When I first got my license and started riding motorcycles, a major motivating factor was wanting to make my daily commute less insane. Now, to be fair, part of the reason it was absolutely mad was completely my fault. I was, after all, exhibiting the very specific kind of questionable judgment that can only come from going to school full time (in the evenings) while simultaneously also working full time (so I could, you know, afford to live).
At the time I started, fuel savings and mental health benefits weren't at the top of my list of pros and cons. I had other things taking mental priority at the time, and only grew to appreciate those things later. Also, just to be clear, I'm a person who grew up taking public transportation pretty much everywhere, so transport costs weren't usually too high for me. I did pay with time, though; you tend to spend a lot of time waiting or walking if you rely on public transit to get everywhere, and it's just a fact of life.
In most other places outside the US and Canada, motorbikes as regular transport are a fact of life. That's why, if you either visit other countries or see videos and photo from other countries, you'll frequently see parents with kids on their bikes. Parents with pets. Whole families piling on, sometimes; because while you might have a family car, they've got a family bike. And that's just how everyone gets around and goes about their lives!
I'm based in the US, and I understand that level of motorbike adoption as a family vehicle is pretty impractical here, for a number of reasons. But at the same time, I think there's a lot more daylight that riders can take up between that level of cultural motorbike saturation, and the current level of weekend-only leisure riding that seems to comprise most of how we do things here.
Especially in more densely populated areas, where all road users could benefit from more of us commuting on bikes. Really, there's never been a better time to start commuting than now, no matter what kind of motorbike you ride. New or used, it doesn't matter, and here's why.
Fuel Prices
Let me just go ahead and get the Cagiva-sized elephant in the room out of the way first. It's the beginning of April 2026 as I write this, and fuel prices are incredibly high all over the world. In the US, they're over $4/gallon in all 50 states, according to AAA. And honestly, compared to some other countries where there's talk of fuel rationing, we're kind of lucky.
If your regular car or truck is a combustion vehicle, most combustion-powered motorbikes already get better fuel economy than it does. Now, you may not already have a motorbike, so you'd have to figure in the added cost of buying at least a used one, unless you have a close friend or family member who's willing to let you borrow theirs. So that's definitely something to consider, and something you'd need to take a little time and do the math on to see if it works out.
Now, if you have a family you need to cart around on a regular basis, it becomes trickier. But an awful lot of people commute by themselves every single day, in cars and trucks that are built to fit more than a single person and their stuff. So, if you're one of those people who's commuting by yourself every day, and you've ever thought that riding might be a nice thing to learn to do, now is totally the time.
Riding and Parking in Congested Areas
If you live in California or someplace else where lane splitting and/or filtering are legal, then you already know that riding a motorbike can make a massive difference when picking your way through traffic jams. If you don't live in one of those places (I don't either, so I definitely sympathize), the benefits are admittedly more psychological than quantifiable.
I still think it's worth it when I park, though; it's so much easier to find space to park a motorcycle on any given street in Chicago (or most congested city environments, honestly) than it is to park a car. Obviously, every rider is different, but even though lane splitting isn't legal here, ease of parking still makes up for it, for me.
Depending on where you live, and how amenable to motorcycles the community is, you might even find motorcycle-specific parking in some lots and garages. I can't even describe my joy one time when I visited a friend in the hospital and there was dedicated motorcycle parking in the hospital parking garage, and it was even located quite close to the entrance/exit to the hospital!
Improved Mental Health
This one isn't quantifiable, either; it's something you'll feel. No matter what kind of day you're having (or anticipating, for that matter), there's a special kind of joy that comes with knowing that you're only a few hours away from throwing a leg over your bike and taking off. Yes, even if it's just commuting and not canyon carving, cruising, exploring trails, or however you prefer to ride for fun.
It's a small thing, but those small things add up. For me personally, that joy expanded exponentially when I got my first Bluetooth comms unit inside my helmet. Why? Because it meant I could listen to whatever music I wanted AND ride at the same time. In a way, it was like all the years I'd spent on public transit with headphones on every ride coming full circle.
This combination of things has gotten me through many hard times, I can tell you. I'll drive if I have to (and I do frequently have to when the ground is frozen and there's ice on the roads), but I'm absolutely not exaggerating or overstating in any way when I tell you that motorcycle commuting changed my life for the better.
The sense of mental peace it brought me remains unparalleled. For me, it's made the good times better, and the bad times at least bearable so I could push through to another day. I hope it can do the same for you.
