Considering a motorcycle...

[amcardon]

I live about 8 miles from my office, do a lot of around-town driving, and am sick of filling the tank in my truck. I've never had a motorcycle but I think I have my wife on board with me buying my first bike.

So, I'm hoping some of you more experienced guys might be able to give some advice as to where I should start and what I should be looking for.

I am not looking for a crotch rocket... As far as looks go I really like the looks of the Indian Scout and most Harleys. Is it unseasonable to budget $8000?

I feel like an idiot with this stuff. Guns, guitars, mountain bikes, knives, that's what I know; bikes are completely foreign to me!

 

[joegrizzy]

do you know how to drive stick?
do you know how to ride a bicycle?

if so, learning to ride a motorcycle will be very easy. for a budget of $8k, you can get just about any bike you want.

i'm a small bike fan. easier to park, just ride them up on the sidewalk if you need to. i'm talking like 185 vintage trail bikes and whatnot. easy to ride, simple design and construction, will run for miles and miles and miles. some people shy away from 2 strokes for reasons i can get into, but if you are riding it realistically bikes don't need that much maintaining and it's incredibly simple to do.

i personally would stay away from the price of domestic bikes, particularly harley. you can get a literal garage full of bikes for the price of one harley; just not worth it for a beginner imo.

get a cool 250 or so cafe racer or convert one from a vintage bike. mid controls, upright riding position, won't have way more power than you'll ever use (especially for no highways runs, even on high torque lower revving cruisers you might not get a big cc bike out of 2nd or 3rd gear and to me that's just no fun, whereas a 250, 300, 400 you can at least use all the dang gears and still be faster than like 90% of everything on the road that isn't another bike lol).

i'd check craigslist personally. if you hunt you can find good deals. but i'm sure some guys prefer going thru dealers etc.

 

[amcardon]

do you know how to drive stick?

Yes I do

 

[Chief Sapulpa]

If you're not looking for a street bike then why would you consider an Indian or Harley; they're both street bikes.
The adventure style bikes are very popular and saw many on my recent trip to CO.

 

[Perplexed]

A life insurance policy. Not trying to be snarky, but more and more, it’s dangerous to ride a motorcycle, given how so many “drivers“ actually think they can use a cell phone while driving. I see inattentive driving because they're too busy scrolling or texting - every. single. day.

Two of my neighbors, long-time motorcyclists, have sold their bikes because of this. One was rear-ended waiting at a stoplight. Why? The “driver” behind him was replying to an email on his phone. The second neighbor had to lay down his bike because someone pulled out in front of him - while looking at her phone.

If you do get a bike, please be careful and ride like everyone is out to nail you.

 

[SoonerP226]

FWIW, the delineation I've always heard from 'cycle guys was street bike vs. dirt bike, with prototypical Harleys and Indians being firmly in the street bike camp. I'm guessing you mean you're leaning more toward the touring-style bike than the crotch rocket style,

A friend who rode Harleys recommended not buying a big Harley as your first Harley-style bike, going with something like a Sportster instead. His reasoning was that every rider is going to have a mishap, and those are more likely when you're less experienced, so you want to learn those lessons on a less expensive bike.

 

[joegrizzy]

A life insurance policy. Not trying to be snarky, but more and more, it’s dangerous to ride a motorcycle, given how so many “drivers“ actually think they can use a cell phone while driving. I see inattentive driving because they're too busy scrolling or texting - every. single. day.

Two of my neighbors, long-time motorcyclists, have sold their bikes because of this. One was rear-ended waiting at a stoplight. Why? The “driver” behind him was replying to an email on his phone. The second neighbor had to lay down his bike because someone pulled out in front of him - while looking at her phone.

If you do get a bike, please be careful and ride like everyone is out to nail you.

getting rear ended at lights is definitely my biggest worry. i set myself at an angle now so i can bail if i see a car isn't stopping.

 

[SoonerP226]

A life insurance policy. Not trying to be snarky, but more and more, it’s dangerous to ride a motorcycle, given how so many “drivers“ actually think they can use a cell phone while driving. I see inattentive driving because they're too busy scrolling or texting - every. single. day.

Two of my neighbors, long-time motorcyclists, have sold their bikes because of this. One was rear-ended waiting at a stoplight. Why? The “driver” behind him was replying to an email on his phone. The second neighbor had to lay down his bike because someone pulled out in front of him - while looking at her phone.

If you do get a bike, please be careful and ride like everyone is out to nail you.

My dad used to ride a motorcycle on his daily commute (which went from Norman to MWC to downtown OKC to NW OKC and back), but he quit doing that back in the early '80s because it was getting too dangerous. I thought about getting a bike to ride to work many years ago, but I thought driving a car in a college town was dangerous enough.

Ain't a snowball's chance in hell that I'd ride one in Tulsa...

 

[joegrizzy]

https://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/mcy/d/davis-royal-enfield-bullet/7492747172.html
this one right here has your name on it!
UPDATE: actually this nice cafe racer already sold, it was a good deal! $5k bike for basically $3k.

big harleys are made to ride straight on long highway runs. smaller bikes are far more fun to throw around.

honda makes great bikes. this is a bit more traditional cruiser, but still just 500cc's. if this isn't a scam ad (LOTS of bike ads are....just how it is), ~8,000 miles on this bike is NOTHING.

https://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/mcy/d/oklahoma-city-honda-silverwing/7489962973.html

 

[Chief Sapulpa]

If you want an attention getter then consider a Janus Halcyon 450; Halcyon 450 - Janus Motorcycles
They're made in Indiana with Chinese engines.