Funny how bikes effect you

[He11cat]

The other day I had to use my car to bomb it back home (well as um fast as you an bomb it in a 16 year old Astra ho hum).

It was noticed that as I went round the country bends in the car I was leaning into them :chuckle:

Pity I don't lean as much on my bike really.:(:rolleyes:

Also it can be raining sleeting and cold as and I found I have to have the window in the car on my side open!!
I can't bare being shut in.

For years I never had a car , even when I was married we had bikes only . One day we got a car and I got ten mins up the road and was sick :(
It took me a good 5 years to be able to travel in a car any distance I was so used to bikes.

Im still not great unless I am driving or sitting in the front with a window open.

[Nickj]

The worst thing is when you take a line through a corner that you'd use on the bike .....

Errr forgot the extra set of wheels :eek:

[Mark Taylor]

It was noticed that as I went round the country bends in the car I was leaning into them :chuckle:

I never drove a car till I was nearly 30 - bikes only till then, when I was learning to drive (taught by president of a local bike club - also a driving instructor) it was noticed that I too used to lean into corners when driving the car, and trying to hit the apex on every bend! Took me a while to get used to not doing it!

[Capo]

I've never got used to it.

[STIVH]

My missus gets right real pissed off when I tram line the curb on corners and motorways and hit the centre of the road when driving on country roads. I also cannot drive with the window up, it's half or all the way down and usually with heater on full blast if it's freezing - but that's cos I'm getting old now.:worried:


I also swear and curse a lot at other bikers wizzing by me having fun.


"The wife will say go on say it ?"

"Youuuuuu......... lucky bastard"

[the_adam]

I never drove a car till I was nearly 30 - bikes only till then, when I was learning to drive (taught by president of a local bike club - also a driving instructor) it was noticed that I too used to lean into corners when driving the car, and trying to hit the apex on every bend! Took me a while to get used to not doing it!

It's when you find yourself trying to countersteer in a car that you know something is very wrong :chuckle:

[utopia]

I do it too....both the leaning into bends (with a nodding of the head to keep my vision vertical) and the bike lines through bends.
When I had a 2CV, it leaned so much anyway that I often felt like opening the door so I could stick my knee out a bit.
I also noticed after a few years of regular car driving, during my absence from biking,that I began to show some of the bad traits shown by non-biking car drivers. Nothing seriously bad, but there was the odd time when my attention would be distracted too easily or when I would pull out just a fraction too early from side roads while still in the process of checking for oncoming traffic. Being a biker at heart, I obviously nipped these developing habits in the bud, but I could see how easy it is for car drivers to fall into the trap.
People also say that my gear changes in a car are kinda bike-like, ie I get my braking and gear changing done before I turn in, so I can always power through the bend rather than running in on the overrun.
I also tend to duck if it suddenly starts raining heavily or a kamikaze pigeon dives out of the hedgerow.

[He11cat]

I've ducked as well :) 2 cv must be funny to lean in.
Wasn't it built so you could carry a basket of eggs across a field and was so well on the suspension that the eggs would not break??
I seem to recall that useless fact!!

[bex]

I only drive when I go home to Ireland once a year. I find it very weird, my brain is always in filtering mode and looking for gaps that I can squeeze through, if I were on a bike that is.

[He11cat]

That would be me ... Suddenly wedged in a gate !!
When I learnt to drive my biggest problem was spatial awareness.
On a bike everything is central to you.
In a car it felt alien as offset to one side if that makes sense.

[bex]

That makes sense, especially if you rode a bike first. Makes it easy to ride abroad too. Not had problems driving abroad, but the bike is much easier. In fact when I've been abroad and come back to UK it feels like I'm on the wrong side of the road. Yet riding off the ferry in France feels completely natural. I've heard others say this too... wonder why that is.

I did car test first, then bike, but practically one after the other. I hands down prefer riding now to driving.

[chris yeatman]

started driving before i got on to a bike, hate the winter cos im not on the bike!!!!
but as bex said riding abroad is better then here.

[utopia]

A basket of eggs, on the back seat, across a PLOUGHED field, as far as I recall. Though memory could be exagerrating. My 2CV would sail serenely across massive potholes with hardly a jolt, while my escort would need its wheels realigning if I hit them. A superbly effective design. I still fancy one of the corrugated vans.
In fact, getting slightly back to topic, I think the bike-like qualities of my 2CV may have been partly responsible for rekindling my love of bikes after I went astray during the family years.

[uksurfer]

:look: this is making me laugh, do you also wear your bike gear? :pd:

[Mand]

I have been known to nod at oncoming bikes whilst driving our car....

[nambduke]

It's when you find yourself trying to countersteer in a car that you know something is very wrong :chuckle:

Countersteering on purpose in a car is called a scandinavian flick!! Yehaaa!

[Altaian]

That would be me ... Suddenly wedged in a gate !!
When I learnt to drive my biggest problem was spatial awareness.
On a bike everything is central to you.
In a car it felt alien as offset to one side if that makes sense.

I'll refrain from the obvious comment in there, based on it being He11cats' thread & it being an interesting read... :rolleyes:

Personally I think your state of mind comes down to whether your choice of vehicle is a 'tool' or a 'toy'. If it's the latter you're gonna enjoy it far more, irrespective of how many wheels.

I'm quite fortunate in that I'm passionate about both vehicles. I was told that when I bought the 'Fighter I lose my passion for the car. Not likely, but I'm out on the bike whenever there's a choice & not a reason or need to take the car. There is a sense of liberation when cutting through the air & interacting with the natural flow of a road...

However I learned to drive many years before learning to ride, but I think it makes you a far better driver once you appreciate bikes. Your observation & planning is much improved. (In my case it's also compounded by the fact that I'm working towards my Advanced tests.) I'd go as far to say as I think it would be a good thing if learning to ride was made compulsary before you could pass your driving test. I believe there'd be less bike related accidents & more observant/considerate motorists.

I have been known to nod at oncoming bikes whilst driving our car....

Is anyone going to admit nodding at a bike whilst walking? :freak:

[He11cat]

I have been known to wave like a loon :)
luckily where I live is nutter central ( with the exception of Brandon) so people just think your on day release :)