Truck Vs Motorcycle Riding... Just Curious!

Depends what kind of Motorcycle you riding, you riding a sissy Road King with all that suspension bull crap or something like what I ride. Straight hard tail bobber seat! Vroom, Vroom... I feel every bump, small rock and crack.

Well, I guess I'm a pansy. I like my bikes with nice suspension and floorboards, like a cadillac on two wheels. Being comfortable replaced cool after I got married and became a father. I wear dad jeans, tuck in my shirt, and wear ear plugs when I mow the lawn. Yep, I've arrived.

I wear dad jeans, tuck in my shirt, and wear ear plugs when I mow the lawn. Yep, I've arrived.

That's great.

I rode for a few years and I was a Harley Mechanic at a dealership for a short time. Driving truck was a lot more fun so I returned to that.

The two biggest differences I thought of right away were already covered:

1) The consequences of a mistake in a rig are mostly put on other people, where a mistake on a bike is mostly going to hurt the rider

2) The intensity of riding on a bike, even a comfortable cruiser, will wear you out more quickly than the relatively more serene environment behind the wheel of a big rig. You can last longer physically and mentally behind the wheel than you can on two wheels.

It's of course impossible to say one takes more attention or concentration than the other. Any vehicle can get caught up in a wreck at any moment and you must always be prepared for everything.

I have yet to sit behind the wheel of a big rig but having ridden shotgun with my dad many times I can honestly say I think it's impossible to compare the two. In a truck you're fairly comfortable. It's an 80,000-pound Cadillac. Air conditioning, radio, comfy seats on air ride. Your head is on a swivel to keep from killing anyone around you, but overall you get to enjoy the ride. On the other hand riding a motorcycle can be and often is a physically draining experience. Sure, you can ride a road sofa and take all the comforts of home with you but that's no fun at all! My deathtrap is what I affectionately refer to as an attack chopper. Stripped down to bare essentials, short wheelbase, stiff suspension that might as well be a rigid, low stance, pipes high and tight, raised foot pegs, narrow bars. If it doesn't make the bike go or stop I got rid of it. It's rude, crude, deadly quick. It's also my main mode of transportation, rain or shine. It's comfortable for about the first 60 or 70 miles, which is when I start looking for fuel because at 80 miles I'm running on whatever fuel is left in the bowls. Every bump kicks me in the kidneys so I welcome the chance to get off for a few minutes but I love every minute of it. It's a feeling like nothing else. Truck drivers are consumed with trying not to kill someone, on my bike I'm trying really hard not to die. Nobody paying even a remote amount of attention misses the giant truck. On a bike? Trust me, that "loud pipes save lives" crap is just a catchy slogan to justify straight pipes. I've been cut off, literally run off the road by idiots changing lanes while I'm next to them, tailgated, you name it.

Trucking often requires more concentration than motorcycling but what matters is the skill required for learning to drive truck. Trucking involves less risk regards to motorcycling which involves phenomenal stamina that may lead to medical concerns.

While I have no experience driving a truck yet I do think that having MC riding experience will give me an advantage once I start driving. Riding has gotten me into good habits of always being aware of what's around, behind and in front of me. I am always scanning my mirrors and looking out for the idiots trying to kill me, knowing where cars are or aren't in case I have to dodge a cager coming into my lane. I have had many close calls on a bike and one time that a car turned in front of me with no time to stop, resulting in about a dozen broken bones and 3 months in a hospital/rehab and 5 months out of work. This experience taught me to read traffic better and never trust that the other drivers are paying attention.