To continue on with my introduction into the different types of vehicles that will be highlighted throughout the rest of the year, i would like to move on to the topic of motorcycles.  With motorcycles, there are three basic types of variants that almost all motorcycles can fall under.  The most common and oldest type of motorcycle is the normal street bike, these can include anything from your super fast racing bikes like hyabusas and ducatis, to more tame long distance cruisers like the Harley Davidson Electra Glide.  The next type of bikes is your off road bikes, the most common of these are dirt bikes, but can also take the form of "modded" and customized street bikes to perform in off road conditions.  The final and most radical form of motorcycles takes shape in the form of the chopper, which is a completely customized and usually hand built motorcycle custom built to the buyer's configurations.  These choppers are extremely unique and can very easily be turned into a unique piece of art that becomes very difficult to replicate.

      There are many contributing factors as to why motorcycles are as popular as they are.  For starters most motorcycles get extremely good fuel economy, with most motorcycles getting around 90 to 100 miles per gallon,  The next reason is the cost of owning a motorcycle is significantly less than a car. A typical basic car can be purchased new for around $23,000.00 when a starter motorcycle can go for as low as a few thousand dollars and sometimes even less.  Another reason that people buy motorcycles is for the freedom you experience when you are out riding on the open road.  It is simply something that is unable to be described to those that have never been on a motorcycle and i encourage every one of you to at least try it one day.

      However, owning a motorcycle also poses many new safety threats.  Without a cabin surrounding the driver and passengers, the elements of the road and nature are in full presence while riding.  This means that the riders are subject to a very wide range of weather from beating sun to driving rain that they must deal with in order to remain comfortable on their ride.  Along with weather, road hazards like branches, potholes, oil puddles, rocks from other cars and metal or glass on the road.  Something as simple as a flattened soda can has been known to cut deeply into rider's legs after being kicked up on the highway from a semi truck.  Also, motorcycles have been known to be much harder to spot, and cars who do not know that motorcycles are in their blind spots can cause serious accidents. Things to help address these problems include, windshields on the bikes, always wearing race-grade leather jackets when riding, installing louder exhaust pipes to let other cars know where they are, and wearing a helmet.