Motorcycle Commute

[sorrowmonkey]

[Poll #1771800]
Also, please feel free to add your thoughts, comments, or other mockery in the comments.

Comments

[baronessmartha.livejournal.com]

I could not help myself. I love love love the ticky boxes. You may save on gas. Please wear a helmet. We love your brains on the inside and you have such a purty mouth.

[nrawling.livejournal.com]

There is savings to be had on gas, but it's difficult to make up the initial cost in equipment.

I like your brains where they are, too. You are a hoot on steroids, for sure.

[parsedgarnish.livejournal.com]

OMG Please be careful. (I know you will.) Motorcycles in heavy traffic give me agita - I think it's crazy dangerous. Wear a full helmet, of course... I would wrap you in a ridiculous combo of bubblewrap & titanium if I could.

The gas milege may be fantastic, but the rest makes me shudder.

Also - Ticky Box!

[kuzu-no-ha.livejournal.com]

*this*

I'm not interested in being a single parent.

[nrawling.livejournal.com]

If you could edit polls, I'd go back and put in bubblewrap. Too funny: I just love the mental image.

[farmhouse-ghost.livejournal.com]

How come a Vespa's not a choice? ;)

[jeep-squire.livejournal.com]

Not surprisingly, I'm in favor of motorcycles. That being said, as a single guy I don't have to factor a family into my decision & that's a pretty big factor.

As for equipment, I wear everything on that list except for the chaps. just don't like them. I'm hoping to get some of the kevlar lined jeans & khakis, or the kevlar long johns that you can wear under any pants. Gotta prevent that roadrash.

Full face helmet is a must as far as I'm concerned, you saw the same numbers in class I did, you know why.

I like the Shadow on your list cuz its a shaft drive & I want to try one out. I love the shaft drive on my CX500 lots of torque for the small CC's. The fury is pretty and all but I can find or build myself a Harley based chopper or bobber for a lot less than that.

[nrawling.livejournal.com]

The Fury was basically a joke. It's way too far out on the power curve for a newbie like me, and my understanding is that choppers are pretty tough to handle.

I loathe the way that the chaps look, but the protection is probably ten times better than the kevlar-lined denim. My MSF instructor had a two piece outfit that was like leather bibs with a jacket that looked pretty slick, but I haven't seen anything like it online so far.

I like the idea of shaft drive (basically maint-free), but notice that both the Shadow and the V-Star are shaft. In a lot of ways, those bikes are pretty comparable.

I'm pretty horrified that the 2012 Rebel is still carbureted. The (discontinued) 2008 Nighthawk was fuel-injected. I just don't get it. Why do people want a carburetor? The electronics is all I can think of.

[nrawling.livejournal.com]

There is FAR too much I-91 in my commute for a scooter to handle. Maybe a Burgman, but even the top-end Vespa would be sad. I looked, though. We saw quite a few Vespa's in Rome, although SMARTs have started to replace them.

[kuzu-no-ha.livejournal.com]

Although far less exciting, it would probably better if we sold the mustang and bought a small ford something.

[nrawling.livejournal.com]

From a gas mileage and safety perspective, absolutely. I know the motorcycle is pretty much a pipe dream, it's just something I think about.

Even if I could afford to buy a motorcycle, safety gear, insurance, registration, etc. right now, I wouldn't have time to ride it. That's sort of what got me thinking about the commuting aspect.

I saw a couple of guys on sport bikes commuting to work (headed the other way on I-91) this morning, and one of my classmates did in law school. It's just been something I've been thinking about while watching the ETL grind.