City Riding Pros and Cons: Bicycle vs. Scooter vs. Motorbike

City Riding Pros and Cons: 
Bicycle vs. Scooter vs. Motorbike 

Bicycle--25 years riding
Pros:

• Silent
• Out-maneuver traffic (no jams)
• Secondary benefits to travel time: exercise/zen time
• Free parking
• Get exercise/cardio/always fit for ski season or other activities
• Feels like a skill to be a good rider
• Arrive everywhere pumped full of endorphins
• Stay warm every season (moving)
• Can carry a lot of stuff of unusual dimensions (eg. vaccuum cleaner on a rear rack)
• Zero-emissions
• Way more stealth
• Bicycle-culture very creative/casual/low-cost
• Very very fun
• Can actually drink coffee while riding
• Can do most of maintenance yourself
• Less gear than motorized bikes
• Can wear almost anything/almost nothing
• Other cyclists wave
• Can use almost any roadway/shoulders of highways
• No insurance! No licence!
• Can ride year-round, even in snow

Bicycle Cons:

• Have to allow longer travel time
• Always arrive sweaty/tendency to develop low-maintenance cyclist 'look'
• 100% exertion
• Difficult at times to carry as much as you need without over-exertion
• Require 'bicycle-recovery' time
• Have to mess around with headlamps/rear lights/batteries etc.
• Over-use injuries 
• Less likely to go out if tired
• Safety factor in dark/rain
• Safety factor on streets without bike lanes
• Still a lot of gear to haul around (rain gear/helmet/locks)
• More susceptible to theft

Scooter (Honda Ruckus 50cc/4-stroke)--5 years riding (36 000 km)
Pros:

• Actually pretty quiet
• Can sneak around traffic (somewhat illegally)
• Can park in triangle zones/motorcycle parking almost always available
• Zero exertion
• Can carry A LOT of stuff in panniers/through underseat to foot-well
• Low emissions/low cost for gas
• Get a lane! (Feel safe)
• Full face helmet is good for incognito effect/singing en route
• Faster than a bicycle (60 km top speed)
• Other bikers wave (even 'real' motorbikers)
• Has built-in lights so don't have to mess with detachable lights!
• Can ride almost year-round  (about 1 1/2 months of ice here)
• Very very fun
• Friendly/cartoon factor--all ages/everyone will approach to talk about your ride
• Low theft-factor.
• Soooo easy to ride around town (automatic)
• Insurance is cheap
• Don't need a motorcycle licence (just a driver's licence)

Scooter Cons:

• Get cold in off-season! Have to layer up/wear wind & rain gear/use hotshots
• Shop costs/finding private mechanics who are available when you need them
• Not much scooter-culture unless you chopper your bike/not inclined to partake
• Doesn't feel like a real skill (doesn't require that much co-ordination/courage/fitness)
• Have to wear anti-road-rash gear
• Can compress vertebrae on bumps (all weight on tail bone)
• Slow on hills/have to watch/deal with overtaking traffic
• Not allowed on high speed highways (not necessarily a 'con'...)
• Have to pay insurance
• Can't carry a passenger (weight restriction)
• Messin' around with oil n' gas

Motorbike (Kawasaki Ninja 250cc)--3 months riding

Pros:

• Fast (100km/hr)--can go on highway...can go places!
• Arrive everywhere pumped full of adrenaline
• Can't multi-task: pure focus/zen
• Big Big Big Bliss-Factor
• Riding position is better for bumps (can stand on foot pegs)
• Probably more cool
• Feels like a real skill to learn to ride
• Other bikers wave
• Still very cheap on gas and insurance
• Anti-road-rash gear may be the same as on a scooter but feels more legit

Motorbike Cons:

• Loud
• Need a licence (a good thing, but time/money)
• Arrive everywhere feeling like a Stormtrooper
• Can't carry items of unusual dimensions
• Not as easy to ride in town as a scooter--have to constantly change gears
• Still can't carry a passenger--feels too dangerous
• Feels like a luxury/not entirely practical (depending)
• Feels less safe than bicycle/scooter in heavy rain
• Definitely have to wear anti-road-rash gear
• People actually less likely (than scooter) to approach and chat about ride!..maybe because this bike is pretty generic?
• Motorbike culture more exclusive/expensive
• Shop costs!!
• Fast factor--higher risk
• Can't ride year-round 

                  

Two-Wheeled Evolution...The Fleet

There it is, the Kawasaki that may or may not change my life. It's hard to know at this point. But it felt ordained: I'd given up on getting a (motor)bike this year because everything I liked was too expensive. Time was going. And I felt greedy. How many two-wheeled vehicles does a gal need? (Three, apparently. Three.) Then the Universe intervened. Housemate Robyn, who was moving to the States, discovered he couldn't take his bike with him. He sold it to me, cheap. 

This happened in August, a couple weeks before my learner's licence was due to expire on Sept. 5th. I couldn't book a road test appointment in time. Best I could do was call up Pro-Ride (where I did my motorcycle training in Sept. 2013) and get on the cancellation list. Sure enough, Pro-Ride called on Sept. 2nd and said 'Hey! We have a cancellation! Can you do your practice test tomorrow and your road test on Friday??' I said I'd go for it. The Universe obviously wanted me on a motorbike.

At that point, I'd only crept around the neighbourhood on the Ninja, stalling randomly and trying to remember how to change gears, I hadn't even taken it through a traffic light. When I knew I just HAD to do it, I got on it that night and rode all over town. No problem! I swear, motorbike riding is 95% in your head. And I passed--the day my learner's licence expired. Suddenly, I had a bike and a licence. My soul needed time to catch up!

Here's, me, my soul, and the Ninja, catching up on the spit in Squamish, with The Chief in the background. 

There's definitely, um, a huge leap in nirvana-factor between a scooter and a motorbike. I'd describe it as one of the more visceral experiences of my life--like being an extension of a machine, suddenly capable of going very fast, while feeling strangely secure and connected to the engine. And this, from someone who definitely rides like a girl. I think the overblown safety concerns re: motorbikes are clearly related to the dominant demographic who tends to ride them. Every time I take a step 'up' the motorized ladder on two wheels, I actually feel safer. Like 'Wow! I can actually keep up with traffic!' (Now, when I drive an actual car, I feel huge, as if I'm going to bump into everyone. No room to maneuver!)

So I am indeed sticking with three two-wheeled vehicles for the moment. The insurance for both the Ruckus (50cc) and the Ninja (a 250cc) is pretty cheap, and the downfall of 'real' motorcycles is that they can't handle long-handled cargo (i.e., garden tools), so I need the Ruckus for work. The Ninja, however, doesn't have a fantastic prognosis: there are cylinder issues (and I'm not spending any more $$ on it). I could take it on an Epic Ride that would simply end when it chokes on a cylinder. Could end anywhere from Surrey (woo) to mid-Alberta. I wouldn't wager much farther. 

This blog has seen me through a full evolution of two-wheeled transportation, and I have a feeling it's not over. Recently, my trusty work vehicle (Honda Ruckus 2012, centre) hit 18 000 km, which is how much mileage was on my 2009 Ruckus when it hucked up its engine and died. I don't believe in jinxing, mainly because I've changed the oil on this one religiously, every 1000 km. So chances are, it will last longer. 

I, however, have been reconsidering the bicycle lanes! Honestly, density on the North Shore has increased SO MUCH in the past few years that the free-flowing bicycle lanes are starting to look good again. Not to say I'd go back to pedaling  like the manic gardening cycling maniac I was...five years ago. I have discovered, though, that Motorino makes an electric scooter with the same frame as the Ruckus, which means I could haul tools and claim the bike lanes at an acceptable 30 km/hr. 

See? Looks just like a Ruckus, but electric!