All About the Ride

All about the ride… On this page: [Why engine size doesn’t matter](#Engine size - It mostly doesn’t matter) [How to buy a motorcycle](#How to choose a motorcycle:) [Cruisers](#You want to cruise around town and on Short trips out of town, you want other people to see you and to show off a bit:) [Touring](#You want to take comfortable long distance tours on a motorcycle) [Adventure Bikes](#You want to ride around the world on an adventure) [Street bikes](#You wanna ride fast on the street) [Off Road](#You want to play off road)

Overview - Because I’ve owned many motorcycles in my life, and own several of all different types and sizes right now, people often ask me what kind of motorcycle they should get - I’ve found they don’t often take my advice, but they often ask. Interesting, they do the same thing when it comes to cars.

It always drives me nuts when somebody buys a motorcycle, but before they tell me, they ask me what I think about that particular model. If I happen to tell them I like it, they feel great. But pretty often I tell them I don’t think it would be good for them for - well, whatever the reasons I believe. I wish they would just tell me what they just bought, so I don’t have to feel like a jerk in those situations so often. Anyway, based on this phenomena, I think a lot of folks are out there riding the wrong motorcycle.

So, here’s my advice, whether you want it or not:

Engine size - It mostly doesn’t matter - This is often people’s first criteria for buying a motorcycle, and I think it should be one of the last. You see, I currently own motorcycles ranging from, if you include my kids motorcycles, 80cc up to 1500cc. I’m a pretty heavy guy, slightly over 200 lbs, and every one of them will carry me at a speeds which can be dangerous and thrilling. I’ve driven 125cc motorcycles that accelerate faster than 800cc motorcycles. And there are plenty of 600cc motorcycles that are much faster than my 1500cc motorcycle.

My son’s 80cc four stroke play bike probably is the slowest of the bunch and tops out at probably 50 mph with me on it. My slowest and smallest engine street bike can travel faster than any speed limit in the United States. If you race motorcycles, ignore this advice, but for everybody else - look at what you are going to do with the motorcycle - find one that fits your intended need right now, and buy that one, regardless of engine size.

For a beginner on a street bike, I’d recommend something 500cc or less. You can buy plenty of used bikes, and quite a few new bikes in the 250-500cc class. They are generally easy to ride, because they are lightweight, and the engines generally don’t have enough power to get you into instant trouble, but they will ride at highway speeds. Lot’s of people tend to complain that they will quickly outgrow a small bike - why not learn on what you will eventually want to ride. I say fine if you outgrow your first motorcycle quickly, that’s great. If you buy a good used one, you won’t lose much money if you have to turn around and sell it in nine months or a year, and you’ll gain a ton of experience on a bike that fits you. One of the biggest mistakes I made when I was buying my son a first dirt bike was getting him one that was one size too big. The dealer told me not to buy the 80, with it’s full clutch, but buy the 70cc - which was a bit smaller and had an automatic clutch - but I didn’t listen. I didn’t want to have to sell what I bought in six months. When I got the 80cc, it was hard for my son to ride, and wasn’t fun, and he almost lost interest because of that - worse yet, it was dangerous for him. Fortunately the size differences on kids bikes aren’t large, and he grew into it pretty quick.

One other example: I once knew an 18 year old who wanted to buy a new Yamaha 600 sport bike as his first motorcycle. I thought it was crazy. I would never let my own son do this. Those bikes are rocket ships. They are so fast, you cannot imagine what they can do. They are race machines for the street, and no beginner should even think about riding one. Last I heard he was learning to walk again.

People tend to think engine size also has something to do with how cool the bike is. 40 years ago a 750cc bike was a big bike - now that’s not a very big engine, and today’s 750’s are more powerful than those old ones. I’m telling you, big engines aren’t necessary on a motorcycle. - they’re mostly necessary for ego.

A short note about older motorcycles: Unless you want one for nostalgia’s sake, and your a pretty good rider, stay away from anything more than about 15 years old. I know, all the old timers learned on a Honda CB350, and they were great motorcycles in their day, but the old bikes just don’t have as good of brakes, suspension an steering as newer motorcycles.

One time a quite a few years ago a buddy of mine called me all excited because he found a 1972 Honda 350 four cylinder motorcycle with 300 miles on it. A guy had apparently bought it for his daughter to ride with him - she did on one trip and never got on it again. He kept it perfect for her, but she never relented. So my buddy had me ride my street bike over there and help him look at it. This bike had been my dream bike as a kid, I was so excited to look at it. At first look it was perfect - it smelled new. Then we rode it. We went out with my buddy riding the old Honda, and me on my nearly new 750 Honda. First, I couldn’t figure out why my buddy was going so slow. At every intersection he would lag way behind. Then he would ride slowly up to a stop. After a few miles of riding we switched motorcycles. He got on mine, and I got on this then 20 year old, but nearly new motorcycle. I instantly figured out why he was going slowly - the bike was underpowered - severely. My modern motorcycle would just walk away from it. Then I tried the brakes - whoa Nelly! I almost crashed into the back of my buddy on my motorcycle. The single disc brake and rear drum on the 350 four were working perfectly, but they were terrible. The suspension was just as bad. It was early spring and there were potholes everywhere, and the bike just didn’t have a good suspension. All in all, I was severely disappointed, and after jumping off the old bike, onto my new one, my buddy was too. He didn’t buy the bike.

Most motorcycles built since 1990 or so are all pretty good, so you can still find an inexpensive used one that performs well, but, unless you are a collector, anything older than that should be avoided. Same goes for off road bikes. They improved tremendously through the 80’s and the improvements since then have been minor in comparison.

How to choose a motorcycle: A much better approach to deciding on a motorcycle is to decide what are you actually going to do with the bike? Then decide what kind of bike you need, decide how much you can spend, and then figure out what’s the best bike in that class that you can afford - then go find one. Here are some of my recommendations:

You want to cruise around town and on Short trips out of town, you want other people to see you and to show off a bit: Harley Davidson owns this class, and this is the definition of a Harley rider. Their bikes show well, they can be made loud to gather attention, you can buy every bit of chrome you want, and you can dress yourself head to toe in Harley gear. They’re really easy to ride, and they’re not too fast, in fact, they feel really good riding slow. A few problems with Harleys: 1. Except for the Ultra models, they can get a little uncomfortable on longer trips. 2. They are definitely not the most reliable bikes on the road. 3. You may be tempted to bust your budget on aftermarket parts 4. Did I say they are sloooowww? Lots of owners spend money on power-up kits just to get into the low end of power of competitive models. 5. They are pretty expensive for what you get.

If you want to trade some status for added reliability and power, Japanese cruisers or “Metric Cruisers” are a good option. If you don’t want to be like every other Harley rider, Victory makes some really cool bikes, and of course there are any number of custom and semi-custom builders of Harley style bikes.

You want to take comfortable long distance tours on a motorcycle - Another no-brainer. The Honda Gold Wing is the class of this class, and has been for 40 years. There are a couple of other similar options from BMW and from Harley - but in virtually every head to head test, the Honda wins. There are so many good things about the Gold Wing, it would be too hard to list - they are reliable, comfortable for one or two riders, last a long time, can carry a lot of luggage, and surprisingly powerful and sporty. A couple downsides to the Gold Wing 1. Expensive - it’s one of the more expensive production motorcycles. On the flipside they hold their value pretty well. 2. They are big and heavy to ride - especially in town and at low speeds. 3. They just aren’t convenient to pull out of the garage and ride to the grocery store. They are made for long distance trips - 300, 500 5,000 mile trips are good. 10 mile trips aren’t. 5. There are lots of good used Gold Wings with lots of miles left. There are also a few good alternatives to the big touring bike. There are some really good sport tourers from Honda, Yamaha and BMW - which offer a little less comfort, a little more sport and a little more versatility. Also just in the past few years, there have been some interesting scooter style motorcycles appropriate for touring. The Honda Silver Wing, Suzuki Bergman, and a couple of Kymco models fit that bill - they also are very appropriate for around town.

You want to ride around the world on an adventure - This class, called adventure bikes are made for traveling on all types of roads and off road terrain. In many parts of the world, dirt roads or even mud roads are common. In between might be miles of pavement. This class is split into a couple of types of bikes - street bikes which are made into adventure bikes, and dirt bikes made into adventure bikes. The bigger adventure bikes, dominated by models from KTM and BMW, can travel virtually any terrain. Slightly heavy for off-road use they have big powerful engines that can carry a lot of gear for long distances. The BMW GS1200 and KTM 950 adventure fit this category. The smaller bikes are sometimes called enduros, or on-off road bikes. They’re four stroke dirt bikes that have long suspensions, and have been adapted for road use, with lights, street tires, vibration dampeners and electric starters. They handle much better off road than the bigger bikes, but can’t carry as much equipment, and generally aren’t as comfortable for long distances. Some of the best bikes here are the Kawasaki KLR 650 and the Suzuki DRZ400. A bike that fits in the middle of those and gets rave reviews is the Suzuki Vstrom 650. They also make a 1000 version, but the 650 is apparently better - a true all-day ride bike, that can handle occasional off-highway jaunts.

You’re learning to ride - You want something light, easy to handle, with a low seat height - probably inexpensive - fun, but not too powerful. As I said earlier, 500cc and below is my recommendation. My first motorcycle was a FT500 Honda - basically a dirt bike motor stuck in a small street bike, and I liked it so much then that I own and regularly ride the exact same model today. When learning you also want something that isn’t terribly expensive to fix if you drop it on it’s side - you probably will do that either at low speed or even when parked once or twice early on. If it has a ton of plastic that gets busted up, or a gas tank that easily gets smashed, those things can be very expensive to repair. Also, when you first start to ride - one thing that is very important is to save some money for safety gear. A helmet can cost anywhere from $100 to $600 a motorcycle jacket, some boots, gloves rain gear - it all adds up. That’s why I highly recommend a used bike for a beginner - it might even be pre-scratched a bit, so you don’t worry about learning experiences so much. If you can buy it right, and learn on it for a year, and sell it right, maybe your first year will be safe, and your second year with the bike you really want. Good first bikes include the Buell Blast 500cc, the Kawasaki Ninja 250, the Honda Rebel 250 and I think Kawasaki makes a Vulcan 500 - also I’ve seen old timers and beginners alike on Yamaha TW200’s .

You want to ride fast on the street - 600-1000cc sport bikes will go fast - too fast for me, some of the engines will rev to 18,000 rpm and have as much as 180 horsepower. They’re all good - Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki all make them, and they try to one up each other every year, so they get better and better. You can buy a few years old one of these pretty cheap, because they are show bikes and everybody wants the latest and greatest. I prefer what they call the naked or standard bikes - because you don’t have to lay down on the tank to ride them. Some of them are pretty fast. Kawasaki has KZ 1100’s Yamaha has the FZ1 and Honda and Suzuki make them too. They call them old man’s sport bikes. If you want to get more exotic, Ducati, Aprilia, Triumph and other European makes have sport bikes and standards. One of the newest trends in street bikes is the Supermotos - basically fast dirt bikes with sticky street tires - are a blast to ride - not as much hp or top speed as true sport bikes - but more playful. . KTM has several models - all the way up to 950cc.

You want to play off road - There are lots of choices off road - from the race bikes that have 11 inches of suspension, unbelievable horsepower and can jump 30 feet in the air, to the four stroke trail bikes. For me, there’s nothing more fun than going dirt bike riding with my kids. They don’t care if they go fast, they don’t care if they jump or whatever. They want a bike that starts up, is easy to ride and takes them where they want to go. Unfortunately many places no longer allow two stroke bikes, so four stroke is now the way to go. Honda and Yamaha seem to make the widest selection of four stroke play bikes - some are more serious than others, but many are starting to get electric start - which kids, and older adults love. My daughter has an electric start Yamaha TTR90 and loves to ride. For those that want to go faster - motocross bikes from the big four plus KTM will give you a thrill - they can be unbelievably fast on dirt - their suspensions will ride right over stuff that you think will break them in two and throw you over the handlebars - the only limitations on most of them is in your head. Every time I push my KTM harder - it doesn’t even break a sweat. Because two stroke bikes are starting to get banned - you can buy them really cheap now. As I said earlier, my old 125cc motocross bike can probably outrun some 800cc street bikes - up to about 50 mph. Motocross bikes take plenty of maintenance - plus you will crash, and break things - I seem to never come home without a broken brake lever or a fender or something like that.