   Thinking about a motorcycle, need advice
  Ive never owned an automobile (car, motorcycle, anything) in my life. I live in a city with a great public transit system and I wouldn't want to have a vehicle here even if someone gave me one. (Sure, I'd take it... but I'd sell it)I'm going to be moving out of Toronto to a smaller city, where I will need a vehicle, unless I want to waste countless hours of my life each week sitting on a bus to and from work, grocery stores, and social things. And I sure as hell don't. However for me, the total cost of owning a car (purchase + maintenance + gas + insurance + parking) is ridiculously high. So I'm toying with the idea of getting a motorcycle instead, strictly for money reasons. Now, I don't know the first thing about motorcycles, but I'm assuming the purchase price, maintenance costs, gas, and insurance are all significantly lower than for a car. Is this true?I know one drawback for motorcycles is the weather. When its raining, you often see bikers hiding under overpasses on the highway. What is the reason for this? Is it because the rain reduces traction between the tires and the road, or because the rain just plain hurts at 100 km/hr ?Also I know that its not common to be biking during the winter months, but with global warming, the number of months with prohibitive snow is quickly shrinking each year...Finally, It might sound silly, but I'd say I'm not really a 'motorcycle guy'. I dont look good in leather, I dont have any friends who own motorcycles, and I dont have any tattoos, lol. In all seriousness though, are these real factors or not? Or am I just being silly.   
  Get a moped. They're safer and cheaper.   ;Quote:Original post by Programmer OneGet a moped. They're safer and cheaper.Id like to nip this in the butt before it derails my thread.Mopeds are veto'd. No mopeds. Please ignore Programmer One's comment :)   ;  Very impractical, a bag of groceries is one thing, but several? Easier to steal a bike as well, two dudes one truck ten seconds. Zero respect from cars, weather, god the weather. Me, gsxr 1100.   ;  A motorcycle will be orders of magnitude cheaper to buy and operate than a car.However, it's a big mistake to think of a motorcycle as a cheaper sort of car that uses half of the garage.  It is unsafe in the snow, in the rain, on uneven pavement, on soft ground and on loose gravel.  You cannot park it in a field, because the kickstand will sink and it'll fall over--even a centerstand is risky.  It cannot carry any appreciable amount of cargo, so unless you are buying a bag of bachelor-chow and a six-pack, you'll need more than saddlebags to get it home.  Motorcycles can transport the operator from one place to another, and they can't do much else.  If you hit a pothole, a woodchuck or a dog, you suffer serious injuries and have costly repairs to perform on the machine.  Hopefully.  If you take a corner too fast, hit some loose gravel or dirt, or find some drifted snow on an otherwise clear road on a warm day in Spring, you lose a large portion of your skin and your investment.  There's a lot that can go wrong on a motorcycle, and when something goes wrong at 80km/h and you've got eighteen square centimeters of surface area that's connecting you to the highway, you'll wish for four tires and a seatbelt.Have I mentioned it's no good in the snow?  You live in Canada.  You are not a "motorcycle guy".  Your ass will be on a bus half the year anyway.  Get a tiny car, or get a bus ticket, or get a roomate who will give you rides.  Only a fool considers a motorcycle a primary means of transportation.If you're using it as a way to get to the pizza parlor without waiting for the bus, or to rent a video, or to buy a pack of smokes, or to transport yourself, a bottle of wine and a box of condoms to your lady friend's house, then you're on the right track.  Otherwise, you'll find that you pay a fraction of the car's price for an even smaller fraction of the car's utility.I recommend something like this one, maybe.  Not real expensive, seems to have been kept in good shape, and doesn't have the knee-wrenching crotch-rocket design.  More like riding a bike, easier to learn to be comfortable on, and old enough that it won't have a lot of high-tech crap on it that you can't work on.  Bike, manual, a few tools, and you'll be able to single-handedly operate and store the device as needed.   ;  Iron Chef is right on the money...Except motorcycles usualy require more maintaince than a typical car. Tons more dangerious too...However they can't be beat in the fun category. I'm quite a bit more south than you, and been rideing motorcycles for well over a decade, I've owned nearly a dozen different bikes. Have two of them now. But I wouldn't even dream of makeing them my primary form of transportation though.   ;  I don't think you should get a bike for the reasons your describing. I have a Kawasaki ER5 (could not have chosen a better first bike). but i got a bike BECAUSE i had a car but now i use it as my sole means of transport (and a huuuuge chunk of fun). i get to work in half the time it took in my car. Most cars dont mind if you split up between them and pull infront of them at the lights - even if they to get pissed off you arnt there long enough for them to do anything about it anyway. rain isnt so bad (in Australia anyway) anyway - get a bike for fun not for practicality   ;  Weather isnt an issue with a decent modern bike, good training and good equipment. Any weather you can be just as warm, dry and with good training and driving you can be pretty safe.The biggest annoyance of all-weather commuting imo is stowing your wet-gear at work or wherever, in a secure place, and changing in and out of it.Lots of new rider overlook the costs of good gear, its substantial if you want to get good equipment (which is a must if you want it to last also). But once you have it, it can last longer than the bike.   ;If you had been in Italy, i would had recommended a Scooter. It's also stylish and fun to ride. I own one myself.Lot's of space to carry your groceries plus your girlfriend. About weather, not always it rains or it does?   ;  Scooters can be quite pokey, and more comfy than bikes. The sitting position is easier, and it's more maneuverable in town. Get at least a 250 if you are going on roads. Weather is definitely a drawback. It impairs visibility, gets everywhere, and you have to be more careful (white lines, leaves, greasy road surface). It's also more tiring than cars, you have to really know what's going on around you because you dont get second chances. You cannot ride in snow / freezing conditions. A second hand car would be a better solution imo, if you have no problem parking and the traffic isn't horrendous. Get an old Volswagen, Toyota, Honda. Reliable and cheap maintenance.Bike / Scooter gear is expensive. You'll be looking at $1000 extra at least.   