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 ?

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Poul
May you enjoy peace and good health !

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,

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

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.

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Find out details of my 2011 trip to Siberia on a lightweight dirtbike:
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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 ....

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Ollie

www.jollyfollies.com

Land's End to Sydney 2009

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".

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Find out details of my 2011 trip to Siberia on a lightweight dirtbike:
www.brighton2expeditions.co.uk

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:
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.

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

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.

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Poul
May you enjoy peace and good health !

[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:

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Poul
May you enjoy peace and good health !

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?

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

Andy

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

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..

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2000 Africa Twin
http://two-up-ona-twin.blogspot.com