Thoughts/Opinions- Dropping street riding- MSF Coaches encouraged to reply.

[McBiggity]

I've ridden the triumph less than 1k miles in the 14 months I have owned it. Including 2 track days.

It's currently at the shop and has been for a month for warranty repairs. I don't miss it. I rarely have the urge to ride street when I have free time. Free time is next to nil for me with my work schedule, MSF classes and home life.

I know a lot of people who have given up the street and it's been covered here many times.

I'm having a hard time justifying paying for something that sits 90% of the time. I do not want to stop coaching MSF.

Thinking of a super cheap bike to ride back and forth to classes. Or ideally, no street bike and just a cheap track bike and a handful of track days per year.

I just don't have time or feel the urge to ride on the street anymore. How do I tell students in my classes that?

[Degsy]

I'm in exactly the same position as you for probably the same reasons. I gave up coaching 2 years ago and this was one of the factors why. Don't forget that MSF needs a current bike registration for you to keep your license. I would tell your students that you love to ride but can't justify the cost per mile of viable street riding time.

[bryco13]

Plated dirt bike?

[McBiggity]

Thanks Degs, I would hate to give up coaching. I know Gene always asks for the reg # when turning in the paperwork every year. I have read the agreement and it just states that you must own and regularly operate a motorcycle. I suppose if I prove I own something I may be able to skirt the registered bike part? maybe.

I don't have a dirty bike to plate and really don't want to jump through the hoops needed to plate one.

[TheIglu]

Sell the fancy new bike with it's fancy new excise tax and fancy new insurance payments.

Pick up a dirt cheap KLR or UJM or the like. It'll run you >$250 a year for all insurance/reg/inspection/taxes/etc (for me, around $110 but I live in the woods). Then you get to ride it 4 times a year guilt free.

[loudbeard]

Sounds like we have a new Grom rider in the making

[jasnmar]

Sell the fancy new bike with it's fancy new excise tax and fancy new insurance payments.

Pick up a dirt cheap KLR or UJM or the like. It'll run you >$250 a year for all insurance/reg/inspection/taxes/etc (for me, around $110 but I live in the woods). Then you get to ride it 4 times a year guilt free.

That's pretty much what I was going to say.

[Pigman]

GROM...........ton of fun

[GixxerJosh]

XT 225 or other small dual sport.

[loudbeard]

GROM...........ton of fun

Do you just search the forum for the word "Grom" every 20 minutes or so? I know I do...

[Paul_E_D]

I'm going through the same thing Mike. I'm actually going to take a break from teaching MSF, and maybe from riding street, and focus on track/dirt.

The desire to ride is something that will come and go. It sucks when it goes right after you pick up a shiny new bike, but it happens. I just try not to lose too much money each time my mood swings.

Good luck figuring it all out.

[McBiggity]

thanks Paul,
I'll figure it out. I imagine street riding will come back to me at some point. As much as I'd like a break from MSF, there are only 4 of us where I coach. If I stop, I screw over the other 3. We're all in the same boat there, fairly burnt out.

[Pigman]

Do you just search the forum for the word "Grom" every 20 minutes or so? I know I do...

Its a sickness......I Have it too

[Stromper]

Get an ADV bike and go exploring or a 650 dual purpose and get lost.

[Petorius]

IMHO, even the most exciting (paved) roads are only truly fun if you ride them in a way that is dangerous to yourself and others. My next plated bike will be a dual sport.

[McBiggity]

Get an ADV bike and go exploring or a 650 dual purpose and get lost.

Again, that requires free time. Which I have none of.

[markbvt]

Obviously it all depends on what you get out of riding a motorcycle. Personally, as time has gone by I've found myself caring less and less about riding around in circles on a track or bashing through the woods -- both waste time and gas that I could be spending out on the street seeing the world around me. For me, riding is about movement and variety, and experiencing the world we live in, which can be a pretty spectacular place. I love a good twisty road, but I don't usually turn around at the end of it to go back and forth over it a few times. It's part of the larger experience, and when I'm done with it, I move on to the next part. Life is pretty damn short, and I'd rather be out seeing the countryside and enjoying the sense of moving through it, the moments of astounding beauty, the smells, the visceral feeling of being out in the world, than narrowing my focus to riding in closed-course conditions.

But just because that's what I get out of riding obviously doesn't mean it works for everyone. I have the advantage of living in the middle of great motorcycle riding country. To get out for a good street ride, I need only ride out of my driveway. If I lived in a congested urban/suburban area, I'm sure I'd feel differently about riding (though to be honest, if I lived in a congested urban/suburban area, I would lose my fucking mind).

My point is, it's helpful to do a little reflection and give some honest consideration to what you love about riding, and let that guide your actions. There's no point feeling obligated to anything in particular -- this sport of ours is supposed to be fun.

But for me, I've realized that what street riding gives me is so valuable to me that I'd rather lose my life than give it up. If I end up getting killed by some idiot texting, so be it -- at least I'll die happy.

--mark

[Petorius]

Why not just buy a convertable?

This is coming from someone in a congested/urban area who has never owned an adventure bike or attempted any remotely cool bike trips.

[markbvt]

Why not just buy a convertable?

This is coming from someone in a congested/urban area who has never owned an adventure bike or attempted any remotely cool bike trips.

I assume this was directed at me. So:
- Convertibles don't lean in corners.
- When driving a convertible, you're still sitting in a cage, it just happens to be one with an open top.
- With a convertible, you're still driving a car, as opposed to riding a motorcycle. IMO riding a motorcycle is a much more active, engaging experience.

--mark

[nhbubba]

+1 to the cheap, plated dual-sport camp. Scratches the itch for cheap money.

[Petorius]

I'm just being an asshole, but its fun to explore why we all like the experience so much:

- Convertibles don't lean in corners.
At a safe pace, bikes barely do, unless you are riding somewhere where there is great visibility through the corner exits.
- When driving a convertible, you're still sitting in a cage, it just happens to be one with an open top.
A full face helmet frames your perspective as much as a windscreen three feet in front of you.
- With a convertible, you're still driving a car, as opposed to riding a motorcycle. IMO riding a motorcycle is a much more active, engaging experience.
Direct human interaction is a much more engaging experience. I can have my 3 closest friends in the car with me, and we arent talking over intercoms.

[RandyO]

Obviously it all depends on what you get out of riding a motorcycle.

I think too may people consider riding a leisure sport, similar to golf or hunting and add a competitive value, whether competing with others or yourself

why not just an enjoyable form of transportation ?

[Petorius]

I think too may people consider riding a leisure sport, similar to golf or hunting and add a competitive value, whether competing with others or yourself

why not just an enjoyable form of transportation ?

And convenient. For no cost, I can park 10 seconds from my office door with the bike instead of 15 minutes away with the car.

[aldend123]

I think too may people consider riding a leisure sport, similar to golf or hunting and add a competitive value, whether competing with others or yourself

why not just an enjoyable form of transportation ?

I always wanted a motorcycle as a toy. Never envisioned using it as a utility. Then I got one and quickly discovered the utility is much more fun. Sure, going out for late night backroads runs is tons of fun. But I usually have other stuff to do, and those events have some pretty high risk. Commuting on one, using it as a daily vehicle, has really become enjoyable. But choosing the right bike, and I'm learning the right gear, really effects how enjoyable it can be. I actually enjoy my drive home from work, compared to just viewing it as a 20-30minute waste of time sitting in a chair.

At the rate some of you guys are going, you're going to have to change the name of the forum :p

[markbvt]

- Convertibles don't lean in corners.
At a safe pace, bikes barely do, unless you are riding somewhere where there is great visibility through the corner exits.

Apparently there are better roads around here than where you live. But also, you don't need to be scraping elbow to enjoy leaning in a corner.

- When driving a convertible, you're still sitting in a cage, it just happens to be one with an open top.
A full face helmet frames your perspective as much as a windscreen three feet in front of you.

Depends on what kind of helmet. Many modern full face helmets have larger eye ports that barely crop your peripheral vision at all. Meanwhile, I actually get frustrated when I drive my car and have to negotiate corners of a certain radius because the A pillar completely blocks my view of the road. On the bike, I have an unrestricted view.

- With a convertible, you're still driving a car, as opposed to riding a motorcycle. IMO riding a motorcycle is a much more active, engaging experience.
Direct human interaction is a much more engaging experience. I can have my 3 closest friends in the car with me, and we arent talking over intercoms.

If you're actively engaged in interacting with your friends, then you're not paying much attention to driving. And not all of us desire direct human interaction 100% of the time. I prefer riding with a good friend or two to riding alone, but I don't use an intercom -- the ride itself is just the bike and me (and the occasional glance in the mirror to make sure everyone's accounted for), but it's fun when taking a break or eating lunch to have those friends there to share the experience with.

Which once again just gets back to my initial point -- different people get different things out of riding.

--mark