Picking Your Bike

As the weather warms up I am seeing more people on bicycles, more bicycles with moped engine conversions climbing the hills (no license or registration required even in PRK), and more dual sport/enduro motorcycles being used as basic commuter transportation around town. Enduro motorcycles in particular are cheap used, cheap to operate, get 70 mpg with a 250cc engine, and can handle bad roads and potholes (common here) easily because that’s what they were designed for. 

There's some codes to know. Bikes that end in F means offroad only, not road legal (as is. they can get a mirror, turn signals, and license plate and become road legal in most states). L or R means road legals. X often means fuel injected, which is a nice feature but often adds around $1500 to the price. The upside is you can start the engine and go, not wait 5 minutes for it to warm up, or have to adjust the choke at stoplights during your ride. 

Supermoto is slick tires for street riding and firmer, often lowered, suspension. Most motorcycle riders recommend Progressive suspension, which gets firmer the harder it is pushed, as this can save you from a bad bump. I'm pretty sure my BMW 320i had a progressive air-shock suspension. It is important to know this because you may need to buy and install the suspension yourself, since it must be attuned to your weight. Some are adjustable, which is what most suggest. They aren't cheap, however, and come in many sizes. Just knowing what parts are needed is crucial or you'll buy the wrong ones and waste time sending it back and forth. To get the MadAss a progressive suspension, and long enough trailing arm that I won't wheelie up the hill by accident (and get hurt), its another $1500 on top of the $2500 it costs initially. This gets me to $4000 for a 125cc. 

I can buy a new standard motorcycle with twice the engine and fully adjustable suspension and fuel injection from Suzuki for only $400 more. A bike that runs immediately, is highway capable and can climb hills and gets 80 mpg instead of 100 mpg, but would actually carry a passenger and is well regarded. Really, I'd rather have that. The MadAss is better than a scooter, of course. If it can be ridden with a forkoil change and stronger front springs, great! That saves a lot of money. And its light enough to park on the porch. 

The Enduro bike appears to be the transportation of the future. With slick tires it is good on the streets. Switched back to knobby tires its an all-terrain vehicle. I see a surprising number of high school kids on these instead of cars, wearing proper helmets and obeying traffic laws. Sensible riding, not yahoos trying to kill themselves. There’s also a lot of old motorcycles restored to full operation on the road, ones from the 1970’s and 1980’s being used as daily riders. We are finally seeing the shift from four wheels to two wheels gain momentum. 

While we still love Hot Rods and fancy cars as much as the next person, they’re showpieces, not daily commuters. Around here, Minimum Wage is a good job if you can get it. What you do for your money is more important since you’re often paid the same either way. Making your expenses minimal means accepting daily risks. Cheap small displacement motorcycles as your daily driver are one of those risks. I think many do this because they don’t have the credit to buy a car, the cash to buy one used, much less the wages to afford gasoline for a thirsty V8 or even I-4. Times are hard. 

$2500, shipping included, 100 MPG.

I think I will save the MadAss as a backup choice if the local Enduro bikes are going to cost more, or prove so unreliable due to my own ignorance, that I need a new motorcycle to reliably commute. Its the learning curve of dealing with mechanical issues I don't yet understand as well as getting to work on time that worries me most and points me at new bikes for the first ride. Not showing off. Its about caution here. Will a used $500 enduro I paid too much for with no rings and leaking oil that only starts sometime, a good choice for me? I think no. 

While I CAN bicycle, and probably should, its going to get HOT soon. Its already hitting 81'F every day. I sleep with the window wide open and its only chilly, not cold. All of this leads to either developing the ability to bicycle in serious heat up the hill after working and sweating all day, or riding the motorcycle home, wearing a high air-flow armor jacket, gloves, and helmet. I can do that. Its probably less sweaty than biking. I'm already getting 9 hours of aerobic bending, walking, stretching and twisting every day. 

On a completely unrelated note the Synergies Mod for Torchlight 2 IS a lot more fun than the basic game. I hope they figure out the game balance for the new character types. I created a Necromancer character named Faith and gave her a Paladin as a pet, named Xander. I always liked that pairing in Buffy. They should have stood by each other, but the show played up the tragedy for drama value and what's done is done. I kinda wish there was a video game that allowed you to explore via motorcycles and manage your finances as you meander through deserts and mountains and ford rivers and deal with the weather and bugs and mud, all from the comfort of your living room in High Def. Probably a silly idea, right? No guns involved. No blood or gore. Just exploration.