What do Cars Have that Bikes Don't?

I'm sure there's a bike out there with it now, but self-cancelling turn signals.

Damn, confirmed on bikes.

Bumpers?

Floor mats?

Child safety locks?

Child seat anchor point?

Side impact protection (bars)?

Demister?

Side-window demister?

Courtesy (interior) lighting?

Steering wheel?
 
hansvonaxion said:
I'm sure there's a bike out there with it now, but self-cancelling turn signals.

Damn, confirmed on bikes.

Bumpers?

Floor mats?

Child safety locks?

Child seat anchor point?

Side impact protection (bars)?

Demister?

Side-window demister?

Courtesy (interior) lighting?

Steering wheel?
Click to expand...

The Germans came up with child safety locks (for the seat) and child safety seats for motorcycles a few years ago.

Harleys have had bumpers front and rear. Useless bumpers, but bumpers nonetheless. More useful than the traditional Brit "overriders".

Harleys with floorboards can have floor mats. Ones driven by women often do.

Side impact protection - crash hoops, which are steel bars that stick out from the side of the bike.

Demister: Goldwings and BMWs (their air venting systems)

Side window demister: not all cars even have this so it's not a defining characteristic. That said, if you fit the little side "window" air deflectors to an ST1100 or PC800, the air flowing out of the engine bay cooling vents demists them quite nicely.

Courtesy lighting: Goldwings can have some ridiculous amount of lights hanging off them and they will light up an area like a battlefield when you trip the remote.

Self cancelling turn signals have been on bikes for years. Earlier PC800s have them, my PC800 doesn't (content reduction to save money in the last production years).
 
Spectre said:
Side window demister: not all cars even have this so it's not a defining characteristic.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter whether all cars have them. Not all bikes have any of the things you listed, so they aren't defining characteristics of bike either. Maybe I missed the rules, but shouldn't it be either things that all cars have versus all bikes, or any car has vs any bike... not all cars vs any bike?

And we should be talking production versions of both.

So there has never been a bike with a steering wheel?

Reverse light(s)? (there's a warning light on the GW)

The child safety locks I mentioned were the ones on the rear doors that prevented the door from being opened from the inside.

Hub caps?
 
hansvonaxion said:
It doesn't matter whether all cars have them. Not all bikes have any of the things you listed, so they aren't defining characteristics of bike either. Maybe I missed the rules, but shouldn't it be either things that all cars have versus all bikes, or any car has vs any bike... not all cars vs any bike?

And we should be talking production versions of both.

So there has never been a bike with a steering wheel?

Reverse light(s)? (there's a warning light on the GW)

The child safety locks I mentioned were the ones on the rear doors that prevented the door from being opened from the inside.

Hub caps?
Click to expand...

Hubcaps have been mounted to Harleys in the past to simulate solid or 'moon' wheels.

Child safety locks - fitted to child seats to prevent them from being opened by the child in the seat on the back of the bike. Also an option for enclosed sidecars.

Reverse lights - yes, the Harley Servi-car trike did, and I think the special CX650 trikes Honda built for the SFPD had them as well.

A motorcycle with a steering wheel was patented in 1950. There are numerous triked bikes that have steering wheels:

s2z.jpg


s1z.jpg
 
Guess we've entered a grey area. People have different ideas on what makes a car a car or motorcycle a motorcycle.

I checked the dictionary and a motorcycle was described as having 2 wheels, sometimes with sidecar attached. The car was described as typically having 4 wheels. So according to the dictionary a trike would more likely be considered a car than a bike (note bike<bicycle bi=2, as in 2 wheels), or a separate category, trike.

I guess it depends on location as to what's considered a car or bike (for legal/registration purposes). Aren't they now registering those electric cars, Gee Whiz(?), as bikes (or trying to)? But most consider them to be cars. The Reliant can be registered as a motorbike (confirmation?) even though most would consider it a car.

I would personally consider those large trikes like the one you pictured to be more of a car than a bike, but this is an area of possible debate that could sidetrack the original thread. Perhaps TS could make some rules?
 
I didn't lay down any hard rules (the feature doesn't have to be on all cars, just a lot of them), but I think I'm gonna start with disallowing trikes as examples, since they're basically the halfway point between bikes and cars.

Next up: front license plates (the bike must have a mounting plate/area specifically for it, so some guy nailing one onto the front of his Harley doesn't count! :p)
 
Some places want to make them mandatory so they can catch bikes going through speed cameras that shoot from the front like the multanova, but I don't anywhere where they are currently law. There is the option of a sticker for sports bikes (still pretty hard to find real estate) or a vertical type mount on the front forks.

Edit: Guess what I'm saying is no, not AFAIK. It can be done, but isn't.

When doing a quick search I can across this monstrosity...

imagesstretched-2d4w-2dmotorcycle.jpg


All the drawbacks of a car, none of the benefits.
 
Last edited:
since the motorcycle includes all vehicles with 2 wheels in a line I cross out FWD with the french Velosolex and the seatbelt and side impact protection with the BMW C1.

I used one of my cases as a fridge with several thermal packs and a bag of ice, kept the heat out of the beer for 3 days.


I admit that the velosolex is technichally a bicycle with an engine on the front wheel, but there was theMegola which fits the motorcycle maybe a bit better.
OffTopic: Is there a midengined fwd car? reversing does not count.
 
Last edited:
I don't see how a bicycle with a motor is not a motorcycle... just a really slow one with the option of manual power.
 
An airbag.

Climate control.

Sunroof.

Seating for up to 7 or 8 or 9.

Comfy massaging whale penis leather seats.
 
Homer_Bart said:
An airbag.

Climate control.

Sunroof.

Seating for up to 7 or 8 or 9.

Comfy massaging whale penis leather seats.
Click to expand...

Airbag - already done earlier in the thread, the Honda Goldwing has one and you can get airbag jackets to retrofit any bike.

Climate control? Goldwings and other touring bikes have rudimentary climate controls.

Sunroof? The BMW C1 had an optional sunroof.

Seating for 7-9? You live in Asia, and you mean to tell me you've never seen some guy on a Honda Supercub transporting his entire village on it?

Comfy whale penis leather seats? Yes, you can get that on some Harley clones. (You can get anything on a Harley clone.)
 
Bikes can skid and topple over.

My dad was nearly killed once in his motorbike accident. He was making a turn at a junction, but the bike skidded and he rolled. Just then, in his direction came a 8+ wheeled truck. The truck smashed his bike, then it managed to stop with my dad lying under the tuck, in between the wheels.

From then on, he never touched a bike, and invested on a 16 year old always broken Datsun rather than another bike.
 
And cars don't skid and topple over?

I think Richard Hammond might disagree.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top