Car vs Motorcycle

Ten Reasons Travelling by Motorcycle is Better Than Travelling by Car:

Although traveling by Bus, Camper, or Car can still provide thrilling experiences, here are ten reasons why traveling by Motorcycle is much better:

• Part of the Landscape

While on a motorcycle, a person really has to be aware of the terrain. Leaning into turns and flowing back and forth with the winding road along a river or the sweeping turn around a mountain makes you feel part of the land you are travelling through.

• Temperature

While in a car, it is sometimes fun to watch the outside temperate by looking at the changes on a dashboard thermometer, but looking at the change from within a car is nothing compared to the amazing sensation of physically feeling the changes as the temperature quickly drops while riding up a bit of altitude in the mountains or over a bay bridge.

• Smell

This is one of the major things that is missed while riding in a car (even a convertible). On a motorcycle, you are aware of the subtle smells that millions of people miss every moment in cars. Sometimes it will be the smell of smoke from a distant cabin chimney, or it might be the smell of lavender flowers or even the smell of salt while riding along the sea. These spectacular scents often provoke a more emotional connection to the place you’re riding through.

• Meditation

While riding a motorcycle, one’s motor-skills and reflexes must always be on high-alert, but the mind is free to wonder and after hours on the motorcycle,these thoughts can become very relaxed and meditative allowing you to explore your own life as you move along through it.

• Privacy: Time to Think

Things have changed a bit over the past years, and wireless communication and radios are becoming more common on motorcycles, but historically (and if one chooses to switch off), the motorcycle is a place where no one can interrupt you. You generally can’t answer your phone, and your partner or friend (even if on the back of the motorcycle) can share the experience, but they can’t really have a conversation with you.  The only person you can really talk to is yourself, and this can create some very reflective internal thoughts that many people no longer access. These personal thought scan be relatively simple or entirely life-changing.

• Belonging

Everyone wants to belong to something, and by riding a motorcycle, you automatically become part of a pretty tight group with a common interest in riding. On the open road, it is rare that two bikes would pass each other without a subtle nod of the head or an enthusiastic wave, and each signal is a feel-good acknowledgement of the camaraderie and shared experience among motorcycle riders.

• Personal Expression

To be fair, cars can be a personal expression of the individual driving. The difference between a VW bus and a Maserati tell a huge amount about the driver,but most cars fall into an unnoticed category somewhere in-between.Furthermore, being exposed, you are more visual as you ride your motorcycle.For some, a motorcycle is just a vehicle, but for most, the motorcycle is are presentation of themselves, and this is overtly seen in some radically customised one-of-a-kind works of two-wheeled art.

• Compact Size

A motorcycle simply takes up less space than a car. Multiple times, I’ve been to Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and many other National Parks around the country, and it is obvious that these places are absolutely amazing because so many people want to go there … and they do. I think people should visit these places no matter how they travel, but a sad fact is that both traffic and parking can become a major issue. This is often the biggest complaint from visitors, but this can be eliminated on a motorcycle. In a car, I’ve spent literally hours looking for a parking space along various park overlooks, but with a motorcycle,there always seems to be the perfect little spot just big enough for the bike,so stopping wherever you want becomes easy.

• Created Discomfort

Yes,you read correctly. I think riding forces the rider to accept a few things that you might consider less comfortable than a car. Some of these are that you are limited in space by the motorcycle. Whether you have to strap a pack to a seat,have saddlebags or even a top-case, space in limited, so you must really think about what to bring and what to leave. Secondly, a rider is much more affected by the weather. When it is sunny, it is hot and when it is raining, it is wet.The rider is forced to either ride through the elements (feeling like a crazy,tough person) or find shelter. On the bike, you seem to identify with the life of cowboys and times of old when these factors weren’t a choice, but a way of life. Of all the motorcycle travelling stories I’ve heard in my life, it is stories about having to deal with tough situations that people tell the most and that people remember fondly when all is over.

Making Friends

Of all the reasons why travelling on a motorcycle is better than travelling by car,I think making more friends is the number one reason. When you are in a car, you are confined within the “walls” of the vehicle, but on a bike, you are open.Furthermore, generally while travelling on a motorcycle, you are forced to stop more often to stretch the legs and to get fuel. In a car, I generally don’t stop more than every three or so hours on a long trip, but on a motorcycle,stops are more like every hour and a half. Also, if I’m in a car, pumping gas,generally no one says a thing, but while putting fuel in my motorcycle, almost inevitably,someone will say, “Nice bike.” Or, they might begin talking about how they used to own a motorcycle and still dream about it… Similarly, sitting at a café or a bar with a riding jacket, someone will say, “Is that your bike out front?” or“Where are you headed?” and the conversation begins, often evolving into a friendship.

Since,I believe people travel for two main reasons: 1) to see beautiful landscapes and 2) to meet people, the above ten reasons make it obvious why travelling by motorcycle is simply better than travelling by car.

Erik Seversen