Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Savings

Any of us who've ever been faced with a long distance commute to work have likely pondered any and every way to save money on the costs of gas and vehicle maintenance.  Since I try to stay well-versed in most things both savings and motorcycle related, I've read countless articles that discuss a fuel-efficient motorcycle or scooter as a potential solution to this dilemma.  Lately I've seen more and more of these articles surfacing--both for and against owning a motorcycle/scooter as a means of saving money.

Over time I've developed some strong opinions on the matter so when Stella (the Queen of our Saving.com blog) recently sent yet another "Can you save money by motorcycle commuting? " article my way, I jumped at the chance to chime in with my two cents. 

These past few summer months I've noticed the streets of Santa Monica and West LA filled with more than their fair share of Harleys, assorted Japanese sport bikes and scooters. This being my first summer living in Los Angeles, I wondered if the attire sported by these individuals was typical riding gear for the LA weekend warrior. T-shirts, shorts, and sneakers (even sandals) seem to adorn an inordinate amount the riders in this area--more so than anywhere I've lived. The most extreme example of this I observed just this past Monday while making my annual commute to Santa Barbara for CJU.

On the northbound 101, there was a middle-aged fellow riding a 150cc Vespa scooter in board shorts, sandals, and t-shirt with a messenger bag swung over his shoulder.  The messenger bag (while fashionable) seemed to choke him every so often so that he needed to adjust it with one hand and swerved about the lane in doing so.  There are so many things wrong with that picture I don't even know where to begin.  Suffice it to say that particular vehicle has no place on any freeway (top speed of about 60-65mph just can't get you out of a bad situation fast enough...sorry Vesperados!) and sandals have no place on any two-wheeled motor-driven vehicle (unless you want a few little piggies unintentionally going to market when you pull off the freeway exit ramp...).

To the more experienced rider, or anyone who rides and enjoys the many benefits of having their skin remain firmly attached to the rest of their body, this lack of standard safety gear is a bit perplexing to say the least.  Upon closer inspection I noticed many of these local riders had shiny new bikes, helmets, and seemed to struggle a bit with the clutch when accelerating from a dead stop.  Indeed, these are inexperienced new riders.  You tell me: are these people just crazy and don't care, does long term exposure to smog on LA freeways plus open-face helmets equal brain damage, or are the streets filled with inexperienced and uninformed new riders just trying to save a buck?  I'm leaning toward the last option but would welcome any comments. 

Tomorrow I'll explore more pros and cons of commuting via motorcycle to save money. In the meantime all you fellow "easy riders" out there can peruse our motorcycle coupons or follow me on Twitter @SavingsTKuljis for more great motorcycle-related deals.