bike that's on two wheels can stop FAR more quickly than one that's sliding on it's side.

"I had to lay it down" inevitably means "I panicked and screwed up (usually locking the back brake and/or not using the front enough) and don't want it admit it - even to myself".

If you've "laid it down" you have already crashed. And things are probably only going to get worse.

The only time I laid a bike down was when turning onto a highway from a minor road. The highway was also doing a sweeping turn, and was slightly banked, and I was entering from the high side and leaning into the camber and not away from it. And it was summer, and that morning was the first rain shower in several weeks, which made the roads a lot slicker than I realized. Before I knew it both wheels had slipped out and I was sliding across 3 lanes. Fortunately my riding gear saved me from the impact with the ground, and being 7am on a weekend there wasn’t any other traffic around.

 

[AusPeter]

That's not unusual. If I'm not stressed out or distracted by the day's work on my commute I'm probably surrounded by rush hour traffic full of people that are. Being in the right headspace is important to being able to make good decisions while riding.

I don't ride now, but I do down hill ski, and I take the same approach. If my heads not in the game then I get off the slopes, because that shit's dangerous. My local ski slopes are a small affair but there's still several people a year killing themselves by running into trees etc. And on the days that I do ski, I always see the ski patrol bringing someone down the mountain.