Does anybody love driving too?

[tpasco1995]

See, I have issues. I work about 20 miles from home, so my annual commute should be 10,000 miles.

I've surpassed 30,000 miles every year for the last 7, excluding 2020 for obvious reasons.

And it's rarely because I need to; I just like to. I drove a round trip to Burlington, VT, on eclipse day earlier in the month in under 24 hours. I've been to Buffalo/Niagara once this year, Detroit twice, Toronto once, Kingston Tennessee once, and only the Buffalo trip involved a hotel stay. It's only April, and I'm aware of two more trips to Ontario and one to Philadelphia by early July.

So for the rest of you who spend the warm days putting down miles on two wheels, do you get the same satisfaction on four?

 

[ST-venture]

Since my wife quit riding with me several years ago, the only travel I do driving is when we go on a trip together. Otherwise, the vast majority of my travel is via 2-wheels.
If fact I put many more miles on my Goldwing that we put on our other two cars combined. Although, most of the miles put on my car is for a Senior Volunteer driving program I drive for.

 

[Weaselinsuit]

I don't think there is a more sublime driving experience than running a car with decent horsepower through the Rockies. Coincidentally, there is unlikely to be a less enjoyable experience than running said car through the Rockies in the height of summer and running into blockades of RV's and trailers. As in all things in life, timing is the key.

 

[Daboo]

So for the rest of you who spend the warm days putting down miles on two wheels, do you get the same satisfaction on four?

Not at all. Driving a car is like watching a National Geographic show on your big screen TV. Great, but somehow lacking something. Riding a motorcycle through the same trip is like watching it on IMAX. You're immersed in it.

Driving a car is like going to a place you've never been to before, but sitting in the passenger seat. Riding to the same place, is like sitting in the driver's seat. There are so many details you miss when you're a passenger that you pick up on when you're riding.

I don't think there is a more sublime driving experience than running a car with decent horsepower through the Rockies...

Really? See above. And change motorcycles.

..Coincidentally, there is unlikely to be a less enjoyable experience than running said car through the Rockies in the height of summer and running into blockades of RV's and trailers. As in all things in life, timing is the key.

That's what second gear is for.

Chris

 

[tpasco1995]

I don't think there is a more sublime driving experience than running a car with decent horsepower through the Rockies. Coincidentally, there is unlikely to be a less enjoyable experience than running said car through the Rockies in the height of summer and running into blockades of RV's and trailers. As in all things in life, timing is the key.

One of my favorite drives was a rare day off I had when I worked in Helena, MT, during COVID. I did a day trip from Helena to Yellowstone, spent most of the day in the park, and came back that evening. A beautiful 450 mile drive during a rare summer with no traffic.

Really, everything in the greater Rockies plateau is stunning.

 

[tpasco1995]

Not at all. Driving a car is like watching a National Geographic show on your big screen TV. Great, but somehow lacking something. Riding a motorcycle through the same trip is like watching it on IMAX. You're immersed in it.

Driving a car is like going to a place you've never been to before, but sitting in the passenger seat. Riding to the same place, is like sitting in the driver's seat. There are so many details you miss when you're a passenger that you pick up on when you're riding.



Really? See above. And change motorcycles.



That's what second gear is for.

Chris

The dripping irony in the metaphor that driving a car is like... riding in the passenger seat of a car and that riding a motorcycle is... is like driving a car?

Windows or top down really make a big difference on those shots, and I'll also point out that I'd much rather run across an elk or buffalo in a car than on a bike.

 

[Weaselinsuit]

Really? See above. And change motorcycles.

I plead context M'Lord

 

[the Ferret]

NO..... I hate being in a car. I average about 2500 miles a year driving a car and over 20,000 a year riding my bikes.

 

[catcher]

I certainly love traveling by motorcycle. However, a fairly close second is the experience of wearing a Miata on the right kind of road. Love 'em both!

 

[wjbertrand]

I enjoy driving but it’s got to be a good handling car with plenty of horsepower. It can be very satisfying to drive such a car on a twisty road, but it’s a different kind of satisfaction, not the same as a motorcycle

 

[ChucksKLRST]

I enjoy my 6 speed manual tranny Jeep Wrangler with the soft top open / off. I tolerate driving my wife's Mazda CX5. Nice car but it is hers. And when I want smoothness and quite listening to my music, I take my Chevy Colorado. Great little truck. But most important at almost 75 years old I still have the urge and desire to take out one of my three Motorcycles and ride the Colorado Rockies.

 

[Sadlsor]

I'm going to give a little grace to those who live in real snow country... like Chuck. Even I will acknowledge the need for 4 wheels when it's below freezing with white stuff - or ice - on the ground.

There are, in fact, some nice cars out there. But none I've found are as nice as the crummiest motorbike.

Ok, maybe a bit of a stretch, but you get my point.

Four wheels move the body, while two wheels move my soul.

 

[sirbike]

I enjoyed driving my car on several trips out to Oregon and California from Ohio and several one to two week fly in to drive trips all over Oregon and California but then I got into riding and the idea of traveling for pleasure in a car was gone.
Last summer I did a drive from San Francisco to Reno and back. I thought I’d capture the glory of those earlier driving trips but no.
While I really enjoyed the scenery and exploring roads in the mountains, I was exhausted in a mental way that doesn’t happen from riding.
If I am exhausted after 8-10 hours riding, it’s physical and I feel satisfied.

 

[gbrand42]

I have a car but I don't love it like my ST - I am as attached to my car as I am to my washing machine, it's purely there to fulfil a need, nothing more. Bikes have soul and personality.

 

[Oldbikefixr]

I'm going to give a little grace to those who live in real snow country... like Chuck. Even I will acknowledge the need for 4 wheels when it's below freezing with white stuff - or ice - on the ground.

There are, in fact, some nice cars out there. But none I've found are as nice as the crummiest motorbike.

Ok, maybe a bit of a stretch, but you get my point.

Four wheels move the body, while two wheels move my soul.

I rode my bikes to/from work daily, unless rain was imminent, from 1991 'til I retired in 2014. That included many mornings with temps in the 'teens. Caught several snow storms on rides home. The cold never seemed to bother me until recently, though I still ride thru the winters. Still cheaper than therapy.

 

[Esti1300]

Nowhere near the satisfaction of riding on two wheels, but I do love my time as a cager when outside of the riding season.

 

[st11ray]

I enjoy traveling on both 2 and 4 wheels. I'd rather drive than fly anytime.

 

[Sadlsor]

I'd rather drive than fly anytime.

Unless it's private aviation, I'll agree. I do like small planes, and I'm sure I could learn to like private jets with little trouble.

It's the airports, waiting, crowds, and the TSA that I don't get along with.

 

[tpasco1995]

Unless it's private aviation, I'll agree. I do like small planes, and I'm sure I could learn to like private jets with little trouble.

It's the airports, waiting, crowds, and the TSA that I don't get along with.

That's 95% of it.

I love flying itself. I don't love when I decide last minute that I want to go to Nashville the next day, find that the only flight is $350 and leaves at 1:30, which means getting to the airport at 11:30, which means leaving the house at 11, then spending 45 minutes in the air only to spend half an hour on the tarmac in Nashville, then a half hour waiting for a rental or an Uber, and then the rest of the drive to Jack's. I've used 4 and a half hours to save myself a drive that takes 5:45.

Confidence for longer rides is getting there, but I don't at all dislike a 12 hour straight-line rip with one bathroom break/gas-up. The financial benefit of getting 55 MPG in a car that has air conditioning, a radio, and the mind-relieving aspects of staying in its own lane and locking to the speed of the car in front of me don't hurt.

 

[ChucksKLRST]

I certainly love traveling by motorcycle. However, a fairly close second is the experience of wearing a Miata on the right kind of road. Love 'em both!

Been there done that.