Shek's Footprint

I am buying a motorcycle. It has been my life long goals to own one and I am finally doing it. I enjoy living car free. I enjoy not heavily depending on oil for transportation. I also enjoy not having any insurance expense.

I have chosen to move to another part of town 13 miles away. A bicycle friendly and socially active part of town. I therefore need a motorcycle to commute to and from work. I would have done it on a bicycle but I have a dog to take care of and it is not fair to leave her in a room for 12+ hours while I am away.

My goals are to keep my expense at a minimum, gasoline usage low and not much insurance to pay. I have been looking at commuter motorcycles for a while. These are the options I am considering:

My route includes 12 miles of Interstate 95 and State Road 202 where the average speed of travel is 65 mph.

Only I95 has a minimum limit of 40 mph. It is recommended that to ride a motorcycle on a roadway, one should at least ride at the speed of traffic with some reserve power left to accelerate away from danger. I have heard stories from friends about how they were able to wring the throttle to escape an accident. It is not a common occurrence but it only takes one accident. This renders the Eliminator and the Suzuki not worthy of the interstate.

The motorcycle culture in USA, much like the bicycle culture is very much biased towards recreation. I have been battling this consumerist materialistic more-power-is-never-enough attitude for a few weeks. It is time to define my goals strongly and move towards a decision objectively.

Kawasaki Eliminator 125: I have been a secret fan of this bike in India where it is sold with a 180cc engine. It maintains its styling nicely even with a smaller engine.

Pros:

• Low styling (low center of gravity)
• High gas mileage (low carbon footprint)
• Least cost of the three (more money saved to replace my dying laptop)
• Low desirability (for theft)
• Low insurance ($181 per year includes comprehensive and liability)

Cons:

• Not worthy of interstate riding (Elongates my 15 min one way trip time to 30 min)

Suzuki TU250X: This reminds me of 70s style motorcycles I grew up watching. I like the sit-up styling unlike the foot-forward cruiser styling of the Eliminator.

Pros:

• High gas mileage (low carbon footprint)
• Low cost (more money saved to replace my dying laptop)
• Low desirability (for theft)
• Low insurance ($171 per year includes comprehensive and liability)
• Electronic Fuel injected

Cons:

• Not worthy of interstate riding. It will struggle to keep up. (Elongates my 15 min one way trip time to 30 min)

Buell Blast: This single cylinder has a reputation for hit-and-miss reliability. Some people seem to not have any problems with it while some complain. It was designed to be a maintenance free beginner bike.

Pros:

• Interstate ready. I wont have to take alternate routes on slower roads.
• Low center of gravity (muffler is tucked under the engine)
• Belt drive

Cons:

• Lowest gas mileage of the three (though very respectable)
• Hit and miss reliability in reviews
• High cost (low value for money)
• Highest insurance by far ($497 per year includes comprehensive and liability)

Conclusion:

The utility of these bikes goes up only with the Buell which allows me to keep pace with interstate traffic and have plenty of juice left to pull away from danger. Other than that, I don’t really see any extra utility. I will spend an extra 30 minutes (15 each way) by commuting on Phillips Highway but I am usually in no hurry and always have time. It fails to justify the cost over the Eliminator and the Suzuki.

I will get to ride the likes of the Eliminator and the Suzuki during my Motorcycle Safety Training Basic Rider Course. The final decision will have to wait till then. I am leaning towards the Eliminator though. It can provide the joy of cruising along at my own pace at a very affordable price. It is also a good step towards upgrading to a classic styled bike in a few years…like this one.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Commuting, Living Green, Motorcycle, roadways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.