Regarding motorbikes, I have mostly ridden automatics. I learned to ride on a regular motorcycle. As I remember, it was a mid-sized Japanese bike but I don't remember the make. But the first motorbike that I purchased was an automatic and I stuck with them ever since. My first motorbike was a Honda CM400 (Hondamatic). It was not quite a true automatic. It had a switch to toggle between gears. But it did not require clutching. A Navy shipmate had gotten one. After a test ride on his, I was convinced and bought one. Living in San Diego, I though it would be more convenient in the city. At some point after the Navy, I stupidly sold the bike when I was tight on cash. But that did reintroduce me to bicycling, which I wound up doing for years as my primary transportation. In addition to riding the motorbike on tours, I also got into doing bicycling tours.
At first, I was into road bicycles. This was, in part, because of the limited availability of mountain bike styles at the time. My most memorable road bike was a Motobécane (The French bike not the USA/Taiwan version). In addition to the frame being well fit for my 6' 4" size, I had put a lot of high end components on it. I had spent over $1000 on that bike and had it for quite awhile. But Santa Barbara eventually led me to mountain bikes and I eventually stayed with them for bicycling. I've had a few mountain bikes along the way. My current bike is a Trek 4500.
After a few years, I returned to motorbikes again. Honda was no longer making the Hondamatic series. I'm not sure why I did not get a used one. But Honda was making the Honda Helix. Although only a 250cc, it had enough power for the freeway and I think that I got a good deal on it. For reasons that I don't recall, I only had that for 2 - 3 years. I had a couple of small bikes. When I was in San Diego in the early 90's and in between jobs, someone was selling an 80cc Honda Elite for cheap. I did not like it. Besides being small for my size, I had 2 accidents that involved its underpowered nature. The first was when someone miscalculated my speed and turned in front of me, causing me to skid and jam my left knee between the bike and car. I don't remember the second accident but it looked like someone rear ended me on a curve in the road.
Now, I don't want to scare anyone from getting a small scooter. It's not that they are inherently dangerous. But you do need to consider where you ride the bike. I think that my mistake was that I had bigger bikes and may not have ridden the Elite within its limitations. That being said, I personally recommend at least a 150cc bike. You will have better ability to pace with traffic and better maneuverability. After the 80cc, I had a Yamaha 150cc scooter. I think I had some financial difficulties at the time. I was going to college and had a tight budget. I remember that I was in Santa Barbara and was bicycling full time again. Then the bike was stolen. I was going to just get another bicycle but found a deal for the 150cc Yamaha. I don't remember the model. It was OK. It was not freeway legal. I think that it maxed at about 50 MPH. But that was plenty for street riding and hills. I thank that the Yamaha had some repair issues after I had it a couple of years.
Besides Santa Barbara being easy to get around on a bicycle, it was also not too difficult to get into the mountains via bicycle, either all the way or after taking a local bus, which had bike racks at least by the early 90's. So I did a fair amount of mountain biking in the 90's. The Santa Barbara coastline also had some good trail riding. I also got into longer bicycle tour riding. I did some long trips with the Hondamatic and Helix. My first long bicycle trip was between Santa Barbara and LA. I then did Santa Barbara to San Diego and San Diego to Santa Cruz. I subsequently made 3 more bicycle trips via Big Sur, a Mohave Desert ride and some deeper trips into the Santa Barbara back country. I'll do some posts later about these trips and some hiking adventures.
In Houston, I was a bit overwhelmed by the size. I did not know anyone and, for reasons better explained later, did not initially network well. So it took a bit to discover that there are some fair bicycling and rollerblading areas. Once I switched to a motorbike again for my main transportation, it got more difficult to get to the good bicycle area. I rented a storage space for a while and also got back into doing more rollerblading. I eventually moved near one of the bayous, which has a bike path. Actually, I will be doing some posts about Houston outdoor trips.
Yes, my main transportation is a motorbike, once again. In 2007, I got a Yamaha Majesty 400cc maxi-scooter. The 400's and up can go over 100 MPH while, at better highway speeds, get around 50 MPG. A few months ago, I got a Kymco Xciting 500. I wanted to get a Suzuki Bergman 650. But I was shopping for a used bike and the 650's kept getting bought too quickly. But I knew someone who had an Xciting 500. I rode the bike so I knew it would fit well. Besides local commutes, I do Houston and Texas area tours, solo, with friends and a tour group. I have a brother in Missouri and ride up to him every couple of years or so. Next year, I'll be exploring Arkansas a bit more.
If you are in the Houston area and interested in riding (motored or bicycle), rollerblading or hiking, contact me. I'm open to riders with any size scooter or motorcycle, mountain bike, road bike, trike. Hikes can be urban or rural. I'm also game for other types of outdoor trips. If you're out there, I'm open to it.
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