Choosing your bike

After reading my last post, you must now have a good solid idea on what kind of rider you want to be seen as. Now comes the time when you need to go bike hunting, and I’ll give you a few hints on how to narrow down your choice to a manageable amount. One of the problems when purchasing a motorcycle from a dealership in Macau is that they have no demonstration model available. They may be scared you crashed during test driving it or just don’t feel like insuring one bike of each model they’re selling. So you’d better make some good research before venturing to the nearest dealer.

My first comment will be on the size of the bike… Before telling you “buy a small motorbike” I’d just want you to take some time and remember the very first time you drove a manual transmission car. Most people have some trouble as it’s something very new to them and they do not have the skills to handle everything that has to be handled while driving. Handling the clutch while shifting up and down the gears can be tricky and it can take a while before a new driver (or learner) finds out how to have a smooth transition. Same thing goes for braking and so on…

Now tell me… The first time you drove was probably at the driving school, right? Do you remember what kind of car they were using for the lessons? Was it a Lamborghini Countach or something more like an old Daihatsu Charade? If someone answered “Lamborghini Countach” you’re either a big liar or your brain is not functioning properly and you should seek medical help right now.

Take all those funny memories you have when you began driving a car and increase the difficulty a bit… I mean, a lot actually… On a motorcycle, you’ll only have 2 wheels and will have to worry about keeping that hundreds of kilos monster balanced properly as well as keeping those 2 wheels on the road… This is why I’d advise to “buy a small motorbike” to begin with. Here are a few facts I’ve experienced that may help you understand a bit more:

Fact #1: Big motorbikes are heavier
When I was still practicing to get the license, the school had me learn on a Suzuki S40 that weighs around 173kg (for 2009 models). While it doesn’t sound that heavy, I assure you that when the bike loses its balance and start tipping on the side, it takes a lot of strength to keep it from hitting the ground. It happened to me a couple of times and hurt my back once. Lighter motorbikes do not cancel that problem, but it makes it more manageable.

Fact #2: Big motorbikes accelerate faster
Yes, big bikes not only go faster than small bikes, they also accelerate faster. What do I mean? I mean you’ll only need to twist the throttle a tiny little bit to get a good punch out of the engine. Now imagine you actually make the mistake of twisting too much. What will happen is your body will be thrown backwards and you will put your best efforts in hanging on so you do not fly right off your bike. The only problem is you are probably hanging on to the throttle, and as your body is being pulled back, your gripping hand is probably twisting that throttle some more which causes the bike to go even faster and it becomes a vicious circle.

Fact #3: Big motorbikes brake harder
Big engines are usually paired with big breaks… They also have higher torques than smaller engines, meaning that if you go from full throttle to none, the bike will slow down really steeply which will this time push your body towards the front of the bike. That is a common mistake that beginner riders make when Fact #2 happens which causes a lot of crashes at low speed. They start too quick then stop too hard and we’re back to Fact #1 when they’re losing balance.

So that’s the first step you need to take in researching which motorcycle is right for you. Typically, I’d advise fresh riders to begin riding on something between 250cc and 500cc as they will usually forgive small mistakes easier than their bigger brothers (650cc and above). Of course, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn on a 650cc, but it just may make your experience a bit harder. A lot of new riders who decide to follow the hard path end up crashing their newly acquired bike in their first month riding it. Some will ride again after paying all the repairs, some others just get scared and store their bike away in their garage to never touch it again.

Another thing to keep in mind is you’ll be driving your bike around Macau where the fastest you can legally drive is 80km/h. You will never push your 650cc to its limits and will barely use its 4th gear and above, so smaller bikes should be more fun around here. So I’d advise all new riders to start on a small motorcycle first, learn stuff, get experience from riding and other riders, and once you completely master it and eventually get bored you can start thinking about getting your plutonium powered monster.