The Biggest Mistake New Riders Make Buying A Motorcycle

The biggest mistake new riders make buying a motorcycle, is painting yourself in a corner of motorcycling and going into analysis paralysis.

You’ll leave three paragraph comments listing all of these motorcycles you’re choosing from, while at the same sharing how none of them actually work for you.

I’ve totally made this mistake myself. Here’s what I’ve learned:

You think you have to have a certain kind of bike because your friends do, or to impress a girl, or because of some tv show you watched.

Been there. For the first ten years I was riding I basically only rode cruisers. I was always worried about which one cruiser was going to be better than the other cruiser for this or that.

It took me ten years to realize I was doing it wrong.

Because one day I thought, “If I want to ride across countries, what type of motorcycle would actually be best?”

I ended up buying a BMW GS dual sport. For each of the last four years I’ve done month-long, cross country motorcycle rides

My BMW is not what I ever pictured myself on, it’s not the sexiest, it’s not the fastest, but I ride more now, and I enjoy riding more now, than I ever did before.

So don’t put yourself in a corner. Don’t limit yourself to one category of motorcycle. First, figure out what kind of motorcycle suits your needs. Second, figure out what kind of motorcycle would actually make you want to ride it every single day. Then you can figure out what bike to ride.