KIWI RIDER 04 2020 VOL2 | Page 91

AND RIDING A MOTORCYCLE AND THE PLANET. 1. If you need to get somewhere, then wearing a helmet and gloves is about as self-isolating as you can get. Minimising exposure of yourself and others to personal microbes is the aim, and wearing what is, in effect, a travelling hazmat suit with style, is a major step in the right direction. 2. On a motorcycle one travels alone. One is not infecting others and social distance is maintained, without effort or awkwardness. 3. A motorcyclist is not burdening public transport. 4. Motorcyclists are less affected by, and even reduce, traffic jams, making EVERYONE’S journey faster and more efficient. 5. In straitened circumstances a motorcycle can be way cheaper to run than a car. A fill up for the week is going to about 25 bucks. Seven if you’re on a scooter. An electric scooter hired from Uber or Flamingo or Beat is probably going to cost that or more per day! Cars or SUVs? Pah. 6. If you have to travel any reasonable distance, or cross the harbour bridge in Auckland for example, a pushbike, no matter how electric, is NOT the answer. 7. Globally conscious – a motorcycle’s carbon footprint is a great deal smaller than any four- wheeled transport. of people are now staying home during the day, the burden on the electricity grid is going to go ballistic. Why? All those people who were contained in one building are now in separate buildings with lights, heating, cooling, and power to TVs, ovens, sandwich makers, kettles and computers, stereos and power tools. 9. The common suppressors of the immune system are stress, worry, and even panic. The antidote is happiness. So the happier you are, the healthier and more resistant to virus you are going to be. Nothing makes you happier than riding a motorcycle. (Opinion maybe, but fact for most) 10. It’s just cooler, physically and metaphorically. So there you have it. Ten reasons I reckon a motorcycle is one of the answers to Coronavirus issues. But there’s also one more – if you have to self isolate for fourteen days, then buying and learning to ride a motorcycle of any stripe is going to be an exceptional use of your time, and you wont infect anyone. Except perhaps your motorcycle dealer when you kiss her, or him, for getting you out and doing what you always wanted to do – ride a motorbike. So, there you have it. Pete’s list of reasons why motorcycling is great for you and the planet. Agree? Disagree? Head to our Facebook page to tell us why, here… https://www.facebook. com/KiwiRiderMagazine/ 8. It is not an electric vehicle – EVs drain power from the grid to constantly charge, and when thousands KIWI RIDER 91