Street Motorcycles

[wjmst]

I live in the woods in Western Pennsylvania and have a 20 mile commute to work each day. The road I drive is a divided 4 lane highway. Traffic is not too heavy, but there are a lot of trucks, mostly coal trucks that like to go fast.

With the price of gas, I am considering getting a motorcycle for my commute. I've always had a dirt bike, have road 4 wheelers, and older street bikes. I am about 5'8" 135 lbs.

I need a bike that has enough power to maintain 65 comfortably without getting blown over by the coal trucks. I am also thinking that the bike needs to be less than 500lbs or else it is too heavy for me to maneuver. I have about $2,000 to $3,000 to spend.

I am thinking a cruiser style bike. I've never road a sport bike, but they don't look comfortable to me, maybe they are.

Any recommendations or thoughts on the subject?

Thanks
Wes

 

[Car Doc]

Sportster is a reasonably priced bike new even probably one of the best buys out there imo. @ 5'8" you might look for an 883 low its an inch lower makes a big difference, 580 lbs is about what they weigh and they handle nice btw.

As an example I bought a perfect 06 883 w/6k miles last year for $3300 for a putt around town bike plenty of power plus its a Harley. Now that the EFI Sportsters are out (07 up) the 06 and back bikes will be probably easy to find a deal on fwtw.

I hate trucks fwtw and especially ones that drop stuff on the road so be careful that sounds like a dangerous road to commute on a scooter just sayin.

 

[s78wingrider]

I found that a lot of cruiser's don't get any better mileage than a compact car

 

[ttriff]

I found that a lot of cruiser's don't get any better mileage than a compact car

+1

Having commuted for several years with a sport bike I recommend a small car instead. You have to drop to a pretty tiny bike to get really high millage. And it sucks when you ride to work in the morning and have to try and ride home in the rain/snow at the end of a long day.

What's the cost savings when you add up buying the bike, paying for the license, insurance and other operational costs vs that money spent on gas for your existing vehicle?

 

[ddb123]

I have had a few small cruisers in my day. A Yamaha 650 got the best mileage (mid to high 40s) and an 883 Sportster got by far the worst. A 1200 Sportster was in the middle, but it was low 30s and my 2002 Honda Civic (car) gets better than that. All the bikes were manufactured any time from 2003 to 2008; none of them were old clunkers.

I also recommend a compact car. There are plenty of older imports in your price range on Craigslist all the time that will deliver great gas mileage.

Now if you want the FUN of a bike, go for it! In that case I recommend a bike no smaller than a 1200 Sportster for the sake of comfort.

 

[kevin37b]

Buy a used coal truck ?

 

[cdaigle430]

I live in the woods in Western Pennsylvania and have a 20 mile commute to work each day. The road I drive is a divided 4 lane highway. Traffic is not too heavy, but there are a lot of trucks, mostly coal trucks that like to go fast.

With the price of gas, I am considering getting a motorcycle for my commute. I've always had a dirt bike, have road 4 wheelers, and older street bikes. I am about 5'8" 135 lbs.

I need a bike that has enough power to maintain 65 comfortably without getting blown over by the coal trucks. I am also thinking that the bike needs to be less than 500lbs or else it is too heavy for me to maneuver. I have about $2,000 to $3,000 to spend.

I am thinking a cruiser style bike. I've never road a sport bike, but they don't look comfortable to me, maybe they are.

Any recommendations or thoughts on the subject?

Thanks
Wes

A cruiser at 750cc and up will be about 580 lbs or so. It doesnt matter how big the bike is, when a truck passes you or when you pass a truck you will get alot of turbulance. I think you can get a good used cruiser for around 3-4k with low mileage. My 750 cc will cruise easily at 65mph and I will get 58mpg so I really dont know where these other posters get their figures from. Sure-like any other gas operated engine, the more you use the throttle the more gas you will use. I dont see any compact car out therre getting 40 or 50 mpg consistantly.

Plan for the weather like bringing rain gear or warm clothes. Take refresher course anually on motorcycling.Try and get a fule injected bike if you can. A windshield helps will help as well but can act like a sail in high winds and turbulence. The key thing for you will be experience, experience and more experience.

 

[Rayster]

For a mainly hwy commute, I would go with a bike that is at least 700+lbs. There are a lot to choose from, and like tractors, everyone has there favorites.

 

[mostly_gas]

Don't forget the other costs. I remember some of the touring bikes would go through rear tires in 5-7k miles. I had 1000 Kaw (shaft) for years and it got mid 40's mpg 650# 10-12k rear tire mileage.

 

[brin]

Hit Craigs List and pick up a small GEO metro or something like that...just for commuting and much safer than a bike...other than weather, not saving on mileage you are risking your life with not just the coal trucks but the very real danger of commuting on a motorcycle amid going to work traffic specially....What is your life worth... $2 to $3K sub compact cars are out there....

 

[Car Doc]

I ride to work everyday almost year round but I am also not on the road with fast driving trucks possibly dropping chunks of coal in my path either yikes. My 883 got 40ish avg and my Heritage gets 32 town and 40+ hwy fwtw.

 

[TripleR]

I rode motorcycles from 1965 to 2012 and it has been my experience that you are either a motorcycle person or you are not and if someone buys simply to save gas/save money, they will never be happy with it. I have been run off the road more times than I can count, crashed a few times, rained on and drenched to the bone; one time I had court and got caught downtown Kansas City in a torrential downpour with LOTS of lightning. My suit did not handle it well nor did my nerves.

I love motorcycles and miss mine terribly, but they are simply not for a lot of people. My son now rides mine back and forth to school and is a happy guy, but he is also a lifelong rider.

 

[Piston]

I rode motorcycles from 1965 to 2012 and it has been my experience that you are either a motorcycle person or you are not and if someone buys simply to save gas/save money, they will never be happy with it. I have been run off the road more times than I can count, crashed a few times, rained on and drenched to the bone; one time I had court and got caught downtown Kansas City in a torrential downpour with LOTS of lightning. My suit did not handle it well nor did my nerves.

I love motorcycles and miss mine terribly, but they are simply not for a lot of people. My son now rides mine back and forth to school and is a happy guy, but he is also a lifelong rider.

Nailed it Larry!

 

[Car Doc]

That may be all he needs to get hooked never know we all started somewhere! That is a pretty good excuse for the wife Ive heard it said before.

 

[TripleR]

That may be all he needs to get hooked never know we all started somewhere! That is a pretty good excuse for the wife Ive heard it said before.

True, we all started out somewhere, but most of us wanted a motorcycle because we wanted a motorcycle for the fun aspect of it. All I am saying is that most of the people I know who have bought motorcycles fr their economy etc. have been disappointed and some even hurt pretty badly or scared to death. Now as to the reasons we give our wives...:laughing:

I was riding long before I got married, so I never had to justify my bikes, bikes were just known to be part of the package. I did save a BUNCH of money riding mine during my college years, but my employer did not allow me to ride as it was deemed not to project a "professional image"; very long story.

 

[Catfish Man]

I have a 1100 yamaha v star it gets around 54 mpg if you take it easy and its a very comfortable bike

also have a harley davidson 883 sportster it gets around 45 mpg and will beat you to death
i love the sportster, but it's not a good choice for a daily commuter

 

[Car Doc]

Once I got married and had a kid my cycle days slowed down. I rode all thru school raced a bit of mx and I still piddled with them later and always had a few sitting around in one state of repair or other. Money was always tight for me/us so priority's shifted from wants to needs like it does for folks. Now at just about retirement age we can buy what we want and do what we want when we want all within reason of course.

And now the daughter is been married and long gone for quite a few years my wife and I do a lot of traveling on the Harley every chance we get and she loves it I am a lucky guy. Its the only way to see the USA is all I can tell a new guy besides take it easy and learn the proper way to turn a bike and be safe out there! :thumbsup: (thats my story and I am sticking to it :laughing

 

[Bird]

My first motorcycle was a 250cc Zundapp, but I didn't keep it long because the dealer just could not get it to run properly. Then I had a 350cc Yamaha, a 400cc, 650cc, and 1200cc Hondas, and finally an 800cc BMW.:laughing: There's lots of reasons to ride a motorcycle, but as others have said, gas mileage ain't one of'em.

 

[Thomas]

Try around 600cc or tad bigger,to lighter bike harder ride..not much comfort room.
You'll be surprise how easier to handle bigger bike,if anything have crash bar.

 

[dave1949]

It seems there is a trend among aging boomers towards trikes. I also read that older riders are experiencing higher crash rates, probably due to loss of agility, vision, hearing, muscle tone, etc. Older people break easier and take longer to heal. I don't know how old you are, just tossing that out there.

Except for select climates, I think bikes are for fun, not commuting. I vote for the small car. You don't have to plan your day around the weather, you can do errands like drop off and pick up things, get groceries, etc. much easier in a car. You will be safer in a car in case of accidents, as Bob pointed out.