The case for motorcycles. Why not use one?

[Mighty Mira]

Originally Posted by SD26

It won't automatically coast. A regular motorcycle has a gear box. Not like a car where one can put it into neutral from any gear, but current production bikes have neutral between first and second gear.

Actually for a postie bike I believe they have a centrifugal clutch, which functions similar to the freewheel system in a push bike. Meaning that just backing off the throttle will cause you to idle in neutral, effectively. That would make P&G dead easy - throttle on, throttle off. Most of the so-called underbones have them too, e.g. Honda wave, cub.

[QDM]

The clutch on the postie type bikes will not let it freewheel.

Q

Originally Posted by Mighty Mira

Actually for a postie bike I believe they have a centrifugal clutch, which functions similar to the freewheel system in a push bike. Meaning that just backing off the throttle will cause you to idle in neutral, effectively. That would make P&G dead easy - throttle on, throttle off. Most of the so-called underbones have them too, e.g. Honda wave, cub.

[Mighty Mira]

Originally Posted by QDM

The clutch on the postie type bikes will not let it freewheel.
Q

Would you be able to just depress the clutch then, as a substitute for neutral?

[QDM]

If you hold the shift peddle down it will keep the clutch disengaged but you're still turning all the gears etc., which creates a lot of drag.

Q

Originally Posted by Mighty Mira

Would you be able to just depress the clutch then, as a substitute for neutral?

[GasSavers_Ash]

I love motorcycles more than I do cars but there some things against them.
-Tires: Your average set of sportbike tires will last you 3-5k miles, decent sport touring tires perhaps 8-10k.
-Economy vs. Weight: I will use an old Honda 600rr I had and my Civic for comparison: Mild throttle habits on the 600rr yielded 40mpg, mild throttle in the Civic yields 35-37mpg. Strictly looking at weight to fuel economy, the motorcycle weighs perhaps a 1/6 of what the car does but yields very similar economy. Once again, ONLY looking at weight to economy here.
-Fatigue: Riding a motorcycle will wear you out a lot quicker than driving a car.
-Preparation time: Takes a bit longer to get on at least jacket, boots, helmet and gloves as opposed to getting in a car and driving away. After you have arrived at destination, you still have to carry your gear.

I guess those are just a couple things I could think of. I think motorcycles are great but I think relying on one as primary transportation isn't the best solution. If anything, keep a car for backup. I didn't mention safety; I think anyone who gets on a cycle accepts that risk in doing so. When my mother tells me how dangerous motorcycles are, I remind her that she's broken more bones in cars than I have in motorcycle accidents. Happy riding!

[caveatipse]

I used one for years in rain, sleet, and snow. Never had a single problem with it, and would ride one again if I could afford it.

[spyderhead]

Just wanted to add that motorcycles - because of frontal areas - just do not significantly improve MPG. Granted my bike, a Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe, is made for touring and is very heavy, it consistently gets worse mileage than my VW diesel Beetle. On a highway trip last summer to Colorado, Arizona, etc., the bike averaged 41.344 mpg; on the open road like that, the VW would've averaged between 47 and 50. I guess small displacement scooters might has outstanding mpg, but not large road bikes.

[skewbe]

Originally Posted by spyderhead

Just wanted to add that motorcycles - because of frontal areas - just do not significantly improve MPG.

Hiway, no. But they can be cleaned up to marevellous effect like Craig Vetters 470mpg jobbie:




City, they will do much better than the average car. The bike weighs less and therefore wastes less energy when braking (and accelerating).

[GasSavers_SD26]

Originally Posted by spyderhead

Just wanted to add that motorcycles - because of frontal areas - just do not significantly improve MPG. Granted my bike, a Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe, is made for touring and is very heavy, it consistently gets worse mileage than my VW diesel Beetle. On a highway trip last summer to Colorado, Arizona, etc., the bike averaged 41.344 mpg; on the open road like that, the VW would've averaged between 47 and 50. I guess small displacement scooters might has outstanding mpg, but not large road bikes.

LOL!

Aren't you comparing apples to oranges?

A Royal Star and your Beetle make about the same HP, the Beetle makes more torque. But on the spectrum, the Beetle is a small economy car, and the Royal Star is a high performance tourer. A large high performance luxury tourer isn't going to get as good of mileage as the Yami.

I know which one would win from 0-60 and 0-100.

[GasSavers_JoeBob]

I used to ride bikes...rode from 1978 to about 1987. I had several, listed in order: a '66 Honda 90 (about 70-75 mpg, IIRC), a '78 Yamaha XS-400 (about 60 mpg), '72 Triumph 650 (60-70 mpg), '81 Honda GL1100 (naked Goldwing, about 40 mpg but like riding a two-wheeled limo), '78 Honda 750 (about 50mpg), and a couple others in the mix also.

The upside...great fuel economy (especially when my other car was a '65 Plymouth Wagon w/a 383...about 10-12 mpg...got 18 once!). During the gas shortage in '79, I filled the Plymouth once, then siphoned out the gas for my Yamaha. Also, most of the girls I dated then liked the bikes. (A few liked the Plymouth wagon also, but that's a story for another time!)

The downside: Riding in winter, even in Southern California, can get cold! You don't know how warm 32? is until you've been riding for a while and then you stop! Or stopping in a rest stop on the way back to the San Gabriel Valley from 29 Palms, and crouching down by the engine to get warm.

If the engine leaks oil, SOP with the Triumph, you make sure you're not wearing light colored clothes, or anything you want to keep clean.

Riding without eye protection isn't a good idea, either. I tried it riding through the desert, and really tore up my eyes. Rain w/o eye protection isn't much fun, either. Or rain with eye protection, either.

Then there is the rod in my right femur from where I ran the Yamaha into a stopped car on the freeway at 60 mph. Of course, I learned a couple valuable lessons...pay attention to the road, not the cows on the side of the road, and STEER, rather than BRAKE when there is an obstacle. After I started riding again, I trained myself to go around obstacles...saved my butt several times in the car.

Big reason I gave up riding was money (insurance ate up all my gas savings). Now my wife is afraid of me hurting my self on a bike...maybe some day I'll convince her....