Everyone slamming Clarkson for making an unsustainable claim that motorcycles = bad and cars = good should really have read the piece properly.
In particular:
"Imagining that you can ride a bike because you can drive a car is like imagining you can swallow-dive off a 90ft cliff because you can play table tennis."
I don't see that he is saying that motorcycles are intrinsically bad, only that people who think riding them is easy because they can drive a car is a recipe for disaster, a point he feels worth making because more people are starting to think of this as a way to save money.
And, presumably, because the UK driver licensing system allows anyone with a full UK Driving License (for driving a CAR) to get straight onto the type of BIKE he describes without so much as an orientation course.
In particular:
"Imagining that you can ride a bike because you can drive a car is like imagining you can swallow-dive off a 90ft cliff because you can play table tennis."
I don't see that he is saying that motorcycles are intrinsically bad, only that people who think riding them is easy because they can drive a car is a recipe for disaster, a point he feels worth making because more people are starting to think of this as a way to save money.
And, presumably, because the UK driver licensing system allows anyone with a full UK Driving License (for driving a CAR) to get straight onto the type of BIKE he describes without so much as an orientation course.
+0.02