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Recently, I was talking to a student at one of our schools who was interested in possibly buying a BMW S 1000 double-R. In addition to the S sport bike, he was considering the S 1000 XR street-oriented adventure bike, or maybe even the S 1000 single-R. I told him to pick the bike that represented the type of riding he would do most often and described my take on each model.
Even as I gave him that advice, I could see the look of cognitive strain on his face. This reminded me of past conversations with friends who asked for buying advice. Quite often, they would come to me with two different models to choose between. One model would be a sexy, exotic motorcycle, and the other would be something more practical. I typically advised the more practical motorcycle, but each time, they went the sexy route. They later regretted it because the bike wasn't really suited for the type of riding they did most often.
Editor's note: Dylan Code is a rider coach and the COO (stands for child of owner) of the California Superbike School, with more than 20 years of full-time experience in the area of rider training. He works closely with his father, Keith Code, on curriculum development and figuring out how to provide the best possible motorcycle riding experience for their students. His role also means he gets asked for his opinion a lot — including which motorcycle to buy.
After that, I started telling people to just go ahead and buy whatever they want to buy because that's what they're going to do anyway. But when talking to this person recently, I could tell they were leaning towards the sport bike end of the spectrum, and I said this: If you buy well (a good price or a used one), you really can't go wrong because if you decide it's not for you, then you can sell it for maybe a small loss and then try something else. That seemed to resonate with him, and I could tell we were getting somewhere.
Why we buy what we buy
For many, a motorcycle purchase is part emotional and part practical. While I used to steer people toward the more practical option, I have come to think that there are times when the emotional option needs to be taken and explored, even if it's later regretted.
Otherwise, the person is haunted with a curious longing for a particular exotic piece of machinery, never scratching that itch. I compare it to the girl you liked in high school but never asked out, then for the rest of your life you’re haunted about questions of what could have been. So now I tell people to go ahead and ask her out, find out they’re completely incompatible, and then you won't go through the rest of life wondering.
For new riders, I still very much advocate getting a smaller, simpler motorcycle to get started in the riding game and I vigorously insist they stay away from large and overly powerful models. But for riders who are no longer beginners, I also have to recognize the “enthusiast factor.” I’ve come to understand that many riders who are fervent enthusiasts of technology and engineering simply desire to have an exotic motorcycle that far exceeds their ability to use the performance, and I think that's OK if their basic skills are solid. I don't give somebody the side-eye for celebrating an amazing piece of technology, engineering, and aesthetic design. Of course, being in the rider training field, I encourage that person to seek out a good mentor, school, or any other source of personal development.
While I used to steer people toward the practical choice, when buying a motorcycle, I’ve come to think that people who pursue the most exotic bikes should be viewed simply as those celebrating their passion.
In many cases, they’ll buy that exotic bike, get that out of their system, and then they can get a bike they actually love riding. But who knows? For a few riders, that exotic bike may end up being a match made in heaven.
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