Will it help me to know how to ride motorcycles if I learn how to drive cars ?

Question

I don't know how to do both, so if I go to a school to learn how to drive cars will it help ?
There are only schools that teach how to drive cars in my town , but there are no schools for riding motorcycles , It seems it is too easy for the rest of the people so there are no schools for it.
Or is it totally irrelevant and unrelatd and won't help me to learn how to ride ?

Ofcourse I will learn on a manually shifted car not an automatic one.

Obviously I can't afford to buy a car, I wouldn't be doing this if I had the money.

Answer 1

they are two different animals!
if you learn to 'drive' a car , you have to learn to 'ride' a motorcycle. the mind set thinking are nearly incompatiable Riding a motorcycle with a car drivers mind set will have you in a body cast or grave before your parents know it.
find a motorcycle shop hang around do gofer work, learn from the veterns then go to a school to learn what they did wrong.
the learning curve on M/Cs is deadly.

Answer 2

Mechanically they're very different but the rules of the road are pretty much the same in either, so yeah learning in a car will help keep you from getting killed out on real roads. Also, learning to ride will make your survival skills so much better since awareness keeps you out of trouble on a motorcycle.

That said I wouldn't want to learn to ride while everyone else was learning how to drive: your judgement hasn't formed well enough to negotiate a busy road. California and probably the rest of the U.S. has a heavy bias toward cars and it shows in the education. For me Driver's Ed was a whole semester in High School and a few days out on real roads whereas the MSF Beginning Rider Course was only a couple of weeks including 8 hours in a parking lot. There is no way I could learn all the Driver's Ed stuff (braindead material relatively speaking) as well as how to ride a motorcycle.

Answer 3

No, learning to drive a car will not be much help on a motorcycle. However, here's a hint! Motorcycles are called "BIKES" for a reason. Two wheel riding is similar, weather you are powered by an engine or 2 legs. Note, I said similar not identical. If you can ride a bicycle, you are closer to being able to ride a MC than someone who is a great car driver, but has never been on a two wheel vehicle. If you are seriously considering a MC, start with something SMALL. A moped is ideal. Of course you can still get hurt or killed, but that can happen walking also. With a moped, you have all the basics of an MC, but low enough power to keep you out of major trouble, unless you are dumb enough to ride it right out in front of someone. Be aware, crashes still hurt, even at moped speed.

Answer 4

I don't think it will help you, it is a lot different riding a motorcycle. The way you have to balance with the two wheels is difficult, plus the power of the cycle. It is better if you learn to drive a car first and then get a friend with a cycle to help you learn. The difference between the car and cycle is the amount of wheels. If you turn in a car, it will usually go in the direction that you turn, but with a cycle you need to lean into the turn to go where you want to go. They are fun to ride and I hope you try to learn. Be careful when you do ride a cycle, because other vehicles do not watch out for you.

Answer 5

The only things that are similar between cars and motorcycles are watching out for other traffic, knowing the traffic laws, and going in the same direction as other traffic.

Other than that, it's ALL different.

You shift with your foot instead of your hand, you use your hands for throttle and clutch instead of your feet, and braking is dependent on one hand AND one foot at the same time.

Combine that with countersteering, leaning, weight transfer, weather conditions, road hazards and, most importantly, other drivers, and I hope you can understand why it takes more skill to ride a motorcycle than to drive a car.

BUT- you get gas mileage close to a hybrid car in a package that costs 1/3 as much to buy, and it's about the most fun you can have with a helmet on.

Learn to drive a car first, and after you have a couple years of driving down then look into a motorcycle.

Answer 6

No it will absolutely not make any difference.

The requirements for the Motorcycle Safety Foundations class is 1) Know how to ride a bicycle and 2) Have a motorcycle permit (which only requires passing the WRITTEN test). Well requirements 3 and 4 are wear long pants and boots to class. Lots of kids (7 to 15 yrs old) learn how to ride and even race motorcycles obviously without ever having driven a car. Learning to shift a car does not really help you learn to shift a bike as bike clutches are easy enough to learn. My 11 year old son shifted his bike ok enough within seconds of being told what to do.

There is no mindset about cars that make riding a motorcycle any easier or anymore difficult. And you don't have to learn one iota about that countersteering nonsense as your brain figures it out within about 2 seconds--or less.

Advice: You WILL drop your first bike, so try not to make it an expensive drop. i.e., don't get a lot of expensive chrome on your first bike. Everyone I talked to about this has dropped their bikes. Even their $18,000 bikes. I even knocked mine over once by backing into it with my RV!

Finally, the most important thing to remember is that most motorcycle accidents are caused by other drivers not seeing you, so try to be visible. Have fun with your purchase, learning and riding.

Answer 7

NO motorcycles are differ ant.if you can ride a bike you can ride a motorcycle start out small very small buy a used small dirt bike before going to a road bike as this will give you the know how as you will need this tool before going out on the open road for there you will have many other things to watch out for.after you good and use to a dirt bike get a used 250-400 cc street bike and after you master that you will be fine.this is like anything else you have to start out slow then move up.my 1st bike i was 7 I'm now 45 stop riding 4 years ago to many crazes in cars for me!

Answer 8

A motorcycle is more like riding a bicycle than a car, in my opinion. I have owned cars and trucks most of my life, but have had 2 motorcycles. I am riding a kw ninja now.
I think it would be a waist of money. I would study the car drivers manual for road signs, rules, etc.

Answer 9

I think it will help if you learn how to drive a stick-shift car.
Learning to drive an 'automatic' will have no help.
Motorcycles still require you to shift (like a stick in a car), so, getting the basics of how to operate a standard transmission should help.

Trust me, I do both!

Answer 10

You don't lean in a car to make it turn as you would on a motorcycle. Just buy a car, you don't have any business on a bike.