> Motorcycle saves time (HOV lanes) if I go Redmond->Seattle, but I work in Bellevue now (next door to Redmond) and the motorcycle takes longer than the car wit

> Motorcycle saves time (HOV lanes) if I go Redmond->Seattle, but I work in Bellevue now (next door to Redmond) and the motorcycle takes longer than the car with all the gearing up. Motorcycle isn't that much more ecologically-friendly than a car, either. I've switched to a motorcycle, but in my case it's different. I commute around the east bay, 42 miles each way along the 680 corridor which can be pretty bad. I can take a company bus, but it's 25 minutes to get to the bus stop, and then a minimum of another hour to get in, usually 1:15. So that's an hour and forty minute commute just to get into work. Evenings are worse, typically taking over 2 hours. But on the bike, gearing up and checking the bike takes 2 minutes, gassing up takes another minute, and the drive into work takes 52 minutes (thanks to HOV lanes and lane splitting, which you don't have in WA). Door to door is never over an hour. The ride home is usually 1:15. So on the bike it's a total of 2:10 spent commuting, vs. at least 3:40, probably more. Except on rainy days. Then I take the bus, because I don't like getting wet. But like you, my major impetus behind the switch is that I'm tired of driving a giant lumbering beast around. The ~60mpg on the bike certainly doesn't hurt.