Any motorcycle riders out there?
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Are they as fun as they seem?
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Are they as dangerous as they seem?
Should I get one for my 60+ mile round trip daily commute - 58 miles of which are on the 5 freeway in So Cal.
Motorcycles are fun. Motorcycles are dangerous. As for your commute, it depends on what kind of bike you want to get. The gas mileage will be much better, and Socal freeways are plenty nice to ride on, just watch out for the other drivers. If you get a sportbike, the riding position is a little more stressful as you are leaning forward putting pressure on your wrists. If you get a cruiser, you will be sitting more upright.
There are two types of people who ride motorcycles:
The ones who have crashed, and the ones who are going to…
When you go down on a motorcycle, you go down hard and stay down. If you’re going to ride, get a big hog with minimal mufflers so people will hear you and fear you. Most folks can’t see motorcycles, and it isn’t because of their size, it’s because they only have one light and two wheels. People are used to seeing two lights and four wheels, and their brains don’t register a two wheeled vehicle.
I rode for several years, and got knocked down more than once by someone who claimed not to see me. Then I got a Harley, and no one failed to see me for quite some time.
It’s very similar to riding a bicycle. Cars don’t see them, cars don’t care about them, and cars will hurt you if they hit you on one of them. But man is a motorcycle a lot of fun.
Yes, they are fun, no they are not dangerous. however, they are very, very vulnerable. You do not have a big steel cage surrounding you. If you hit anything, or it hits you it will hurt. If you ride them long enough, you will have an accident.
In 20 years of riding, I have had one accident serious enough to put me in hospital (other driver not looking) dropped the bike on 2 occasions (diesel and ice) and hit the deck twice through my own stupidity. Lost count of the number of times I said “oh shit, oh shit, oh shit” inside my helmet. I have lost 4 good friends in accidents, visited too many hospitals.
I still ride. I love to ride. I don’t do the really bad weather anymore, I don’t work as a courier any more. That is helping keep me alive.
Best thing you can do, is go on an introductory course, where they will rent you a bike. See if it’s for you. If you get your bike and a license, get additional tuition, take an advanced course, get a day or two on the track, get a day or two on an off road trials course.
Read a bunch of magazines, talk to a bunch of bikers and get a feel for the sort of bike you like. Remember that the throttle works in both directions and discretion is the better part of being dead.
Try it, you might like it.
J.
“But man is a motorcycle a lot of fun.”
Oh yeah… right up to the moment of impact. It’s almost as addictive as cocaine.
My bike. It’s fast and it’s fun.
Of, so they are dangerous, but so is biking down PCH in OC. but if I stay away from Newport, Corona Del Mar and Laguna Beach my liklihood that I am going to get hit goes way down.
Apply that thought to a motorcycle.
I am 40+ yrs old. I want just a 500-800cc touring style cruising bike. 95% of my riding will be freeway commuting on the 5 (Orange County up to the Anaheim area).
I am not in my 20’s racing thru city streets on a rice rocket.
Of the motorcycle fatalities, what % would fall into my demographic?
Very sweet bike. Just finished restoring an 88 Springer Softtail 85th anniversary model. Believe it or not found it in a barn with 9700 original miles. If i can figure out how to post a picture will do.
Looking at a '04 Deuce right now.
fal7 in Houston
LT, I ride every day, year round on the 5 in Seattle, around 15-20K a year. I’ve been hit by cars three times in the last five years, each time on surface streets. The freeway is a much safer place to ride than anywhere with cross streets.
Spend as much as you can afford on safety gear. Get a helmet that fits right ie. too tight at first. Don’t let anyone talk you into buying an open face. Rotten.com has good reasons to buy full face. Wear jacket and pants with armor, and motorcycle specific boots and gloves. Not only will they keep you safe, you’ll be able to work the controls more easily.
Unfortunately your demographic is pretty high for motorcycle crashes. Lots of guys rode in their teens and 20s and are buying bikes in their 40s-50s, and after not riding for 30+ years jump onto a hog that is waaaaay too much for their reaction time, skill level, or expectation. Best case is that the bike gets parked and polished. The other high risk group is of course the squid. Wheelies up I5, of course you’re gonna die.
sawyer
THanks for the info Sawyer. Questions -
What is a Squid?
I am in the 40-45 age group and have never been a biker. I plan 95% freeway and to ride very concervatively. I would want something like this:
http://powersports.honda.com/motorcycles/cruiser_standard/model.asp?ModelName=Rebel&ModelYear=2005&ModelId=CMX250C5
Would I want a light-weight bike?
Am I an accident waiting to happen?
LT,
Motorcycles are fun, fast and offer a great form of stress relief. When stationed in SoCal I rode a lightweight, nimble Honda Interceptor 500cc. I would suggest a bike similar to that for a SoCal commute - quick to react, quick to accelerate.
I ride a '98 HD Heritage Springer now in the Midwest, mostly on the weekend. All riders should wear their HRM on a ride sometime. I did it not toO long ago when I jumped on my m/c after a workout and I was running late to pick up my daughter from work. Granted, I was in a hurry, but it is interesting to see how high the HR spikes are when you’re making decisions (yellow lights, tight turns, etc.).
If you haven’t ridden before, I would suggest you start w/ something smaller than a 350cc (used, out of the paper) and take a motorcycle safety course!
95% freeway? The rebel 250 is NOT the bike for you. Think Schwinn Lemon Peeler in the TdF. Pedal faster Billy!.. I second GJS’ suggestion of a small beater to learn on. Find an old Honda for under $1000 that you can practice on, and that doesn’t have too many parts to break off when you fall down.
I cannot stress enough how important good riding gear is. Check out these guys: http://www.aerostich.com/riderwearhouse.store
squid: originally SQUirrelly kID, but now just term for any poser on a motorcycle riding above his limits who is going to hurt somebody.
sawyer
Thanks for the compliment. It’s fun to ride, but that rigid frame is pretty rough for long rides. I’ve got a 113" S&S Motor in it…my mechanic says I should rebuild it on a softail frame, but that seems kind of expensive to me. Any ideas on how to make the ride on the rigid frame more comfortable?
Do you want a lightweight bike? Well, what do you weigh. Can you pick a bike up if you drop it? For freeway riding, no you don’t really want a lightweight bike, you want something that is comfortable with the speeds you’re going to ride, and that won’t get blown around too much when a truck passes you.
Are you an accident waiting to happen? Well, yes to be honest. I understand that you’re not a crazy teenager, but you are also starting with the same lack of understanding of motorcycles, so you are a fair way down the food chain. You ride a bicycle, so you’re going to appreciate the vulnerablitity better than the average car driver.
Get good gear, very good gear. I favour motorcross boots if you’re riding mainly in traffic. Most urban accidents involve an impact. Your foot is in the most likely position to be hit, being at the same height as the nose of most cars. Motorcross boots are stronger than any other type and might help you keep your foot attached to your leg in a bad accident. They did for me. I know you’re in california and don’t have the bad weather that northern states do, but below is a bit I put in a motorcycle forum for a new rider inquiring about winter riding. It might give you some ideas about your clothing system.
J.
Many years ago, I made my living as a motorcycle courier in the UK, working through several winters, so I can give you some ideas from what I figured out and learned from others.
You need to think about warmth, and you need to think about protection. On the protection front, leather still beats them all, but some of the newer materials are a bit more user friendly. Personally, I still prefer leather. You need to keep warm, which involves 3 things. You need to insulate, to keep your body heat in, you need to stop wind from taking that heat away, and you need to stay dry, so that you don’t have to use body heat to warm up cold water.
My system, based on years of riding and mountaineering.
Base Layer:
thermal underwear. this might be polyprop, silk or any other non-cotton magic material. This wicks sweat away and keeps your skin dry.
Insulation layer:
You might want something extra in the very cold weather, or for particularly long rides. I used to use Helly Hansen fibre pile because I had them for winter climbing, but fleece would be the more modern version. A thin jacket and trousers would add a lot of warmth.
Protection layer:
Leathers. If you’re leather’s are very tight, you may only get the thermal underwear under them. Leathers will help keep you together if there’s an accident. I woudln’t ride without them.
Waterproofing:
I use a thin waterproof oversuit. If you have, or prefer, a lined oversuit, then you wouldn’t need the extra insulation layer. My oversuit is useable year round, an insulated one won’t be much fun in the summer. I never wanted to pay for two suits.
Extras:
Boots:
Boots with good soles. I know a lot of people ride with race style boots, which are more comfortable, but they tend not to have much grip on the soles. I prefer motorcross style boots, with a chunky sole for better grip on snow/rain etc. Once dropped a bike from a standstill at lights when I put my foot down and found polished ice. Having to pick a bike up on an icy road is not fun.
Gloves:
Gloves with a waterproof membrane. Leather gloves with insulation and a goretex lining revolutionised my winter riding 15 years ago. I can’t emphasise enough how good they are. Dry hands after several hours of riding in the rain is a blissful thing.
Scarf:
I use a neck tube made of fleece, which is comfortable and warm. I find a lot of synthetic fabrics itch after a while, but fleece works for me. You can also get one with a windproof cover. I’ve also tried a neoprene tube which fits around the bottom of the helmet rim and covers your neck. Very good, and I would think about one if I were doing that much winter riding these days.
Helmet:
fog city visor patch, you’ve got to see where you’re going. RainX on the outside helps stop crap sitting on the visor, and most water will roll off if you just turn your head to the side and let the wind catch it. Visor wipe: Probably the single best pound I ever spent on motorcyle equipment. It’s a rubber tube with a little wiper blade that slips over your index finger. When the crap builds up on your visor, you just wipe it away. There is always one in my jacket pocket. Absolutely brilliant.
Bike:
Heated grips. Very good, and wouldn’t own a bike without fitting them. BMW make the best ones, more expensive, but more reliable. Reliable is good. No wires to hassle with once in place. Because I was getting off the bike so often, plugging in heated clothing would have been a pain, but if I was on a long winter ride, an electric bodywarmer would be very useful to keep the core temperature up.
Chain oiler. If youre doing big miles, these things rock. Will all the bad weather over winter, you’ll miss some maintainance, and that leads to wear. Chain oilers stop you needing to check all the time.
Make sure you’re bike is serviced and working well. Breaking down in the middle of nowhere when it’s snowing isn’t fun at all. Carry a cell phone (we didn’t have them in the good old days) and make sure you have roadside assistance of some form. If you’re battery isn’t up to scratch, then replace it. Cold puts extra strain on it when starting, and they’re only tiny to start with. Bump starting a bike when it’s icy isn’t fun at all.
If you have a nice shiny new bike, seriously consider buying a second bike. A tatty old 125 trials bike, is going to save you trashing your $10,000 sports bike. One winter of crap weather can really drop your resale value.
Oh, and in case you think I must know it all, you could ask me about the time I rode 4 hours each way in the snow, minus 5 celcius, on the night of christmas eve to deliver an urgent package to a print house that turned out to be closed for the holiday wearing only my leathers and an unlined oversuit (i’d been told I was staying in the city). My heated grips died on me (of course). By the time I got home, it was 2am, and I was so hypothermic I couldn’t use my front brake cause my fingers wouldn’t move and I couldn’t physically get off the bike. Girlfriend came out about 15 minutes later, as she’d thought she’d heard the bike but I hadn’t come in. Had to literally pry me off the damn thing. I’ll spare you the names I called my controller after the holiday.
Be safe,
J.
Couple of guys I ride with have rigids. Both swear by gel seats. There is a guy here in town that makes custom seats and will put a gel pad in them to match the seat pan.
Have seen ads for gel pads in couple of the biker magazines believe American Iron Horse was one.
Man a 113" S&S motor that thing must scream. My poor little 80" motor has a long way to go to keep up with that.
falt
see ya on the road!!
Thanks for the good advise guys - So check this out. I am having lunch with my wife today and the motorcycle subject came up again whan my wife says, " If you want a motorcycle, get a motorcycle. Is it a trap? Is she testing me? Is she calling my bluff? What should I do?
I think she is letting me do whatever the hell I want so I don’t go have a midlife crises and get some young girlfriend!
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Any motorcycle riders out there?
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Are they as fun as they seem? Yes
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Are they as dangerous as they seem? No
Should I get one for my 60+ mile round trip daily commute - 58 miles of which are on the 5 freeway in So Cal.
PROBABLY NOT
The 5 is scary
I have a Harley Sportster, fun but I would not reccomend it for freeway riding until you are experienced. I also took a 16 hour motorcycle safety course and highly reccomend it if you are thinking of getting a bike.
- Gary
Thanks Tibbs. I just got my Trek TTT painted black to match the ‘chopper’, and put some ‘carbon fiber aero goodies’ on it…but carbon fiber is best suited to make a bicycle look cool as opposed to chrome, which makes the motorcycle look cool. I’ll post a photo of both sometime soon.
“I have a Harley Sportster, fun but I would not reccomend it for freeway riding until you are experienced. I also took a 16 hour motorcycle safety course and highly reccomend it if you are thinking of getting a bike”
You bastard - why did you post that picture and then say I can’t have it! Now I want it more than ever!!!
Honestly, why would you not recommend a hd? Is it harder to ride than a cruiser from say Honda? More details please.