1. You’ll only save your commute time if you live in a state/country/wherever that allows lane sharing. If you don’t, your commute time will be the same as if you were in your car, provided you follow the law and don’t filter through traffic.
2. Being safe is all up to you. How you evaluate your current position, the environment, traffic and road conditions, and other vehicles around you. Even if you think you did everything right according to the law, what’s it gonna matter? You’ll still lose everytime against a cage. Fender benders, even on the highway, does not equal instant death either. Gearing up for a potential crash, for instance, can save your life. I’ve known people that have been in accidents with another vehicle on the highway, walk away from the wreck and come into work the same day, mainly because of the gear the wore… fully armored leather, helmet, gloves, boots, etc… Not to say you can’t die on the highway because you can, but you can stack the odds in your favor.
3. Bikes being more economical depends on a variety of factors. Can you save the cost of gas? Definately, if you ride the same routes that you’d drive. Bikes can be cheaper to buy compared to cars, but the maintainence on bikes are more frequent than with cars. Tires for instance have an average life of only about 5K miles. Me, personally, I haven’t saved on gas… I ride around too much and don’t take the direct route to work on my bike like I did when I was caging…
Look, there are risks to motorcycling. If you really are that scared of hurting your family, don’t do anything stupid and increase the odds in your favor if you do happen to get into a situation.
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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…