Monday, October 20, 2008

Learning to ride a motorcycle

North of San Francisco, CA in northern Marin county the commute South most morning absolutely sucks. A ride that normally takes twenty-minutes usually takes forty-five, to an hour, during the peak commute of 7-9AM.

What a waste of time.

The joy of being on two wheels...
To alleviate the pain of this sadistic ritual, I learned how to ride a motorcycle and purchased one in '08.

Big, fat disclaimer:
Riding a motorcycle proficiently is difficult and demanding to do well. With some 'cycles' weighing in around three-hundred pounds, most around five-hundred and some heavy-weights around eight-hundred - getting all that mass to stop where you want on a dry, sunny day with no traffic, can be challenging. Couple that with traffic, weather, bad roads, tracks, gravel, rude drivers and it can be pretty hazardous.

To begin riding I started with a Motorcycle Safety Foundation class. It lasted one evening and two half days on a bike. The class gave a good introduction on how to safely ride. Even though you learn on a small 175cc Kawasaki bike I immediately felt the basic differences, in turning and balance from my relatively light twenty-three pound bicycle (which I was rode regularly since I was very young). The weight differential dramatically influenced the handling characteristics, even with this relatively small motorcycle. Starting the bike and getting it moving was easy, turning and stopping it was the tricky bit.

After passing the MSF class I went to the DMV. I didn't think I needed to study since the MSF test was fairly detailed. But I was wrong, and failed the first time. Embarrassing. For the second go I studied the on-line tests and passed.

So with my temporary license in tow, I needed to buy a bike.

One thing about the MSF class is that there are other students at the same level as you. During breaks, I asked most of the guys, there were no ladies, which bike they were going to purchase. Some set their sites on sport bikes and others basic starter bikes - a very popular bike seemed to be the Suzuki SV650. Based on this recommendation I started looking into the SV650. The instructors recommended buying a used bike first, since she said we would be making lots of rookie mistakes with it, like letting it fall-over. A used SV650 seemed like the way to go.

I used the web to quickly try and become an expert on motorcycles before I purchased one. I scoured magazines (Rider, Motorcyclist, Cycle World, BMW On, etc.) and websites for which motorcycle suited me best. The more I read about the SV650, the more the SV650 seemed like a great way to go. My prerequisites were:
  • inexpensive
  • good power for the freeway
  • relatively light and maneuverable
  • reliable for the day-to-day commute

So the Suzuki SV650, Honda Nighthawk or BMW 650GS all seemed like good candidates. Since the BMW was significantly more expensive than the Honda or Suzuki it wasn't at the top of my list.

I scoured CraigsList and contacted several people by email.

My first test ride
I took a experienced friend with me to test-ride a Honda NightHawk. He was going to ride it home for me as I had never been on a freeway with a motorcycle before. The test ride was a bit scary as this was only the third time I had ridden a motorcycle. The owner was very nice but that bike was a bit small for me, being six feet tall I decided to pass.

So I researched more and more until I found a bike similar to the SV in weight but more suited to commuting. It was the V-Strom DL650. It comes in two flavors: 650 and 1000 cc's. It has a wind visor and a more upright seating position.

My second test ride
I drove to evaluate a V-Strom DL650 that was being offered on Craigslist. The bike had around 26k miles on it and had a lot of extras like heated grips, PIAA lights improved windscreen and seat. The owner was really nice. He wanted payment though before a test ride.

For me it was love at first sight. I went to the bank with him wrote a cashiers check and the bike was mine.

The previous owner was great and even offered to ride it to my house so I could drive my car back home.

In retrospect, I was lucky. The Wee-Strom is super-wonderful and I've put another 25k miles on it. The previous owner kind, helpful and everything worked out well. If I had to do it again, I would recommend though to not write a check until you've: Thoroughly inspected a bike or had a knowledgeable professional inspect it for you or completely trust the selling party. Insist on a test ride before you buy a bike. Not being able to test ride a bike is just silly and I could have ended-up with an expensive mistake on my hands.

So now that's it's been a few years:
I'm glad I didn't drive the bike back home on the freeway. The first year of riding a motorcycle has one of the highest levels of injury let along the first real day on a new bike going 60+ MPH. There's a lot to learn when you first start riding. When buying a used bike for the first time I recommend bringing a experienced motorcycling friend along that can help you examine the bike, then negotiate a fair price and lastly drive it home for you. Then you can slowly ramp up and take progressively longer rides as you feel more and more comfortable on your new bike. Lastly I highly recommend David Hough's well-written book: Proficient Motorcycling

Motorcycling is wonderful - ride safe and see you on the road.

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