Motorcycle versus Wrangler

[Elsinore73]

I have long said an open wrangler is like a motorcycle on 4 wheels. Obviously a very different driving experience, but you smell the changing air, feel the 4 degree temp change in a valley and in general you are just outside as opposed to sitting in a car. Very similar in those ways IMO

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[Bzinsky]

driving a jeep is like watching grass grow compared to riding a motorcycle. There is no comparison whatsoever for sheer enjoyment.

I had to sell my bike cold turkey because I could not handle the fun. There should be formal medical diagnosis for being addicted to turning the wrist.

 

[No IFS]

Avid motorcycle rider here. I have 3 Bitchin Street bikes. There really is no comparison to my Jeep Wrangler. Completely different apples and bowling balls. My 2019 Wrangler has 8K miles. My three motorcycles 2019 and up have over 35K. I live in Southern California for me I’d only own a motorcycle. No traffic, lane splitting and lane sharing are worth it alone. Free parking, free car pool lane use. No smog checks, plus gas mileage and cheap insurance and registration ?.

 

[Heimkehr]

How does driving in a wrangler compare to driving a motorcycle? Are they comparable?

I’m not talking about speed and adrenaline, but that feeling of being in the open air and feeling free driving around town or on backroads. It’s almost an indescribable feeling but I just wanted to know if there were some people who knew what I was talking about and could give their full input on it comparing that feeling on two wheels versus four.

They don't compare. The physics are completely different. Add a third wheel to a motorcycle and the distinction becomes even more stark.

Even with the top lowered on my Jeep and the tubular doors installed, I still know I'm driving an automobile. It's actually more noisy in the Jeep since I'm not wearing a helmet or earplugs.

The experience when operating two, three or four wheels is separate and distinct, as are the rewards. They don't detract from each other, and I'm glad to be able to choose from several sets of keys each morning. ?

 

[Megawatt]

I’m about ready to retire. I still have a turbo busa for fast. I have a road king for fat and slow and I have a rubicon.

A bike allows one on one time to think and figured the meaning of life. A vehicle will ever match up with a bike cruising thru the desert.

All have a purpose and are must haves for me.

 

[JeepViking13]

I actually was just thinking this as I scrolled through all of the posts! Haha it seems like a natural progression. But in all seriousness, it is very interesting to see how a lot of jeep owners were previous motorcycle owners. So even if they aren’t EXACTLY the same, they still seem to scratch some sort of small itch from what it seems? ??‍

Yeah. Open air Freedom!

 

[slowpoke387]

Couldn’t help but notice the ‘drive’ a motorcycle in the post. You ride a motorcycle and drive a Jeep.
Wouldnt it sound weird if we said ride a Jeep? That’s how driving a motorcycle sounds lol.

 

[Themistocles]

I too am one that made the transition motorcycles to jeeps. I rode pretty much non-stop from 1990 through to 2020. I had everything from big tourers to naked streetfighters to sport-tourers and race prepped liter class sport bikes. I rode across the US many times, rode through most of Western Europe, was part of clubs, raced both drag and road...and loved nearly every minute of it. For decades of my adult life my bike (whichever one I had at the time) was my relaxation, my excitement, my hobby, my social connection, and in most ways that count, a key piece of my self-image.

Yet after having a texting driver nearly run me over for the the third of fourth time in a single month and with two kids at home I finally parked my bike in the garage one day and decided I was done...at least until kids are grown and out of the house. The Jeep came home a few months later. Now the Jeep is my relaxation (top and doors off cruising through the world), my excitement (crawling over crazy rocks or climbing some ridiculously steep wall or step) my hobby (planning and installing the next part or upgrade or learning a new skill), and a social connection as part of the overall Jeep community, a member of this forum, and a member of a local club. It has also become part of my self-image.

So to me, they are very much the same. Not because slicing through a corner with your knee on the ground and pegs starting to grind is the same as working your way over a crazy obstacle...but because both those things fill the same space. They are both exciting and challenging and when you do it right and come out the other side you feel like you accomplished something and when you do it wrong there are immediate and significant penalties. The freedom and relaxation (at least to me) also comes from different things, as many have already eloquently noted, but also fill the same space. I get out of my Jeep or off a bike with a smile on my face, with worries and frustrations diminished, and feeling good. So while many of the inputs are different the outcomes are nearly identical.

To me, a bike and a Jeep are very similar. Were it not for kids, crazy traffic, and stupid texting, emailing, tweeting, drivers I would do both. But given that is the world I live in now, the Jeep well fills most of the spaces once occupied by my bikes while offering some things my bikes did not...like great shared family experiences.

 

[ar15rifle]

Each has their own purpose. I love my Harley and my Jeep (and my two other convertibles). I'm not planning on getting rid of any of them anytime soon, if ever. If I could have only one, I'd pick the Jeep as it can do everything. Riding a motorcycle in the rain and cold sucks. Parking the motorcycle is easier typically than the Jeep.

 

[sovietspacedog]

Couldn’t help but notice the ‘drive’ a motorcycle in the post. You ride a motorcycle and drive a Jeep.
Wouldnt it sound weird if we said ride a Jeep? That’s how driving a motorcycle sounds lol.

Haha yeah, I probably should have a done a little better proof reading but you’re right. It is a little bothersome. I kept editing it to try to have it make sense and I’m sure I was just discombobulated

 

[Heimkehr]

They are both exciting and challenging and when you do it right and come out the other side you feel like you accomplished something and when you do it wrong there are immediate and significant penalties. The freedom and relaxation (at least to me) also comes from different things, as many have already eloquently noted, but also fill the same space. I get out of my Jeep or off a bike with a smile on my face, with worries and frustrations diminished, and feeling good.

Well stated. ?

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@sovietspacedog

Sidecar motorcycles are indeed driven, due to their inherent physics, so your original post isn't too far off the mark.

 

[sovietspacedog]

Well stated. ?

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@sovietspacedog

Sidecar motorcycles are indeed driven, due to their inherent physics, so your original post isn't too far off the mark.

? I appreciate the support on my mistake

 

[vegasblue]

My wife and I in our 40's just got into riding Harleys to the tune We just got our endorsements yesterday. Of course, we don't have the popular models. I have a Sport Glide and she has a Street Rod. Both are our first motorcycles and while on the surface they are similar, they are completely different.

My JLUR affords us freedom in just about any direction be it on the streets or off-road. We have said that there are places we have seen that very few people will ever get the chance. HOW we experience it can be taylored, top on/off, doors on/off, A/C, snow, desert, in a river. Also can bring kids and dogs so it's a family affair many times.

The Harley is a release. I have actually compared it more to going to the range and working on all the idiosyncrasies including trigger control, aim, breathing, focus. I always walk away from the range with a profound sense of calm. It's exhilerating and relaxing at the same time. This is how my Harley feels to me. We stay on the outskirts of town because drivers are crap these days. But heading up a canyon, disecting turns, pushing, leaning, shifting, all are exhilerating and relaxing at the same time. I'm not riding into town any time soon. It's not worth it here in Vegas.

And when all of that isn't enough, she's got a tuned STI that fills the gap between adventure and relaxing. Sometimes you just gotta send it. Her car does that in spades.

Just this morning, short ride before heading to work. Sunrise to beat the heat!

 

[ejewels]

similar only in the fact that you're in open air, but still way different. Plus you're more protected from those damn cagers!

 

[ejewels]

Others have already said it, and I agree. However, a Jeep is probably as close as you're going to get if you are thinking of stepping away from riding.

This, I sold my bikes when I had my daughter 6 years ago. I was getting the itch to buy another one and decided on a wrangler as it still gave me that community and open air experience to some degree, but also made it safer.

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