Motorcycles: A Primer, Part II

In the Part I, we looked at the basic controls of a motorcycle, safety gear, and being a passenger. Now, let's take a look at what to think about when it comes time to buy your own bike.

Safety cannot be over emphasized. Before we get into the fun stuff of looking at different bikes, let's remember that when things go bad at 60mph, the body is going to be punished. Motorcycles aren't cars. When you lose attention here or find yourself beyond the limits of your skill or machine, the price is far greater than simply tapping the breaks or steering into the spin. Make a mistake here and the odds of going down are much greater than those of a mistake causing you to wreck an automobile. Keep sober, keep alert, and realize that you are taking part in a sport defined by managed risk. The greater benefits are directly a result of those things that make the activity a greater risk. If you walk up to a bike and your little voice says, “not today,” walk away and do something else that day.The other thing we have to address is training. Simply put, get some. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation puts on weekend classes all over the country. They are well worth the cost. Second, realize that learning and becoming skilled on a bike isn't something you are going to learn in a weekend and a few months of practice like you did driving a car. There are so many variables involved that you will be adding to your skill level over the years. Don't get frustrated early on if you can't do something, and don't get overly cocky thinking you know everything after a weekend class.

Alright, there's no sense beating those drums anymore. You either get it and respect the damage asphalt can do to skin and what a Peterbuilt can do to your skull or you don't. Let's get to the fun stuff.

You've got some safety gear, you've taken your course, and you have a wad of cash just burning a hole in your pocket. You want a bike so bad you can taste it. But, you don't want to buy the “wrong” bike and you want to get your money's worth. The question always asked is, “what bike should I buy?”Honda Gold Wing, no doubt, anything else would be stupid. Actually, it's that answer that is stupid (I jest, I do like the Gold Wing, but someone shoot me if I ever put a trailer on a motorcycle). It's stupid because there is no one answer to “what bike?” It all depends on your size, age, maturity, amount of money to spend, confidence level, and what you want to do with it.

When you start talking to people about specific motorcycles, you will hear them throw descriptive numbers about. “I had a 250,” “that was a fast 750,” “I rode a 1200 across country.” What they are referring to is the engine size which is calculated by the combined cubic centimeters displaced by the pistons. That leaves a lot of details on the table, but engine size is much more significant in a lightweight vehicle such as a bike than they are in a passenger car. The reference will give you a basic idea about the size, weight, and power of the bike in question. This system is a throwback to the days when there weren't different styles of motorcycles, there were just motorcycles and the habit has remained.
Today, there are all dirt bikes, street bikes, and bikes that blur the lines between the two. For the sake of this article, and because it's what I know, we'll assume you want to ride on the street. With street bikes, there are basic types such as cruisers (Harley-style), sport bikes (the fastest and best handling), tour bikes (carry what you and your gear for days at a time), standards (basic bike – motor, two wheels), and dual sports (the mix of a street bike and off-road bikes). Of course, there are blends and hybrids and all sort of bikes to do things you have probably never even considered.

Buying a bike is a very personal thing that is as much a mix of heart and desire as it is mind and logic. If you want a particular bike, dream about it, can't think of anything else while you are at work, you're probably going to be fairly happy with it. There are a few different approaches to finding that steel vixen that will insist on finding a home in your garage.

There is a very common train of thought that says buy something used and small, learn on it for six months or a year, and sell it when your skills outgrow it. A lot of people have gone that route and have been very happy to do so. Many beginning riders will lay down their first bike, so why abuse a new bike and throw money on something you are going to scuff up? And, after all the lust, desire, and training, you might spend three months dodging Volvos, cleaning bugs off your helmet, and getting rained on and say to yourself “nope, this isn't for me after all.” If you find yourself at all hesitant, buying the cheap, used, small bike saves you from investing too much money on something you won't end up using.

If that sounds like an approach that works for you, a few bikes over the years are constant standouts in this category. The Honda Rebel 250 looks like a Harley that got hit by a shrink ray. The things run forever and you will probably be able to sell it for what you have into it. It is lightweight and easy for almost anyone to sit on and put their feet flat on the ground. Where the Rebel is a cruiser, the Yamaha TW200 is an odd little dual purpose bike. It sits low and has a very reliable motor; it's big balloon type tires roll over anything, and are great little bikes for exploring a campground or your neighborhood.
Moving up in size, the Suzuki GS500F is a great commuter for those wanting a big more punch than a 250cc will deliver. The same can be said of it's major competition, the Kawasaki Ning 500R (formerly the EX500). Both wear the clothes of a sport bike but are really standards – just good, solid bikes that will take the day to day grind.Really, any of the smaller Japanese bikes should be fairly inexpensive and will suit you well for learning. Stay bellow a 500cc motor and your insurance should stay at paltry levels. Keep that same 500cc ceiling and you can be sure to not have too much engine.

In the mid-size cruiser segment, the Star V-Stars by Yamaha are very popular – reliable, look good, sit low, and have a no-maintenance shaft drive. You rarely see the “cool” people talking about them on different forums, but you see a heck of a lot of the bikes during morning rush hour and in parking lots everywhere. The guys who actually use their bikes seem to like them a lot and the Star branded bikes are probably behind only BMW & Harley-Davidson for the number of die hard fanatics who don't want to ride anything else. The endorsement of the road speaks more loudly than anything in print – including my thoughts here – ever should.Is there such a thing as “too much engine?” You wouldn't think so unless you have ridden the crop of modern sport bikes. If there's one thing I will recommend the new bike buyer, it's to NOT buy a hyper-performance sport bike. Don't get me wrong, I think a person should buy what they like, but I encourage those with the go-fast bug to learn a bit before completely giving in to their speed lust. Most people think that a sport bike is the two-wheeled equivalent of a sports car. To a point that is true, but it doesn't tell the entire story. While a sports car is fast and “sporty,” it's a far cry from a race car. That isn't the way it works in the motorcycle world. The sport bike sitting on the dealer's showroom floor today is a true race bike and not very different from what the top riders were using on the track a few years ago. The power of those bikes is simply unreal. The bikes that aren't of the race bike family are sometimes left out because even racers don't use engines that big. Think of them as your very own cruise missile on wheels. Even the small 600cc sport bikes will blow the mirrors off my 1,450cc Harley. And that is why the old way of referring to bikes by engine displacement can be deceptive.This doesn't mean the person who wants to go out and carve the corners is caught in a Catch 22 of “I have to learn before I can do, but how can I learn if I never do?” There are plenty of bikes that combine more than enough horsepower in packages that are friendly and handle well. The shining example in this category is the Suzuki SV650S (the "S" is for the fairing, there is a "naked" model, too.) It's mid-size, v-twin motor pushes the bike along with a predictable power curve not nearly as sensitive as a high-strung repli-racer. Along the same lines but with a four cylinder mill, the Yamaha FZ6 is sometimes referred to as a sport bike, sometimes as a “standard with a fairing” (one of those hybrids, again) and is nothing but loved by it's owners.In this mid-sized engine group is one of my favorite bikes, the Kawasaki KLR650. It's cheap, it's ugly, it's slow, it's reliable, and you can ride around the world on it. A “thumper,” or single cylinder motor, this bike has been around since the 1980's and received it's first significant, evolutionary (but not revolutionary) make over as an early release 2008. This bike is not for someone who wants to look good going down the road, it's for those who want to go down any road they look. The over sized gas tank and fuel sipping habits let a rider cover a lot of remote country between fill-ups. You just have to respect a bike like that. We started with the idea of “small, used, and cheap” and have moved up the ladder to mid-sized bikes for people who want a bit more power. By no means have we covered the entire gambit, but we've given a good bit of info to think about and a few bikes to Google in order to see how they hit your fancy. Size, the engine and physical dimension of the bike, will be a factor, but you won't know if you and the bike fit each other until you get into a showroom and sit on it. Don't be surprised if the dealer won't let you go for a test ride. Would you let a rank beginner ride your bike?

Bikes are more maintenance intensive than the hands-off cars we are used to today. Some people get worked up over one type of widget being more reliable or requiring less maintenance than some other type of widget. My advice at this stage is to ignore all of that. If you stay away from the high-strung sport bikes and anything Italian, maintenance won't be bad and you'll figure it out for whatever you get. Once you have more experience, you can decide what you are willing to do and what you'd rather not have to mess with.

If you are an older rider entering the sport or feel you have the maturity to control your throttle hand, I would still recommend against jumping right onto a hard core sport bike. Riding one safely goes beyond maturity and self-control. They require a large dose of experience to keep from getting in over your head. But, if you want that Honda Gold Wing so you and your wife can take off for a month and see the country, then don't feel as if you should stop yourself (just promise me you won't pull a trailer.) Lusted after that big Harley since your uncle had one? Knock yourself out. Just remember, these are bigger investments and bigger bikes - they are easier to drop and more expensive to fix than that used, small, beater bike. If money isn't an object, then don't worry about it, and we should really get to know each other better.

In the end, you have to like and want what you buy for it to be worth your money. Decide what you think you are going to want to do, look at the bikes that will do it, cross reference with your budget, and take to the open road. This is a sport about emotion and desire. If you deny yourself those basic elements, then you're shorting yourself before you even hit the starter button on your new bike.

What do I wish I had known when I started? I wish I had known how great it would be so that I could have started even earlier. Now get out there and ride!

Harley-Davidson Road Glide

This is my ride, the Harley-Davidson FLTRI Road Glide.

People react differently to Harleys – they either love 'em or hate 'em. I admit, I used to be in the latter category. Prior to purchasing my Road Glide, BMW held my interest, mostly due to their legendary reliability.

But, in the late 1990's and early 2000's, things in the motorcycle world shifted. BMW decided to reinvent themselves as an upper-end boutique shop. Along with that seemed to come a new attitude, and the internet was filled with previously unheard of problems and a German attitude towards customer service. Who says the Nazi party is dead? At the same time, the Harley Twin Cam engine was establishing itself as a major step forward in both reliability and durability from the Evolution, which was pretty good in it's own right.

After getting ignored about ten times to often and fighting with their service department, when it came time to replace my BMW GS, I decided to see what all this Harley hullabaloo was about. I am a big guy and I like to do long miles and travel on my bikes. Harley has a few distinctly different lines, but I knew I wanted one of their touring models. These models are often called “baggers” because of their factory hard saddlebags (properly termed “panniers,” but get an American to use that word.)

I had done an Iron Butt Association ride on an Electra Glide and found that I really enjoyed the strum of the American V-twin motor on those long, dusty, desert byways. H-D has three basic tourers – the Electra Glide that uses a “bat wing” fairing mounted to the handlebars, the Road King that uses a simple windshield mounted to the handlebars, and the Road Glide that uses a fairing mounted right o the frame. I'd found Electra Glides to get a loose at the higher speeds - which makes sense when you think you have barn door strapped right to the forks. In theory, the Road Glide wouldn't have those problems. In fact, the frame mounted fairing not only put the wind pressure right to th frame, it actually would help protect the top of the forks and the handlebars from buffeting wind.

Also, the touring models have an extra heavy duty frame and transmission meant for wracking up the miles. What you trade off in light weight and handling, you make up for in load capacity and longevity. If I want to go fast, I'll take a car. When I want to experience the road, I'll take a bike. The bagger trade off was more than worth it to me.

So, I went out in search of a sierra red Road Glide, found it, bought it, and now I'm a Harley die-hard like so many other people. I don't like the “lifestyle” when it's all about black leather fringe and bar hopping. I love these bikes despite the lifestyle that so many others buy into. The bikes are solid and built with a level of durability that no one else matches. The components are of the highest quality and Japanese and even BMW items seem downright flimsy and hobbled together after being used to the way a Harley is built. They are slow, they are over priced, but they have fixed their reliability issues long ago.

And, now we come back to that element of riding that is so essential and yet so inexplicable, that certain something about going down the road on a bike that speaks to you that is the essence of what motorcycling is. For me, the Big Twin Harleys have it like no other bike around. They are raw and surly, elemental and American, and if anything made of chrome can be spiritual, it's a Harley-Davidson.

Motorcycles: A Primer, Part I

I've had a surprising number of people tell me, "oh, I love bikes, don't tell anyone. I don't know anything about them, but they're cool."

Why, yes, they are.

As this blog is supposed to include bikes amongst it's many sundries, there doesn't seem to be a better place start the subject than at the beginning. This is going to be phrased with women in mind, but it applies to any neophyte. In this first installment we'll deal with the location of the basic controls because everyone wants to know what all that stuff is the operator is doing and we'll look at what the passenger needs to know. The next installment will get down to brass tacks of swinging a leg over your own ride.

People love bikes for all sorts of reasons and few can easily be put into words. When a rider tries to tell the world what it's like to ride, we tend to use an absurd level of adjectives and ten-dollar words, making the mistake in believing that the appearance of poetry will lend an air of credibility. I can tell you things I like about riding - the elemental machine with only what is needed to move down the road, the intimacy with the environment, and the unfettered feeling that comes from removing yourself from the steel and glass confines of the automobile. I can even tell you things I feel when I'm on my bike - the falling away of the world's worries, the clean focus of the mind, and the wonder of experiencing every nuance of the world through which I move.

Still, there is much more to it than that. Rather than waste space with flowery language, let us leave it at this: a day on a motorcycle is something you should try at least once in your life.

Affluent as America is, we are blessed with our motorcycles being used primarily for recreation. Prior to WWII, our bikes were often used as a means of cheap transportation. Today, that still goes for much of the world. Even in the States, people who own cars often choose to ride their bikes to work, enjoying a morning wake-me-up ride, sipping gas (40mpg is common), using the HOV lane, and parking in all sorts of spots you never could with a car.

So what should you, the uninitiated, know about bikes so that you don't feel like a complete outsider? Bikes are laid out in a fairly standard manner. The rider sits behind the handlebars and uses all four limbs to control the bike. The right hand twits the grip which is the throttle - the bike's "gas pedal." That's how you "go."

The right hand also squeezes a lever, activating the front brakes. Unlike a car that works front and rear brakes with the push of a single pedal, the majority of motorcycles have split brake systems. There are reasons for this - cheap to manufacture and a skilled rider can manipulate the brakes differently at different times depending on what he/she wants to do. That brings up the question of where the rear brake is. It's the pedal in front of the right foot peg and is pressed down just like in a car. The front brake has up to 80% of a bike's stopping power, so learning how to use it properly is very important. That's how you "stop."


What is the left side doing through all of this? Well, very few motorcycles have been made with automatic transmissions. Most have a manual, the equivalent to a "stick" in a car. The left hand pulls in a lever that activates the clutch, and the left foot works the gear shift lever. Unlike a car, a bike's shift lever only goes up and down and moves progressively through the gears. The pattern is described as starting from neutral, "1 Down, 4 up" (for a 5 speed), with one position changed for each press or lift of the gear shift. Neutral is found by going all the way down to 1st and gently lifting up. If you lift up too hard it will go right into 2nd.

Wait, we aren't done yet! Each thumb works a series of buttons: the starter, a kill switch for stopping the engine, turn signals, horn, and headlight dimmer switch.

I know, it all sounds terribly complicated, but it's not. It just takes some practice and patience. Have you seen the ratty old biker cruising down the highway? He can do all of that stone drunk. And if he can do it, then you will have no problem once you get on a bike and get a bit of training.

Most women will first experience motorcycles as a passenger. So, be a good passenger. Don't shift around in your saddle, don't stand up, don't make sudden movements, don't try to jump off if you think the bike is going to crash - you just aren't used to how a bike handles and making such movements could cause a crash. If the rider is going fast, hold onto them and look to the outside of the turns. This will help to keep the center of gravity as close to the track of the wheels as possible. Looking to the inside of a turn can make you lean over and that can over balance a bike that is near it's limits.

That's the scary stuff about being a passenger and I think guys trying to be macho and showing off has caused many women to dislike motorcycles. So, go with someone you trust, ask them to take it easy, pick a bike with a back rest if it makes you more comfortable, and relax and enjoy the ride.

Safety gear - you dress for the crash, not the ride. Pop quiz: what is the most important piece of safety gear? Nope, not a helmet. The correct answer is eye protection. Think of what the windshield on your car looks like and then think of your eyes. Lack of proper eye protection can actually lead to an accident, so it's most important.

For myself, boots (protects your feet and easily broken ankles), jeans (not as good as leather for abrasion, but decent at around town speeds), gloves (your hands WILL go out in a wreck, and the metal on a bike can be very hot), a long sleeve shirt (not as good as a jacket, but it gets to be 120 degrees here), and a DOT certified full-face helmet (a German study showed that 25% of all head injuries happened to the lower face, an area the half-helmets do not protect, and there will be a sticker showing if it meets DOT standards.) Most often a jacket will go along with all of that.

Living in the desert, I often encounter the attitude of "oh, I can't wear long sleeves or a jacket in this heat!" Do you ever wonder why the old cowboys and Arabs always covered up? It slows down the rate of dehydration and keeps the sun off the skin. You might think you are hot, but your core will stay cool much longer than if you wear less. Modern perforated jackets really leave no reason to ride with only a shirt no matter how hot it gets.

When picking safety gear, buy motorcycle specific items. A fashion weight leather jacket from Nordstroms or gardening gloves will come apart in a crash. And, fit is everything. Wind buffets anything that is loose. You want as snug a helmet as you can stand to wear for a day and you want your jacket and jeans to fit close - not supermodel tight, but without too much extra fabric.

Ok, you know not to move around a lot, you've picked out someone you trust to give you a ride, you are dressed like the true road warrior you are, the next thing to do is swing a leg over and go!

Riding passenger is a scary thing, but you'll soon relax. Pick a time when the traffic is low and go out into the country. Enjoy the new found feel of moving through the landscape instead of by it. Savor the sensation of knowing every smell, the feel of humidity on your skin as you ride past a recently irrigated field, the shifting temperatures as you go down into a dip and up out of a river bottom.

Hey, that other biker just waved, what's up with that? It's the brotherhood of the road. They recognized you as someone who was willing to break from the status quo and take part in a very special way of experiencing life. Most motorcyclists will wave regardless of the type or brand you are riding. The majority of us know it's not what you ride, it's that you ride. The rest is all about personal taste and expression, and isn't that one of the things that attracted you to motorcycles in the first place?

In Part II, we'll talk about being the rider, what you need to know to get started on your own bike, things to consider when picking out a bike, and probably even a few of those "I wish I had known that when I started" items.

*photos from www.harley-davidson.com, except the last which is from www.bmwmotorcycles.com