Awoke in Twin Falls, ID to cold….really cold. Walked past wet motorcycle parked outside motel at 6:00AM. Been thinking about the difference between taking a motorcycle and a Jeep on my ‘expeditions’.
Bike:
- Much more fun to ride 80% of the time. (Jeep with top and doors off almost as much fun, but less visceral.)
- At my age, bike really tiring and dehydrating. Need to rest every 1.5 hours on 400-500 mile days. But the exhilaration of the ride can keep me going for days between those rests. (Mileage secret: Dairy Queen Blizzards…..they are worth 150 miles a pop at the end of a long day of riding.)
- Quieter. Much quieter. With helmet and earplugs, the bike is nearly silent, compared to Jeep with soft top up. (With soft top down, Jeep is actually quieter than with top up…..not so many things to flap and slap.
- Safer in many ways. Much more glued to the ground. If you are watching, much easier to avoid traffic. If you get squeezed in traffic, flick of wrist moves you 25 meters with no effort.
- Climate control – surprisingly equal to Jeep, if you have good gear, heated vest and heated grips. I ride long hours in rain and don’t mind.
- Not great in snow – but would like to try Finnish studded tires are some point.
- Less social when riding – can’t chat.
- Still invisible to many drivers in ‘cages’.
- 50-60 mpg
- Weighs less than an attacking bear. (You have your fears, I have mine.)
My GS is on right in pic
Jeep:
- Can cover more miles in a day without same fatigue as bike.
- That means no excuse for Dairy Queen Blizzard
- With top and doors off, really connected to the outside environment – in some ways moreso than on bike because one is not wearing kevlar armor.
- I’m getting about 21 mpg no matter what I do. This is surprising and close to real-world numbers on other smaller cars.
- Not as worried about tipping – but high speed corners are like racing John Deere – smooth and steady – or you are a pogo stick.
- More places to store gear. But I am surprised how close the amount is to my larger bikes
- Really simple to work on – except the CANBUS computer that controls everything.
- Weighs more than an attacking bear.
Jeep running Idaho today is in pic
So far, equal trade. Different purposes.
Today – the run through Idaho was spectacular. Perfect weather. Roads were made for the bike, but I am settled into this quite different experience.
Keep getting surprises, like flat fields suddenly open to river gorges like below. The land on either side looks like plain farmland for miles.
Definitely want to run some of the gorges.
Canada tomorrow.
