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

Z3n said:
You ever think about what would have happened if someone hadn't let it go on ozymandias' s thread on advrider?
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There are plenty of examples of horrible things happening to experienced riders too.

What might have saved Ozymandias is someone saying "be very careful around large animals, they are unpredictable." We don't discourage other riders because we get the passion and the willingness to take some risks.
 
Z3n said:
Because when someone asks if their first bike should be a GSX-R1000 or a ZX10, the reasonable reply is "neither is a good choice, you might be a successful, lifelong rider in spite of it, but it's a bad idea. Here are the reasons why".

If the simple realities of riding a motorcycle are too harsh for the new rider to bear, they are probably shouldn't ride a motorcycle.
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Again, he's not asking if his first bike should be a liter supersport. He's saying that he's got this event (parade, group ride, make something up) coming up in a couple months and REALLY wants to ride a liter supersport in it, and how to prepare. And you know what? There is no reason why a person shouldn't be able to learn enough about riding in that amount of time in order to safely ride a liter supersport. No, he won't be able to rail it around the track or keep up with the fast guys on a ride, but you know what? He'll be able to ride and control it within reasonable limits just fine.

Similarly, this guy isn't planning on riding across Siberia or the fucking Sahara or something. He wants to ride across the country four months from now. There's no reason he can't learn enough in that amount of time to do so safely. If he said he was going to try it tomorrow, or that he wanted to do a CC50, yeah, bad idea, not enough time to prepare. If he wanted to ride across the Sahara (which is more equivalent to the sailing-across-the-ocean someone made earlier), yeah, bad idea, not enough time to prepare. But no, he wants to do a series of 100-300 mile days in the saddle for three weeks, through areas with gas stations and roadside assistance and authorities and airports with flights home if all goes to shit. It's really not as difficult or as big a deal as you're making it out to be.
 
rodr said:
There are plenty of examples of horrible things happening to experienced riders too.

What might have saved Ozymandias is someone saying "be very careful around large animals, they are unpredictable." We don't discourage other riders because we get the passion and the willingness to take some risks.
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You're right, bad things happen to experienced riders too, so by that logic we should...encourage new riders to take unneeded risks, right?

No, that's fucking dumb.

Some additional experience, by his own admission, would have prevented his accident. It seems like people here are incapable of distinguishing the "willingness to take risks" from "mindlessly take risks despite no effective gain". We don't mindlessly encourage every motorcyclist, there are a lot of bad ideas on a motorcycle, and this is one of them. Encouraging him to take this trip may not be as bad as encouraging him to ride without a helmet, but it's pretty far up there to encourage an an inexperienced rider to take a cross country trip. Targeted advice is very situational - experience is broad, that's why it's better to have experience, and experience is what a rider needs before they take a long trip.

Brown81 said:
My God. Listen to yourself! :laughing
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Someone's gotta make up for your mindless posts. :laughing

Also, yeah, string me up for caring about new riders and wanting them to have long and successful riding careers. What an asshole am I.
sckego said:
Again, he's not asking if his first bike should be a liter supersport. He's saying that he's got this event (parade, group ride, make something up) coming up in a couple months and REALLY wants to ride a liter supersport in it, and how to prepare. And you know what? There is no reason why a person shouldn't be able to learn enough about riding in that amount of time in order to safely ride a liter supersport. No, he won't be able to rail it around the track or keep up with the fast guys on a ride, but you know what? He'll be able to ride and control it within reasonable limits just fine.

Similarly, this guy isn't planning on riding across Siberia or the fucking Sahara or something. He wants to ride across the country four months from now. There's no reason he can't learn enough in that amount of time to do so safely. If he said he was going to try it tomorrow, or that he wanted to do a CC50, yeah, bad idea, not enough time to prepare. If he wanted to ride across the Sahara (which is more equivalent to the sailing-across-the-ocean someone made earlier), yeah, bad idea, not enough time to prepare. But no, he wants to do a series of 100-300 mile days in the saddle for three weeks, through areas with gas stations and roadside assistance and authorities and airports with flights home if all goes to shit. It's really not as difficult or as big a deal as you're making it out to be.
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This isn't a parade lap in a controlled environment. It's a constant set of new experiences, new roads, with little experience to draw on. The concern isn't the lack of emergency services, it's an accident where you're too far gone for all the emergency services in the world to undo what has already been done. It happens. We only hear about it a fraction of the time.

I find it sort of staggering that people think that in a mere 3 months anyone can be prepared to ride a motorcycle across the country. Most places in the world won't let someone ride anything but a tiny restricted bike for years, with careful testing, yet MSF and some street time is all that people think he needs to do a cross country trip? There's a reason our death rate is 4x the death toll of those with more stringent training requirements.


It blows my mind that all of this is spawned from me saying that he should learn to ride a motorcycle before he rides a motorcycle across the country. It's like people have an active interest in other riders failing.
 
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I'd say buy a small bike to start on, decide if you really like it and are comfortable and then look at maybe bigger bikes.

From me, the most defensive driver/rider out there to you, I'm tentatively planning a long trip next summer, have been riding 2 years and people still told me not to bother. You can do it but you are taking on a significant amount of risk comparatively. Also there is the issue of gas, tires, oil, maintenance, gear, etc. The first four having a lot of financial weight from bike to bike. You're probably going to be spending more on the tires and oil of a liter bike and definitely more on the gas than if you started with a 500-650, even. And you'll probably get a better bike or have money left over for better gear than spending the bare minimum on a big bike compared to a decent price on a small or medium sized one.

I'm sure this has all been said more than once already but that's my 2 cents
 
Ezekiel said:
Stormy, has there been any progress on the bike search??
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It's been... going. Consuming a lot of my time... panning for gold over here. I am homing in on a vstar, shadow, royal star and researching older bikes (80s- early 90s: magna ). I have been calling some craigslist ads, some mechanics, spoke to a BARF member over the phone last night. It will take a bit more time but this weekend I'm finishing up the MSF course and plan on heading to some motorcycle shops to hop on some rides and get some more advice.
 
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Vanilla_Gorilla said:
Do you really consider a sub-$3k Goldwing a "literbike?" Surely you jest. And I'm pretty sure OP never mentioned a Concours 1100. It's not in his list in post 24.
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Oh whoops, that was someone else.

Still not a great first bike.

Anyways, if the OP is going to listen, he'll have listened by now, so good luck in whatever he chooses.
 
Z3n said:
Oh whoops, that was someone else.

Still not a great first bike.

Anyways, if the OP is going to listen, he'll have listened by now, so good luck in whatever he chooses.
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I agree that it's not a good first bike, just wanted to help keep the facts straight.
 
and this is why I :love you

flying_hun said:
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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rebekahlynn said:
and this is why I :love you
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Back at ya! I admire those who go for it. :ride You and Kyle and Nemo and Boney and all the others who get on their bikes and go. I remember when Khan first came on BARF and all the shit he got, and all the stuff he was told he couldn't possibly do, that now he's done - and more.

Helen Keller was right, "Life's a daring adventure or it's nothing at all."
 
if , as the OP stated, he is an experienced bicyclist, able to do 60 miles in a day, and has commuted by bicycle for months and or years: then I believe a lot of the survival skills he needs have already become second nature.
He should already have developed the 360 degree awareness, the ability to anticipate cager behavior, and be able to see situations as they are developing and avoid riding into them.
He should ,also, already feel comfortable cornering, braking and swerving.

The new danger he may not truly understand going form a bicycle to a motorcycle is the rider himself, there is a lot more power on tap for the motorcycle and sometimes it is very hard to resist the temptation to use it and then situations can develop much faster than you're used to.

If the OP is already comfortable doing steep descents on a bicycle, he should be able to handle a motorcycle at speed.
 
I advocate gaining experience as noted and then totally doing the ride, but in no way should you do this without several months and thousands of miles experience. When shit hits the fan, what are you going to rely on? Luck? Reflexes you don't have?

Do it properly. World's not going anywhere.

Good luck :)
 
Stormy said:
It's been... going. Consuming a lot of my time... panning for gold over here. I am homing in on a vstar, shadow, royal star and researching older bikes (80s- early 90s: magna ).
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The V65 and V45 Magna was a great long distance bike. It also came in the Saber same V4 shaft drive but more upright seating position. They accelerate very well, but turning and brakes can be a bit scary. May be hard to sell quickly, but shaft drive and a smooth engine really make the miles go by faster.

If you have the bones a V-Strom 650 or similar dual sport is well worth getting. Very easy to ride, forgiving, and comfortable.

Check out the sport touring sub forum for long distance tips.
 
Tharkûn said:
I actually don't recommend riding to anyone that asks me about it. I accept my own risks but I don't want to be in any way a part of someone else's
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OP wants to ride, he just wants tips for going about it.

I still don't think "get experience" is a valid tip. I don't see any reason for riding closer to home to be safer. The only difference is in breakdown recovery, but anyone can figure that out themselves.

Of course he has to learn to operate the motorcycle, but again, anyone can figure that out.
 
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HappyHighwayman said:
I advocate gaining experience as noted and then totally doing the ride, but in no way should you do this without several months and thousands of miles experience. When shit hits the fan, what are you going to rely on? Luck? Reflexes you don't have?

Do it properly. World's not going anywhere.

Good luck :)
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...no. Thousands of miles of experience at home carry the same risk as on the trip he wants to do.
 
wakked1 said:
Young, naive and broke.

Go for it, you'll be fine!
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Young? Sure.

Naive? How so? He came here asking for advice, which seems to signify that he at least recognizes some of the challenges with such a "life threatening" adventure. Not something a naive person would do, right?

Broke? Since when does being on a budget equate to being broke?
 
$1750 for a Ninja 250 or 500 or a KLR, spend another grand on GOOD gear including decent camping gear. Save that $250 left over 'just in case'. But - don't spend it. Ever.

Then - DO IT!

Don't let the nay-sayers dissuade you. They're all a bunch of pussies who wouldn't know a good time if it bit 'em on the dick.

I did a 15mo x 78k mile, rode in 48 states on nothin' but two-lane hiways and back-roads ride, in 2000 and 2001. I rode the snot out of 1 1/2 motorcycles. I rode the snot out of 10 sets of tires. I rode the snot out of a couple three dozen sets of underwear. I had more fun, met more people that I'd never have met otherwise, drank more free beer, ate more free meals, slept on more strangers couches and in their back yards, met some deputies and some sheriffs, met some bad guys and some good guys, got rained on, snowed on, hailed on, pissed on (once), bit by a dog, bit a dog, (same damn dog - fucker deserved it!), got sunburned, windburned, poison-ivyed and screwed a bunch of times by cute girls and couple more times by ugly ones.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat and I'd recommend doing it to anyone who has a beating heart in their chests.

You only live once. Live your life as if that dangles over you. Not as a risk taker - but with imagination, zest, curiosity and a willingness to step out of the box that society works so hard to put us into.

You'll meet the most amazing people. You'll be able to tell the best stories at the camp-fire. You'll have the best dreams, the best memories, the best experiences and the best adventures. Even when it all goes to shit in a hand-basket. Because life is what brings adventure to us.

Doooooo eeeeeet!
 
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