[dailydriver]

To the chagrin of my daughter, admiration of my wife and unending envy of my colleagues, I use my only car as my only mode of transport - short, long and inter city.

I once had a bike which I had to let go.

My daughter was riding pillion with me and after covering a short distance, a friendly biker flagged me down saying that she was sitting at a dangerously obtuse angle and may fall down any minute. That was the end of my riding days.

Five years have passed and I am yet to use a bike in my hometown.

However, whenever I am in Bengaluru without my car and an UBER/OLA isn't practical or is very expensive, I do ride a bike. But riding in the peak hour traffic at less than 20kmph gives me enough confidence to survive without any bodily harm being inflicted on me.

With road manners and traffic sense at their ebb in small towns, I don't think two wheelers are safe to be ridden on our roads, much less on highways. A car acts as a protective shell, an extended helmet of sorts; providing the first line of defence, at least in non-major accidents. The unruffled hair, sweat-less body and fresh face are an added bonus.

To the point of sometimes being criticised as snobby and pretentious, I refuse to take a two wheeler to any place that can be accessed by a four. For instance, in 2015, I was deputed as a Returning Officer to a place that was about 40kms from my place - accessible through a potholed, twisty and narrow road. For almost a month that it took to discharge my duties there, I drove there everyday. The total distance of 2,000km cost me approximately ₹9,000 just for fuel; the remuneration given to me was ₹5,000. .

My daughter feels cheated when she looks at her friends being dropped off by their parents in a bike/scooter and all she has is a car! I respect her feelings, but stick to my principle.

I do possess a bicycle though. I use it more for exercise and rarely for commuting.

[the_joker]

Include me too as a part of gang using car as the only transport. I usually commute by bus to office - so the car stays home on weekdays. It goes out only on weekends. My wife does have a scooter than she uses daily. I use it only if I have a large amount of groceries or drop somebody nearby. Otherwise I use my legs

[Popeye]

Having driven only a bicycle and a car ( and sometimes my wife's scooty) for the better part of my life, I still reminisce the days when I had no vehicle of my own or even in the family. The BEST bus and Mumbai's local trains were the preferred choice of transport. It was still the fastest mode and the other vehicles on the road were Premier Padminis and Maruti 800s. But then the road were much wider because there were less vehicles. People were still patient and you could still get back home in time without the mad rush we see today in the trains.
For a very long time now I haven't used the public transport and prefer my car to move around.
I still prefer to walk the short distances for which my younger cousins will invariably hire a rick.

[simplyself]

I am primarily a bike guy. Always been. Though I like cars, my preferred mode is bike.

Earlier I used to make 300-400 km round trip in a day without fatigue. Now, it's max 100- 120 km round trip on bike. That too, 9 out of 10 times I use a four wheeler.

Seldom use a car in town, though. 99% it's bike as commuting distance is quite short. Only use car if it's raining heavily.

My highway biking was put on hold due to 4 laning. Now everyone travels much faster and I became jittery to use bike for longer distances on highways.

I had Pulsar when I fancied a step thru to ride in town. Bought a Jupiter and started using in town. I never rode a step thru till then. After a couple of months I got bored with it and also became uncomfortable riding it. Having come from Pulsar, braking was an obvious issue as were pot holes. By the time I became vexed by the step thru, I sold off Pulsar and was stuck with the step thru. Not that Jupiter was bad, it performed flawlessly but it wasn't just my type.

Meanwhile, my college going daughter started eyeing the Jupiter. I found a reason to buy a bike again, bought a Victor and sent the Jupiter off to her.

Now, with 125 cc step thrus with disc brakes in the market, the itching started to buy one. Shortlisted Gracia and Ntorq.

My current 4 wheeler is Zest 90 D. I am very satisfied with it, no plans to replace it. Once considered Nexon but as there is really no need to buy a new car, I decided to continue with the Zest for atleast a couple of years.

I do own a bicycle which I use only for exercise.

[ashis89]

Four years since I started this thread and the car continues to be my only ride. Apart from daily office runs and outstation trips, I prefer walking down for most grocery runs and daily errands. Most of these stores are about 1-2 kms away from home. For anything less, taking the car out means the engine won't reach operating temperature and the battery would discharge more than recharge!


With the lockdown in place, things have changed! Most of the shops nearby are closed. Even those which are operating have become unpredictable (uncertain operating timings, stock outs, etc.). I have had to walk much farther than I intended to just because the shop nearby couldn't help. Also since I step out once a week, I usually purchase in bulk which becomes tough to carry several kilos and walk back. So I start taking the car with me.

I went to nearby store which is 400 metres away from home for couple of milk packets. Unfortunately it was sold out and I had to go to the next store which was 2 km away


Now the car lies under a cover, to protect it from all the dust. Uncover it (and bath yourself in dust!), take the car for a 1 km errand extend the drive for few kms more so that you charge the battery, return and park the car, spend another 10 mins to cover the car again and go back home.



This situation has made me want a two-wheeler, a simple functional beater ride for such small errands for these rare days in a year! Something which I wipe the dust off in a couple of mins, start and zip to any place without a worry. Is it wise idea and worth it, even if the use case will be for couple of days every month?

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by ashis89

This situation has made me want a two-wheeler, a simple functional beater ride for such small errands for these rare days in a year!

Yes, I feel this is a much better and viable solution than taking the car out for small errand runs which is a sheer waste of fuel and doesn't help the car (mechanically) too due to the short runs.

I have started feeling the same pain as I have sold my Activa and taking the Ertiga for short errands are not that great in terms of FE (dropped from 14kmpl to 10 kmpl now).

[vsrivatsa]

Yes, in my case, I have completely moved away from two-wheelers since the last 6 years or so as I remember. I am tempted to buy an electric scooter but with the Covid crisis will put off any purchases for time being.

Coming to my rides, it is served by the Honda City which serves as my Daily driver to office and any long distance highway rides. For within city short commutes I rely on the Ignis AMT.

Given this combination, I do not see the need for a two wheeler in reality.

The City provides the required stability and safety needed on the highway and is also my car for daily office commute. Given that its a Diesel car and has averaged >18 kmpl for its entire life also helps.

For the short run abouts within city, grocery shopping etc, this use case is addressed by the Ignis very well. The fact that this beater car is an AMT also helps.

[pganapathy]

I used to have two cars but with my wife not driving much, we have sold one. I also own a motorcycle but I haven't used that in years. My current car is my daily driver for everything. The only time I use other vehicles is when I am at my parents or in-laws place and run their cars.

[landcruiser123]

My car is my only mechanized form of transport. But for me, the bicycle is my tool for commuting and weekend rides.

Enjoying California as much as I can

Originally Posted by ashis89

This situation has made me want a two-wheeler, a simple functional beater ride for such small errands for these rare days in a year.....

May I suggest a cheap bicycle with a small basket in front? Should work for buying little groceries from the neighborhood shop.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

May I suggest a cheap bicycle with a small basket in front? Should work for buying little groceries from the neighborhood shop.

I did have a cycle, basic non-geared one. However since I didn't use it daily (or even weekly) the upkeep was difficult (Cycle tyre tends to lose air very quickly.). Few months ago, I gave it to my cook as he was in need of a cycle immediately.

But that's a good idea. I will get one again once the lockdown is removed and will also get a cycle tyre pump!

[bharatbits]

Yes, my Linea Diesel is my primary and only ride. I buy everything from shoes, furniture, groceries, clothing, vegetables etc online. So, the car is used primarily for work, railway station, airport trips and pleasure drives.
Bought in Nov 2016, odo is at 47000 kms now averaging about 15000 kms a year.

[nax04]

Because of the notorious traffic situation in Bangalore, I mostly use my bike for my city commute.

Nowadays, I started using ola/uber if I'm travelling with family inside the city because of the high parking cost/difficulty in finding proper parking spots.

95% of the time, my car has been on highways as I use my car only for outstation travels.

[luvDriving]

It is a mix of two and four wheels for me. For short rides I use the activa which also makes perfect sense considering the hassle of parking.

For longer drives or whenever I have to drop/pickup mom I use the car since she gets nervous sitting on a two wheeler. For office I use the car exclusively since it keeps out the pollution in traffic jams (and even otherwise), the ac helps to keep cool and of course considering safety, its makes more sense.