A little "perspective"

I'm from Texas. It's a cozy little state. When we go for a ride, we make sure we've got plenty of gas!

I'm from Laredo (on the Mexico border), now living in Leander, just north of Austin, the State Capitol. Laredo and Leander are 285 miles apart.

My driveway is a 3-minute drive from some of the best riding in the State, and even the country. When we lived in Laredo, it was a 2-hour ride to the first curve in the road!



"I'm going to ride Great Britain, end to end!"

So... what are you doing later that afternoon?

hee hee

Why do American bikes have eighty-mile tanks?

Triton Thrasher said:

Why do American bikes have eighty-mile tanks?

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And why are there so many old Brits repatriated from the USA with crazy low miles on them ??

I passed through Texas once.

Had a steak at ‘The Big Texan’. Couldn’t finish it though.

I liked Texas, so much so I nearly bought me a cowboy hat… and a truck.

There's an old saying about buying 2 cowboy hats. Not repeating it here though.

I did a lot of riding in West Texas in the early 80's. My friend's Sportster would throw parts off and break down long before that peanut tank ran dry.

Don’t let’s be beastly to the Texans!

Triton Thrasher said:

Don’t let’s be beastly to the Texans!

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Its something we do with our biker mates, we love to put sh it on each other and even more so if your an Aussie, if you can't put sh it on your mates then really your not a true mate (friend) LOL.

Triton Thrasher said:

Why do American bikes have eighty-mile tanks?

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I've never owned a bike that couldn't go 100 miles without re-filling, and I've owned 182 bikes, more than half of those were classic Brit bikes.

OOPS! I take that back! My '57 Mo-Ped could get about 40 miles on it's tiny tank, and my Yama YT-80 could go maybe 60 miles. Neither one were meant for highways.

Only American bikes are HD, and they all have like 10-gallon tanks...

Fast Eddie said:

And why are there so many old Brits repatriated from the USA with crazy low miles on them ??

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Because brits can afford to do that!

grandpaul said:

Because brits can afford to do that!

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My question was more about why do so many such bikes in the US do so few miles ?

I guess that most folks when going any real distance take the car, or truck… or Harley ?

Fast Eddie said:

My question was more about why do so many such bikes in the US do so few miles ?

I guess that most folks when going any real distance take the car, or truck… or Harley ?

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Here's my view, formed over many years and travels.

Bikes are cheaper in the US. Hardly anybody even bothers with sub 500cc ones for road use. They are toys. After the buzz wore off and the first real maintenance was needed, many got pushed into the back of a garage with needs (tires, chain, brakes, seals, etc.) And there they sat. I would pick up big Japanese liter bikes for $500 - $1500 all the time, fix them up, ride them, and sell for profit. Hooray for the USA's throwaway culture!

I lived for years in Europe and Australia, and traveled a lot to surrounding countries. I saw that bikes were treated as another form of transport, not toys. Riders wore proper gear and maintained the bikes, covering many more miles, often in worse climates. It was less of a 'lifestyle' thing and more of a necessity, but certainly a passion among many. I remember seeing the police in Melbourne Australia, in full leather, regardless of the weather, and contrasting that to Los Angeles 'Chips' in short sleeves.

Also, America is not bike-friendly. It has to do with the 'biker' nastiness, I believe. In Europe, you see bikes parked anywhere; the police don't care. Lastly, and most importantly, it's the price of fuel, along with urban density. Fuel costs at least double, if not triple, anywhere vs. the USA. Bikes, especially small displacement ones, make a ton of sense in a dense urban environment. Look at any Google street scene, in, say Athens (summer, at least), and the roadsides are absolutely packed with smaller fuel-efficient bikes.

Fast Eddie said:

My question was more about why do so many such bikes in the US do so few miles ?

I guess that most folks when going any real distance take the car, or truck… or Harley ?

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Prior to moving to Virginia I only had a motorcycle, so I rode a lot.

When I first moved to Virginia, I had a 32-mile trip to and from work mostly on Interstate 95 which was continually under construction for a about 20 years.

One day I was not able to leave work before the rush started. I sat on a hot Triumph 500 moving at 0-5 miles per hour for a long time on a very hot and humid August day. Then pushed the bike about 10 miles before traffic let up. Never rode to work again!

Today, to get to somewhere nice to ride around here, you first ride around 50 miles through hell. I live 8 miles southwest of Washington DC.

There are parts of the country when riding is a pleasure, but I suspect that very few ride to work or ride daily. My impression of UK riders is that motorcycles are more considered transportation than here.

Fast Eddie said:

My question was more about why do so many such bikes in the US do so few miles ?

I guess that most folks when going any real distance take the car, or truck… or Harley ?

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Motorcycle "owners", not so much "riders".

None of my bikes get "a lot" of miles, because I have a lot of BIKES! My ZRX gets the most, Triumph Legend 900 triple gets 2nd most. The rest are pretty far behind.

I wore cowboy hats and drove a 1960 hot rod short flatbed F-250 Ford for a few years. I lived in California and was a framer back then.

Spent a few days in Brownsville Texas. It was like walking on the sun.

Some good music came out of Texas. ZZ Top for one.

The comment about the 2 cowboy hats was a joke. It wasn't meant to sh-t on Texas.

I put miles on my motorcycles. Lots of miles on the modern bikes. Not a lot on the P11 Norton, under 30K in 5 decades.

Removing your speedometer cable helps keep miles low too...

A lot of people ride to work in my area - bikes are allowed in the HOV lanes and you can lane split. Gas is more expensive than in much of the US. Bikes are cheaper and faster than a car.
Having ridden in both the UK and US: If you ride for three hours on US freeways, you will be over 200 miles from where you started. On secondary roads, 150 miles. Riding in the UK, with lots of twisties, road changes, and roundabouts, you will be 120 miles away and working a lot harder. UK riding is generally more sporting.

I must be old school as I enjoy riding my bikes from 17 years old when I got my licence and June that year brought my new 74 850 Commando it was my only transport but I rode it everywhere, work, pleasure, rain, cold didn't worry me as I enjoyed riding anytime out on the bike, I had my cars over the years but the bike was always number one I chose to ride but I also had my dirt bikes, always had a Honda dirt bike since 15 years old and to this day still have the Norton and Triumph Thruxton as well a Honda CRF450X dirt bike, hate being boxed in a box, 2 wheels is what I love best, but being retired now not clocking up the miles I use to, the riding mates are getting slacker when it comes to going for a ride, they hate getting up early or its overcast, excuses, excuses, when I ride these days its normally mid week when there are less bikes as well cars on my favorite roads my ride days start early find somewhere to have brekkie and a full days ride after and get home about 4ish.
We use to have a monthly Sunday ride with about 10 mates but that seems to have wane, but it don't stop me and sometimes I take the wife out for the day on the Thruxton as the Norton is my play bike and is only a solo ride (cheaper 3rd party insurance), but my Sunday ride have become my mid week rides but seems a lot more retired bikers have the same idea with more mid week riders out and about on our great range roads and the popular biker cafes are open early mid week, we have some of the best up in the ranges roads in S E Queensland but on the weekends the cops also know our favorite popular ride roads and hit them pretty hard.
Pic on the side of Baldknob Rd up on the Manely range looking towards Glass House mountain this was the first ride on my new Thruxton a day after buying it's a nice twisty road.

I hope to go to Texas some day. First thing I want to buy is a cowboy hat. I see guys wear them at outdoor bike shows and swap meets and they look ideal for sun protection. I don’t see many wearing them in NYC so I might get some stick but then I can say I needed one in Texas

speirmoor said:

I hope to go to Texas some day. First thing I want to buy is a cowboy hat. I see guys wear them at outdoor bike shows and swap meets and they look ideal for sun protection. I don’t see many wearing them in NYC so I might get some stick but then I can say I needed one in Texas

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They are good for sun AND rain. In the rain, the over-spill goes well in front of your nose, and/or well behind your back.