It is common to see big bikes parked all over the place.
Many Malaysian motorists (who are not bikers) get upset when they see a big motorcycle parked in places where they are not supposed to park. Well, the same reaction happens when a kap-chai or a small bike is parked in the ‘wrong place’. (like in this picture below)
Meanwhile, town councils like the MBPJ in Petaling Jaya have spent quite a bit of money to get bike parking bays installed in prime locations and even in neighborhood parks to prevent indiscriminate parking by motorcycle riders, big and small.
However, this effort, according to car drivers, is not working as they continue to see bikers parking in their car park lots, which prevents them from parking their cars in crowded urban areas.
So, since we started biking with our compact Vespa scooter we have seen and understood now why big bikers park in weird locations.
Here are 6 reasons we would like to share with car drivers to have them better understand the situation facing big bikers and also small bikers.
- Bike parking lots are ALL in a standard size that allows only kap-chais or small bikes to fit. Big bikes will not fit. Even some new scooters today are wide like superbikes.
- Big bikes are wide and riders need space to get on and off, so they will need almost 3 standard bike parking spaces. Imagine car park lots were measured to fit only a Perodua Axia compact car and you drive an Alphard MPV, you will need almost two car park lots, right?
- There are so many bike delivery riders on the move right now and finding a parking spot is difficult in urban and office areas. Even we have problem finding parking for our scooter when we go into a crowded office area.
- Many delivery riders are rushing to earn money and they tend to park their bikes without thinking about other bikers. Even with my small scooter, we some times can’t leave and need to wait for them to move their motorcycles. Sigh.
- If your motorcycle is an all terrain model, like this one in the main picture, you need space to move your bike in and out of a parking space. It is heavy and you do not want it falling on other smaller bikes and starting a domino effect.
- Many older office buildings do not have parking space for motorcycles. So, where should we park?
We hope that some car drivers will read this and understand the issues that hamper proper parking of large motorcycles and also small scooters like ours. Yes, we also have issues.
Meanwhile, there are many motorcyclists who assume that because their vehicle is smaller, it does not bother many people while it is on the sidewalk and they will also annoy car drivers by taking up a whole parking spot.
The truth is, no matter where you park your motorcycle, people are going to be mad about it so you might as well do it legally and not risk getting a town council or police parking ticket.
The struggle continues.
