They like their bikes to be as much like cars as possible

[Rizan]

1) They like their bikes to be as much like cars as possible. (much like something/much as | meaning of much like something/much as in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English | LDOCE)

What exactly does this sentence mean? Does the following sentence make sense?

2) They like their bikes to be (much) like cars.

 

[dojibear]

"As much like cars as possible" means "very very very much like cars".

Some bikes are more like cars than other bikes are. They like the ones that are the most like cars.

 

[Uncle Jack]

"They like their bikes to be like cars" is fine. The sentence is not very clear, because the second "like" probably only applies to one thing, such as appearance or comfort.

Adding "as much...as possible" says how closely like cars they like their bikes to be, but it still doesn't say in what respect.

 

[Packard]

They like their bikes to be car-like with stereos, automatic transmissions, cruise control and power brakes.

As an aside: I have not ridden a motorcycle in a long time. Back then, motorcycle cruise control was simply a throttle lock and had a distinct aura of risk associated with it.

 

[Egmont]

Not just much like cars, but so much like cars that they cannot possibly be any more like cars.

If it is possible for a motorcycle* to be 80% like a car, and mine is 80% like a car, it is as much like a car as possible.

If it is possible for a motorcycle to be 99% like a car, and mine is only 98% like a car, it is not as much like a car as possible.

A similar sentence might be "I want my wife to be as much like my mother as possible."

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*"Bike" in AE usually means a bicycle, unless context makes it clear that we're discussing motorcycles.