I get about 180-200 miles out of a six-gallon tank. On the open road, I get around 245 miles per tank, or about 40 mpg. And that's riding at speeds averaging 90 mph a lot of the time, with an engine the same size as some small cars. Even around town, on local freeways that move really quickly, I'll hit 100-110 mph as a matter of routine. The big gas-eater in town is, as always, stop-and-go traffic. In areas where lane splitting is legal, and when it's safe, you can probably cut down a bit on that if you're being
really obsessive.
I agree totally with the points made above, relating to economy being a bad primary motivation for riding a motorcycle. In many places I see people on scooters -- horrible devices, to my mind,
far more inherently dangerous than 'normal' (tank between your legs) motorcycles -- who seem to have no appreciation of the fact that they're riding a motorized vehicle that's not just some dinky toy...very dangerous, especially where helmets are not mandated (or not required for scooters and mopeds) and you don't often see scooter riders in gloves and boots, let alone full leathers.
Speaking of leathers, the safety gear needed for riding adds up pretty quickly. Don't drop your helmet, either, or you'll possbly be wanting to buy another for anywhere between $100 and $400 or up. Full-face helemt's the way to go, too. All others are less effective, and don't believe the crap that the anti-helmet f***wits will have you believe about the mythical dangers of a full-face helmet. Whatever you do, don't fall into the trap of buying one of those pathetic little beanies -- 'brain buckets' -- that Harley riders seem to love so much. They're worse than useless and, to top it off, they don't look at all cool...and looking cool is what most harley owners these days seem to be into (and they usually fail quite spectacularly, in more ways than just their goofy-looking plastic yarmulkes).
Bikes can also be expensive to maintain. Harleys are expensive, period, and I'd strongly discourage you from even considering one, unless you're suffering a midlife crisis that demands you pay way too much for too little and then tow it everywhere in a trailer so that you can pose with it at your destination. Other bikes are high-performance machines, much higher-performance than all but a very few prohibitively expensive élite sport cars -- this is true of even small displacement bikes (I wrote something about this here a while ago, but don't have the link) -- and they're often a bit more high-strung than your typical car...mostly, though, bikes of late have tended to be pretty reliable, but when there's something wrong it can cost a bit because of those old supply-demand laws. Also, bikes like mine -- very sleek with full fairings -- can be a nightmare to work on, even for the simple stuff that I used to do myself, because everything's so tightly wrapped. Find a good mechanic, though -- most likely
not at a dealer's -- and you can get decent rates and minimize expense on routine servicing.
That higher performance is worth it, though, in terms of economy and the (defensive) thrill ride. Most of us are unlikely to ever otherwise have access to the kind of power that even a small bike provides. I ride my bike as a workhorse commuter, but there is undeniably a magic associated with the times when I go out and move rapidly across the desert landscape, just me, my bike, and a couple of hundred miles of perfectly curved desert highway beneath an endless sky bordered by sere, craggy mountains older than Dick Clark.
Yeah, economy can be a motivation in getting a bike, but you need to be fully aware of the absolute truth that everyone out there wants you dead. Wear a pink jumpsuit and ride an orange bike and people still won't see you. Each and every time you go out there it's not a question of WHETHER you will have to take evasive action to avoid being killed by some dimwit driving (barely, and badly) a car, superfluous SUV, or cell phone, but HOW MANY TIMES you'll have to do so. We take a risk every time we drive anywhere, or walk or -- heck -- even wake up, but few daily transportation activities come with the same degree of risk as riding a motorcycle. Really, though, you can manage most of that risk by being better than the other guy. At that point, though everyones out to get you, the
actual risk is a little more sane.
How to get better than the other guy? I did it through experience (no choice, really, though my father passed on good lessons from his long experience) and a natural tendency to be cautious even in the throes of exuberance. I rode a lot off-road before first hitting (literally, unfortunately) the highway years later. Hard to say whether my crashes, all 20 years in the past now, would have been prevented had I taken an MSF course...the worst one, when a driver just about totalled me, couldn't have been. Anyway, such courses weren't around then, where I was, and handling a bike was second nature to me by the time I first rode on a road. If I was starting out as an adult, or if I was just starting as a kid now, I'd not get astride a motorcycle's seat until I'd completed the MSF course. They'll give you a good head start, the benefit of their (and our, collectively) hard-earned experience, and provide a sane and directed context in which you can gain your own experience out on the road. It's a serious matter and not something you should skimp on in terms of effort and devotion -- read about riding, too, but the part that counts most is where the rubber hits the road...the best way to learn, once MSF's got you on the road, is through doing (at full alert, of course, that being the only state of mind a good motorcyclist should have).
Cars are scary, though. Trucks, too. And SUVs, the new threat, are worst of all. I generally take advantage of the bike's superior acceleratory capabilities, when appropriate, and try to stay ahead of every f***er in a motor vehicle...it's safer in front and far away, but you've got to be alert to EVERY little thing, ALL the time. Not just idiots in cars (and other conveyances) but stuff that you haven't had to unduly worry about in a car, like wet or otherwise slick road markings and manhole covers, sand and gravel (lethal stuff, potentially), camber, and prety much anything else that might conspire to come between you and traction (traction between your tires and road) or force you into traction (in a hospital).
One positive side effect is that, if you're a defensive rider (being defensive does not preclude judicious applications of speed and acceleration, necessarily, those attributes and the feeling of wending your way up a canyon being among the bike's prime attractions), you will be a WAY better car driver. You'll look further ahead, anticipate potential situations and responses even in the most innocent of landscapes, and not let the insulation of a car lull you into the shortened and softened view of the outside world that I believe is common to most 'cagers.' if you're a bad rider, or some idiot who can't even handle the bike but insists on doing stunts (or CAN handle the bike but insist on doing stunts in traffic) then you're just a plain f***wit, but if you're a good rider you'll make a far more excellent car pilot than anyone else all things otherwise being equal. I drive cars as if they were motorcycles, within obvious constraints (compared to a bike, trying to pass when in a car can feel disturbingly slow-motion), and it's a good thing.
It builds character, too, does motorcycling. Ask me about riding around the desert, including in traffic jams that even cause my bike to overheat, in black leather from head to toe. And then there's rain, limited ability to carry stuff (you can get pretty inventive here, though), and every other environmental and logistical problem that a car solves. And you're going out? Okay, where are you going to stash your helmet, boots, gloves, and jacket (minimum, and usually fairly expensive, needs for riding if you're sane...leather or mesh pants should also be part of the wardrobe) so that you can change into your going-out clothes, or your work clothes? It's a continual problem, or it can be. I walk around most of the time, when I'm not on foot for the trip, looking like the Terminator. And I refer you again to the effect on such sartorial spendor of temperatures that run 116 F in the shade...
Riding a bike is a far more physically-involving process than sitting in a car's plush, air-conditioned interior. Makes it kind of hard to fall asleep at the wheel. By the same token, if you're exceptionally tired or sick -- problem for me, given that I'm tired most of the time -- you shouldn't ride or should do so within severe constraints. A four-hour drive in a car is nothing; a four-hour ride on a bike is a workout. Well, maybe not if you're on a Gold Wing: those beautiful monsters are more like luxury cars with two wheels missing. Seriously, ride 500 miles on most bikes and you'll be knocked out. No problem in a car. I've often done 1000 miles or more in a car, and come out pretty well...I nearly died (several times through various means but, finally, just from the cumulative effect and hypothermia) and was mostly deaf for two days after I rode from Nevada to Texas one totally insane, memorable day and night (and morning). Don't do that.
Yes, a girl was involved. Don't do that, either.
It's pretty harsh, riding a motorcycle, but there are also advantages -- practical and esthetic/spiritual of being more intimately in touch with the environment. You miss a lot, especially visually and olfactorily, in a car. Yeah, it's potentially more dangerous on a bike, mostly because of car drivers...well, you're more likely to be hurt if you're hit, but your maneuverability and acceleratory reserves, and small size, can also get you OUT of trouble that'd be much worse news in a more ponderous car, that's also a larger target. But perhaps a good summary of what it's like on a bike is that I never used to drive cars for pure pleasure -- not to say that I haven't enjoyed driving, but I never set out with the goal of having no goal -- but I've ridden bikes many thousands of miles, by now, simply for the joy of it. It's a whole other thing.
The MSF courses are an excellent idea. I never took anything like that, because I learned to ride full-size bikes thirty years ago, when I was a little kid, and never got around to taking the course when I got my latest bike. There's always something to learn, though, and MSF offers an advanced course for people like me....there're also courses in how to handle a sport bike on a track, for those who seek absolute mastery of the fine art of scaring themselves sh**less. One day, maybe.
One final thing: American tend to see motorcycles as toys. You've got your car for transport and the bike for fun. A
very dangerous attitude, and one that's always greatly offended me. Terrible, terrible view of what a motorcycle is and what it is not. I've been repeatedly hassled by someone close to me because she thinks my riding gear is 'uncool' (come on...black leather is
always cool, if not thermally) and she'd always point out other riders who were going around half-naked. Fortunately, I'm her polar opposite in that peer-group pressure, especially when those peers are f***wits destined to eventually bear close resemblance to strawberry jam (the chunky kind), has never affected me and I don't make my choices in protective gear based on what others might be doing. Sick attitudes.
In other countries, motorcycles are accepted widely as a prime means of transport. Make sure you're unAmerican in this respect.
The first thing I usually get asked, especially by young American males, is whether I do wheelies. "Not if I can help it," I tell them. I prefer both wheels on the ground, where they belong, thank you very much. And sometimes when I ride I see groups of the same, giving me that 'wow' look as I ride past and signalling for me to pop a wheelie. F*** off. The sad thing, to me, is that most of these young men express a desire to get a bike soon, most often the 'Gixxer' 750 (Susuki GSXR-750), a very powerfuland lightweight all-out sport bike that also happens to perhaps be the preferred mount of American 'squids' (the current term for brain-dead, underdressed f***wits, when mounted astride a motorcycle).
If you go for it, do the MSF course and take it easy -- you're a target, and the odds are ultimately low that you'll escape unscathed. The trick is to survive the scathings and avoid further ones. Ride carefully. But not
too carefully.
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