A bit bias asking on here.......?

[sagiliam]

Just wondered what people thought. It's a while before im 17 but i am kinda deciding whether to go bike or car. Theres a few pros and cons for both. Main pro for bike is the money....alot less!! What you think? maybe poll time??

spanks
liam

I was thinking of keeping my lil 50 for a run about if i get a car as it is as cheap as chips to run

[mr.z]

Depends entirely what you need one for, where you going, how often you use it, where you work e.t.c.

I can honestly say i haven't NEEDed to drive more than 3 times last year, when it was snowing and needing to carry things like tv's

Ideally get a licence for both and borrow a car when you need it imo
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[athelstan]

Learning to ride on two wheels before you drive a car will make you a far better driver in later life. You will understand how road surfaces, cambers, wet, ice etc will affect your safety.It will teach you to anticipate the stupidity of four wheel drivers and how accidents are never your fault (ish).

[MRX Steve]

I’m in a similar situation to you, I'm 17 later this year, and i decided it would probably be best to go for a car. Car is more practical for winter as i will have to do a daily 28 mile round trip commute to college, can carry more people in a car, car can carry more stuff, car is more practical when going to parties (some where to sleep) and girls generally aren’t interested in having to be taken every where on a bike.

The bike does of course have its + points like low running cost etc but i know for me the positives of a car outweigh the negatives, but for you a car may be less essential say if you live close to work / college / bus stop.
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[MarkJ]

From bitter experience, I'd say the whole "I can carry four of my mates" thing is actually a bad thing. You end up being the designated driver all the time to your mates who can't drive, you end up ferrying them too and fro to places, and they never give you any thanks or money towards petrol. Also at 17 (unless mummy and daddy have lots of money) you'll end up with an absolute shitter of a car and pay through the nose for it on insurance.

You're 17, don't have any kids, the biggest thing you'll need to carry is college books. It's not like you're a father-of-3 who needs to carry a huge box of tools to work every morning is it?

I wish I could have somehow afforded to do bike lessons and buy a bike at 17

[extreme3d]

Say you had passed your bike test and are looking at getting a bike..... when you say 'bike', do you mean a small commuter or a 600+ cc sports bike. As the harsh reality is that doing a lot of miles (more than 15k a year) on a sports bike works out at about the same or even more than running a small car. Tyres, service costs, insurance and lots of petrol soon mount up.

A small cheap car would provide the same or better mpg with the added bonus of a roof, more seats, radio/cd player (or even full ICE if you go down that route /*shudders*) and a heater. Insurance costs would be about the same and servicing is done a lot less often.

A commuter bike will get the job done for a lot less cost than a sports bike and car. So if money is on a shoestring then do the bike licence and get a bike like an ER-5.

A sports bike will also quite happily commute, but it obviously has a lot more bang for the buck and opens up a whole new world of fun, meeting new friends etc - in short it will become a hobby as much as a mode of transport

Think carefully on the last point. If you get a cheap car and want to make friends or show off with it (which every young man does) you will end up looking very sad trying to mod it with a sound system, cheap alloys and stupid wide tyres and worse yet, a drainpipe sticking out of the back. You will be forced to meet up in car parks at night and stand around looking at them. If you want to ask a question... you can't. It's a strictly 'if you don't know don't ask affair' - no friendliness or camaraderie to be found there...

[mr.z]

[_Will_]

[_Will_]

[Robby]

I'd much rather just have a car than just have a bike. Cars are fun too, and in winter bikes are generally not fun.

[extreme3d]

[jay_666]

well im currently in the process of getting my bike and car license. I wasnt going to do my car test for a while buy my mom said to get it done, then i can borrow her car when i need to move stuff about etc....

Still, im pretty sure i'll be on the bike 99% of the time
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[_Will_]

[Jammy-R6]

Car for everyday, bike for fun. You will miss the other what ever you get, you can make do with just bike but for youngsters car is best if you want more sex.

[_Will_]

[Crafty786]

[colin1]

bikes good points
more fun
cheaper insurance and petrol

bikes bad points
can require more frequent servicing and maintenance than a car wiping out insurance savings

can be a bit more tricky to ride in bad weather
need to wrap up warm in winter or you will get cold
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[matt89]

Hi, i turned 17 a few months ago and was coming to the same problem as you. now what i did is i kept my ped for commuting as my college is in the middle of nottingham which means that i dont have to pay for parking etc and i use my car to go to the majority of other places, but then i still have my ped there if i want to go out on that if the weather is nice or just not pissing it down. What im probably going to do is get my full bike test done after my car test then just get a bit bigger capacity bike that i can also afford to run along side my car.

Matt

[Pte1643]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

By suggestion is do both, then get put on your parents car insurance. That's what i have done. So i can still go to parties etc. in the car, but have a raz on the bike
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[stevo as b4]

I certainely could not justify the cost of buying and running a car today, if i was 17 again. The cost for young/new drivers to get on the road is absolutley ridiculous today! I did the car test first and my bike test a few years later, but the way things are nowadays, id probably would stick with a bike until about i was 19-21, and then learn to drive. I still think car insurance is crazy now, and ive yet to have my first really powerful car still, and im 27 now. I expect my first 200bhp+ car will cost me the same as my ZX6R used to cost to insure when i first got it, aged 23.

[andrea]

Im not biased as i have both...




Bike for teh win

[MarkJ]

[extreme3d]

I think i can speak for all those who did their car test first, and then did their bike test after - for commuting cars are frustrating

The reason why they are frustrating is because you have your speed dictated by other road users going less than the speed limit. Hell, you can't even do 60mph for very long before you reach another tail back.

If you still ride a small bike you won't really know what it means to be able to overtake every single car you come across on a typical commuting run. You can and do on a big bike. Not because you are going fast, but because you can overtake easily and safely in places cars could only dream of - even sports cars. You are far narrower, combined with the acceleration you take almost no time at all to get past. Also unlike a sports car you have the option to 'white line' it if all goes wrong!

In a car if you are near the front of the tail back then fine, you could probably overtake providing there is a long straight.

The snag is there is always a long straight - just a long straight with traffic coming the other way . On a typical 15 mile commute, with you stuck at 45mph behind rover man pootling along in rush hour on an A road, the bike that has just overtaken you and the whole line of traffic at a nice 90mph will arrive in the time it takes you to cover the 5 miles or so before you finally get past yourself

... if indeed you do get past as there is always some annoying (no offence here) scaredy cat girl in a one litre car who when she finally gets to the front of the tail back flatly refuses to overtake Rover man as she 'is scared of overtaking' ... and prevents anyone else from doing so either

If you are anything like me, where 10 minutes in the morning seems to go by a heck of a lot quicker than 10 minutes in the evening, then you will like me, like bikes for the peace of mind they bring. You can pretty much guarantee such and such a distance on a bike will take such and such a time.

No early morning lorry crane delivery, heavily laden transit van going up a hill, funeral possession, land rover towing a trailer, tractor refusing to pull over and least we forget old pensioner in his 1985 maroon coloured rover is going to make you be late

[Marcg868]

This is my theory now, and having had both a car and bike/Scooter up untill last year when i sold the car. I can honestly say, Do your car test but also stick to a bike. Yes commuting in winter is shite. But then so is being stuck in fucking traffic like a cock shite.

Im 20 year old, so slightly older than you probably, i dont see the need for a car, when i have moaning little bastard kids, and a wife who needs ferrying about to ASDA, that is when ill get another car.
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