Dreaming About Motorcycles

For the longest time I’ve wanted to buy a bike and go on a long distance tour. I’m a new rider, so I’d need to take some time to learn. Learning, for me, would probably mean taking a bunch of shorter motorcycle tours to get me started and comfortable.

The Ultimate Road Trip Machine

Motorcycle’s are the ultimate road trip machine. They get great gas mileage and you’re completely out in the open, actually experiencing nature itself. They don’t cost a lot of money; new 250cc bikes retail for as little as $4,000.

Motorcycle Camping

One of the idea’s I’ve had is to do full on camping. Take a tent, a pad, and a sleeping bag. Figure out how to pack them on the bike and head for the hills. I have campgrounds within 25 miles of my home so riding there and spending a night should be fairly strait forward. Besides my sleeping gear, I wouldn’t need to carry much because I would be able to eat at home. This would be a great way to start learning what I need on my longer motorcycle tours when the time comes.

I’ve been collecting ultralight backpacking gear for a few years, but I’ve only actually gone backpacking a couple of times. Packing a motorcycle should be very similar. You need to pack light and small. A hammock makes a great bed, if you can find the tree’s to hang it on.

Best Beginner Motorcycle

Because I’ve been dreaming about it, I’ve looked for the best beginner motorcycle. For me, that’s probably a smaller bike. A lot of people have started on a 250cc Ninja and many of them keep the bikes even after they upgrade because these light bikes are so much fun to ride. I’ve been looking at the 286cc Honda CB300F. A 250cc or 300cc bike is enough to get you moving at a high rate of speed. They top out around 70 or 80 miles per hour. That should be enough power to get a big guy like me up a long hill with a headwind. The next step up is the 500cc to 700cc range. This is a pretty popular range for bikes and they are actually a little easier to find in this range, at least where I live. If you decide to look at bikes, just make sure you don’t get a bike that’s too powerful for your skill level.

There are lots of cool motorcycles and several main styles of road bikes; supersport, sport, and cruisers. My favorite is the sport and I particularly like the styling of a naked sport bike. It lands between the supersport and the cruiser. On a supersport you sit forward while on a cruiser you lean back. On the sport you sit pretty much strait up. The naked model has less of the plastic parts on it so more of the engine and frame are exposed. This probably makes it easier to work on and the design is much more pleasing to me. You’re preferences will vary, no doubt.

Road Trip Inspiration

If you want some inspiration for your trip, check out the documentary The Long Way Round. In this epic trip, Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman ride 20,000 miles accross 12 countries from the UK all the way around the world on two BMW motorcycles. It’s a difficult trip that most of us wouldn’t be able to take, but it’s an amazing movie to watch and it gives you an idea of some of the problems you might encounter and how you might solve them. If nothing else, it’s guaranteed to give you the it’s to take motorcycle tours of your own.