It is officially Spring across America, Winter has come and gone. While Spring brings growth and new hope, for many people it more significantly marks the beginning of motorcycle season. If you are a bike owner, no doubt you have been waiting for this moment to get outside and ride again. It is time to get those bikes out of storage and hit the open road!

Whether you are a fan of the motorcycle culture, particularly the joy that riding with buddies can bring you, or you just enjoy the peacefulness of riding alone, there are many benefits to owning a motorcycle. This list will take a look at 10 reasons why motorcycles are better than cars and five drawbacks to keep in mind, where a car may be more favorable.

From the physical, to the financial, to the friendships, the list of benefits is long, but things like size and safety also need to be weighed.

15 Physical Health Benefits

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Many people are quick to hop on the "they're dangerous" bandwagon. But a reality of riding a motorcycle is that it can actually benefit one's physicality. Okay, maybe you're not going to acquire that six-pack you've been working so hard for at the gym recently, but there are other known benefits.

Reseach done by Dr. Pamela Reilly in Indianapolis offers these six healthy, positive outcomes of riding: stronger knees and thighs, core strength, insulin sensitivity, calorie burning, neck strength, and mental wellness.

14 Mental Health Benefits

via eaglerider.com

On a daily basis, we all encounter stressors in our lives and each of us deals with these in various ways. Often times, connecting with nature and getting outside can help one's head space. Therefore, "hopping on your Harley," might just be the easiest and best way to leave stress behind.

The fresh air, wind in your hair, and focus on running your machine can be a way to let stress go by turning your mind elsewhere. Exploring new places may also bring opportunity you didn't see coming, at just the right time too.

13 Cheaper To Buy

Harley-Davidson's Dealership Network Is Extensive
Via Fortune

When looking solely at the cost to purchase a motorcycle, ownership comes at a much lower price than a car. On average, the retail cost of a motorcycle ranges (new) from $5000-$10,000. For anyone who has ever purchased a car, van, or truck, you know that even a base model of any vehicle begins much above that price-point.

So, to begin, if you're looking for a vehicle that can simply get you from point A to point B, the power behind a motorcycle seems to be the cheapest entry point.

Related: 10 Fastest Motorcycles Under $5,000 (And 10 That Cost More Than A Supercar)

12 Retained Resale Value

2010 Onwards, Triumph Ruled The Cruiser Motorcycle Bazaar
via Motorcycles-For-Sale

While resale value can depend on the make, model and style of motorcycle that you have, in general, bikes retain their value much better than cars do. This likely has to do with the fewer miles these vehicles usually rack-up.

Brands including Harley-Davidson, Triumph and BMW and styles including cruiser, sports, and dualsports motorcycles retain the most value among the others.

Therefore, whether you are in the motorcycle club as a part of a mid-life crisis or a long-term commitment, your investment is likely to retain greater value than any car, for the moment you decide to sell or upgrade.

11 Better Gas Mileage

On average, a motorcycle can get 35-40 miles per gallon. This is of course dependent on the type of gas that you run through your machine, however, undeniably this is better than most gasoline-powered cars.

You can further save on gas by adhering to similar energy-saving rules for any vehicle, including: proper inflation of tires, reduce your braking and quick acceleration, and taking highways when possible.

10 Lower Environmental Impact

via: jawamotorcycles.com

By virtue of having better gas mileage, motorcycles allow enthusiasts to get to places without as great of an environmental impact as bigger vehicles likes cars or gas-guzzling trucks.

As a new generation of vehicle owners emerges, the reduction of environmental impact will continue to become more and more important when making a purchase. We all live in the same world, one that can be better looked after by sticking to driving a motorcycle!

Related: 10 Best Electric Motorcycles On The Market

9 Easier To Fix

Service Costs For Harleys Are Cheap
Via LancasterHarley-Davidson

On all vehicles, regular maintenance is a key to your vehicle's health and its smooth running. As more and more vehicles get produced with a greater emphasis on electronic "bells and whistles," motorcycles have remained fairly basic and therefore continue to be easy to fix.

Simple things like oil changes and chain adjustments are out in the open and easily accessible. A mechanic's time is simple economics: "tough" means pricier and "simple" means leaner on your wallet!

8 Customizable

Via rideapart.com

If you are the type of person who isn't okay with just "the standard," then motorcycles may be better for you. They offer endless customizations, on pretty much any part of the bike you would like: heated handles, paint jobs, customized lighting or exhaust pipes. Your dreams are endless and sure to turn heads at the next biker rally with customization.

Related: There's No Way These 21 Motorcycle Mods Are Real (But They Are)

7 They're Small

2020 Kawasaki Z H2: Another Naked Version
via Motorcycle

Even though they are labelled as small, "compact cars" have got nothing on a motorcycle when it comes to space savings. With their skinny design, motorcycles will leave you more space in the garage for other activities and storage of household items.

With such a smaller footprint, you may even be able to convince your partner to get a second one, in order to ride in tandem... or two to ride by yourself. And, if the space savings in your life weren't enough, consider that most often motorcycle parking spots are closer to the shop you've traveled to because of their ability to squeeze into smaller, higher-density spacing.

6 The Motorcycle Community

Parked Motorcycles In Line With People On The Streets
via HubPages.com

From riding with buddies, to joining a group of riders that all have the same type of bike, the opportunities to connect with people over motorcycles is endless. As social beings, humans have a deep-rooted want to remain connected; it goes back thousands of years to when humans more successfully hunted in packs than alone.

And, not much has changed. That thrill of driving to meet up with buddies and chin-wag about engines, for many, is social ecstasy and what draws them to motorcycles. These connections also fuel good mental health, as previously discussed.

Related: 15 Friendliest Motorcycle Clubs We Want To Join

5 We'd Rather Drive A Car: High Safety Risk & Insurance Costs

via gas2.org

However, if that connection with others isn't enough to make you buy a motorcycle and you are still worried about safety, your fears are well-founded. According to the National Safety Institute, driving a motorcycle is 27 times more dangerous than driving a car, and for obvious reasons.

This statistic, driven by lack of protection and safety features that measure up to a car, is the reason insurance companies dread covering motorcycles. Per policy, claim rates well exceed that of cars, meaning the risk on such a policy remains high and therefore so does the cost to get insurance. Cha-ching!

4 We'd Rather Drive A Car: Weather Needs To Be Planned For

Via winnipeggfreepress.com

Unlike a car, driving a motorcycle requires much greater planning. One of the biggest factors to be planned for, when setting out on a trip, is the weather. Slickness on roads can be particularly difficult for motorcyclists who are balancing on two wheels versus four, thereby creating a higher, trickier center of balance.

Wind has been known to blow bikers onto gravel shoulders, causing them to overcorrect and lose control, flipping repeatedly. On days with rain and wind, we would prefer the comfort of being inside a car, wouldn't you?

3 We'd Rather Drive A Car: Extended Family Can't Join

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Most motorcycles, unless they have a sidecar, are designed for one or two passengers only. Therefore, your partner is about the only person who could join you wherever you are going. The capacity for a motorcycle to carry children remains unsafe and the fact that your dog Fido can't join would make many people choose a car over a bike.

2 We'd Rather Drive A Car: Carrying Capacity

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Although saddle bags and very small trunks are a reality of many motorcycles, they fail in comparison to the large trunk space on a car, when it comes to carrying capacity. A hockey bag or family-sized cooler on a motorcycle is just not reasonable or safe.

Therefore, if it is a necessity that your vehicle transports a large amount of goods, including simple things like groceries for your family, then a car is likely a better option for you.

1 We'd Rather Drive A Car: You Wait Longer At Red Lights

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Traffic lights work in one of two ways: They're timed, or they're triggered. While timed lights are easy to understand, an induction-loop style of light changes when a coiled wired in the pavement, where a vehicle pulls up to, squishes together, completing the circuit.

This squish happens from the weight of a vehicle, usually over 800 pounds. Not many motorcycles in the world hit that weight class, so instead you are stuck waiting forever... or until a car rescues you anyway.

Next: The 10 Most Expensive Motorcycles You Can Buy, Ranked

sources: CASBO, HowStuffWorks, Quora, HotCars, Wikipedia, Cracked.com