I live in Brooklyn and have no need for a car, since I can take the subway and occasionally the bus anywhere that matters. But I decided I want some means of transportation for the times when I have to journey outside the boundaries of dear Gotham.
Since I never owned a car, I never bothered to get a driver’s license, although I do actually know how to drive, having been taught by my mom many moons ago.
I figure I should get a motorcycle for these reasons:
They’re really cool,
Cheaper than a car,
Excellent gas mileage,
Cheaper insurance (I think),
It will get me the hot babes.
So, here’s what I need to know:
Do I need to get a regular driver’s license in order to drive a motorcycle, or is it a different license?
How do I learn to operate a motorcycle before getting one? I don’t know any motorcycle people who can teach me.
How to I make it go “vroom vroom” at a red light?
What kind of motorcycle should I get for urban living and occasional trips on the interstate?
What’s the difference between a chopper and a hog?
(Note: All responses here relate to New Jersey, and may be different for you)
It’s an endorsement code they put on your license. For example, my license has “+M” on it, meaning I’m allowed to ride a motorcycle. Riding without this endorsement is the same as driving a car with no license.
I ran a quick search of +“motorcycle lessons” +brooklyn and came up with dozens of schools that will teach you. Here in Jersey, the state offers a motorcycle safety training course that teaches you how to ride. It’s two looong days of instruction and training, culminating in both a written and a driving test. It’s state-sponsored, so if you pass these tests, you get your motorcycle license. Not sure if NY offers anything like this, but it’d be worth checking into.
Same as in a car – give it gas while you’re in neutral.
Well, it’s just MHO, but I’d have to say “none”. Unless you’re a very experienced rider, I can’t look at city riding as anything short of a death wish. If you’ve got a place to park your bike outside of the city (and a public transportation way to get there), then go for it…but I’m no fan of driving in the city, let alone riding.
If you’re adamant about getting one, then…well, I’m not really sure. I’ve had my bike for a couple of years, but didn’t use it all that much (and haven’t touched it since I became a father last year). You’d probably be best off talking to the folks at one of the instruction schools. They’ll have a better handle on what’s good for city riding, and could probably hook you up with a good used bike to start out.
Some people will always argue the exact definitions, but here’s my take on them – Hog: Big, heavy bike. Chopper: Heavily customized bike, generally with long front forks.
Yes, six.
Riding is a hell of a lot of fun, but you’ve got to be smart about it. If there’s a crash, it doesn’t matter who’s at fault – you still lose. But if you get in lots of practice in a safe enviroment and always keep a heavy awareness of everything around you, then you’ll hit all the points on your list of reasons (and you’re correct on reason #4 – it’ a lot cheaper…like $200/year). Good luck if you decide to go for it.
In most states, you’ll need a “regular” driver’s license before you can obtain a motorcycle endorsement. It appears that New York is typical.
There are lots of motorcycle shools where you can learn to drive one before purchasing or taking the license examination. You can probably find one here: http://msf-usa.org/index_new.cfm
Please note that my only claim to knowledge here is that:
a. I am currently in process of getting my motorcycle license here in NJ;
and
b. I’m really only doing it because my husband is into it and he currently owns two bikes, so it’s not really a financial investment. But I’ve learned a lot from watching him.
To answer your questions:
It is indeed a separate license, and the test is somewhat infamous for being difficult to pass. I’m not familiar with NY’s rules, but in NJ, you need to take a permit test that includes both motorcycle-specific questions and general driving (rules of the road, drunk driving, etc.) questions. Once you have your permit, you have 90 days to take a driving test that requires both normal riding and a number of fairly tight turns. I’d imagine that NY is similar, but you can probably find the info on the DMV website.
My husband has given me one (1) lesson at this point, just to see if I was hopeless or not. But I’m going the easy route and have signed up for a beginner’s class at the local community college for the end of June. It’s two days long, and takes you through both some classroom work and a whole lot of practice on an actual bike. You don’t need to have ever been on a bike before, but you do need a valid permit beforehand. If you pass the class, you get your license on the spot, no road test needed. I have no idea if NY has that kind of program, but at the very least similar classes should exist. Mine only costs $225.
You just turn the throttle (right handlebar) without actually letting it go into gear. My biggest problem during my one lesson was doing that by accident, so it’s obviously easy to do.
And of course, other people posted between the time I started my reply, got distracted by a bunch of work, and finished my reply. Preview is your friend.
I owned a bike when I lived in Jersey, as did my brother (more on that in a second). Selected contributions:
A safety course is your best bet. I believe most insurance companies give you a percentage discount for taking one (sometimes cumulative, if you take more than one).
My brother lived in Hoboken and had a CBR600. Took it into the city on a Saturday to pick some papers from the office; up the elevator, grab the papers, down the elevator, come back outside – GONE. In the few minutes he was up there, someone broke both Kryptonite locks and made off with it. He bought another one, which was also stolen – from his gated (and locked) parking area, locked to a cast iron railing, with his roommate in the room, on the first floor, with a window right above it.
My point is: don’t get anything that’s too nice unless you have someplace really secure to lock it up. Locks can be frozen and broken, some models can be opened with a disposable pen, and some people will just come by with a truck, lift the bike into it, and work on the lock elsewhere.
Try to avoid the Lincoln and Holland tunnels. The exhaust is rather plentiful, as I found out – you don’t notice it so much in a car.
A small model (500cc engine at best) should do for a start. You don’t want too much motorcycle. It is essential that whenever you get off and leave it, it is in a secure place. I garage mine overnight.
You don’t get bacon from a chopper, you get it with a chopper.
The model of bike I own, a Suzuki Savage, is #1 on the least likely to be stolen list, and #3 on the least likely to be crashed list.
Also, take the MSF beginning riders course, as suggested by others. They provide the bikes for you to ride, and they are usually 250cc bikes, either standard or cruiser style, and maybe one or two dual purpose (road/dirt) to chose from.
Only a fool would buy one of these bikes as a first bike:
A huge hog. Don’t buy something that weighs five times as much as you do. You will not be able to handle it, and … you *will * drop it. Buy something smaller and something less expensive to fix after parts of it meet the pavement.
A chopper. Long forks = terrible in the corners. Plus, you look like a dork.
A gixxer (named after the Suzuki GSX-R Series). Generic term for the “crotch rockets” – street legal machines (barely) that mimic the bikes from the racetrack. Great in the corners (naturally), but subject to overwhelming a beginner with their power. A tiny twist of the throttle returns a huge power surge from the engine, and it takes a lot of experience to control that. Even the juggle of your wrist caused by hitting a small pothole can cause a bike like this to leap out of your hands.
You might want to look at the “dual-sport” bikes like the Kawasaki KLR650. You can get a good used one for $3,500 or so. They’re very maneuverable and can handle potholes & curbs better than more ‘sporty’ bikes. The 650’s are a little small for long trips, but are capable of highway speeds just fine. I ride a '96 Triumph Tiger and it’s been one of the best all around bikes I’ve ever ridden.
Hog = Harley-Davidson. Period.
… Choppers almost always have extended forks, and are always extensively customized. As seen on the Discovery Channel :yawn: :rolleyes:
THERE IS NO RULE SIX!
And definitely take the full MSF course.
One’s a hugely impractical mechanical contrivance that has no business being on the public highway, the other is an absurdly expensive and primitive vehicle that no-one would go near if it weren’t, for some unaccountable reason, a cult status symbol. But for the life of me I can’t remember which is which.
(Couple of years back, our local show featured a drive-by by fifty-odd antique tractors and a visit from Fenland HOG (Harley Owners’ Group). All that noisy, heavily vibrating, smoke-belching agricultural machinery was really impressive in a confined space, and so were the tractors.)
