Why MC and not a car ? Honest, no troll!
 

I like bikes and have 2 racing bikes but feel that a car would be better suited for long distance travelling as its safer, you can lock in all your stuff, sleep in it, be out of the weather etc.

I've heard the "feeling free" thing, but I thinkk its mostly a marketing stunt (invented by a MC company, that didn't have anything good to say about their bikes, HD). Honestly, are you not more free, when its raining and you still wear your normal clothes in a car, listening to the radio, talking to your girlfriend and sipping a soda ?

What are your main reasons for choosing a MC over a car ?

Bike vs car?
 

you'll know why the bike is better than a car when you come across that perfect stretch of road.
It makes up for all the wind and rain in an instant. I've just done 16,000km ( England to England via Europe, Middle East and Eastern Europe), and as someone once said, seeing all the sights from a car is like watching a movie..... seeing it from the back of a bike is like being IN the movie.
People are far more receptive to motorcyclists.
Cars are for going shopping, bikes are for touring.

Our Danish friend makes a good point,

racing
 

I took up racing to enjoy bikes but take me off the road (after a bike crash). I raced for 4 years and everytime I tried out a roadbike I hated the handling, the restrictions of the road systems and the dressing up for all seasons (here in the uk).

When I stopped it was a few years before I bought a road bike, for the fun of being back on a bike and not having to pack the van to go racing everytime I wanted a ride. Now, having just got back from a UK to CapeTown trip I now know why I love bikes and it has nothing to do with the calculated trade-off of rain vs good roads. It's about the feeling of freedom and, as mentioned earlier, it's the feeling of actually 'being there' rather than just seeing. Society puts alot of emphasis on 'seeing' places rather than actually 'being' there. The rush of speed leaves few lasting memories whereas a saharan sunset or busy african city stays with you a lot longer.

Very interesting
 

This is a very interesting thread, and one I will follow. Before I start I should admit to not riding a bike (since a c90 20 years ago), and only thought about overlanding in the last 3 years.....so, gulp, heres an additional thought ...

If being in a car is like watching a movie, and being on a bike is like being in the movie, surely that is still a sped up movie? Stretching the analogy, surely being on a PUSH bike would be like being in the movie at the correct speed?

Are you still not an alien in peoples world on a motor bike?

After our trip in our 4x4 is finished, perhaps after 5 years, we are considering contiuning on a push bike, or a BOAT. Obviously this isn't overlanding but there is never a mention of this here. Why not? In a boat one can get to all the beautiful island cultures. Is this just a rich man's game?

At the end of this, let me say I think, if I was to start again, back to age 18, I would love to be a motorbike overlander :) It looks great :)

Just my thoughts ....

It's all in the head and down to the individual. Why anyone would want to go in circles as fast as possible I fail to see. I get no adrenalin rush as I've fallen off (and crashd other people's cars & Trucks) in plenty of places and know tracks are not such bad places to do it (IOM/Ulster are exceptions, but still don't see the point of trying to kill myself). I'm a sales rep and drive something like 40,000 miles a year by car as fast as possible but safely with the aim of getting from A to B in comfort. I hate flying (actually the airports, the going up and coming down is just a fast bus where you spend less time trying to ignore the horrible bloke crammed in next to you) but as a means of getting places sometimes you have to. I've been a test driver for a brake company and skidded army trucks and fire engines, that's mostly hours of waiting for defective instruments to work. None of these is any fun IMHO but other disagree.

Now, put me on a snow covered road or desert track where the road and outfit together and going to fight me and it's interesting. After that let some guy or girl from a completely different culture try and talk to me about what the heck i'm doing there and it's better still. Finally I'll wave two fingers at the people in the posh hotels (that's like work again) and sleep under the stars or at least in a plastic bag.

Weird isn't it. I guess it's just different challenges and interactions that different people like.

Actually, if you want really nice long distance travel try a train. You get to read or listen to music when there is nothing to do, move about, talk to either your travel companions or other people on the train, you don't get felt up by the metal detector ****s, someone else has to deal with mechanical problems and so on. Only hassle is you can't decide to go left where the track goes right.

The "wear our branded jeans and jackets like all the other Dentists and Accountants and be free" advertising is a scream isn't it. Now followed up with the "look like the Actor and his Special Friend at a cafe 3 miles from home" thing, plus the all time classic "green bikes and one piece green leather baby suits make you faster and attract women with umbrellas". I'm lucky in that I sell parts that move because they do something. People trying to shift stuff that's actually just to make the owner feel good have it harder. Who can blame them for trying to make a Disney Walmart version of overland travel.

For every snow covered alpine pass taken by foglight and followed with a warm (free) brandy in a nice Italian resort full of very smart-set people who queue up to talk to the scruffy English bloke, there is the hellish day dealing with some Austrian ****wit in Uniform who say's your tyres are illegal and you've got to pay a toll every 3 miles. If you took a nice 4x4 you'd see neither.

Andy

of course
 

It is true that cycling (or even walking) are even more involving but we're not talking absolutes here just, "why a bike rather than a car".


:scooter:

Its been said before but I'll say it again, if a bit differently: I feel far more part of the environment I am travelling in on a bike. Having a dognow means our trip bike is a Ural side car, but for me the feeling is the same. We recently toured for a few days on the the rig, followed by a few more days in the car to give th pooch a break from the Ural (its still new to her). The difference in the experience was palpable for me. I just feel few more relationship with the environment I am travelling through if I can feel it hear and smell it, rather than just see it (open windows are not the same IMO). Add to that the note worthy rferenbce to a fabulous piece of road: and its bloody amazing!!!

Mollydog:
:nono: Don't go propagating myths and stereotypes, please. That's not what this site is about...

I may be running an XR400R and a Ural, but up until last September I was one of those "adventure wannabees" with a BMW 1150 GS. Only I've actually used it as an overlander in Europe and S America, as have many bonafide bike traveller on here. No 5 Star hotels for us and no Ewan idolisation even if I enjoyed the programme: I decided on the GS long before LWR, even if I could only afford it afterwards....

Other than missing top end speed: probably the best, most competent all-round bike I've ever owned and I've owned 19 over the years, from sports to Supermoto... Maybe not as many as some but enought to form an informed opinion.

Moto v Car
 

Yeah!
Cars are, more sensible, safer, more room ect.
So when you look at it like that, why ride a bike at all? Or jump out of aeroplanes, climb mountains, sail when there are motor boats, cook when there are restaurants, travel when you can stay in one place?
The answer is a simple one!
Because!
If you prefer cars then great!
But for me, and I'm sure most other HU users, a major part if not the biggest part of a bike trip is RIDING the bike!
The getting there somehow takes second place to the act of riding your bike through wherever!
All of the negatives (not that they are really that aparent to me) seem to fade somehow and I have on many occasions felt sorry for folks I have seen overlanding in 4 wheelers and have very often seen the look on their faces telling me what they'd rather be doing.
If you were to ask a moiuntaineer why they climb mountains they'd probably shake their head and look at you like you'd gone mad.
So, this wonderfully diverse world of ours is full of equally diverse people. So fill yer boots folks on whatever floats yer boat!
Dave.

I got put off reading the lengthy responses, so this may have already been said (essentially it's a straightforward resolution):

If you're looking for an objective answer (to an subjective question), or to be convinced by a means of transport then it is not for you. If you find the security and comfort of doing things by car then do it by car.

Personally I don't see why people would want to walk, or even ride a bicycle around the world, yet they do it too.

There are plenty of answers, as we all have our own. However, I think it's to do with the subjectivity of the transport means to each individual.

Thats exactly my way of travelling, but I think its in your head more than in the means of tranportation.

I can't understand that argument. I once rented a small Mazda in Qatar and took it on small sandy roads .
When I was out of town, I turned off the aircon and opened the windows, so I could smell the hot desert. When I reached the beach I stopped and got out in the strong 35C wind and let it blow straight through my clothing.
I didn't have to undress first, remove helmet or gogles.
From the car, I saw and smelled the desert more clearly than through a dirty visor or gogles in a helmet

After crashing your bike the tenth time that day on the loose sandy track in Mali, wouldn't you rather have 4 wheels ?

I've bicycled through Morocco and from Saigon to Singapore and thats simplicity/minimalism. Its easy to put a bicycle on the train/plane/bus, one man can carry it, it stays with you in the hotel room, there's not much to go wrong, you can bring as much stuff as on the MC as you don't have to bring so many spares, you can ride without thick protective clothes or fullface helmet, can stop at a whim etc., good contact with the locals, although many will ask you, being a "rich" westerner:" Why not take car?" :-)

As said, I like MCs a lot, especially bikes like the HPN BMWs or other Paris-Dakar lookalikes, and might buy one some day, but couldn't even use it for skiing trips to the alps where I just sleep in the back of the car and bring 2-3 pairs of ski or a summer trip to the South of France with my son and a ton of diving- and windsurfing gear in the back and still the possibility to sleep on top of the heap, going trhrough Germany on the Motorway.

the PROs I can find for the bike are:
1. Cheaper to buy, than a car of same standard
2. Easier to watch in hotels etc.
3. More fun on the road (but that is marred somewhat by a ton of luggage)
4. Easier to repair
5. Better mileage

the PROs I can find for the car are:
1. You can sleep in it
2. Can be locked.
3. No need for special clothing
4. You can talk to cotravellers while driving
5. You can listen to music (even local radio) have a drink or snack while driving
6. Safer in a crash
7. Enough room for all your toys and bought souvenirs
8. you can close windows in rain- or sandstorms and turn on the heat in the cold
9. Won't fall over, no need for help to raise it up after a fall over.
10. Soft seat, you can ride all day
11. Long tankrange, which can be modded to more than 1000km
12. No insects in your mouth or clothing
13. No luggage rack to break down

I'm still struggling to understand. I think the motorcycle industry has succeded in fooling us, with their "freedom of the road".
For some hours riding a summers day on a twisty road, I'd prefer a MC any time, (but probably regret it, at the first red light, sitting in my full leathers ;-))

BUT, as there of course is no definite answer to this question, I will let it rest here.

Over and out for my part.

Yep.
All subjective - every individual is different. I ride a bike and drive 2 cars. I own a bicycle but I wouldn't want to ride it around the world. I don't own a sailboat but I would love to sail around the world.
I'm in my forties now and the lure of picking a laden bike out of the mud and sleeping in a tent night after night in the rain and cold is slowly, but surely, waning.
I love my bike and I love the feeling I get after having a good ride on it.
I not so sure I would use it to travel around the world though.
I've just finished Lois Pryce's new book and was engrossed by her descriptions of travelling through DRC and Angola - the mud and water and the feeling of despair each time she got stuck. A great life-changing experience, of that I have no doubt, but I think that as we get older most of us start to want a little bit more luxury and this is where a car/van/4x4 comes into its own.
Does it really matter how you get round the world? Doing it is the main thing.
Enjoy your day wherever you are!

[QUOTE=pbekkerh;201249]
I'm still struggling to understand. I think the motorcycle industry has succeded in fooling us, with their "freedom of the road".

I think perhaps you should just leave yourself struggling to understand my friend as I can't see this thread turning anything useful.
A bickering match about cars and bikes perhaps but what a wast of HUBB space!
All the best with your car.
Dave.

Answer to djorob:

Overlanding in a boat? Wouldn't that be called "Overwatering" or something?

Anyway - for a compromise between 4 wheels and two, why not a convertible car?

Overwatering
 

Yes, I do wonder though, how a forum that started off as motorcycling round the world (I think), but has grown to take in cars and push bikes. I think there has also been other modes of transports too (trucks, walking, tractors) and yet I have never seen one mention of someone wanting to sail round the world. Is there some sort of inverted snobbery? i.e. it is usually middle class middle aged people who do this (from my minimal research).

Is no one considering doing this seriously?

I would like to. When we get to Austrlira, we are seriously considering spending 5 years learning to sail, and continuing our trip that way. Do you think the HUBB will have a sailing category by then?

Getting back to the thread though, I think it is interesting to hear other peoples reasons for doing it. There is certainly no right and no wrong. In fact, for me I would lke to try them all. Not sure time/money/wife will let me, but I don't see this thread is a waste of space. To me, understanding others is a great part of being part fo a community like this.

The answer to this question is quite simple: Adventure is NOT about being safe, comfortable and out of the rain!


Matt :)

Finished a trip Europe --> Australia on a bike a few months ago.

Why a bike is better on such a trip? Here´s one: it is cheaper to transport. We needed to do this from India to Thailand (by air), from Malaysia to Indonesia (by boat) and from there to Australia (by air). And finally from Sydney back to Europe (by boat). Only one of these, from India to Thailand, could theoretically have been possible to do overland, but in reality it wasnt, because of wintertime in the Himalayas, and Burma remaining off-limits.

Would´ve needed a truckload more money to transport any car by airplane, or we probably wouldve done it by ship, if we had a car, but then it wouldve meant a several-week long wait at the receiving end. Plus I hear clearing the vehicle at some of the harbours can be a real pain in the ___. Much easier at airports.

Normally a bike uses less fuel than a car, too. Just 1 liter more per 100kms on the road would´ve meant we would have needed 340 litres more fuel to get to our destination. With fuel prices soaring, thats not an insignificant issue, will be even more so in the near future.

In Iran we actually met, and travelled for a while, with a Czech couple heading towards Vietnam on a 4x4. The man was a full-blown bike-enthusiast, but the wife wasnt so much, so they´d come up with a more comfortable solution. Even though their car was mighty fine, very offroad-capable and had beds for 2, a kitchen, shower, everything, I still think the guy would´ve switched vehicles with us anytime!

There were places in Asia, which are accessible by bike, but not by car, like some small islands on the Mekong river, where you go on small longtail-boats, for example. Not much difference where an offroad-car or an offroad-bike can go if the road gets real bad, depend more on the driver/rider. A car might be easier for a person who is not so experienced off-road.

Im not saying there arent a lot of positives travelling by a car, too. I just think our trip was both cheaper and more memorable done by bike, than it would´ve been by car.

This has been an amazing read for me..

IMHO.. as a rule a bike is not better then a car or vis versa.. They both have ups and downs. So why do I do it on bike... cus I like bikes better. End of story.

Explanation:

4-wheeled vehicles in any shape (to me) are great tools, but I just can find no passion for em, they are better for carrying x to y (especially if x is heavy or big or really breakable), they are better in the wet or extreme heat (if you have AC), they can be more comfortable (but not necessarily), lots of reasons above ,,, but I have never had a smile on my face when i get out of one (and i have driven some cars the have been dubbed "amazing". I dont know why.. i just like dont like em)... So if i am going to use any vehicle to overland (i.e spend a lot of time in / with it).. it mine as well be type I like.

Having said all that.. I consider myself a overland traveller who happens to prefer bikes I am not a bike-only-traveller.. If i could not use a bike, a 4x4 would be my next choice (can get to to almost as many place as the bike), then it would be some kind of "cool" car (like antique just for the extra challenge-not that i know enough about this to do it), then normal car (I like being able to randomly go where i feel, when i feel), then public transport . The idea of any self-propelled (bicycle/foot/rollerblades) just does not work for me. When i cycle i see too little..I am always head down peddling away.. but i have a huge amount of respect for those who can/do. I like flying but i find this is a fast but dull way to travel the journey is not apart of it. It is get there see stuff get back.. and i like the journey.

Here are some other reasons that bikes are "better" to travel on. These in general are not mine (in fact most i think i heard Grant J. say..if not sorry )

Bike in 3rd world countries are a common type of transport.. they may have never seen anything bigger then a 125cc.. but the concept is there.. you are not that (much) different .

you cant read (as a passenger/pillion).. you have to interact with the journey as much as the driver. If you are reading you are not seeing the world pass by you mine as well fly and get there faster.

A big white landcruiser, is the same thing that the military and "aid organisations" use this automatically puts you in a us/them situation, when local people have mostly only seen the above type of people.

Traffic and filtering - nuf said on that one..

My favourite and one of my driving factors..

A bike is different enough that people have the excuse they want/need to talk to you..The bike is an automatic ice breaker.. this is true no matter where you are. (if they ride even more so).. How often have strangers talked to you at the petrol station when on your bike? how about your Car..
-- for me: the answers are on my bike.. to many to count. in the car it has only happened when they want to abuse me for some reason.
-- I have had people roll down their window at the traffic lights to talk to me when on the bike.. hot day --"You must be hot in all that gear".. or When it is raining "Nice day for it?", stop for direction from an old man-- "i had a bike once it was a Honda something and Oh I used to have some fun on that..20 minutes later... I remember once we went to...." sound familiar? more out of the way places it is the same..


my last word.. I would also love to sail the world with a 250cc bike on the back of the boat.. BUT MRS.X. gets seasick even talking about it.. so that wont happen..

Why judge a bike by it's looks? Isn't that falling for the industries marketing? Why not use one for a skiing trip? No space for a sleeping and bivvy bag so you can sleep where you like?

Everything is compromise and you only learn by how much by trying it. OK, with your son on a solo BM you'd need to rent the ski's when you got there and might be happier with something lighter on snow. To carry the ski's your son would have to stay at home or you need a sidecar. But, is this a ski trip or a bike trip? We could equally argue that queueing up in the jams into the ski resorts in an estate car is a waste of time and anyway riding on snow is just as much fun as the actual skiing.

It's whatever you want it to be, there is no right answer. If you like the HPN for it's looks and ride it 200 miles a year to your local cafe and are happy with that, go for it. If you want to go RTW in a 4x4 that's cool. The thing is, don't listen to people who say it isn't possible or isn't a good idea. If you really think you can't hop on a bike and go skiing for any reason except you tried it and it didn't work out, I've only got two suggestions. Either try it or get a job as a motoring journalist :oops2:

Andy

I went on a snowboard trip to the alps last year on my bike. It was bl**dy freezing but fantastic fun and much more memorable than if I had I driven over or, even more sensibly, flown.

In the end a friend took my board for me but not before I had succesfully made and trialed a snowboard rack for my bike. The only limit is your imagination, as they say (in an irritating sanctimonious manner! :) )

Matt :)

You mean you can't have an adventure in a car? Isn't an adventure anything that takes you out of your home/work routine and lets you experience another lifestyle? I've had many 'adventures' in a hire car before.
Its not what you use its how you use it.
I like bikes but I also like cars and I'd rather be in an air conditioned car in 95 degrees than sweating and uncomfortable on a bike.
Horses for courses - didn't someone once have an 'adventure' riding their lawnmower across the USA once?

Yin/Yan
 

I am trying the YIN/YAN approach with Mrs Deity. Our next but one trip can be cycling or sailing. She can make the choice.

She is going for sailing, funnily enough, at the moment.

Most probably she is much wiser than me, and in reality I am actually just doing what she want's me to, but my head hurts to much when I think like that .........

NO! I didn't mean that at all! :)

What I meant was that being safe, comfy and out of the rain are not the defining characteristics of adventure, so this is not how you should choose your vehicle. I am totally with you on the 'horses for courses' thing. I've had what I would call adventures on motorbikes, bicycles, skis, canoes, on foot and yes...even in cars!

Choosing the vehicle for your dream trip should never be about practicality, but about what fires your imagination!

Matt :)

To each, their own. As the Prussians say.

Thanks for the tip on "what this site is all about". :innocent:

The Straight Story, great film.

bicycling is to motorbiking what motorbiking is to car driving.

I would only like to add that the car Vs bike feeling where people get passionate about bikes but not cars can also work the other way! I have owned two road bikes in Europe that I took all over the EU on my holidays from working in Africa. Liked them both, but not as much as the two cars I owned after the bikes. Had three trail bikes in Ghana and liked them both, but not as much as the cars that came after.

Why do I get passionate about cars but not so much about bikes? To be honest I don't know, but I do know I never built a Lego motorbike, but Landrovers and FJ Landcruisers I must have built hundreds! And to be honest I have found in Africa the bike or car will both generate pretty similar levels of excitement. And yes people sometimes do ask at Petrol Stations: once at an Italian Petrol Station (on the Autostrada) a complete stranger (guy behind the till) actually followed me to the car, stopped other cars from leaving and then insisted that I bounce the car off the rev limiter and side step the clutch... Imagine the cashier at the Knutsford Services on the M6 doing that to some couple in a car/bike?

So I think my point is that it IS possible to be passionate about cars. Like marmite it is just a preference.
Gil

Nope: tend to avoid them, on the whole.

Used to be on UKGSer a lot, but it all got a bit repetitive and after my GS got mashed, there was even less common ground: I prefer it here as there is much less "book by the cover", "mine's got more lights than yours" type attitudes...

In any case, I've seen your posts enough to have an inkling about your attitudes about people and travel, hence why I was a bit surprised by some apparent pigeon-holing... hence my remark.

MC vs Car
 

Here is my perspective. When you are in a car you view the world through a frame, i.e the frame of the windshield. On a bike you are in the picture.

As sailboats are to motorboat, bikes are to cars.

On a sailboat or bike you are much involved, tune-in and have a very set of experiences.

Right, except you cannot easily cover 300-400kms per day, or 10.000kms a month on a bicycle. So if you dont have unlimited time, and still want to go far, a motorcycle gets you there more easily.

it's not about the destination. what you rushing to, why do you need to do 300-400 kms per day? do less, experience more.

This is why I love this site, we mostly agreed on the idea of 'adventure' travel - we just can't agree how!

By the way, amphibious car has already been done - Ben Carlin in his amphibious jeep "Half-Safe"

Amphibious Jeep Half Safe

At the moment I prefer motorbike over car (mainly since I don't have a car at the moment). But in the back of my head there are all sorts of journeys involving cars, bicycles and - should I win the lottery - boats.

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, and charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open" (Nehru)

Just get out there and do it.

baswacky.

You could always try walking like Ibn Battutah in the 14th century - 75,000 miles in 29years

BBC iPlayer - The Man Who Walked Across the World: Wanderlust

Cars are great if you like highways and traffic jams but to get to really remote places often a motorcycle is the only way, see thats the whole 'freedom' thing in my opinion the fact that so few obstacles can get in your way when you're riding a motorbike.

An example:
I live in Scandinavia, and sometimes (like this year) the summer hasnt been too good, in fact its been raining like you wouldnt believe. So lots of people head into the Mediterranean to get even some sunshine before the long, cold winter. Thats easily a 6000-8000km trip, and if you got 3-4 weeks off work, those 300-400 per day will get you there. You can actually do much more on the motorway if you like, so then you will have some time off the bike, too, so it wont be just riding all the time.

You are 100% correct..My post was only about me, and in no way should be considered "Why you should like bikes better" .. Some people find passion about cars, some about bikes.. My father is more into cars, my brother is more into computers, me bikes.. My mum hates them all..My wife has it the most correct.. she like being out there and dont care how.. it is all about what you the individual likes better.. there is no right or wrong as long as you are happy.. (although i suspect the preference to be on a computer then in real life may be wrong.. it is not for me to judge. :()

I like bikes... Gil, you like Landys (FJ with a ragtop..would be my top choice of 4x4 as well btw) as long as we respect each other and have fun and maybe a beer together then all is good. I think the important thing here is not how you travel but that you do it..

Just to be contrary .. marmite is bad.:thumbdown:. vegimite is the good stuff :thumbup1:

100% Xander - Vegimite and FJs, respect and fun!!!

To be honest I have recently been more and more thinking about a bike again:thumbup1:

Gil

It think this says it all, really. I my world, bikes are all that count (besides family & friends, naturally). I'm an addict to bikes. Not so much to the bikes themselves, but to what they bring and represent. Pain in the butt, aching knee, freezing rain and snow, icy roads, close encounters with wildlife and cage drivers, long winding roads, beautiful sunsets to look at when you stop to rest on an evening ride on an otherwise ordinary Tuesday, flowing nirvana-like riding experiences, heart-pounding exhilarating gravel road bombing...

Oh, never mind. I'll never be able to explain it to someone who haven't experienced the same thing. In the same way as only motorcyclists can understand why dogs prefer to stick their head out in the wind when riding in a car.

Motorcycles aren't rational at all where I live, where nearly half the year is snow and winter. You really need to be hard-headed to insist on riding a motorcycle. And still I do it. I could use the car (if I can find it ;-) but hell, how fun is that??

Well said, Warthog. Spot on!

My top 10 thoughts on this bike vs. car thread are:

10. Why stop at comparing bike vs. car, how about car vs. caravans or RV (recreational vehicles in the US)?

9. Driving a car is metal and glass around the flesh -- protection but isolation from the outside world. Riding a motorbike is flesh around the metal -- dangerous exposure but openness to our world.

8. Both demand concentration on the road, but motorbiking requires more because it's more dangerous. Danger pushes us to be more PRESENT along the journey, soaking up everything around us on every mile along the journey, not just at destination.

7. The bigger the vehicle or storage space, the more useless stuff we could find to put into the vehicle.

6. I have always seen drivers envious of bikers, never the other way around. Even when bikers get soaked in the rain, they are 'cooler' than the drivers fumbling their umbrellas.

5. Bikes deal much better with parking and traffic, and get to places where 4x4 overlander would hesitate if not impossible.

4. If broken down, it's easier to find someone to transport a bike than a 4x4 overlander.

3. Gas prices!

2. Adventure is about leaving our comfort zone, and treasuring every little thing the trip brings to us, not what we bring to the trip.

1. It's about whom we travel with, and what type of transportation the group as a whole would be happy with. "Happiness is only real when it's shared." Christopher McCandless from the true story Into the Wild

email just in from:

Boye De Mente
Paradise Valley, Az, USA


You said:

I just ran across a reference to the globe-circling jeep HALF-SAFE on your website...
And thought whoever wrote the article might be interested in knowning that I was Ben Carlin's partner on the longest and most dangerous port of the trip, from Japan to Alaska, and chronicled my encounter with Carlin and Half-Safe in a book entitled ONCE A FOOL - From Tokyo to Alaska by Amphibious Jeep. It's on amazon.com.
Most cordially,
Boye Lafayette De Mente
www.cultural-guide-books-on-china-japan-korea-mexico.com.

Imagine this...you just got done 200km of awful piste and finally arrive at the posh campement in Ulaan Baatar...

You are dirty, smelly, haven't showered in 3-4 weeks and your toothbrush is hanging out of your inside jacket pocket. You ask the lady at the front desk if they've got room and she says no. All the time, three cute girls behind giggle and get your attention. You offer to pitch your tent and she agrees...

After you pitch your tent the girls pay a visit...a conversation starts, beers flow...and you get laid in your tent by a hot German nurse.

Thats why I travel by bike and not car...

Sorry can't resist
 

To me that says more about your ability with the opposite sex than cars vs m/c - if that's what it takes for you to get laid .... well , must be a lot of lonely nights ...

Sorry couldn't resist.

It's the fun factor that does it for me.

I don't currently own a car. But I've had several over the years. I just cant remember when I ever took my car for a pleasure drive, just because the wheather was great. I do that often on my bike. Very few people will take a pleasure drive in their car. Ok, if you've just bought a brand new one, you may want to take it out for a spin without any particular goal in mind. But after that, it's just a means of transport. A bike is both fun and a means of transportation.

Having said that, I agree that there are many things on an overland trip that are so much easier in a car. I mean, just being able to lock it while you go into a market or borderpost, gives the car the advantage over the bike.

I guess "fun factor" is the closest I'll get to answering the original posters question.

Small Is Safe
 

Of course the obvious first answer is cost - and not just gas and spares. You can't load a car onto a yacht or canoe to bipass the Darien Gap.
But, to me, most important was the contact riding out in the open induces with local people. I believe that this is particularly true of a small bike. Big bikes, people want to discuss the bike. Ride a bike that the locals ride and you are into a different conversation.
And there is the security angle. Why would bandits bother with an old man on a small bike? Tell them there's a rich gringo an hour back on a big Harley.
Nighttime security, my Honda 125 never slep outdoors south of the Rio Grande and has slept in some great hotels! Right the way thru the Americas hotel staff would either lift or find a plank and wheel the bike into the lobby - or, in many cases, 16th or 17th Century patio!
Yeah, I know. Treat a bike that good and it gets ideas above its station. Mine complained at having to stay outside in the parking lots of motels when we finally reached the US.
One last advantage - again of a small bike: Those who've read my BLOG know that three trucks ran me down in Tierra del Fuego (one truck with two truck tractors on it trailer). I got smashed up the rear. Javier at Dakar Motos in BA rebuilt the bike while I crutched and bussed and boated round the fjords of Chile. Javier asked me to keep the cost of the rebuild secret ( most of his clients ride BMWs). I am a mean old man traveling on a small pension. The bill Javier produced came as a delightful shock...

Mexico to Tierra del Fuego then north to New York at cover
:oops2:

my reason.
 

i travel about 2000miles a week for my work. i wake up in my truck,have coffee in my truck(services too expensive),eat in my truck(services too expensive),get stuck in traffic jams on a daily basis!,spend my life on boring motorways!. i go on a monday morning to live in a tin box until saturday!
so on the weekend and my hol's i just want to get out there with the freedom, spend time on the back road's and drink/eat with the local's,see the sight's and breath that fresh air!
that's why i ride a bike!
adventuring though is not about the method of movement but enjoying the experience of meeting people etc. there are pro's and con's for every method of travel, (quicker,warmer,dryer, etc)(easier to push) the list goes on and on.
although all my travel's have been on a bike i am looking into doing an adventure jaunt in my reliant robin for a laugh and if it break's down i'll just leave it! there's a charity challenge to mongolia i think every year in car's smaller than 1000cc so this is a possibility. i'm quite sure that a trip like this will be just as enjoyable providing i stop and mingle with the local's and not just drive through and make my own coffee on the side of the road!
whatever anyone chooses to travel cycle/motorbike/car/4x4/van/plane etc. it's their adventure and that's how they want to do it!

ps. when i was going to iceland there was an helicopter on the boat, apparently the owner uses this to travel! it was shipped on the ferrry because it did'nt have the fuel capacity to fly there!
thought of mentioning acerbis to him but did'nt!:innocent:

It doesn't matter
 

I've been out and about in a car quite a bit. This year was the first time on a bike to a destination where a degree of independency does matter. And I must say, I've skipped places that I wouldn't have skipped in a car, because of fuel range, because of river crossings that are a breeze in a car and no go on a bike, because my lack of sand riding skills make something that passes unnoticed in a 4x4 becomes an ordeal on a bike ... .

I haven't been in the situation where I thought: "with a bike I could have gone there".

That said, I'd go on a bike anytime again. Except maybe south-east afrika, as bikes aren't allowed in many of the game parks.

Actually, I guess it doesn't matter that much. It's more in your attitude then the way you travel. It's true that on a bike people might approach you sooner. Once out of the western world, as soon as you're of or out of you're vehicle, your vehicle doesn't matter anymore. It's the world around you, and how you interact with it.

car or bike
 

i dont think it matters what you go on . i prefer a bike but in the end its the adventure and how you do it:thumbup1:

Why a bike? Dunno... maybe I'm like the dog sticking his head out the window... I always drive with the windows open and the AC off when in a car (ok, I close them partially when it's raining cos it's usually not my car and I don't want the whole inside getting messed up/soaked).

State of the art 2008 Landcruiser with a gazzillion HP or beaten up '82 Holden Jackaroo that slows down to 50kmph uphill? The Jackaroo in a heartbeat. It was so rusted through the roof was held up with putty.

Smooth and comfy still shiny BMW 1200 GS or fourth-hand teeth-rattling Honda Dominator? The Domi is outside my window.

Shiny catamaran with electric winches, or wooden single hull with a creaky mast and blistered hands? Again... blistered hands. Popped the blisters, wrapped 'em up and kept going as there was still a whole day (and night) ahead before we reached land again.

And so on...

Why? Asked myself a lot of times... and still don't know for sure.

Perhaps because, as the son of a corporate expat I lived the luxury life, and found it utterly boring and predictable.

[:offtopic:] And no, I wasn't spoiled, my dad's the kind who believes you should work for what you want, even if you're 8 y/o. [End of :offtopic:]

Perhaps cos things ain't half as interesting when they go as you want them to go all the time. Most of the (solo or accompanied) travelling I've done wouldn't have been half as interesting if things hadn't gone horribly wrong one way or another... frequently. And yet, I'm thankful they DID (although probably more than one of my travel companions would disagree with me on that).

Perhaps cos I find it more fun to throw a dart on a map and walk out the door to try hitch a ride there than go to the travel agency and buy a bus/train/plane ticket there.

I'm "planning" to do a Madrid-Beijing (or something along those lines) in a couple of years, by motorbike... I don't expect to get that far (at least not with my bike). Wherever it breaks down and I run out of cash, I'll take the indispensables with me and stick out my thumb... and in the end I'll probably end up in South Africa instead.

Anyhow, after drifting off for a while, now to tie it all up... why a bike and not a car? Chaos. That's why. In a car you are safe, you can lock the doors in Mexico City, you can roll up the windows in Siberia. On a bike, you aren't. You have no protective bubble, whatever happens around you affects you directly. When it rains, you get rained on; when it freezes, you freeze; when you crash, you get hurt; when a guy with a knife walks towards you and you fumble your keys, you can't roll up your window...

To me, that's a large part of travelling. If everything had gone "as planned", I'd never have joined the crew of a sailing boat for a regatta and in the process met a 70-year old, 4-foot chinese lady who was travelling around the world after her husband died. Or spent two months prospecting for gold in the middle of the outback. Or had Israeli machine guns (and a tank) pointing at me (in my t-shirt, flip-flops, bermudas and a camera slung around my neck) supposedly 1km behind the front line in Southern Lebanon, 2 minutes before asking a Hezbollah militia guy if he could spare some diesel for our beaten-up taxi...

But, as with everyone, each person has their own reasons and their own drives. If you like 5-star hotels and a carefully laid-out schedule, go for it. As someone already said, to each their own. And don't let anyone tell you how you should live your life. As long as you LIVE it, and don't just watch it go by, that's all that matters. :thumbup1:

And if we ever meet, you'll probably think I'm terminally insane and I'll wonder how you can lead such a boring life, but we'll probably still have at least an interesting conversation. And we'll (hopefully) both walk away with just a little bit more learned in this life, and if we're real lucky,a little bit more wisdom. :yinyang:

... (so, did I pull it off or did it just sound real corny?) :tongue3:

PS: Oh, btw, sorry for the endless pseudo-philosophical rambling... my mind is just about as chaotic as the way I live my life. :blushing:

... age and "maturity" seem to steal it away at some point.

To me this is a very simple question. I travel on a bike, as opposed to a car for the same reason I ride a bike everyday as opposed to driving a car. I just like riding motorcycles. Whether or not it's raining or I have to take my gear into a restaurant when I stop or have to deal with the heat or any other question, I deal with it because the pluses of riding out weigh the minuses.

wind, rain, cold, dust, heat, sandy ruts and all those other *terrible* things are part of the brilliance of motorcycle travel.

on a bike, you are part of the environment you travel in. it affects you, you are required to respect it, and therefore you learn more from it.

in a car, like you said, you can be more connected to your soda and tunes than you are to the things on the other side of the windows. grand.

to compare the two modes of travel is to me like comparing watching a gig or a sporting event live as compared to on the tube. (i own neither a car nor a TV.)

as for communication with my travelling partner, the teamwork and trust required to ride two-up, standing on the footpegs and picking our way through the rough stuff of bolivia, peru or whereever on 450kg of home is a pinnacle of togetherness.

cheers,
andy