[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Motorcycle experience question (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/24/2010 9:31:19 PM EDT
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I am asking a simple opinion question for those who ride motorcycles and even those who don't.
I started riding last July after taking the Motorcycle Safety Coarse. I did not have a moto bike before then and it will be ten months now that I have. A family friend asked me how long I been riding after seeing my bike had 14K miles and asked if it was used. I told him it was new when I got it with four miles on it, also told him how long I've been riding. He was surprised and told me he had been riding his bike since 2006 and only had a little over 4k on it. He is not the first rider I have noticed to be like that. Question is: Does a person who has been riding for "Years" and has a bike or bikes with low miles have more (so called) experience riding than a person like myself with 14K miles of riding in less time? |
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I used to sell bikes and saw alot of trade ins yes you ride quite a bit compared to most people most of our trades had a average of about 2-5K per year on them (this is Nebraska riding season can be a bit short some years ) and i would say with a training course and that much riding in 10 months you are way netter off then most guys ya run into that have been "riding" for 20 years which consists of never getting training and wobbling down to the bar of fri night and riding around the lakes with their wife for a couple hours on sunday these guys have been around for years and cannot explain counter steering and say you'll die if ya use the front brake unfortunately they are the vast majority of riders i ran into selling bikes |
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Miles/Hours
Pilots are rated in "hours" - same kind of thing - I bought a CB750F with 24,766 miles on it. (don't ask me how I remember this, I was 19 when I did so) 2 years later, it ate itself, with over 86K miles on it. My dad was amazed at this, and couldn't understand how I'd done 60K miles in 2 years. I said "I like to ride". 
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Depends on how you gained the miles. If it's your daily driver and you spend a ton of time fighting traffic, with all the fun stuff that comes with city driving. I'd say you'd have more experience than someone who spends most of their time riding long, desolate back roads. As mentioned above, be leery of the advice given by some people. I know exactly what the poster a few up means about the using the front brakes. Some of the old crusty types will swear that using your front brake will cause your motorcycle to explode. Hell, some of the customs I've seen don't even have front brakes. One of my favorite things to do is to find an empty parking lot and try to see how tight of a figure 8 I can get. I don't care how many miles I rack up, I'll never stop practicing on my bike. It's too damn dangerous out there to not be prepared. |
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Quoted:
Miles don't matter if you don't progress. Is it better to have 5 years experience or one years experience 20 times? I see your point––I really do––and to some extent, I agree...but mostly? I think it's the miles. Eventually, I don't think it's possible to get one year's experience 20 times. That implies not learning anything from the repetitious miles a commuter does...and I don't think that's possible...That is to say, I do believe that there are people out there who don't learn––but they don't survive long enough to get that much "non"-experience. |
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Quoted: Quoted: what type of bike do you have? at that rate you are going to be going trough 1-2 sets of tires , probably a valve adjustment , and maybe a chain too every year or less 2009 Triumph Bonneville SE yep valve adjustment or check every 12 K thing will probably eat a chain every 12K or so too even with hard high mileage rated tires they will still probably be shot at 12-15K max its great your getting the use out of it but if you run it that much you are going to have to stay on top of maintenance Especially with a Triumph |
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what type of bike do you have? at that rate you are going to be going trough 1-2 sets of tires , probably a valve adjustment , and maybe a chain too every year or less 2009 Triumph Bonneville SE yep valve adjustment or check every 12 K thing will probably eat a chain every 12K or so too even with hard high mileage rated tires they will still probably be shot at 12-15K max its great your getting the use out of it but if you run it that much you are going to have to stay on top of maintenance Especially with a Triumph That is too true. I just got new tires and will have the same shop take a look to see if I need a valve adjustment. I am even looking for another chain. I really enjoy it though.
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My 02 FZ1 had 7k in 07 when I bought it.
I rode the shit out of it for a year, then my dad died. And the bike most sat in the garage for two years. I think I only put 3-400 miles in those two years? I had done about 500 miles this month. And I still am no where near where I was years ago. I do not have the skills back i used to have, I am not one with the bike moving freely like the wind. I used to be able to scrap my pegs on some curves (in FL) and stay in my lane. But now i can not come close and drift into the oncoming lane. I just need more time, I will be back. |
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I would say both.
You ride a good bit. I think I only put 12K on the bike the first year I rode. But you still need time. I notice if I ride all day everyday that after a while I start getting sloppy. But give it a couple days off and I come back better than ever. Also, riding two-up teaches you a lot too. Especially on getting your smoothness with the clutch and throttle down, otherwise you keep bumping heads. You never stop getting better at it. |
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I would say it is a combination of a few things.
Mileage most importantly, second being type/location of riding (variety), and ability to learn from your experiences. I have been riding for "years" but don't have terribly much mileage. However, I am a bit older and more cautious then a 20 year-old on a "gixxer" that simply skates by on luck and quick reactions and considers everyone else on the road to be an "asshole". Not denying that most people on the roads are asshole, it is just not worth being an angry rider. |
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I'm all about miles. I don't know how people can only ride their bikes for 4k miles per year. That does seem to be the norm though. I personally put about 4k miles per month on my bike when I had it. I plan on getting another one soon. With a child and a wife and working at the same place as your wife...... not a lot of chance during the week to ride and then the weekends... Kid and wife. And in my particular case, with the wife's illness, that makes it even less likely to ride. |
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Calendar years mean NOTHING. Having fifteen years experience, with only 2,000 miles per year, is essentially meaningless. Its barely enough to maintain minimal proficiency.
Riding several thousand more miles each year permits a rider to actually practice and progress. If the wheels aren't turning, you aren't learning. Frozenny MSF Rider Coach and Site Manager |
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Depends on how you gained the miles. If it's your daily driver and you spend a ton of time fighting traffic, with all the fun stuff that comes with city driving. I'd say you'd have more experience than someone who spends most of their time riding long, desolate back roads. As mentioned above, be leery of the advice given by some people. I know exactly what the poster a few up means about the using the front brakes. Some of the old crusty types will swear that using your front brake will cause your motorcycle to explode. Hell, some of the customs I've seen don't even have front brakes. One of my favorite things to do is to find an empty parking lot and try to see how tight of a figure 8 I can get. I don't care how many miles I rack up, I'll never stop practicing on my bike. It's too damn dangerous out there to not be prepared. Yeah, the customs with the LOOOOONG rake on the front forks.... I would LOVE to see what a dual disc Brembo setup would do.... wack on those brakes and those fork tubes would look like a plate of spaghetti... |
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I go with miles, but most poeple like to equate experience with length of time riding/had their license. When I got my first bike I bet I had more miles underneath me in 5-6 months than most poeple had for several years. I bought my current bike in Dec 06 brand new. It now has 34k miles on it and would have at least double that easily if my daughter hadn't been born a year after I got it. |
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I guess it depends on the type of miles, and what kind of experience we are talking about. Actually knowing how to control a 2-wheeled vehicle? The guy with even 1400 track miles is going to be head and shoulders above someone with 14,000 straight line interstate miles. You could have alot more than 14k miles tooling down the highway and still not have a feel for the dynamics of a making a 2-wheeled vehicle do what you want in any given situation |
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I don't know how people can only ride their bikes for 4k miles per year. As a former motorcycle commuter, I'm actually not surprised at low mileage/yr on most bikes. Typically a bike is a toy, not a commuter. As such, it only gets used on weekends (and worse, riding only "bar to bar"). 4k miles per year isn't bad if you consider areas where the riding season is only 6-8 months long. Figger it like this: 1. 52 weeks per year x 8/12 months (assuming 8 months riding season) = 35 weeks 2. 1 weekend day per week x 35 weeks = 35 riding days (I figure the average recreational rider will ride one day per weekend at the most) 3. 4,000 miles / 35 days = 114 miles per day 114 miles per day isn't a bad day if you're just puttering around town. If the rider is one of those reprehensible "bar to bar" types, that is a lot of miles for an overweight, leather-festooned software engineer pretending to be a Hell's Satan. I'd say 4k miles/year is actually kinda high based on what I've seen. Take a look at the used bike ads; it's not that hard to find 10+ year old bikes with less than 10-20k miles on the clock. That's less than 2k miles per year. |
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Experience does come with milage, but sheer volume of milage doesn't mean squat.
I only have 2,3xx miles on my 600rr I purchased last August, but almost every single mile I've put on it has been in the mountains, riding the twisties. I've worn out two sets of knee pucks before I've worn out one set of tires. Some folks have to ride miles and miles to get to an awesome spot to ride but I'm fortunate enough to live right in the middle of them. I don't putz around town or commute to work. When I ride I gear up in full leather and go have fun. I do not enjoy commuting back and forth to work very much anymore, and riding around town getting stuck at stoplights doesn't appeal much either. It used to though. If it did, I'm sure I would have 10k miles on it by now. We are all different riders and good job for putting so many miles on your bike that soon. I put 40k miles on my old F4i in 2 years back in 03-04. |
Miles are fine, but I'm going to go with types of miles being more important. i haven't even sat on a bike since 2006. I'd probably crash in the parking lot. 
Back in my riding days I averaged around 2K a month. (commuting) You really need to stay on top of the maintinence. Problems will creep up on you fast. |
| No, not at all. I ride year-round, and I see 95% of the other riders (and nearly 100% of certain brands) in a few short months each year. I have tens of thousands of miles on my current bike, and had the same on its predecessor when I sold it. I almost laugh at the guys who say they've been riding for 10 years, yet have only 4k miles on their bike. fact, a noob who is riding a lot is probably way safer than a the guy who rides 20 hours a year but thinks he knows everything. |
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Additionally, the type of miles you put in makes a huge difference. Just as you are more experienced in less time, with more miles, I would strongly argue that less miles in sheer number, but done on a track, and/or competitive racing, will make you an even more experienced rider. You will be a whole lot faster, much more skilled, and in my opinion safer.
YMMV Quoted:
Depends on how you gained the miles. If it's your daily driver and you spend a ton of time fighting traffic, with all the fun stuff that comes with city driving. I'd say you'd have more experience than someone who spends most of their time riding long, desolate back roads. As mentioned above, be leery of the advice given by some people. I know exactly what the poster a few up means about the using the front brakes. Some of the old crusty types will swear that using your front brake will cause your motorcycle to explode. Hell, some of the customs I've seen don't even have front brakes. One of my favorite things to do is to find an empty parking lot and try to see how tight of a figure 8 I can get. I don't care how many miles I rack up, I'll never stop practicing on my bike. It's too damn dangerous out there to not be prepared. |
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I used to be able to scrap my pegs on some curves (in FL) and stay in my lane. But now i can not come close and drift into the oncoming lane. Keep riding like that and you'll be seeing your dad a lot sooner than you wanted to. 
Go to the track. Scraping pegs on the street don't mean shit. |