Episode 015 – To all the bikes we’ve loved before | Best Motorcycle Roads Podcast – YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a38Bkym9jyc

Transcript:

(00:00) if you can’t afford a Harley buy a Honda most people won’t [Music] know hello and welcome to best motorcycle roads I’m Tom and I’m Todd together we have over 65 years of combined motorcycling experience and 35 years of planning and riding motorcycle trips we’re here to share with you everything we’ve learned over those years our goal at best motorcycle roads is simple make your next motorcycle trip the best it can be we’ll dive into technology planning packing the roots other tips and everything in between

(00:42) from essential prep to Unforgettable Roots we’ve got you covered before we kick start today’s Journey we ask you to sign up for our BMR Rider alerts it’s our way of keeping you in the loop with the latest rides tips and stories we promise no spam only the essentials to enhance your motorcycle Adventures join the BMR crew today we’ll put a link in the show notes this segment about motorcycle gear reviews and tips we call the toolkit let’s talk literal toolkits um it’s something that’s really small and you

(01:14) can have with you um I know on a recent tool kit I put all the tools in a in like a quart size Ziploc bag and it it’s it’s a really small piece that’s really helpful at times um a few things that I think and it’s kind of best as you’re like maintenance in your bike to kind of take note of which tools um you’re using so then you can kind of I don’t know if you want to mark them with a marker just so you know which ones are the ones that you’re using but uh you know you need some Allen wrenches a few various wrench

(01:44) of you know usually metric wrenches anymore um if you have a bike that has a chain which is probably rare uh you know you’ll need some chain lube just in case and then just always having a few Rags is nice cleaners in cleaning solution if you want it especially um what I’ve noticed there is like you know cleaning the windshield um at times or just you know it depends on how you’re riding but it is nice to have a rag something dripping or dropping them and then a tire pressure gauge um and then as far as

(02:16) like like we said with the Allen wrenches and the and the metric wrenches it might be only five different ones you need uh you don’t really need as many as you think you don’t need the whole toolbox full no true yeah and I like your idea uh as you’re working on your bike at home maybe mark them put a piece of tape on them and just write bike or essential bike that’s a great idea paint pen you know with a purple or something different color yeah yeah supp a little bit of colored electrical thing whatever

(02:44) works yeah that that would work fine but I like that idea then you’re not like you said taking half your toolbox with you and yeah and then a flashlight is usually a good idea as well sometimes you’re getting out there at night and uh you just can’t I can’t see in the day so I need I show you a head lamp oh yeah you do better yeah yeah so it’s always good be prepared yep agree ridewise is the section we focus on planning and safety tips when riding with all the different types of bikes um some things

(03:13) just to to be aware of like uh on Long rides you know you’re how comfortable is your seat right um those those really vary stock seats in general aren’t very good um you may want to consider getting the old ones aren’t so bad but now it seems like I think they just force you into buy a seat they do yeah uh probably one of the most uncomfortable seats I had uh was on my uh Royal Star I had 1999 Yamaha Royal Star and they they called it the potato chip seed it was shaped like a a Pringles potato chip and

(03:47) man not no 40 miles and you know you just wanted to stand up at that point it was awful uh you know some other things are like the fuel mileage or the range I should say not mileage the range um you know before you’re heading on a trip make sure you kind of know in your group how far everyone can go on a on a tank right well and I think we’ve talked about this a little bit before but it has to do with like if someone has that potato chip seat and they can only ride for 40 minutes even though you want to

(04:18) keep riding harder and harder it’s no fun for them at all yeah like you know so just I think in the planning of it I think that’s maybe where you’re going that’s that’s a right the fuel range too and it’s good to you say like fuel range because each bike has a differ size tank M you know like in this rides we know it can be two gold wings but like the you know the Gen five gold wings have like is it a six gallon tank like your six or six and a half yeah and the New Gen 6 bikes have like a

(04:51) 53 but the range is the same yeah you know so it really is important to think about that and then knowing also a little bit when the weather is different like if you’re riding into the wind everyone’s fuel mileage is going to be much worse you know you just you just get tugged down by that and it’s it’s a difference yeah in highway speeds too if you’re out on the Interstate 65 70 75 miles per hour you might yeah you might lose 10 miles per gallon and then you know two up you know again or if you’re

(05:20) on two up yeah yeah in the wind will make a big difference on that too yeah for sure yeah um so yeah think think about that your you know your seats fuel range you know when you’re planning how many bugs per mile can you handle I remember that because honestly though like I distinct that we remember a time we R in the evening I had a bike that had no windshield like it was like 6 Ines tall and we would we stop and and Brad and Mike be cleaning their windshield off and I’m cleaning my helmet off because it was so bad so yeah

(05:55) no it’s it’s joking but yeah you you’ll eat a lot more bugs when your windshield’s smaller yeah that’s true or you don’t have a windshield yeah well it’s technically had one yeah right I just wouldn’t recommend it for a long trip not to have one the next segment is what we call the mile marker it’s our story segment for the mile marker story today we’re going to talk about a suggestion U made by Interceptor Moto heads up to Interceptor Moto he said you know like how is it different um taking

(06:24) rides and trips on the different types of bikes you had so I think what we can do Tod is like walk through some of the different types of bike models the differences between those and riding them you know and of course each one of these is going to vary because there’s in every type category then there’s a whole range of different bikes but I thought we could start with like what I would call dual sport or adventure bike is another name for it I’ve had a couple voms um those are nice bikes they’re

(06:55) usually kind of like a dual sport or adventure bike kind of on off-road um you know one of the things that’s funny when you talk about that is that like really thing that makes the Dual Sport the Dual Sport is the tires and so like if you’re on something that’s comfortable on the street it’s probably not going to be very effective if you get off the road but there are some options there so when you think about that you’re thinking about the the vrom you’re thinking about the um the Kawasaki versus which is a little

(07:24) smaller version and then all the kind of GS BMW bikes um um are kind of Adventure bikes now the the trip that I remember most and I know I don’t think you went with us this time but we went um we rode the south side of Lake Superior actually and so there’s a lot of um it’s interesting they’re technically sand roads but they’re really hard pack sand but it’s an interesting ride and kind of fun you know and then there’s you know so we enjoyed that ride and we have some great pictures on the south side which

(07:55) is a completely different look than when you’re riding on the north side of Lake Superior and that’s pretty fun but you know there’s a lot of great rides across the US Wisconsin has what they call the trans Wisconsin Trail a lot of jeeps and advv bikes go on that there’s the Trans America Trail too which lots of gravels lots of off-road uh private party land that’s been you know asked you know people have got permission um so you know ADV riding is pretty cool it it’s fun if you’re into that sort of thing um

(08:27) but uh yeah I mean a lot of times guys will camp when they’re doing advv writing sure um so it’s just kind of like maybe one more step of Outdoors than that so that’s what I think of a lot when I think of of that adventure bike so yeah yeah cool um the only um two two standard bikes I guess that I used uh Road R fairly decent rides on is the FZ1 which is kind of the the it looks like a sport bike but you’re really sitting pretty Square um on that bike first time we went around lake Lake Michigan uh took that I have no idea

(09:04) it’s not good for a guy my size to be riding that bike period let alone Thousand Miles um so I remember seeing photos of you laying flat on your back in a parking lot to recover from that was we it was a three-day trip that was day three and I remember it 10 o’clock in the morning we stopped at a at just a gas station and both Brad and I were just laying on the concrete thinking we’re as far away from home as we can be dang near and so yeah you know funny thing I remember we get back on and then

(09:37) it wasn’t that bad on the way from there on but rode that bike um also then I also my first time to the tail Dragon was a standard with the original Honda Goldwing those were considered standards back then they technically didn’t have um Factory bags yet that was all aftermarket so um you know I mean standard’s a great bike it’s comfortable feeder underneath your you know kind of straight underneath your your seat um you know they’re probably yeah the touring bikes are pretty comfortable the

(10:07) standard bikes are probably like pretty nice bike to ride on like Universal if you were just had to have one bike forever maybe that’d be a good one to have so yeah what about Cruisers Todd yeah I think one of my first long multi-day trips anyway uh was on a cruiser uh I had a I think I mentioned already the 99 uh Yamaha Royal Star um you know and I had the highway pegs I had a windshield I had you know bags on locking bags on the sides but um I think I had replaced the seat before that first trip maybe not I maybe that’s

(10:45) after yeah um but the problem with that bike I I found for the trips that we went on uh we were you know looking for twisty roads of course and um that bike had a real heavy front end a big front tire and I was really fatigued D riding that bike through the twisties because I don’t know how to describe this but it would feel like the front end would want to just flop over so I always felt like I was like really hanging on to the dive it wanted the dive yeah and so you’re almost like holding the handlebars from flopping

(11:20) into the corners like that and so um I just remember like the end of the day is like neck tired shoulders tired arms tired just from so much work it was just a lot of work um you know the center of gravity was probably a little higher on that bike too because it was a you know like a V V4 engine on that so um that didn’t help but even though there was a lot of storage you know the good things were the bike had a lot of weight to it so on the highway I didn’t get blown around by trucks you know that that kind

(11:52) of wind I felt felt very planted on the road I felt very safe but it was not the best in the twisties for sure and it didn’t have like a lot of pickup you know I me it was a little doggy you know um but you know the heaviness I kind of enjoyed you know it felt real planted on the road but man it it was a lot of work sure you know on twisty days so I also had a Honda Spirit um what they call that one well it was like a a 2001 it was a was it a shadow it might have been a Shadow Spirit yeah I think that’s what

(12:27) it was you’re right uh that was a v twin but I didn’t I didn’t go on multi-day trips with that one if I remember correctly but the thing I didn’t like about that one I just I felt like I was on a like a John Deere tractor was like that yeah it was a v twin yeah not a low of pick up I don’t know I just didn’t I did feel like I was down in the bike though it was a cruiser swep back handlebars you sat down low yep uh you kind of lean back a little bit feet out in front of you so that was fine I just

(12:58) I didn’t really care for the the engine I guess the power on that yeah well I mean yeah and then I think that would be the same most of Harley-Davidson’s would fall in the Cruisers and similar I think they’re going to be a little heavier top side and I know Chris says that when we’re riding he’s he he works it when we’re going through really heavy twisties MH um we took a ride like a day ride with a fellow that had a nice trike a harly trike and man you really have to you really work those I’ll bet you know

(13:28) they’re just less leaning so you’re more manhandling true so I know that we were up um you know we went up to like a lacrosse Lac Crescent area and he he was like oh I’m ready for a break and I was like oh I didn’t think about that you know so so I know that like you said feels steady feels beefy nice in the bike feel little more work yeah sure a little more work mhm and then I guess lastly is probably what you and I would consider the very best it’s just touring bikes um I think like the

(14:04) Indian uh I think it’s the pursuit you know the ultra Glide Harley the gond to Gold wi those really fall into that touring Touring bike yeah BMWs some of the big BMW the k600 and even the Big 12 GS 1200 Adventure is a very wide comfortable bike even though it’s upright you know so yeah those are those I would call touring um and those are I don’t know I mean it’s what you want on the road big windshields big protection heated everything’s lot of power lots of power um you know like we’ve been

(14:44) talking I think over the last few episodes like Android auto is starting to be you know a carplay so you’re having like phone connections put the phone in the back you get a nice screen I mean they’re just becoming more advanced technologically as well I think that’s where you’re seeing more technology show up on the touring bikes built in GPS yeah all that stuff it’s pretty cool um yeah for it’s by far my favorite bike I wish I would have bought one a lot a long time ago I mean I didn’t need all the other bikes just

(15:14) started with that with that gold wi I tell you yeah a lot of people will buy the Cruisers to ride around they’re they’re Nimble you know when you’re in town they’ll you know some of them just a lot less bags and weights and every a lot of people get subc or conscious about the um about the tailbags and I always say tailbags great until I get to Menards or I get to the grocery store and I put two gallons of milk and a whole bunch of groceries and they’re all inside I mean yeah yeah I I don’t know I

(15:44) don’t buzz around town I guess that much so uh true yeah but you know so as far as that goes I said I’d probably I’d probably say I’d like the the touring break as well so but yeah we pretty much just ride touring we’re not riding too much commuting or anything I mean if you’re commuting I’m sure you’re going to want something that’s a little tighter easier to get around with more like a standard yep yeah the podcast can be found on best motorcycleroads.

(16:10) com slmp podcast all the information you need will be there uh but you can subscribe on Spotify Amazon music apple pocketcast and YouTube this is the interactive segment we will be looking for input from you uh we want you to send us your questions and suggestions for roads topics and anything else you have on your mind today’s roadside Q&A comes from Deb uh Deb wants to know do we ever worry about uh someone messing with our bikes at night when we’re staying at hotels or motels and and what do we do to keep it safe

(16:42) yeah um I don’t know for me Tom I don’t know in in 25 years I haven’t or 30 years I haven’t really worried about that you know and I don’t know if it’s maybe the we’re staying kind of in smaller towns or we’re staying on the outskirts of town we’re not you know down in cities or or anything like that so you know I’ve never really worried about it I mean I do take my GPS off the bike if it’s on the handlebars I’ll take my phone in of course y you know carry my helmet in because usually I’m

(17:10) recharging my headset or something but um you know the steering you know handlebars will lock and bags are locked so I really don’t worry about it too much and even when we’re stopped for uh a meal somewhere I just set my helmet on the seat throw my jacket over the top of that and yeah uh I I don’t worry about it too much I what are your thoughts yeah I mean I I agree where we are hanging out is probably not the places to worry yeah um I know I left a helmet on a bike hoping someone would steal it

(17:40) a couple times CU I didn’t like it I was really I downtown Iowa City and I’m thinking great this is perfect somebody will steal it then I can get a new one they didn’t I think if you’re concerned about it there’s a couple things that’s interesting so a lot of times you’re going to mount the GPS’s with a Ram Mount And so there’s either the the RAM mount brand or there’s some other brands that have a I guess you’d call it a it’s a special key or something yeah um you

(18:06) know I’ve ordered some I like there’s some smaller aluminum ones Ram mounts are nice they’re big and bulky but they’re big and bulky but I found some more recently that were smaller and you can kind of tighten them up and then there’s just like a little plastic key which just is enough I think to keep it from from that way they can’t take off the the GPS um even on the like on the gar they sell a certain Mount that you can like it locks on there so you you really have to break it to get it off so

(18:36) at night time if you want to take it in you can pop it off um we may have talked about this in the past but another good um short-term solution for when you’re like going to you know going to walk around in a town or if you’re going to a restaurant you can get one of the um the bike locks like for a bicycle um they usually have a cable and then you can string that through your helmet and you can string it through your jacket and then if you have bags you could string it through your bags if they’re

(19:03) like um and then it just locks and it’s just about the prevent the the visual prevention somebody wants it they’re stealing it you know almost better to not make it too hard than to make it you know yeah feel difficult there’s locks that you can put on your um disc brakes so there’s a little clamp those are popular in Europe um you can get also like lowjack for bikes I know that’s a requirement to have a motorcycle in Europe you have to have that sailor low Jack on there and then the last thing is

(19:33) something that we use for um for protection at night but also you know kind of out of sight out of mind throw the cover over the bike and most people are not going to Monkey around with getting in it if they if they can’t see it um you know so if you throw a cover on they’ve got full covers half covers and those cover up everything and then they’re not looking at it and they’re just you know yeah I throw a half cover on at night as well and yeah you know like you said if if if it’s more work to

(20:00) take the cover off and then yeah it’s like yeah yeah so yeah I think that’s pretty much it and the newer bikes with the fobs are getting easier too just from the whole bike perspective you don’t have to take the keys out they’re in your pocket I find myself halftime leaving the stinking phone on the bike by accident going back out have to go back out and get it so now it’s time for The Last Mile it’s our way to close the episode with our Reflections Todd if you want me to go first I sure can um I just

(20:26) I’ve really enjoyed you know I know you guys make fun of me because I change bikes you know more than my underwear maybe but I’ve enjoyed the different motorcycles um I actually even have like a little scooter that I sometimes write around like it’s a Honda 600 there’s a they’re a onepe you know I think it’s fun just to experience all the different bikes um I can’t say that I’d want to own one of them all because I don’t think I would drive them that much but it’s been fun just learning about them

(20:53) the different nuances of each one of them um gosh I mean I don’t I outside of really enjoying the longdistance rides on the Gold Wing they’re all fun to ride I mean they all just have a different thing and you know we were joking about the windshield but I I mean the longest to date still I think ride we’ve ever done I took that old 78 Gold Wing to the tail of dragon and the windshield was about you know yeah the size of a pie plate you know so it’s just fun and that kind of even reminds me of a story when

(21:26) we were there and I may have told this before but we met met this old guy and he had an old Kawasaki you know bike and a bubble windshield and it was just fun like that guy was just enjoying life and I don’t know you know it’s a joke or not but the worst day riding a motorcycle sometimes feels like the best day not and so for me it’s just enjoying them all but you know yeah it’s fun yeah and uh you know hearing you say that reminded me one of my favorite bikes that I ever had was really my first bike

(21:56) was my uh 85 Honda Magna um that’s the kind of bike I sort of learned on I mean I learned before that but that was the first bike I owned and it was just fast super fast you know rip your head off you know when you’re accelerating and uh enjoyed that a whole bunch and I had a you know a fairing on that but you know I I too have enjoyed riding different bikes and you know owning different bikes and then you know through that experience and now having the Gold Wing I really you know appreciate yeah how you know how that

(22:28) Cruiser you know has really revolutionized things or not Cruiser sorry touring bike and uh um you know but it’s it it was probably a nice stepping stone to go through the smaller bikes and then work my way up to I and honestly like the older you get the more Comforts feel better abolutely even after our most recent ride I think my hands hurt for a couple days and I have these big comfy grips on there you know so it’s fun you know that’s it’s awesome so if this episode revved up your day don’t keep it to yourself please like

(22:59) subscribe and share it with your crew we’re all about the thrill of the ride and the bond it creates keep the spirit of Adventure alive and remember bikes friends and endless roads the stories ride forever take care [Music] [Music]