JunkyardDog
Active Member
I still say a MB should be ridden just like a regular bike, only difference is you don't have to pedal. If the area you are riding in is not safe to ride a regular bike in, then it is not safe for a motorized bike either. My opinion is that if you need speeds over 20 mph, then you need a faster bike. I tried to ride a 50cc scooter around my local area, and ran into all kinds of trouble, and was almost hit several times. A 50cc scooter goes 40 mph. The speed limit on local streets is 45 mph, but everybody goes 55. So I was in serious danger on my scooter. I even had one dude in a lifted truck drive up on the sidewalk to get around me, blowing the horn and flipping me off. My answer was a 150cc scooter. It topped out at about 60 mph, but would keep up with traffic in town. I also have a Suzuki DR200 dual sport motorcycle. But it is not much fun in traffic, you are constantly shifting up and down. The scooter requires no shifting. As for the insurance and registration, both the scooter and motorcycle cost $20 a year each to register, and about $35 a year each to insure. So that is only $55 a year to operate an actual motorcycle. Pretty insignificant IMO. I rarely ride my MB in town anyway. Just enough to get out of town. There are thousands of miles of local rural roads within 100 miles of where I live, with a speed limit of 65 mph. I ride my MB on the shoulders of these roads, as do many Tour de France type riders. I wear bright colors, but not spandex. In other words, I use the MB mostly for recreational use. Before I became disables at age 54, I used to ride one to work and back, 5 miles each way. But there were nice wide bike lanes the whole way. I do understand the problem. I have been hit a couple of times while riding in the bike lane, by the mirrors on large vehicles. Luckily I did not crash. My only crash on an MB was caused by the bike itself, when the chain tensioner/idler/whatever you call it got pulled into the rear wheel, locking it up. I was riding at less than 10 mph at the time. It would have been far more serious at 30 mph, possibly even fatal, as I was riding in a bike lane right next to 55 mph traffic. Fortunately I went down on the sidewalk side.