2 Wheels or 4??

Undercoverguy

Ok i wont kill you all to death with details so i'll give ya the quick story.
Im 17 (18 in 2 months) and I start college later this year in Ballyfermot, I live in Malahide..... so its a pretty HUGE distance.
Public transport is too slow and lets face it.... crap so Dublin bus would get me there late most mornings.
I'm able to get a motor loan a month before college for either a Car or Bike.
Taking into account Dublin traffic i wanna get a bike cos bikes can get past traffic (in theory) slightly faster than cars.I have a Prov licence which lets my drive a bike up to 125CC or a Car.

So the question is, DO i get a Motorbike or Car?

Pros of bike:
WAY cheaper on insurance, tax, upkeep, GAS.
Bike also looks way cooler; http://www.maxmoto.co.uk/images/aprilia%20rs125%202005%20l.jpg

Cons of Bike:
Death, Weather.

---

Pros of car:
Weather, Passangers, Slightly safer, Radio lol

Cons of car:
TRAFFIC! GAS, Insurance, TAX, Upkeep.

katiegordon

The death ting is pretty big for me but i suppose its unlikely.
Id buy a car, but id say the better option for u is a bike......
But hey wat do i know......

LadyJ

Car!

katiegordon

But think of sittin in traffic all d way from malahide every day!!!

Sarsfield

Actually the 78A is very fast and reliable. As is the DART to Tara St.

Give public transport a chance!

LadyJ

Beep beep! Car car!

cormie

Katie Gordon, is that the Katie Gordon I know???

Is moving out near college an option? If you get a car you will be paying almost as much as you would per week on insurance as you would be on rent.

If you only intend on using it for a ride to college, I'd go with the bike. A car is very handy though, for passengers and general transport of things.

katiegordon

em I dont know, what Katie Gordon do you know???
Im only 15 so doubt it...

dawballz

Bike, but if you're serious about the RS, it's going to cost you a bomb to insure.
It would be one of the faster 125's I think(and definately one of the nicest).

If you do get it and get insured, let me know. I want to get another bike, and the RS is gorgeous.

Bike all the way..Buy a pair of wet pants and a nice waterproof jacket and you're set.

LadyJ

Cars bring women,motorbikes bring men!

jor el

Go with the bike. Far better for getting around in the city. Something like a TDR125 would be fairly powerfull for a 125 but cheap on tax and insurance (insurance group 2 so just about the cheapest). Also the bike shouldn't cost more than 2 grand for about a '00 or '01 model.

The killing yourself thing isn't something you should worry about to be honest. Just drive carefully and you'll most likely be OK.

Undercoverguy

dawballz wrote:

Bike, but if you're serious about the RS, it's going to cost you a bomb to insure.
It would be one of the faster 125's I think(and definately one of the nicest).

If you do get it and get insured, let me know. I want to get another bike, and the RS is gorgeous.

Bike all the way..Buy a pair of wet pants and a nice waterproof jacket and you're set.

Insurance quote at EUR1500.00 COMP, cos my Dad is gonna go as the main driver and me and just a named driver.... He'll never drive it tho lol

mp3guy

Get an old volkswagens hippy van. You could probably get one for free, fix it up, and you can get classical insurance AFAIK, which is only about €200 or so.

Garibaldi

Turning lock on trailies (Honda Varadero, Yamaha TDR etc) is much better than on sports bikes, so much better for navigating through packed city/M50 streets. That said, I've had three Aprilias, and they were all way cooler than a traily (which I currently have....d'oh).

daymobrew

If possible get some motorbike training before buying a motorbike.
Contact Motorcycle Action Group Ireland for information on training courses. I know Fingal County Council run courses, probably in association with MAG Ireland.

There are training guides on the MAG Ireland site. They make for interesting reading.

When I got my bike license, in California, I took training before buying a bike. It was 18 hours over 3 days, 8 in a classroom and 10 on a bike in a large school playground. We never went over 2nd gear but it was an excellent introduction to riding.

Knowing how to drive helps, especially to know the concepts of clutch and gears and engine braking (the latter a non-issue on mopeds with their automatic transmissions).

Don't forget to factor in the price of protective gear. I recommend you get a riding jacket with shoulder/elbow/back padding and riding pants with hip/knee padding. The jacket and pants will be waterproof and kevlar is a good protective material. Wear leather gloves too. The helmet is too obvious to even mention.

tk123

Go with the bike - there's no point in buying a car to sit in traffic every morning!!! Also the bike won't cost as much in tax and petrol!! As for the weather - it's not a prob if you have the right gear!! I have cordura jacket and trousers - the lining comes out so they're light enough so your not sweating in summer an d they keep the rain out. I also have overboots and they keep my runners nice and dry too!!

Kernel

Go have a look at rotten.com and see what happens to bikers when they crash or get hit by feckless drivers!

PS - the weather in our fine island is too ****e for biking too, but it is cheaper and more fun. Don't underestimate the death/serious injury element though. I know a lot of guys who had been bikers and had a few hair-raising moments. Most had come off at some stage, and some had serious (and I mean SERIOUS) injuries.

WhiteWashMan

jor el wrote:

The killing yourself thing isn't something you should worry about to be honest. Just drive carefully and you'll most likely be OK.

youre obviously not a seasoned driver of any vehicle.

its ntoa case of whether or not you are a good driver, its a case of whether those around youa re good drivers. and the answer is no.

you may be 150% in the right, but if you are hit by a car, then youre still 150% right and dead. or paralysed if youre lucky.

by the way, what in your definition is 'most likely'?
10%?
5%
1%

are you saying that every 100 times you take your bike out, you will get hit 1 of those times?

i dont much like your odds...

seamus

Insurance won't be cheaper unless you buy a moped.

My bike insurance is €1,400 TPO with 3-years no claims on a 125cc. I just got quoted €1,500 Fully Comp on a 1.2 Polo with zero no-claims.

TBH, at 17, just starting college, I think moving out and renting a room with some mates close to college would be better for you, both in terms of the hassle of a vehicle, and life experience.

tk123

Kernel - driving a car can be dangerous too so can crossing the road for that matter. Thats no reason not to have a bike!!! OP as long as you get some lessons and have your wits about you when driving you'll be FINE!!! You just need to drive with the outlook that everyone else on the road is crap driver/drive defensively(sp?) and they're going to squish you - I'm not saying that they ARE crap drivers but if you're expecting somebody to say pull into your lane without indicating you'll be giving yourself plenty of space/driving at the right speed so you'll be able to react. If your flying along and not looking where you're going you'll get yourself killed...sorry if that doesn't make sense...

Kernel

tk123 wrote:

Kernel - driving a car can be dangerous too so can crossing the road for that matter. Thats no reason not to have a bike!!!

Well, if you get hit in a car then you have some chance, you get hit on a bike or come off it at high speed, you have a lot less of a chance is all I'm saying.

Garibaldi

Ah, the old "mine's more dangerous than yours" chestnut just never goes away, does it. OP, if you want a bike, get a bike, if you want a car, get a car, the choice is yours. Seamus probably has the best idea, though.

vector

IMHO Get a car

(and maybe get a bike in a few years when you have some spare money, or when you reach a mid life crisis)

tk123

lol and take the bike out once a month on a sunny day!!

seamus

Thread moved, poll edited

echomadman

If you're going to buy a car, just use public transport instead, you'll be sitting in the same traffic jams and on the bus at least you're not contributing to them, also it'll be a hell of a lot cheaper as you wont be paying tax+insurance+petrol+all the other little things you have to spend money on when you own a car/bike.
The bike will allow you to bypass the traffic jams and is all around more fun, although the RS wont be comfortable on your wrists in traffic, i'd second the varadero/tdr recommendation (preferable the varadero, the tdr is a stroker and sounds like a chainsaw), or get a scooter for a year then move onto a bike.

Dades

As Batman said:

"It's the car, right? Chicks love the car?"

GET THE CAR. Dry, warm, musak, passenger friendly...
You're going to have to insure a car at some stage anyway so you might as well get started.

And don't the latest road statistics say that you are 17 times more likely to be killed riding a bike than in a car?

And don't forget to name your car. That's important.

fletch

I would say the bike. But what about when it's raining heavily....a car is a much nicer place to be & arrive to college in. Imagine arriving to college soaked to the skin, stinking of petrol fumes & possibly having nowhere to store your helmet/change of clothes etc....
I don't envy you any way you look at it.

Stephen

Dublin traffic jams? Get the bike. I say this as an ex-biker who now drives a cage, but I live in the sticks where there's bugger all traffic. (I commute 12 miles from a town to the countryside every day, its great seeing all the traffic going the opposite direction )

If you buy some decent wet weather gear you'll be pretty dry underneath it - just make sure you can get a locker or something in the college to store your helmet, jacket etc in.

jackal

I would go the bike route, but on a scooter.

The RS-125 is a race replica 2-stroke - Its uncomfortable, has a tiny power band, no storage space and can be expensive/time sapping to maintain. Its possibly the worst bike you could get as a commuter.

For dawdling in and out of college an ovetto MBK 50/125 is yer only man. Storage (with top box - huge amount of storage), bullet proof motor, no chain to oil/adjust/replace, comfortable, some protection from the elements, no clutch/gears. I had one for a year and loved it.

I got a bigger bike eventually, because I got into bikes as a hobby. If my commute was through heavy traffic/city centre, I would get a scoot and save my "real" bike for the weekends.

positron

Public transport (dart/luas) and a pedal bike! Save the planet, few euros and get fit doing it!