Or not! I’ve drive a car right now, although everything I use it for could be done quicker and cheaper by a bike. Haven’t gone beyond the planning stage yet, don’t even have the licence.
But before I go any further…is it a good idea? Care to share any personal experiences with choppers, crotch rockets and what-have-you?
Talk me out of getting a motorcycle.
Not me. I’ve been riding since '74. I’ve owned trail bikes, standards, “crotch rockets” full dress touring bikes, and cruisers. I currently own 2 Harleys.
They’re a blast to ride, fuel efficient, and cheaper to maintain/insure than a car. It’s easier to breeze through heavy traffic with one also.
If safety is your concern, get a new one, or have a used one inspected before you buy. Take a riders course, and buy a heavy jacket, boots, gloves, and a helmet.
What type of bike you get will e determined on how you plan on using it.
How will you use it? Commuting? Pleasure riding? I use mine for both so it helps to know what kind of bike you can use to some advantage such as gas savings and ease of parking. Check out insurance costs. They can be high.
Thanks for the replies fellas; to clarify what I’ll be using it for; commuting and transporting goods - just stuff that would fit in a small rucksack. No passengers needed.
Also, I don’t think I could resist a bit of pleasure riding out in the sticks either…
Thread title says talk you out of it…
You don’t want one of those, you’re going to crash/fall off, and bust your skull open on a sharp rock.
The chicks are going to start coming around, and your significant other is going to be jealous and moody.
Ahh, umm…yeah, that’s it. And you might crash.
That depends on several factors: age, marital status, driving record, what kind of bike insured, and where it’s stored.
A 19 year old with several tickets on his record is going to pay through the nose for a crotch rocket, while I, a married 53 year old, clean record, 40 years riding experience, pay very little for 2 bikes with collision/comprehensive.
Taking an approved riders course will get you an insurance deduction, too.
Ask yourself: Am I healthy enough to be an organ donar?
Does it rain/snow a lot where you’d be riding?
Yep! Well, maybe not the liver…
Are you kidding? I live in England! Rain is a way of life over here.
“Talk me out of getting a motorcycle.” Bugger that for a game of soldiers.
I like driving cars. They’re practical, except for parking. But I got my motorcycle license last year and have been riding daily ever since. I look forward to my commute because any excuse to go riding my bike is a hoot, rain or shine. (Rio de Janeiro: mostly shine 
) I recently went on a longish trip (8 hour drive - next state) with the wife and luggage, and I almost enjoyed the drive more than the holiday at the destination.
Motorcycles are cheap to buy, cheap to own, cheap to run. (No insurance on mine as the bike’s not worth it) A cow-orker has been waiting over 2 weeks for his in-warranty car to get back from the mechanic due to a minor air conditioning issue; I’m doing a correspondence course in motorcycle mechanics, and when something goes wrong with my bike (they do need more regular maintenance than cars) I can usually fix it myself, with some help from more experienced riders and Google. Bikes are, compared to cars of the same age, simpler machines with fewer finicky parts and less electronics.
Yep, you might crash. I got T-boned by a car that ran a red light, so I’m well aware of the danger - but the danger is overall exaggerated, assuming you’re a cautious defensive driver. You could get killed driving a car too. Fixing my bike after that crash was (relatively) cheap, and I did half the work myself. My leg was fine after 6 weeks 
So give in to the temptation! I commute with the bike, a Korean 250cc mini-cruiser ('cause it’s what I could afford), and have saddlebags, a pillion bag, and a backpack for transport as necessary - storage space doesn’t have to be an issue. Don’t start with anything too radical - no overpowered sportbikes, probably best to stay under 750cc. Then, have fun!
Talk you out of getting a motorcycle?
Riding a motorcycle poses a substantially greater risk of death and dismemberment than driving a car. On a per-mile basis, the risk of death is about 20 times greater. I don’t know the relative risk for grievous bodily injury, but I bet it’s much more than 20, given the ease with which you can be injured in a motorcycle crash (compared to a car crash). Take a long, painfully honest look at your driving history. Do you find yourself getting surprised a lot, having to hit the brakes or swerve a lot because someone else did something you weren’t expecting and you were in a bad spot for it? Do you screw up on a regular basis, and rely on other people to pay attention and dodge you? Every time that happens, it’s essentially a roll of the dice; if it happens often enough, eventually you’re going to crash. Bottom line? If you’re an “average” driver, then I think riding a motorcycle is a scary-hazardous proposition.
You’ve specifically stated that commuting is one of your primary purposes for riding. Commuting miles are relatively risky. Traffic is dense, other drivers are bleary-eyed because they got up earlier than they would have liked, they’re in a hurry because they’re running late, they’re impatient because they’ve got a long way to go, and they’re not paying full attention to the driving task because they’re drinking coffee, making phone calls, and/or masturbating, possibly all at the same time.
If you’re safety minded, you’re going to spend a significant chunk of cash on ridng gear: expect to pay $1500 for a good armored riding suit, gloves, helmet, and boots. Pay a premium for a motorcycle with anti-lock brakes; many accidents are caused by riders who braked timidly for fear of locking up the wheels. Chances are this will be a bigger motorcycle with sub-optimal fuel economy (my bike is a BMW R1200RT; it gets about 43 MPG). You’ll want to use sport-touring tires, which give pretty good traction but don’t last as long as touring tires; they’ll last maybe 7,000 miles, at which point you can expect to pay a dealer $500 to install a new set for you (if you have the space/tools/aptitude for DIY, you can buy tires on the internet for $320 a set and install them yourself).
Bottom line? Riding is cheaper than driving - but not by much, unless you’re prepared to cut corners on safety by buying a well-used Ninja250, fitting it with hard touring tires, and riding it with minimal gear (a cheap half-helmet). It’s substantially riskier than driving, unless you’re innately hypervigilant and work hard to develop/maintain your riding skills.
That’s my perspective as a veteran rider with 14 years and 170,000 miles of riding experience. If you insist on getting into it, here’s my advice from a thread last year.
Where are you? Ive got a nice BMW K100 im thinking of selling or trading for a small convertible. Ive got a donor bike to go with it as well. Great commuter bike, very reliable.
Look into a Can Am Spyder. 998cc rotax engine, three wheels, 2 in front, with either 5 speed manual or 5 speed semi-automatic transmission. Comes in sports model, touring model, or somewhere in between, And yes, I have one (my 2nd), they are a blast! Their not very cheap to buy, but better than a 3-wheel Harley or Goldwing.
Imagine you had a car, and all the windows wouldn’t roll up. It has no heat or ac. It has really twitchy steering and almost no suspension, so potholes are murder. It’s painted Camry beige so no one can see it. And every time you listened to the radio, talked on the phone, texted someone, fiddled with the seat controls, or checked out that hot brunette walking by, the airbags, brakes, and seatbelts stopped working.
Sound appealing?
you’re going to die.
Go read this thread about Santo Rugger, Pat, who was a friend of mine and several other people on the boards. He would have been the first person to defend you buying a motorcycle, but it was his accident that caused me to stop looking at them.
They don’t have to be terrible, but knowing what happened to him firsthand put me off wanting to start riding…
We’re swimming in nurses in my family, so I get the horror stories all the time. My reply: how many motorcyclists come by and say nothing happened?
I’ve gone down twice. Once in 1978, goofing with friends - we’d set up a slalom using pop bottles as cones and I leaned too far and went down. Apparently it looked bad, but I was fine. In 2001, someone at a light started on the green and, just as I got rolling, jammed on the brakes - my tire hit their bumper and I lost my balance and fell to the right. Broke my mirror on that side, otherwise fine. That one was mostly me - I typically do a 3 count before I start moving to put some space between me and the car ahead, but I was in a hurry.
Talk you out of getting a motorcycle? Sure. “Don’t get a motorcycle. You haven’t got the balls for it.”
Is that OK?
Motorcycles want to fall over.
You have to *prevent *them from falling over with constant force. Left to themselves, they will fall over.
Sure, the kickstand keeps it from falling over when it’s parked, and your feet keep it from falling over when you’re idling, and your balance keeps it from falling over when you’re moving. But that’s the thing - you need those things to keep it from falling over.
It’s really, really hard to make a car fall over.