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New Rider, need advice on getting a bike to ride from west coast to east coast

Stormy

New member
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Hey guys,

The title says it - I want to do a ride from California to New York in August. I need a lot of advice so let me give a quick background of myself.


Never rode a street bike, but used to dirt bike when I was younger
I currently do NOT have a bike (this is another aspect I need your help on)
I am going to a MSF class next week to begin getting my license

So I guess let's start with the obvious - what bikes would you recommend for this trek? I plan on buying a bike and then selling it once I end in New York and fly back home. I don't want to spend too much, <$3,000 (changed this from 2,000). I'm on the assumption that a more expensive bike would be harder to sell given the lack of time in NY. 3 weeks total Cali to NY.

The route is something I am going to dive into on a different thread I saw. But any tips would be appreciated!

I really just want this to be an open conversation. Safety tips, personal stories and opinions/advice on the trip. What to bring and what to hold off on.

Bike and biking gear are my main concern. Everything else will hopefully fall into place.

Thanks in advance!
 
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I hate to give this kind of advice but you probably should rethink riding across the country.

Great adventures typically start with a lot of people telling you not to do it.

But with no street experience, you might be overwhelmed with the challenges of distance riding.

I think the easiest thing to discuss is the endurance aspect of bike touring.

Recently, I rode from the East Bay to Arcata, and I made it one day by riding 10 hours. I made several mistakes though, including finishing at night. But I am an experienced night rider, and the other issue, fatigue, was not hard for me to work around.

While you can ride one hour a day on your trip across the country, my point is that there are a thousand factors which makes for safe riding, that my experience of many years allows me to handle with ease.

I would probably just focus on being a safe rider in the next few years.
 
wow less than $2k? Plus you don't have any Gear?

what if your bike takes a while to sell once you're there?

Safety tips - Leather is good (perforated for summer use), but you can get away with synthetics too, esp for Hot summertime riding. Wear earplugs.

Where are you sleeping? Have $ for motels or?
 
I hate to give this kind of advice but you probably should rethink riding across the country.

Great adventures typically start with a lot of people telling you not to do it.

But with no street experience, you might be overwhelmed with the challenges of distance riding.

I think the easiest thing to discuss is the endurance aspect of bike touring.

Recently, I rode from the East Bay to Arcata, and I made it one day by riding 10 hours. I made several mistakes though, including finishing at night. But I am an experienced night rider, and the other issue, fatigue, was not hard for me to work around.

While you can ride one hour a day on your trip across the country, my point is that there are a thousand factors which makes for safe riding, that my experience of many years allows me to handle with ease.

I would probably just focus on being a safe rider in the next few years.

^^This. In spades.

I've been riding since '78, and I can't even imagine thinking that a cross-country trip by a complete novice on a sub-$2000 bike, without personally-owned & tested gear, would be a good idea.

Save your money, fly round-trip, talk to us when you get back. And read the moto-books (Twist of the Wrist, etc.) while you're thinking of what KIND of bike to get. Do you want a cruiser, a sprotbile, tourer, sport-tourer, adventure, sumo? Each one is different as night & day.
 
Are you planning to take freeways all the way? (You can hop on I-80 in San Francisco and just stay on it all the way to New York.)

Or are you intending to take more back roads?

If freeways, you'll want some sort of touring bike with a comfortable seat and room to stretch your legs, or a big cruiser.

I wouldn't trust ANY bike I could purchase for $2000 to make it 3000 miles on a road trip. Reconsider a reliable ride.
 
Bad idea on so many levels that I kinda sense hooks in the water.

Not even going to offer any advice except don't do it.
 
You're in your mid 20's? Do it on a Ninja 250, because you can.. :laughing
 
Buy a bike. Now. Pre-gen Ninja 250 (198x-2007). These can be had for under $2k and will go cross-country just fine. You'll also be able to sell it in a snap when you're done. You might be able to find a Ninja 500 for your price range as well, but that will be tougher... my money is on the 250, though. Most any other newer $2k bikes I wouldn't trust to go cross-country on.

Start riding, every day. The more miles you can get under your belt, the better. I wouldn't think about trying a cross-country trip unless you can do at least 10,000 miles between now and then. Ride in LA traffic, Malibu twisties, and everything in between. 105*F? Go riding. Pouring rain? Go riding. Use this time to figure out what gear you need to be comfortable in as many varied environments as you can. Make sure everything is familiar and broken-in before you start your trip... a cross-country ride is NOT the time to be testing out new gear.

Learn the basics of the bike... oil changes, valve adjustments, chain adjustments. Hopefully you won't need to do any major maintenance on the way, but knowing your way around your bike can be a huge help while out on the road. You shouldn't have any trouble finding someone to teach you basics if you just ask around.

August is four months away... really, if you dedicate yourself to learning to ride again and preparing, that's easily enough time to get you ready for a 3,000 mile ride. Sounds like a kickass goal to me. Good luck, and get riding!

Edit - also, plan a 3-5 day, 1000-1500 mile trip somewhere a few weeks before your big ride. That's your test of bike, gear, riding ability, etc. Use that to iron out any last bugs or things you hadn't considered.
 
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Non-bike things to consider as mentioned are gear (my total cost of gear was over $1000 for boots, pants, gloves, jacket, and helmet), and the fact that with a sub-$2k bike you may be your own roadside assistance. If you aren't comfortable getting your hands dirty, I wouldn't recommend this at all. It's ambitious, but could be extremely dangerous.
 
If you at least consider doing the trip in reverse you could go to a dealer, buy a brand new (50 state, or slightly used to get it over 7.5k miles by the end of the trip) bike, do your trip and have all the time in the world to sell it in LA. If you buy the right bike, FZ9 comes to mind, you can have minimal depreciation & a quick sale. Buying from a dealer will minimize your chances of getting a piece of junk.
 
No experience, <$2000 for bike and gear, riding across country.

BAD idea.
 
No. You are too newbie to even start thinking about that kind of ride. Get your license and start riding and learning. You can ride from SF to LA to test your plan. Think about riding for a year at least before you do something like a cross country trip.
Remember it's the quality of the trip not the quantity of miles that makes touring fun. I'm a geezer but I would take a Goldwing and two weeks one way, or grab a SYM HD200 and have a real adventure.
 
You're in your mid 20's? Do it on a Ninja 250, because you can.. :laughing

This and what Sckego said. Find another $1000 to buy gear.

Ride as much as possible from now till you embark on the trip.

Adjust the valves, change oil and put new tires on before the trip. After that it should only need chain slack adjustments during the trip.
 
Jumping on the "don't do it" bandwagon. I suspect even with your dirt experience you have no idea what you're getting into. I've done multiple thousand-mile plus trips and still haven't had the audacity to ride cross-country.
 
Can be done on an SV650 with a windscreen.

I purchased a new 01' 1200s Suzuki Bandit with the bucket list of riding C2C and have it set up for sport touring, I still have not done it on a bike but I did drive from Santa Cruz to Boston and back in 2012 in a total of 19 days.
Three weeks one way is totally possible. I would suggest getting a bike that is really dependable with fresh tires, new battery and also fresh fluids to start with unless you buy a beater and are some sort of McGyver type and can fix something on the fly. Just look for a well kept, low mileage, easy to work on used bike. Be prepared for weather as I found out that what is warm and sunny in California (August) could run into rainy nasty weather in other parts of the country. I met a woman waiting out a rain/thunder-lightning storm under the overhang of a gas station outside of Arches National Park, she was on a cruiser type coming from the east coast back to San Diego - So be prepared for the un-expected - my .02

If you do make this trip - enjoy it as there is so much to see!!

As a California native it was a real experience to see how the rest of the country really is. Stay away from the major cities during commute times, especially Fridays. Even growing up here in the bay area I hated Washington DC, Boston (except on a Sunday when I left - no traffic) and Chicago everything else was pretty much a breeze. One other thing is the Toll roads which caused me some stress as I didn't always know for sure when I was supposed to pay and didn't want a fat ticket in the mail. Everything worked out and I had no problems.

The coast to coast is still on my bucket list to do with a bike - someday :)
 
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Do it. Seriously. It won't be easy. At times it will be scary, dangerous, uncomfortable, boring, hot, cold, wet, dry, dusty, humid, etc. Shit will break. You'll figure out how to fix it. Buy something cheap, fully depreciated, and robust. 250 Ninja, GS500, EX500, KLR all come to mind. It will cost more than you expect, but you'll figure it out.

Learn how to do basic maintenance yourself. I mean really basic, like put air in the tires, adjust cables, lube chain, change the oil (you should only need to do that once), etc. Get Ironbutt - who posted earlier in this thread - to show you the basics (I just volunteered you, Chad! :twofinger )

Get a copy of Lightweight, Unsupported Motorcycle Touring for Terminal Cases from Aerostich. Read it. Carry it with you. It's small.

Log into Horizons Unlimited and read the stories for inspiration. Lots of folks over there have stories that go along the line of "passed my test and rode to Capetown", or "passed my test and rode to Peru". Read about Sam Manicom, or Tiffany Coates, people who passed their tests, then promptly embarked on adventure.

Get some used gear, and maybe a cheap helmet. Fuck the naysayers. Seriously. You'll have stories to tell for the rest of your life. Adventures, rescues, guardian angels, free beers, great scenery. And you will have done something most people, and apparently most motorcyclists are too chickenshit to try.
 
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