7 ms·

If anyone is on the fence about learning to ride a motorcycle, I highly recommend it. One of my favorite hobbies. However, it does get expensive if you get seri

by jeron 5y ago

If anyone is on the fence about learning to ride a motorcycle, I highly recommend it. One of my favorite hobbies. However, it does get expensive if you get serious about it like doing trackdays

brg 5y ago
I also highly recommend. Some further recommendations is to find the use that best fits your interest (dirt, courses, relaxation, commuting, tourism), and make excuses to ride. I recently moved to a Zero, and despite the concerns of my peers for missing out on the pure riding experience, its really re-ignited my joy.
- unemphysbro 5y ago
  I was slightly biased against electric bikes, no "vhroom, vhroom", gear-shifting, etc but I test rode the livewire and loved it!
UI_at_80x24 5y ago
I bought my motorcycle around 1995 for ~$800. It was a 1984 Honda Nighthawk 650. Sold it a few years later because I was moving and didn't have room for 2 vehicles. Fuel was ~$0.50/L $5 would fill it up (10L tank) I could drive ~200km on a full tank. Adjusted for inflation that equals ~$1300 today. I've looked around at a lot of used motorcycles and I've see other 1984 Honda's that are asking $2500-$3000 The average price seems to be $4k-$5k for 20 year old bikes! This used to be a financially viable option for CHEAP transportation. Not anymore. I want to ride again, and even though my wife would kill me if I did; I just can't afford it. Once upon a time, it was all I could afford; now it's a fancy toy that I can't afford. I think that stings more.
- bserge 5y ago
  Those are classics though. Also why do you need 650cc? Isn't 250 enough?
  - criddell 5y ago
    250 probably isn't enough for highways and long distance riding in the US. For example, Texas State Highway 130 has an 85 mph speed limit and traffic typically rolls along at 5-10 mph above that. There isn't a lot of headroom for passing a car going 80 mph on most 250cc bikes. If I were buying a bike today, I don't think I would consider anything that didn't have anti-lock brakes. My last bike was a KLR650 and it was pretty crude. I sold it and gave up on motorcycles because drivers around where I live are too distracted. I rode 35 years accident free and decided to quit before my luck ran out. I do miss it though...
    - yurishimo 5y ago
      Anti-lock brakes are standard on the majority of new bikes now. In Europe I think they are required for all models. I would expect the US to follow suit in the next 5 years.
- reducesuffering 5y ago
  You should be looking at 2000-2010 japanese bikes, not classics for nostalgia's sake. Kawasaki ninja's will run you $1,300 - $3,000 and get 50-70mpg.
- Kluny 5y ago
  The old ujms have hipster cred and they aren't made anymore, so the price has gone up due to scarcity. Try a cbr 150 from like 2011. You can get those for like $1000 now.
- hellbannedguy 5y ago
  I had the 250cc Nighthawk. I sold it thinking Honda's were junk. I was wrong obviously. I used it to get me to high school. I was always sick that winter though. I had money for the bike, but not the gear. CA had a insurance policy of requiring insurance, but not demanding it at DMV. Cops couldn't ask to see proof of insurance for any reason. It was all civil if their was an incident.
- unemphysbro 5y ago
  I learned on a nighthawk 650 :) Brings back good memories.
- bch 5y ago
  > I bought my motorcycle around 1995 for ~$800 […] > I've looked around at a lot of used motorcycles and I've see other 1984 Honda's that are asking $2500-$3000 The average price seems to be $4k-$5k for 20 year old bikes! To be devils advocate here, that’s a one-time capital cost that you may well be able to make money on once you sell again, assuming the price trend continues. It seems to me that price is also way cheaper than a comparable* car. If it were me, I’d be enjoying fun driving, cheap operating costs and easy parking long after the sting of not getting the bike for $800 had worn off. *for some definition of “comparable”
dia80 5y ago
I have a thoracic spinal cord injury, I can still move my hands and arms fully but not much else. When I was in hospital people were there for all kinds of reasons. There was only one theme. Motorcyclists. What's more they tended to have cervical injuries thus couldn't move at least part of there hands and arms or sometimes all. I can't ever motorcycle now but if I could that would have been enough to put me off. The tail risk is crazy.
- trangus_1985 5y ago
  Motorcycling is deceptively safe. It's just that the cost of finding out when you fuck around is very high. Safe riding is still more dangerous than being in a car, of course. But, the vast majority of motorcycle injuries are due to known dangerous factors such as alcohol, or going too fast through turns.
  - jascii 5y ago
    "Safe riding is still more dangerous than being in a car" To the operator. If we count the lethal damage caused to others, that number doesn't look so good...
    - trangus_1985 5y ago
      > we count the lethal damage caused to others So, that's a pretty hefty claim. I'd like to see some data. :) A very large chunk of motorcycle accidents are single party (about 25%), the rest involve a car, usually at low speeds such as an unprotected left turn or bad merge. I did some quick googling and found that motorcycles are less likely to be involved in pedestrian accidents than cars, but I think the the onus is on you to support your claim.
      - coyotespike 5y ago
        I think you've misread jascii - they are saying riding a motorcycle is more dangerous for the operator, while driving a car is less dangerous for the operator compared to adjacent pedestrians (for instance).
pengaru 5y ago
I used to ride a bunch, did many cross-country trips on two wheels, and honestly feel lucky to have escaped that phase alive and uninjured. It's a fun hobby and a uniquely direct interaction with some interesting physics, but I can't recommend anyone do it on public roads shared with vehicles driven by careless/incompetent/inattentive/distracted/tired/drunk/stoned drivers. If you're going to play on two wheels do it off-road or on otherwise closed courses, unless you're looking forward to being crippled, paralyzed, or dead, through no fault of your own.
- bserge 5y ago
  But that's half of the fun!
- city41 5y ago
  I used to ride as well, but before smartphones were so ubiquitous. Nowadays, when I see so many drivers glued to their phones while driving (it's shockingly common), I just can't imagine putting my life into their hands.
mmmBacon 5y ago
Honestly the track has ruined most street riding for me. While it’s cool to go for a ride in the hills, the street is not the track. There is just no rush like the track.
motohagiography 5y ago
Such a great video. Been riding a one of the re-issued Triumphs (thruxton) for a decade, it has a similar long and low geometry and seating position to the old Nortons. It's a great way to meet men in their 80's who yell "whaaat yeeeaaar?" at you at stoplights, if that's what you're into. (Am not.) The new bonnevilles looked so close to the originals if you had macular degeneration that you could even feel the disappointment of old bike guys as they realized they were talking to someone didn't have the mechanical ability to get a real classic running in that condition. It was almost like having a real dad. Motorcycles are awesome.
whartung 5y ago
I am of a different tact. I love motorcycling. It is a passion. I had my motorcycle classification before I got my car license. But, I don't recommend it to anyone. I will not be party to suggesting, encouraging, cajoling or any other "ing" to get someone on a bike. It's too dangerous to allow someone else to convince you. Anyone in the community for any duration has their share of personal experiences, being close to someone lost or badly hurt, or simply being in a small community where loss and injury happens. I've lost friends. Had my share of (thankfully) mostly minor injuries. I've gone down on a freeway in rush hour traffic. It happens, it's real. The two highest cohorts of folks getting injured or worse on a motorcycle are folks riding under the influence, and folks new (or even returning) to riding. The first cohort you can do something about, don't drink. The second, you can take measures (training, reading, practice), but, in the end, you have to just survive through it. You have to find yourself in situations and work your way through them. I like traveling on a motorcycle. I love long distance touring rides. One of the best aspects of riding is going on a long trip with a friend. You may both take the same path, but, in the end, you have separate journeys and get to share them at each stop. In a car, you have a driver, and everyone else essentially asleep. As a driver you're likely barely conscious. Fingertip on the steering wheel, cruise control holding steady, songs serenading you on the stereo. On a bike, that's just not the case. On a bike, you get to smell the air. High on my list is riding behind a lemon truck. You get to feel the environment. It's hot. It's cold. It's wet. Ride through the desert and feel the temperature change as you drop down in to a wash, even if just for a few hundred feet before you rise back up in the heat. I love it. But I don't recommend it.
- pessimizer 5y ago
  > On a bike, you get to smell the air. High on my list is riding behind a lemon truck. You get to feel the environment. It's hot. It's cold. It's wet. Ride through the desert and feel the temperature change as you drop down in to a wash, even if just for a few hundred feet before you rise back up in the heat. I've described it like this before, but it feels less like driving than like running really quickly.
- mrslave 5y ago
  Agreed. Rode for more than a decade in many different guises. Do not recommend. Road trips are nice, but even on largely open country roads fatigue is real and it is easy for experienced riders to have accidents. Commuting is not safe. Some car drivers are just bad and will pull in front of you. Some car drivers will pick fights and threaten your life with their motor vehicle. After giving it up, and growing up I suppose, I have also come to realize how many motorcyclists are jerks. I don't expect this to be a popular opinion. I always knew some were jerks: I saw their bad riding & picking unnecessary arguments with car drivers when out on rides with them! As a motorcycle-aware car driver many years later I have encountered many more whinging motorcyclists who themselves created unnecessarily dangerous situations then lectured me or flipped me off. As a car driver, stay away from motorcycles. Considering motorcycling?: stay away from motorcycles. ;-)

by jeron 5y ago

If anyone is on the fence about learning to ride a motorcycle, I highly recommend it. One of my favorite hobbies. However, it does get expensive if you get serious about it like doing trackdays

brg 5y ago

I also highly recommend. Some further recommendations is to find the use that best fits your interest (dirt, courses, relaxation, commuting, tourism), and make excuses to ride. I recently moved to a Zero, and despite the concerns of my peers for missing out on the pure riding experience, its really re-ignited my joy.

unemphysbro 5y ago
I was slightly biased against electric bikes, no "vhroom, vhroom", gear-shifting, etc but I test rode the livewire and loved it!

UI_at_80x24 5y ago

I bought my motorcycle around 1995 for ~$800. It was a 1984 Honda Nighthawk 650. Sold it a few years later because I was moving and didn't have room for 2 vehicles. Fuel was ~$0.50/L $5 would fill it up (10L tank) I could drive ~200km on a full tank. Adjusted for inflation that equals ~$1300 today. I've looked around at a lot of used motorcycles and I've see other 1984 Honda's that are asking $2500-$3000 The average price seems to be $4k-$5k for 20 year old bikes! This used to be a financially viable option for CHEAP transportation. Not anymore. I want to ride again, and even though my wife would kill me if I did; I just can't afford it. Once upon a time, it was all I could afford; now it's a fancy toy that I can't afford. I think that stings more.

bserge 5y ago
Those are classics though. Also why do you need 650cc? Isn't 250 enough?
- criddell 5y ago
  250 probably isn't enough for highways and long distance riding in the US. For example, Texas State Highway 130 has an 85 mph speed limit and traffic typically rolls along at 5-10 mph above that. There isn't a lot of headroom for passing a car going 80 mph on most 250cc bikes. If I were buying a bike today, I don't think I would consider anything that didn't have anti-lock brakes. My last bike was a KLR650 and it was pretty crude. I sold it and gave up on motorcycles because drivers around where I live are too distracted. I rode 35 years accident free and decided to quit before my luck ran out. I do miss it though...
  - yurishimo 5y ago
    Anti-lock brakes are standard on the majority of new bikes now. In Europe I think they are required for all models. I would expect the US to follow suit in the next 5 years.
reducesuffering 5y ago
You should be looking at 2000-2010 japanese bikes, not classics for nostalgia's sake. Kawasaki ninja's will run you $1,300 - $3,000 and get 50-70mpg.
Kluny 5y ago
The old ujms have hipster cred and they aren't made anymore, so the price has gone up due to scarcity. Try a cbr 150 from like 2011. You can get those for like $1000 now.
hellbannedguy 5y ago
I had the 250cc Nighthawk. I sold it thinking Honda's were junk. I was wrong obviously. I used it to get me to high school. I was always sick that winter though. I had money for the bike, but not the gear. CA had a insurance policy of requiring insurance, but not demanding it at DMV. Cops couldn't ask to see proof of insurance for any reason. It was all civil if their was an incident.
unemphysbro 5y ago
I learned on a nighthawk 650 :) Brings back good memories.
bch 5y ago
> I bought my motorcycle around 1995 for ~$800 […] > I've looked around at a lot of used motorcycles and I've see other 1984 Honda's that are asking $2500-$3000 The average price seems to be $4k-$5k for 20 year old bikes! To be devils advocate here, that’s a one-time capital cost that you may well be able to make money on once you sell again, assuming the price trend continues. It seems to me that price is also way cheaper than a comparable* car. If it were me, I’d be enjoying fun driving, cheap operating costs and easy parking long after the sting of not getting the bike for $800 had worn off. *for some definition of “comparable”

dia80 5y ago

I have a thoracic spinal cord injury, I can still move my hands and arms fully but not much else. When I was in hospital people were there for all kinds of reasons. There was only one theme. Motorcyclists. What's more they tended to have cervical injuries thus couldn't move at least part of there hands and arms or sometimes all. I can't ever motorcycle now but if I could that would have been enough to put me off. The tail risk is crazy.

trangus_1985 5y ago
Motorcycling is deceptively safe. It's just that the cost of finding out when you fuck around is very high. Safe riding is still more dangerous than being in a car, of course. But, the vast majority of motorcycle injuries are due to known dangerous factors such as alcohol, or going too fast through turns.
- jascii 5y ago
  "Safe riding is still more dangerous than being in a car" To the operator. If we count the lethal damage caused to others, that number doesn't look so good...
  - trangus_1985 5y ago
    > we count the lethal damage caused to others So, that's a pretty hefty claim. I'd like to see some data. :) A very large chunk of motorcycle accidents are single party (about 25%), the rest involve a car, usually at low speeds such as an unprotected left turn or bad merge. I did some quick googling and found that motorcycles are less likely to be involved in pedestrian accidents than cars, but I think the the onus is on you to support your claim.
    - coyotespike 5y ago
      I think you've misread jascii - they are saying riding a motorcycle is more dangerous for the operator, while driving a car is less dangerous for the operator compared to adjacent pedestrians (for instance).

pengaru 5y ago

I used to ride a bunch, did many cross-country trips on two wheels, and honestly feel lucky to have escaped that phase alive and uninjured. It's a fun hobby and a uniquely direct interaction with some interesting physics, but I can't recommend anyone do it on public roads shared with vehicles driven by careless/incompetent/inattentive/distracted/tired/drunk/stoned drivers. If you're going to play on two wheels do it off-road or on otherwise closed courses, unless you're looking forward to being crippled, paralyzed, or dead, through no fault of your own.

bserge 5y ago
But that's half of the fun!
city41 5y ago
I used to ride as well, but before smartphones were so ubiquitous. Nowadays, when I see so many drivers glued to their phones while driving (it's shockingly common), I just can't imagine putting my life into their hands.

mmmBacon 5y ago

Honestly the track has ruined most street riding for me. While it’s cool to go for a ride in the hills, the street is not the track. There is just no rush like the track.

motohagiography 5y ago

Such a great video. Been riding a one of the re-issued Triumphs (thruxton) for a decade, it has a similar long and low geometry and seating position to the old Nortons. It's a great way to meet men in their 80's who yell "whaaat yeeeaaar?" at you at stoplights, if that's what you're into. (Am not.) The new bonnevilles looked so close to the originals if you had macular degeneration that you could even feel the disappointment of old bike guys as they realized they were talking to someone didn't have the mechanical ability to get a real classic running in that condition. It was almost like having a real dad. Motorcycles are awesome.

whartung 5y ago

I am of a different tact. I love motorcycling. It is a passion. I had my motorcycle classification before I got my car license. But, I don't recommend it to anyone. I will not be party to suggesting, encouraging, cajoling or any other "ing" to get someone on a bike. It's too dangerous to allow someone else to convince you. Anyone in the community for any duration has their share of personal experiences, being close to someone lost or badly hurt, or simply being in a small community where loss and injury happens. I've lost friends. Had my share of (thankfully) mostly minor injuries. I've gone down on a freeway in rush hour traffic. It happens, it's real. The two highest cohorts of folks getting injured or worse on a motorcycle are folks riding under the influence, and folks new (or even returning) to riding. The first cohort you can do something about, don't drink. The second, you can take measures (training, reading, practice), but, in the end, you have to just survive through it. You have to find yourself in situations and work your way through them. I like traveling on a motorcycle. I love long distance touring rides. One of the best aspects of riding is going on a long trip with a friend. You may both take the same path, but, in the end, you have separate journeys and get to share them at each stop. In a car, you have a driver, and everyone else essentially asleep. As a driver you're likely barely conscious. Fingertip on the steering wheel, cruise control holding steady, songs serenading you on the stereo. On a bike, that's just not the case. On a bike, you get to smell the air. High on my list is riding behind a lemon truck. You get to feel the environment. It's hot. It's cold. It's wet. Ride through the desert and feel the temperature change as you drop down in to a wash, even if just for a few hundred feet before you rise back up in the heat. I love it. But I don't recommend it.

pessimizer 5y ago
> On a bike, you get to smell the air. High on my list is riding behind a lemon truck. You get to feel the environment. It's hot. It's cold. It's wet. Ride through the desert and feel the temperature change as you drop down in to a wash, even if just for a few hundred feet before you rise back up in the heat. I've described it like this before, but it feels less like driving than like running really quickly.
mrslave 5y ago
Agreed. Rode for more than a decade in many different guises. Do not recommend. Road trips are nice, but even on largely open country roads fatigue is real and it is easy for experienced riders to have accidents. Commuting is not safe. Some car drivers are just bad and will pull in front of you. Some car drivers will pick fights and threaten your life with their motor vehicle. After giving it up, and growing up I suppose, I have also come to realize how many motorcyclists are jerks. I don't expect this to be a popular opinion. I always knew some were jerks: I saw their bad riding & picking unnecessary arguments with car drivers when out on rides with them! As a motorcycle-aware car driver many years later I have encountered many more whinging motorcyclists who themselves created unnecessarily dangerous situations then lectured me or flipped me off. As a car driver, stay away from motorcycles. Considering motorcycling?: stay away from motorcycles. ;-)