Motorcycle emissions standards are incredibly lax by today's standards when compared to cars. That Prius just might be releasing less toxic substances than your motorcycle - while being able to cart around more people and stuff.
This is very true, even newer bikes that have more modern emissions are still generally exempt from the same standards as any car.
That being said if you have a high traffic commute it would still be faster for you to use a bike as well as better for everyone else in traffic so pros and cons.
Fortnine has a video that touches on the emissions/trying to be green and riding a motorcycle. The fact is most bikes not made within the last 10 years (and some that are) are carbureted and have little if any emissions control. Sure that Yamaha vstar250 might get 80mpg but that has more to do with having a smaller engine than a lawnmower than it does any modern engineering.
E-motorcycles really are best of both worlds. Small, mobile, and more energy efficient. Plus high torque means it feels powerful. They were available on market several years ago - I remember seeing a Wired piece on one.
That Prius, just by being manufactured, had an incredibly toxic environmental impact that it would take a motorcycle hundreds of thousands of miles to equal.
Lithium battery manufacture is hell on the environment.
Speaking from experience, the former is extremely likely. Given the increase in sociopathic driving, I'll not be riding on slabs again anytime soon. I really don't want to get hit by another truck.
Every motorcycle driver I've ever encountered was a shitty driver. They all do dangerous shit for no reason beyond their thrills and act like complete dicks on the road.
I do often carry all my groceries and still have room for a full size first aid kit on my bike. Panniers are a game changer and I dont even need a backpack 90% of the time
I can haul about the same amount of groceries on my bike/partner's scoot as our car...which tbf is a fiat 500 but nonetheless I can easily get a weeks groceries on a bike.
Love the down votes lol, you may disagree with me but facts are facts.
Jesus lotta "motorcycles are a deathtrap" in here.
Hi, I've been riding for 10 years on all different kinds of machines through many lengths of commute/fun. allow me to be abrupt motorcycles cost more than a Prius to own. The tires don't last as long, the maintenance is more frequent, obviously the gear you absolutely should be wearing is expensive but hey if none of that bothers you please continue to enjoy riding.
It's not very active but there's a motorcycle community here on lemmy, please join us ;)
It is really strange seeing that rhetoric here too especially with the “fuck cars” group. A lot of countries other than the US have way more riders and less of the squid culture going on because its more of just the norm over there. Also to compliment your picture heres one of me camping with the bike:
Yeah, priuses are really low maintenance for the most part, it's nice. And motorcycles aren't necessarily the death traps people are making out here, higher risk yes but if you're a defensive, aware driver and not a squid it's really not bad. Motorcycles don't tend to attract defensive drivers though.
Motorcycles are not as dangerous as people think. What they are is unforgiving of mistakes.
My opinion is that the crash and fatality statistics are heavily inflated by the fact that risky people are drawn to motorcycles, and the evidence backs me up on that somewhat. Studies like the Hurt Report and subsequent NHTSA studies on fatal crashes show some absolutely baffling things, like over 20% of all fatal crashes involving unlicensed riders and almost 40% involving alcohol consumption in some way.
Hell, in a shocking amount of US states, helmets are not required and every time I'm in one of those states I see people riding around on the interstate without any head protection. Absolutely terrifying and an incredibly stupid thing to do. I never ride without a full-face helmet personally.
There are plenty of ways to mitigate risk but most of the riders who die in crashes don't do them.
I live life to the fullest by driving my family around in the backseat of my Prius, and not being skinned alive by road rash. You live life to the fullest by praying there isn't sand on the next exit ramp.
Must be something pretty modern with fuel injection!
I was very heavily generalizing; there are so many different kinds of motorcycles and they vary so widely in fuel efficiency that it's really hard to average.
Here in the US, the average new motorcycle sold is a 700-pound monster with an engine larger than 100 cubic inches of displacement. (Again, generalizing a bit, but Harley-Davidsons still make up over 4 out of every 10 new motorcycles sold here.) Harley-Davidson's largest model, the Electra Glide Ultra Classic, gets less than 40 MPG and weighs well over 800 pounds.
My understanding is that the motorcycle/rider combination in most cases has a very poor coefficient of drag and that's the largest issue at highway speeds.
Depends strongly on the motorcycle, however, as there are so many different kinds with varying amounts of bodywork. Some are absurdly efficient, like the Honda Grom, which routinely achieves over 100MPG.