71
Your opinion on motorcycles? (discuss.tchncs.de)

I am new to FuckCars, and personally, I feel very much aligned to this ideology. Particularly, the amout of environmental damage the fuel consumption causes, concerns me.

However, sometimes, I feel like I am a hypocrite, because I drive a motorcycle, which again, causes pollution. But, in my defense, I always try to use my bicycle if I can, and use my motorbike only when necessary, because public transportation system isn't great in my city. Also, the amount of pollutants my bike releases is way less when compared to a car, or even a small hatchback.

The bike in question is only 160cc, and does 30-40 km/litre (~18-25 miles/litre).

So, what is your opinion on all this, and how can I improve my situation?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] j4k3@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago

I only barely survived an unavoidable and unpredictable crash on a road bicycle with 2 cars. I've had 6 crashes with 7 cars in 170k miles on the bike since 2009. Only 2 of those crashes were bad. However I only barely survived crashing at 30mph where the weight of the bike was insignificant. I wouldn't have survived that same crash on anything more significant or at any higher speed. I had the critical damage of C1 and a fracture at the base of my skull. I was told if I hadn't been knocked out completely, I would have died if I had moved before the swelling could keep everything together.

I wouldn't recommend motorcycles until humans decide to replace driver's side airbag covers with daggers. People drive like fools and since their incompetence is nonlethal to them, the culture of incompetence is unavoidable.

You likely think you can avoid anything by just being careful. This is not the case. I was ultra cautious and went out of my way to avoid hazardous areas. Most of my hits were from illegal U-turns. If you can predict a random vehicle parallel parked on the side of the road will try and make an illegal U-turn suddenly without warning, directly in front of a large SUV that is passing them, you can avoid the crash that almost killed me. That is the level of stupid that finally got me even on a road bicycle.

The human body is not capable of handling the forces of collision. It doesn't matter what kind of armored jacket you wear, it will never compare to a car's tolerance. I've seen a lot of people die on bicycles including 3 people I knew. My cousin died on a motorcycle last month.

[-] SoylentBlake@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago

Man everything you wrote here sucks and I'm sorry you've had to experience all that. Riding isn't a "if" you crash, its a "when" you crash thing.

Even still, I find it preferable to being in a box isolated from the environment. Then it's just more detached television. Being a part of the environment helps me feel alive.

[-] rudyharrelson@kbin.social 3 points 9 months ago

Glad you made it out relatively unscathed. My old man got killed when a negligent driver crashed into him while he was riding his bike at night. Motorcycles are death traps and I'm always uncomfortable when I'm on the road and one gets near my car.

I like that they're more fuel efficient than cars, and they're a thrill for the rider, but the inevitable incompetence of other drivers, or just plain bad luck like blowing a tire, has such a high mortality rate for bikers.

One of my dad's old biker buddies got hit by a teenage driver who'd just gotten their license. I'm not gonna harp on the kid too badly cause when you're a new driver, you're gonna make mistakes. Just sucks that one little mistake can cost someone so dearly. Dad's friend survived, but he's never been the same due to brain damage sustained in the crash. He wasn't wearing a DoT approved helmet at the time, though, so it's partially on him. His fake helmet snapped in half like a twig.

Biker culture (at least in the US) also has the unfortunate undercurrent of macho shit like "I don't wanna wear a helmet cause that's for sissies. I'll just die like a man." Helmets are mandatory in my state, but it's seldom enforced.

[-] Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 3 points 9 months ago

Biker culture (at least in the US) also has the unfortunate undercurrent of macho shit like “I don’t wanna wear a helmet cause that’s for sissies. I’ll just die like a man.”

This is parts extra odd to me because the heavy leather jackets and clothing that are also part of that same culture are actually meant to be a form of light armor should you find yourself in a crash

[-] TruthAintEasy@kbin.social 1 points 9 months ago

Grandpa told me: if you ride it isn't if you have a crash, but when and how bad

this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2024
71 points (94.9% liked)

Fuck Cars

9662 readers
719 users here now

A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!

Rules

1. Be CivilYou may not agree on ideas, but please do not be needlessly rude or insulting to other people in this community.

2. No hate speechDon't discriminate or disparage people on the basis of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexuality.

3. Don't harass peopleDon't follow people you disagree with into multiple threads or into PMs to insult, disparage, or otherwise attack them. And certainly don't doxx any non-public figures.

4. Stay on topicThis community is about cars, their externalities in society, car-dependency, and solutions to these.

5. No repostsDo not repost content that has already been posted in this community.

Moderator discretion will be used to judge reports with regard to the above rules.

Posting Guidelines

In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:

Recommended communities:

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS