Cars - overrated!

[davidimurray]

Hello

Well, I've got to give a mate a lift to pick up his car from the garage this afternoon so I had to bring the car in this morning. These people who say cars are nice warm boxes are crazy.

Come out of the house and have to start it and get the air con going to try and melt some of the ice. Then spend 10 minutes with de-icer and scrapers to try and be able to see something, freezing my bits off in the process. Finally when you can see something you've then got to sit in the cold car despite having the fan to the max. Then when you finally get there you have to park 10 min away and walk in. Now trying to warm myself up on a cup of coffee!

On the flip side - on the bike. Put boots and trousers on. Pop out to bike, unlock and start. Back into the house (bike is outside the window), get my jacket on, buff and helmet on. So I'm now nice and toasty inside my gear - go out - ride in to work (on average it must be warmer than the car!). Park outside the office door and walk in still with my gear on - nice and toasty and none of this car nonsense!

[Mooncatt]

seconded defo...i had a car once....never again mind you it was only a crappy rover 1.4 GTA. it wouldnt bloody start in cold mornings and took an age to get warm. i choose bikes anyday apart from in the snow then i just dont go out
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current bike...CBR400RR
"you always need more chicken"

[imabikr]

Typical morning on the bike.

~Getup, shower, put boots & gear on
~Go out & start bike
~Come in get wrapped up warm, gloves helmet on
~go out ride to work.
~Smile the whole way in

Leave the house at 06:20, get to work at 07:00

Typical morning in the car. (using public transport as the traffic is a nightmare)

~Getup, shower
~Go out & start car, put blowers on full to defrost the windows
~Come back in to finish getting dressed
~Go out to finish of the deicing job by hand
~Drive to the train station the next town over ('cos Dunfermlines doesnt have a train early enough to get me to work for 7am!)
~Shiver all the way to the train station
~Park up car, buy tickets that cost more than a days petrol use on the bike
~Wait until the train turns up.. late!

Leave the house at 05:45 arrive at work at 06:50 (maybe, as long as the trains not too late)

Yup, i'd rather take the bike anyday.

[Johnny GSX-R]

But looking at it the other way.
If I go to work on the bike it means

Move the car
Unlock the garage and bike
Struggle to get bike out
Fanny around getting leathers on

When i go in the car

Come out and start it
Blower on while i scrape the frost
Radio on and off i go the 5 miles to work

I get to work without a creased shirt and having not fallen off on black ice and my car is secure in the carpark all day AND it takes less time from getting out of bed to getting into work by using my car.

[angryjonny]

Difficult to say one thing is better than another isn't it.

For example, going to work:

Car:
Press button to unlock
Get in
Sit in traffic
Park for a tenner

Bike:
Start & warm up
Put gear on
Weave through traffic
Park for free


Whereas, going to Tesco:

Car:
Press button to unlock
Get in
Drive to Tesco
Fill car with shopping
Drive back

Bike:
Start & warm up
Put gear on
Ride to Tesco
Fill a rucksack with shopping
Ride back
Unload shopping
Ride to Tesco
Fill a rucksack with shopping
Ride back
Unload shopping
Ride to Tesco
Fill a rucksack with shopping
Ride back
Unload shopping
Ride to Tesco
Fill a rucksack with shopping
Ride back
Unload shopping
Ride to Tesco
Fill a rucksack with shopping
Ride back
Unload shopping

[JAMSXR]

I cant afford both so my car is for sale at the moment, im glad it has not been sold yet bacause its sooo cold (Im a pussy) and their is so much salt and shite on the roads and it just eats my bike away, i do give it a spray with the hose every time i get in. When my car has gone, i will have to ride my push bike and get lifts of my bro as much as possable as long as the roads are salty
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[thx1138]

It would be much better if I didn't have to lock up my bike, and have a cover on it etc..,.. The cover I feel is as much a psychological deterent to passing yobos, than it is a drizzle guard.

If I could just.. out the door, on the bike, and off, it would be better.

[Bendy]

Bike:

Put on jacket, neckwarmer, gloves, helmet.
Open garage.
Go.

Ride around thinking 'oh my god it's all slippy, I'm going to crash and it'll hurt'


Car:

Put on coat, scarf, gloves, hat.
Drop roof.
Go.

Drive around thinking 'oh my god it's all slippy, I'm going to go sideways round this roundabout'


Oh the joy of having two toys and no commute.

[J0Al1]

It takes me longer on the bike. . . . . . .Un-padlocking my gate, the bike, taking the cover off, puting my gear on, loose the additional set of keys I have.

Car - I run out in my dressing gown and start it - 5 mins later - throw son onto my back - run to the car - jump in n Go.

[thefallenange...]

Well my car has been for some MOT work and i won't get it back until friday. It's been off the road for 2 weeks.

My KR1 is still to be restricted and insured so i'm using the old CG125. I've clocked a good 130 miles on petrol that was in the tank anyway and probably will need to top some in tomorrow as i have a 50 mile round trip to make. It'll cost me about £1.50.

By the time i get my jacket, gloves etc .. on and start it it will take me about an hour to get there because i'm too scared to go on the M4.

My car would take about 40 minutes but if i had a fast bike it would take me about half an hour so i'm after a restricted commutor bike.
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Past - CG125 ,KR1S, SV650s, Street Triple R - Current - Duke 390

r.bridge1988@gmail.com

[NSR Mick]

[jimbothe]

Car for work unfortunately.Although i am lucky in a sense that i have two of both (cars and bikes) i do not have the luxury of having enough space at my house to keep them all so i opted for a workshop about a mile away to store them in.The missus uses one car as it saves on two lots of insurance etc and i use the shogun but i dont like leaving the bikes out in the cold and wet and wouldnt trust the hoody wearing idiots round here,or the cops for that matter.

Knowing my luck the little sods would break the lock off,ride my bike down the road,fall off and THEN sue me and be fully backed by the police in their recent pointless efforts to make friends with youngsters schemes.

So for me it would be:

out to start car,put heaters on
finish getting ready
go out,finish scraping car
drive mile to workshop (sod walking in the cold and dark)
lock car up
open workshop door
start bike and run it up
put all gear on
close workshop door (i know it sounds ott but it's one of those metal shutter doors that weigh a ton and have to be wound up/down with a chain)
Then ride the 8 miles to work.

Just not worth it
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[joyda]

i love going on the bike but sometimes is takes me ages to get the bike out , it's like fort knocks at our house.

It's just easier to get in the car and drive, but when i'm on the bike i enjoy every minute

[angryjonny]

[colin1]

i think its about distance

if you are going a long enough distance the car is warmer. The car will always be colder initially unless you wear full bike gear in the car but after a while, the heater will warm it up.

[Johnny GSX-R]

Go on then you MAD FOOLS, tell me NOW that bikes are better for commuting..........roflmao, get a skidoo or a team of Husky dogs.

[Finglonga]

Cleared windows...got in car drove....no worries....Didn't have to put my feet down once, only bad thing was I had to turn the heater down as I was getting too hot.
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Andy Sez....
F.Y.Y.F.F.

[mchaggis]

I can't commute by bike just now, I can't get it away from the front of the house because of the snow and ice. I might manage to get 5 feet before losing my grip. Walking on the stuff is bad enough.

The only problem is, 8 miles by car takes me an hour or more. 8 miles by bike takes me 20 minutes, any day of the week. Once the roads stop being frozen, I'll be on my bike.

Until I go shopping.
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Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.

[davidimurray]

[Finglonga]

[Phoenix]

I use the car to commute.

I go outside, start it up and turn heating on, brush snow off (my windows dont ice up at all because it's parked between 2 buildings) and drive off, I wear a coat gloves and hat and am warm, even warmer when the heater kicks in after about 5minutes.

The bike is down the road in a garage, chained up, so I have to kit up, walk to the garage or drive down get bike out and warm it up and then ride in, and seeing as my commute is 4miles at 6.45 in the morning there's no traffic anyway so it's no faster to ride. Sometimes ride in summer just because it's a bit nicer, but the route is all town riding so it's hardly fun. If I worked a decent ride away I'd probably always ride in summer.

[alexhornet]

the only good part about using my car on a cold morning is i get to start up the big diesel engine ( sounds like a massey ferguson ) then i put a film on the dvd player so i get to watch it whilst i spend what seems like an eternity scrubbing all the ice off.

[Finglonga]

[Phoenix]

Don't know which diesel engines you've used, but all the ones I've had get warm in near enough the same time as a petrol. Seeing as a cars heater runs off an engine coolant radiator it requires a hot engine to get warm, I start my van before I get in it, 5-10mins on idle and it's warm, same went for my diesel car, and my petrol car....

[jimbothe]