Cars, Motorcycles, or Both?

Do most people here have both, or prefer one over the other? Just curious as I've always been a huge car guy myself, and have always had an interest in motorcycles, but now that I'm able to I have gotten an itch to try something on two wheels. Just thought it would be fun to see what other people think! I think a motorcycle would make a great compliment to my weekend Miata.

Used to be a car guy.

Working on them every day for a living changed my mind.

Then I learned that a moderately fast motorcycle is faster than a fast car, costs less and takes up less room in the garage.

You also never hear "Are we there yet?" on a motorcycle.

I enjoy both. Fast cars are fun. Fast motorcycles are more fun. 

The only thing I've felt more alive doing was flying. 

Cars and bikes can coexist quite nicely.  I think you are way more connected to/with the machine and the environment on a bike. Start shopping. 

I think I'd enjoy motorcycles, but years ago I made an agreement with my wife. I can have the fastest, craziest car I can afford, but no motorcycles. She has issues with safety as a result of other drivers. I realize it's a silly argument to some extent (especially since I road bike and bicycle commute some), but a promise is a promise. I never rode motorbikes growing up, so I don't really know what i'm missing and I'm okay keeping it that way.

I really want to do both, but realities of life are starting to hit me that adding yet another hobby is simply not realistic.  

ultraclyde said:

I think I'd enjoy motorcycles, but years ago I made an agreement with my wife. I can have the fastest, craziest car I can afford, but no motorcycles. She has issues with safety as a result of other drivers. I realize it's a silly argument to some extent (especially since I road bike and bicycle commute some), but a promise is a promise. I never rode motorbikes growing up, so I don't really know what i'm missing and I'm okay keeping it that way.

This is me except I DID ride growing up and know exactly what I'm missing. When the kids are gone I'll get, at the minimum, a solid dual sport for trail riding and something that I can learn to rid around a track even if it's just an XR100 on a go-kart track. I will learn to drag a knee before I'm too old. 

I enjoy both- they are fun in many of the same ways, but bikes are much cheaper and a lot faster per dollar.  I'd be even more focused on motorcycles if I had any natural talent whatsoever on them, I'm better on four wheels than two and any improvement to my riding is an uphill battle.

Clearly, both have a place in your garage.  I like being able to hop on the bike and go for a ride, but I only rarely ride it up to the grocery, because, you know, a tank bag can only hold so much.  Also, there's rain, snow, and cold--none of which I'll ride in.  Go ahead and call me a wimp.  You need both.

I enjoy both, and will have both someday as finances allow. Currently there are other things higher on the list. But even the slowest bike I've ever owned was faster than my fastest car. Slowest was a 97 gsx600r, fastest was a toss up between a 2001 Hayabusa and a 2003 gsx1000r with a 30 shot. 

I have both, but if I have a free day to myself, I want to go race the car not ride the bike.  Part of the reason is that I have a cruiser, it was really fun when my wife and I could ride together, or I had a group of people to go riding with.  With other people, you just follow someone else and wind up at a cool burger joint.  Or you take your wife and find excuses to go riding on nice days.  With kids at home and no riding friends left, I only ride occasionally when the weather is good.  I don't enjoy the bike on a twisty back road as much as the FiST, and I enjoy the camaraderie at an Autocross on a Sunday more than riding solo.  I am looking to swap my cruiser for something that I enjoy riding solo more.  

So yes, get a bike, but either get something you really connect with personally or seek out local riding clubs first and see what kind of bike will keep you active.  

In reply to pinchvalve :

On that note, I think for general riding around nothing beats a good (and preferably ugly and pre-crashed) dual sport.  Road quality isn't a problem, and any gravel/dirt/singletrack is an excuse to go have a bit of an adventure.

I own and enjoy both.  However, the bike generally doesn't get used enough to really justify having it.  On nice days I would enjoy going for a ride, there are other things that usually take precedant over motorcycling.  Maybe if my lifestyle was different or I lived somewhere outside of suburbia, it would get used more.  At least it doesn't occupy much garage space.

ultraclyde said:

I think I'd enjoy motorcycles, but years ago I made an agreement with my wife. I can have the fastest, craziest car I can afford, but no motorcycles. She has issues with safety as a result of other drivers. I realize it's a silly argument to some extent (especially since I road bike and bicycle commute some), but a promise is a promise. I never rode motorbikes growing up, so I don't really know what i'm missing and I'm okay keeping it that way.

This pretty much exactly what I came to say. I could definitely see myself enjoying a motorcycle, but I promised my wife I wouldn't. I totally understand her viewpoint. If you blow a tire on a car you pull over and change it, on a bike you could be leaving on a stretcher. I have been involved in my share of car accidents, I've walked away from every one of them. If I had been on a bike I am 100% positive that wouldn't be true.

Both.  Breezing along windy mountain roads in Vermont is not the same in a car, any car.  A motorcycle cannot carry a week's worth of groceries or more than three people.  Both.

I'm a motorcycle guy, I rode daily for years. I even used it for work doing contract mobile computer repair.

I still ride just not near as often, because I moved to the Pacific North Wet.

I still own more bikes than cars but mostly drive the cars because the weather is so unpredictable.

I like cars better for letting out my inner Hoonatic, I love to go sideways! Slipping and sliding is irresistible!

So the answer is both for me.

Both.  One advantage of motorcycles is they don't take up as much space in the garage, so you can have several of them.  :)

If I had to choose it would be motorcycles without question. But a car is nice in a cold Winters day. I was motorcycle only for several years recently and could do again but it's nice to have a car.

In reply to stuart in mn :

easier to find a parking spot!

I do both, but time constraints and my current decision to limit the bike to track days mean that I rode it once in 2016 and zero days in 2017. Changing jobs meant a reset on days off, and most track days are weekdays because track rental is much less expensive.

Very much teetering on the brink of letting it go to focus on cars. But I'd miss it. I *am* curious about doing another track day in a car now that I've done a few bike days. I'm better at cars, but have done mostly autocross, so my one car track day saw me totally lacking calibration for seeing turn one coming up at 110, but now I'm getting more comfortable at speeds well above that.

Bought a motorcycle last year and now have more interest in that than the racecar.  In fact the racecar is going up for sale.  2 wheels are cheaper and easier to collect too.

Now that I'm retiring from wrenching I might desire to work on cars more at home. Currently burned out on it.

In reply to 914Driver :

you're not trying hard enough.

Both--- rode the bike to work today, swapped it out for the TR6 at lunch.   Gotta exercise the fleet!   

I'm also in the "both" camp, although I haven't been on the bike since moving 6 months ago. In fact, I'm considering selling it.