Monday, June 29, 2009

why motorcycles basically shouldn't be legal, except for Harleys

There are two types of riders:

1) Idiots who are willing to accept risk in exchange for performance.

2) People who prefer safety and comfort and are willing to wait their line in traffic.

The first type of people want bikes because they are the fastest machine you can get for the money. These people will love their bikes for all of the several weeks of their remaining lives. There is no way for these people to ever be safe riders, no matter how skilled. As their skill increases, so do the risks they are willing to take.

The second type of people could be good, safe riders, but never will be because they don't see the point in motorcycles. There is an exception within this group, of course: the fashionista Harley riders. They have no interest in performance (if they did, they'd be on a real bike), so they are likely to be perfectly safe. Their enjoyment from the ride has nothing to do with speed or performance, so they can rumble along perfectly contentedly and don't need to take risks or push limits to enjoy themselves.

If anyone cares, I'm the first type. Virtually everyone who has ever bought a bike is. Also just like virtually everyone who has ever bought a bike, I hope to own a ridiculous car someday. Maybe an S2000 or an Elise.

4 comments:

TheBehst said...

Get yourself an Elise, it is a lot easier than house hunting.

shaun said...

I'm holding out for a few years, then getting a Saturn Sky.

Or any turbo subaru wagon.

Or a Pontiac GTO or G8 or Solstice.

Too many good choices. I expect the Subaru Legacy wagon XT will win the day, since the insurance should be the cheapest, plus Leila will think it is the least hideous and I won't look like a complete idiot driving it.

liamk said...

what do you think about these?

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/smart-car-1.jpg

my friend John has one and says it's very economical and fun to drive...but he is a foot shorter than me, and you're about a foot taller, so I can maybe see a potential problem.

shaun said...

I think smarts are cute, but only sensible in cities where you have to pay for parking by the foot.

Riding a bicycle is fun, so I guess a smart car could be fun in it's own way, so long as you aren't in a hurry to get anywhere.