Why don't more performance car enthusiasts ride motorbikes?

[TheJimi]

I love bikes, always have done, and I enjoy riding them – whether I’m the rider or as a pillion.

However, I don’t own a bike because it’s not worth the risk for me.  Physical activities are a big thing for me – from climbing to strength training at the gym. 

Training in particular is a big part of my life.  All it takes is a small off on a bike and my training & progress could be set back by a significant amount of time.

So that’s why I don’t ride.

Oh and the whole “yeah, I’d kill myself on a bike” proudly uttered by guys is a load of bullst.

Edited by TheJimi on Thursday 15th March 11:06

[Esceptico]

Sebastian Tombs said:

I've got a motorcycle licence and a nice 900cc Triumph.
I've driven it across Normandy and Brittany, I've commuted on it, I've belted it round b-roads.

And yet as soon as I got a car I kind of went off motorcycling. If I was in London I would invariably be faster on a bicycle, and without the kit and parking hassle. If I was out of London I would invariably be more comfortable in a car.

The only thing that the car couldn't deliver was that immediate performance. I solved that by buying an Aston Martin which can.

I'll be selling the bike this year.

The one thing that a bike gives that no car can match is ease of overtaking. However powerful the car it is much bigger than a bike and the opportunities to overtake safely are far fewer. Makes a big difference if you are out for a weekend drive/ride. Not to mention that other road users - particularly car drivers - get much more upset being overtaken by another car than being overtaken by a bike (on a good overtake most don't even realise they have been overtaken until you are well into the distance).

[foggy]

I love the engineering in bikes - small capacity high revving engines, sequential box etc. but for kicks I enjoy braking, cornering, sliding around with a bit of oversteer etc. as well as the acceleration. So I went for a large capacity bike engine in a small, lightweight car. It still requires a lid and dressing appropriately, although I can’t really fall off it.

Basically cars cover more of the bases I enjoy compared to bikes.

[ChilliWhizz]

I love bikes

Early nineties I had a Sierra RS Cosworth and a ZX1000, both put a silly grin on my face and were huge fun to use.. but have to say we were living in Devon at the time and the roads were a less scary place to be...

I have a rag top TVR now which kinda takes the place of a bike, and I often go to the local Tuesday bike meet in the summer (had 600 bikes there one evening) to admire the machinery and chat to the owners, and pop to Snetterton when there's bike stuff going on

I'm definitely too old/fooked now for a modern superbike

Recently though I've had an urge to own a Norton Commando.. or maybe a sixties Bonnie

[Hammerhead]

"Why don't more performance car enthusiasts ride motorbikes?".

Because they're chicken, basically. Or more likely, only know how to mash a throttle in a straight line, brake then repeat in their XXXbhp monster. Motorbikes require a lot more finesse in all the senses - controls, spatial awareness, body position etc etc.

I'm no riding God -by a long chalk- but since getting my full bike license, I've lost interest in 'fast cars'. Bikes are far, far more fulfilling in involvement and the rewards greater as you get better at it.

Granted, they're not the best things if you need to move other people/stuff. Plus I'm not so keen when it's wet/piddling down. And yes, you might get properly hurt if you're unlucky enough to have an off. I'm a fair weather rider for sure, but I'd rather be that than some straight-line hero with x-billion horsepower who'll get stuck in a traffic jam as I filter past and get home hours before they do.

'Cars for show, bikes for a pro'

[anonymous-user]

Done both and LOVED riding. Track days, lessons on track etc etc. Knee down stuff. Miss it, but once I passed 40 I found the recovery from injuries just takes too long.

I still fancy another bike but I know one thoughtless driver and I'm back in physio again. I am considering a sports tourer for going round Europe but the whole leathers/boots/lid thing puts me off.

Cars are comfy, look great, and you can take passengers (ones without a lid). Bikes are compromised in as much as you need to be dressed to ride.

[Gavia]

I own an M4 and enjoy fast cars and always have. I’ve bought the fastest car I can realistically afford to run since passing my test 30years ago and enjoyed the hot hatch period immensely. I then decided to pass my bike test about 15 years ago and haven't looked back. I’ve gone from “I’m only doing it to reduce my commuting time” to racing in the National Endurance series I ride on the road, do trackdays for fun and race for fun, none of which I could realistically do in cars due to the costs involved.

My garage is full of bikes, 3 x track / race bikes, 2 x superbikes for the road and 1 x off-road enduro bike.

Passing comment, how sad are the people who simply regurgitate Clarkson comments, as if they’re somehow being witty. So far I’ve counted three, falling off a car, leather gimp suit and they all look the same. Anyone else for “I’m a sad tt and can only quote Clarkson bingo”?

[Rawwr]

Hammerhead said:

only know how to mash a throttle in a straight line, brake then repeat in their XXXbhp monster

That's most sports bike owners, too.

[IdiotRace]

I have a few friends who ride, one of them was knocked off his bike due to a driver panicking and merging into his lane because they got spooked by an ambulance. The driver who knocked him off immediately blamed him, the ambulance driver saw the whole thing and acted as a witness.

All good apart from the injuries which meant his leg was in a cast for a quite a while, so he was unable to work for that period. If he was in a car the dozy tt probably would've noticed him or maybe had a bit of a shunt which wouldn't have lead to such bad injuries.

I've got relatives who have bits of metal in their legs from past motorcycle accidents, although those were more from riding like a dick.

Funny thing is I'm still thinking of getting a bike, but purely for commuting to work if I move out of London. At some point I'll have to give the CBT test a go to see if I can hack it.

[lockhart flawse]

I rode a bike for many years and it was often my only transport. Brilliant when I lived in London. I was a motorcycle courier for a few months as well. I stopped nearly 10 years ago for two reasons:

1)With 3 kids the opportunities to use a bike were much less as I was always transporting something or someone.

2)I can't afford the consequences of an accident........

Also we live in the middle of nowhere and so I can get good use out of a TVR which goes someway to filling the gap.

Still love the sound of a Triumph triple though.

[RobM77]

Firstly it's important to point out that everyone is into cars in a different way, even those people into performance cars and/or track driving. Some people get an adrenaline buzz for driving fast, but for example I never have, I just enjoy the process of driving, particularly (or perhaps exclusively...) cornering. Even that niche preference for cornering can be broken down further - I enjoy balancing a car on tip toes and controlling its balance, whereas others prefer a more secure feeling from driving a car with grippy tyres and 4WD just below this point. As you can see, there's a huge spectrum of interests when it comes to cars, and bikes only fit with some of these interests, and they'll fit in different ways. This means we can't assume cause someone owns a fast car that they'd enjoy a motorbike. Bikes really are a very different kind of performance. Even looking at the cold hard numbers, if you look at the data trace of a lap from a bike and a lap from a car, if the lap time is identical the speeds at all points on the track will be very different, and the things the rider or driver are doing will be different too.

Secondly, we simply can't ignore the danger of motorbikes. Bikes are a vast amount more dangerous than a car. Firstly, you're more likely to crash: people don't see you as easily, you have a lack of stability, you often have much more performance easily accessible from brakes and throttle (two clumsy fingers on the brake can see you down due to a locked front wheel - that wouldn't happen in a car!). Secondly, if you do crash you're massively more likely to be injured. Those two points combine to make death and injury stats way ahead of cars, and it's just too much for most people. As roads get busier and cars get safer (but bikes don't), this is becoming more and more the case as the years go on.

[TimmyMallett]

mp3manager said:

I'm disabled and can't get my leg over, plus I'm not gay and into leather romper suits

Would it be ok if I called you a spaz then?

The quit biking temporarily as I could see my wife worrying about not coming back now I've got young kids. It's a harsh truth that most bike accidents are single vehicle so often it's just running out of talent by the looks of things.

Bikes in themselves are not a higher risk, it's the rider and factors outside your control (although riding skills can mitigate some) and the fact that you're a lot more squishy and any accident will most likely end up with considerably more serious injuries than if you were in a car.


Also, I just love it when people ask me what bike I ride and then they say 'Yeah, I had a mate who had one of those and died in an accident'

It's a bit like asking a cancer patient what type and then saying your mum died of that.

Edited by TimmyMallett on Thursday 15th March 11:28

[Rawwr]

RobM77 said:

two clumsy fingers on the brake can see you down due to a locked front wheel - that wouldn't happen in a car!

Wouldn't happen on a bike with distributed braking and lean-aware ABS, either

[dieselgrunt]

the roads are bad enough on 4 wheels, let alone 2. Seen potholes come out of nowhere that would easily throw a bike into the nearest hedge. And it seems to be getting worse each year.

[RobM77]

Esceptico said:

Is it because you have to wear protective gear? But then I don't see many people refusing to ski because they have to wear ski boots and ski clothing.

That's because skiing is a leisure activity, where people learn new skills and push themselves to do cool and exciting things, so it's worth the effort to enjoy it. The same applies to surfing for example - you have to spend five minutes changing to do it and it's worth it. Test and track days at race tracks are the equivalent for bikes. Bumbling along a public road at 49.99mph in 2nd gear on a S1000RR extracting 0.1% of its performance, whilst at risk from sleepy drivers of 1000kg cars that can kill you is a very different thing, and most people wouldn't enjoy that enough to warrant the effort.

[Byker28i]

I'm probably odd in that for many years the bike was my transport (fun transport) and the car was my toy.

I had my first accident in 35 years last year when dopey woman changed lanes on a roundabout at the last moment without looking as she forgot she wanted to go there rather than her usual route home.
As soon as the insurance is resolved I'll get another bike...

[mp3manager]

TimmyMallett said:

Would it be ok if I called you a spaz then?

If it'll make you feel better, knock yourself out.

TimmyMallett said:

It's a bit like asking a cancer patient what type and then saying your mum died of that.

Edited by TimmyMallett on Thursday 15th March 11:28

BTW, I also have cancer and currently going through chemo. Yeah, that's right, a spaz with cancer.

[anonymous-user]

RobM77 said:

Bikes really are a very different kind of performance. Even looking at the cold hard numbers, if you look at the data trace of a lap from a bike and a lap from a car, if the lap time is identical the speeds at all points on the track will be very different, and the things the rider or driver are doing will be different too..

They are different in ways you can only understand if you ride a bike hard (I'm not being contrary, actually agreeing with you) - when I chat to a fellow track rider and talk about the pure insane adrenaline of powering through and out of a fast corner on your side, straightening up and hammering through the gears bouncing of the limiter, then hard on the brakes for the next coner, lean, swoop, repeat - you can see it in their eyes that they have experienced the same. It is like every second has become 1/60th of a second - you are on full hyper alert. Just you, in your lid, thinking fast, panting, smiling, frightened occasioanally!

I've owned and tracked (and competed in) several insanely fast Westfields - Cosworths and V8s, and it does not even come close in experience terms. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to belittle driving cars on the edge, but being just you and the machine, outside, it adds to the experience immeasurably, particularly when you understand that if you just a corner wrong, you mostly can't correct it on a bike - there is just no get out clause.

[Ultrafunkula]

Hammerhead said:

"Why don't more performance car enthusiasts ride motorbikes?".

The answer is in the question, you didn't need to type the rest

[RizzoTheRat]

XMT said:

Only within the last two years have motorbikes become more mainstream with having ABS on them. Before this it was maybe 2 or 3 bikes as far as I know that you could even add on as an option.

ABS has been around longer than you think, on mine ABS was an option from 2005 and I think they stopped doing the non ABS version 4 or 5 years ago. Traction control has been relatively rare until the last few years though.