russ69
Backside Slider
Damn, that's a good idea.
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New Rider, need advice on getting a bike to ride from west coast to east coast
- Thread starter Stormy
- Start date
Damn, that's a good idea.
rodr
Well-known member
Oh and if you want some inspiration from a girl:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=831213
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=831213
Ogier le Danois
New member
This is a sensible compromise.
Vanilla_Gorilla
Member
Seriously, that's a great idea. Lots of great advice in this thread. Do it Storm. Even if you die, you'll have the time of your life
Attachments
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Ogier le Danois
New member
Oh and if you want some inspiration from a girl:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=831213
And my own obnoxious self promotion:
http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=275132
I see from my notes that total cost was $350.
Z3n
Squid.
How hard it is to deal with mechanical problems or a crash with no riding experience, no effective support from local resources, no experience with what's going right or wrong with your bike...it's a stupid idea, and the idea that it's somehow better to try and put hundreds of miles a day on a bike in a "straight line" is better than "riding in circles" is fucking moronic.
Yes, some people will say that striking out on an unknown bike with no riding or significant mechanical experience, it can also just simply get you killed. We just don't hear the stories from those who get killed.
Aluisious
Well-known member
Yeah, the interstates are littered with the corpses of fallen newbie cross country riders. Haven't you read about the epidemic? Maybe you should go watch Game of Thrones for your drama fix.
You spent all day calling people stupid on BARF. Get a grip, your "advice" is nothing special and no one cares about what you don't think they can do.
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louemc
New member
Z3n
Squid.
Mmm, double down on the stupid posting while not addressing any of the problems. Good advice, I like your style!
I could lay out dozens of reasons as to why it's a really terrible idea to have some of your highest risk miles on a massive trip but anyone with a tiny amount of grey matter between their ears would figure out it's better to learn to walk before you do a marathon.
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Let's try and adjust the insult to information ratio down to a more acceptable level.
I've thought about this. Considering how much riding I would want to do prior to the voyage, I feel it would be important to buy a bike here. By the end of this month/ beg of next I will have a bike in hand and start camping on weekends to prepare for the ride.
Plus, if I buy a bike in NY I wouldn't know the condition of it. If it ends up be a mechanical wreck I'm screwed.
BluesCruiser
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I like Rods idea of flying to NY and riding back, but that doesn't deal with the part about getting as much experience as possible before August. With such a limited budget it would be tricky. However, as others have pointed out, with maybe a little stretch of your budget you could pick up a used Ninjette here...ride it until late July...sell it in a heartbeat for more-or-less what you paid for it...and then make the original idea work.
I still say go for it!
I still say go for it!
Ezekiel
_________________________
Once again I'm surprised by the amount of motorcyclists who seem to lack a sense of adventure...don't listen to these party poopers...DO IT! Get some seat time on your bike of choice BEFORE you go on your trip of course, get some good gear for all weather...note that in August it's going to be HOT for much of your journey...but bring rain gear too, 'cause you just might hit some of that as well.
The bike. Although you COULD make it on a ninja 250, that's a long ride for that tiny bike and I think you can up your comfort, and packing potential, with another bike. Of course the Goldwing is the other end of the spectrum but man, that's a big heavy, powerful bike, would be easier for a newer rider such as yourself to get into trouble on. I'd say shoot for something middle ground, that has luggage...maybe a V-Strom or even an older Kawasaki Concourse.
Hats off to you for the journey!
The bike. Although you COULD make it on a ninja 250, that's a long ride for that tiny bike and I think you can up your comfort, and packing potential, with another bike. Of course the Goldwing is the other end of the spectrum but man, that's a big heavy, powerful bike, would be easier for a newer rider such as yourself to get into trouble on. I'd say shoot for something middle ground, that has luggage...maybe a V-Strom or even an older Kawasaki Concourse.
Hats off to you for the journey!
I never got more than 40mpg on my 01 SV650.
Z3n
Squid.
I choose to believe that all the posters telling him to go, take the adventure right now, are just really concerned about the US coming to an end in a rain of nuclear fire and that they are encouraging him on the basis that if he waits 3 months to take this trip that there will no longer be roads to ride on, just a staggering desolate wasteland, haunted by banditos that will steal our intrepid hero's motorcycle, beat him to an inch of his life, and leave him to slowly die on the side of the road, where he will then be rescued by some dashing young lady who will nurse him back to health, and who he will leave behind in search of his fortune and his beater bike and eventually stub his toe and die of gangrene.
This is pretty much a worse idea than telling a new rider that they should start on a 600, yet people are supportive because for some reason we can't ever tell someone that doing something on a motorcycle is a bad idea.
A list to modify information to insult ratio:
Reasons it's a bad idea:
No training
No street experience
Hasn't ridden a motorcycle for any distance.
No mental fortitude to ride for extended periods while staying alert
No mentioned mechanical experience
No money to pay for problems should they arise
No functional plan on route or road types
No idea if he even enjoys riding a motorcycle on the street
No experience with different types of bikes to understand what would actually be worth riding across the country
No understanding of how to tell what is wrong with the motorcycle, if anything
No budget for gear
No budget for consumables
No backup plan should things go wrong in the middle of nowhere
I also love that the idea of being on a trip somehow means he can handle a goldwing, a concours, and the variety of other bikes that have been suggested.
Seriously, I can't believe I had to write this much just to get the idea out there that you should learn to ride a motorcycle before you plan on riding a motorcycle across the country. Because we all know motorcycles are totally safe, no one's ever gotten hurt on one, and new riders aren't at a disadvantage when it comes to riding before they develop functional skills.
This is pretty much a worse idea than telling a new rider that they should start on a 600, yet people are supportive because for some reason we can't ever tell someone that doing something on a motorcycle is a bad idea.
A list to modify information to insult ratio:
Reasons it's a bad idea:
No training
No street experience
Hasn't ridden a motorcycle for any distance.
No mental fortitude to ride for extended periods while staying alert
No mentioned mechanical experience
No money to pay for problems should they arise
No functional plan on route or road types
No idea if he even enjoys riding a motorcycle on the street
No experience with different types of bikes to understand what would actually be worth riding across the country
No understanding of how to tell what is wrong with the motorcycle, if anything
No budget for gear
No budget for consumables
No backup plan should things go wrong in the middle of nowhere
I also love that the idea of being on a trip somehow means he can handle a goldwing, a concours, and the variety of other bikes that have been suggested.
Seriously, I can't believe I had to write this much just to get the idea out there that you should learn to ride a motorcycle before you plan on riding a motorcycle across the country. Because we all know motorcycles are totally safe, no one's ever gotten hurt on one, and new riders aren't at a disadvantage when it comes to riding before they develop functional skills.
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Same here. Hell, I think for a new rider, figuring out how to survive in LA is way more life threatening than riding coast-to-coast.
OP, Here are a few things to consider:
- A camelback and earplugs will make worlds of difference.
- Gear that keeps sun and wind off of your skin and will help reduce fatigue and dehydration.
- The bike choice is probably the least significant thing to fuss over. Almost any bike will do, and will likely make less difference to your comfort than the other things. I'd put tank range (like >200mi) high on the list.
- Doing a local 500 mile day is great, but I'd follow that with a long weekend of 400+ mile days. Different shit starts to get sore when you string them together.
- It's gonna be tough to sell a bike period in September. Accept up front that the price differential will be 30-50% for a springtime purchase and a September rush sale. The only people looking to buy at the end of the warm season here are experienced all-season riders who know the seasonal dips in the market.
- Pack your kit with a package of disposable windex wipes... for debugging; a package of disposable baby wipes, cuz they'll clean anything; and other basics, like zip ties, duct tape, a knife, and maybe even a few tools, beef jerky, granola bars, etc..
Like others have said... it's not a mission to mars, but it's not a trip to the fridge either. Some planning and a little experience can be the difference between doing it and enjoying it.
The most I've done in a single stretch is ~2000 miles over 4 days. It was a load of fun, and I'd have kept on going if I didn't need to show up to work the next day. Contrast that with my first "long distance" ride. Oakland to Monterey and back in the 80s after getting my first bike. It was shitty and exhausting... I needed a day off after that.
RickM
Active member
Z3n, I don't think anyone is suggesting OP ride cross country without learning to ride. The general sentiment is to start riding as soon as possible and gain as much experience as possible before the trip.
He is not doing to trip right away. He has 4 months to practice and learn to maintain the bike. If OP is committed , he can practice as much as possible between now and the beginning of the trip and be in good enough shape to do it safely.
Budget is a concern the way I see it though.
He is not doing to trip right away. He has 4 months to practice and learn to maintain the bike. If OP is committed , he can practice as much as possible between now and the beginning of the trip and be in good enough shape to do it safely.
Budget is a concern the way I see it though.
Ezekiel
_________________________
Your condescending tone aside, maybe you missed the part where the OP stated he or she would like to take this trip in August. You seem to have a message you would like to share, folks might be more receptive to it if you didn't try and act like your opinion was the only one that mattered.
If you're saying, learn to ride this summer and do the coast to coast thing next summer, then yeah... that makes more sense, but just delaying three months from August is crazy dumb. It'll be snowing on some parts of that route, and cold as balls even if it's not snowing.
That bit aside, once you get outside of California, the lack of traffic density makes it a lot more noob friendly than West LA. Learning to ride in West LA... now that my friend is an adventure. Plus, if he gets a bike now, he could easily have 5-10K miles of riding experience by August. He's not leaving tomorrow... there is time to gain some experience.
Z3n
Squid.
Still hasn't taken the MSF - next week he starts it, so ~2 weeks until he can start test riding the bikes he goes to look at. 2 weeks to find a decent bike, make sure it's not a lemon. Who knows his resources are for making sure the bike is safe and could be ridden 3k miles with minimal maintenance.
So...now we're 3 months out. I'd say 6k miles is a reasonable amount of riding to have under your belt before you take a 3k trip, so that means he's putting in roughly 500 miles a week for those 3 months straight, with no downtime due to repairs (on a $3000 bike, that's going to be hit or miss at best), and there's no budget there for gear (you're looking at at least a thousand bucks for full gear you're going to want to ride every day in), plus insurance, gas, registration, transfer fees, etc, and he's $5000 in the hole by the time he's ready to leave for the trip if he's got 6k under his belt at that point. If the bike requires no consumables, no maintenance, work is done on it for free, and on and on and on.
Really? The thing that dictates your ergonomic position for every minute you're traveling is the least significant thing to fuss over?
Well, my opinion won't be the only one that matters when people can answer any basic questions about why this is a good idea. Maybe start with these ones?
The most likely thing he'll get out of this experience is "I want to do that again because holy shit I got like 10% of the potential experience out of that because I had no idea what I was doing. I chose the freeway over the roads that would have been worthwhile to actually ride".
Unless, of course, he loves sitting on a motorcycle on the freeway. But the great hilarity of it all is that even he doesn't know that.
This entire thread could be cut and paste into wikipedia verbatum as "cart before the horse".
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