Hi everyone.
So I’m back in the good ole USA and thinking of buying a motorcycle. I got my old 4 door sedan here and I’m thinking of selling it to my brother who needs a new vehicle and using the money to buy a starter cruiser. Either a used Honda Shadow 750 or brand new Kawasaki Vulcan 500. Mainly because I enjoy riding, and my girlfriend already has a car we can use to do shopping and make long trips.
I’m crashing at my parents till I start school next month and my brother was over for the mother’s day weekend and we began discussing a possible deal. Of course my mother overheard us and started freaking out, saying it’s too dangerous, etc. (you know mothers…). I brought up the fact that I rode a scooter in Taiwan incident free for 2.5 years. She argued that it’s different in Taiwan because everyone over there drives motor vehicles and cars know to look out for them, as opposed to the states where most people don’t look out for them. I thought it was a good point.
However driving down the freeway the other day I saw many more motor vehicles than before I left in 2008. This was a weekday morning mind you, on a freeway. These people were most likely commuting to work, not pleasure riding on a big open highway on a nice Saturday afternoon. I also noticed big billboards put up by the state that said to look twice for motorcycles. I guess more people are looking to beat the rising gas prices over here.
So, tell me. Is riding a motorcycle in Taiwan different than riding one in your home country? In your opinion is it safer to ride in your home country, or safer to ride in Taiwan. I’m interested in opinions. And please tell us what country you are from.