Dream Ride or Dream Bike?

[klaviator]

If you spend any time on motorcycle forums you will find endless discussion about the "perfect" bike or which bike is "best".  I have even see people post that they where waiting until they could get their dream bike before buying a bike at all.  people are often obsessed with their bikes.

Too be fair, I'm somewhat guilty of this.  BrainA made an interesting comment in his recent ride report: "There's a very logical assumption that most people make when spending their money: that because a physical object will last longer, it will make us happier for a longer time than a one-off experience like a concert or vacation. According to recent research, it turns out that assumption is completely wrong."

Brian's post was really about spending money on experiences vs things.  This thread isn't exactly what he was talking about but it got the gears in my head turning.   

So, how important is is having the right bike to your riding experience?   Given the following two choices, which would you choose?



1.  You get to spend a week riding anywhere in the world, in other words, your dream ride.  The catch is that you must do it on an perfectly adequate bike that is not anything special.  Think Ninja 650, V Strom 650, KLR650 or maybe a Suzuki C800 for you cruiser folks or Honda CRF250L for you dual sporters.

2.  You get to ride your Dream bike for a week.  Any bike you want.  The catch is you can only take it on day rides from your home.  So, basically you'll be riding your dream bike on roads you ride all the time. 


So, dream bike or dream ride.  How many of you couldn't have your dream ride without your dream bike being part of it?

[DachshundUberAlles]

I would take the dream bike on roads I know. Since it's a "dream" scenario, those roads will be totally devoid of traffic and police worries.

[KevinB]

I'd pick a weeklong European tour on a Ninja/Versys 650.

[Nice Goat]

BrianA was right ... experiences are forever.  I want to ride southern Chile for a week, and any 250cc or larger dual sport would be fine.

[scrappyjon]

Dream ride all day long. Give me any of those bikes listed and 3 or more months to ride around the whole country.

[klaviator]

I would take the dream bike on roads I know. Since it's a "dream" scenario, those roads will be totally devoid of traffic and police worries.

You gotta take the roads the way they are.  If you have some nice roads totally devoid of traffic and police around you then I want to come ride with you.  Around here in N. Alabama we have some pretty nice roads with light traffic and very light police presence but they don't compare to my dream roads.  I don't know that riding them on my "dream" bike would be that much more fun than riding them on the bikes I already have. 

I'd take the Dream ride on an average bike.  The Alps would be at the top of my list although a dual sport ride in South America would also be very appealing. 

As for my "dream" bike.  I can't say I really have one although there are a number of bikes I'd really like to own. 

[norton73]

The current dream ride is the Trans America Trail. I'd happily do it on my XT350, but I'll probably look for something else before I do it, WR250R, DRZ400, etc. Nothing exotic, just capable.

As for the dream bike, it would have to be a Norton CS1 from 1927. I rode a friend's all over Daytona about 15 years ago, I begged him to sell it to me at the time. Now it's worth so much I couldn't afford it if he did sell.

Not the one I rode, it was way cooler with a very interesting history.

[Brian A]

Interesting discussion topic.

No question. Hands down, every day, I'd take the dream ride on whatever decent bike was offered.

As I get older I am less enamored by high tech, high performance bikes. I appreciate them for what they are but I don't place near as much value on them from a personal reward/satisfaction standpoint as I might have 10-20 years, and more, back in time.

When I think back to Idaho or the trip to Ecuador, I could have done the vast majority of either, (and probably all of either with a little extra effort) on a Honda XL 200 and would value that more than a week, or a month, or a year on my "Dream Bike".

Disclaimer - fact is, I don't know that I really have a dream bike. I could sell what I have and by whatever else I might want, but I don't. So in a way, I guess my current "Dream Bikes" are presently sitting in my garage.

[Mulley]

I don't even have ponder this one.

Dream ride.

I've already spent enough money on trips to buy anything I would actually own and ride. I think anyone that has ever taken a trip, I mean a real trip. Not just a few days only a state away. I mean go somewhere out of your element and comfort zone. See the world. Get detached from your current reality and create a new reality and memories and emotions. Go and live. Once you've done this you will crave more. That new fancy bike is far less valuable than taking a trip.

But in case you are asking. I would love to have a Britten. However in my engineering mind, that bike is priceless and I would cherish it in static form. It wouldn't get ridden, at least not often, and that's not why bikes are made. So I would be doing John Britten a disservice by owning it.

Go somewhere, immerse yourself in a new culture or leave culture behind and go where there are no people. No matter what you choose, enjoy life and live it. In the end things are just things. When you're old and aren't able to go anymore, hopefully you will have memories and can reflect on the places you've seen.

[scrappyjon]

I think if you care about the ride and the experience more than that awesome 200 hp bike with a built in ballsac warmer, then your dream bike wouldn't be that hard to get. Right now my dream bike would be a triumph tiger 800 xc. It would accommodate my dream ride perfectly and is not that far out of reach for me. I just need to wait a little bit longer for the price on used ones to go down. The only reason I even want that is because it's nice to change things up a little bit. I honestly never even think about having a "dream bike". I do however dream about taking off and doing my thing listed in the previous comment.  I'm willing to guess this is how most of you on here feel.

[DachshundUberAlles]

Dreams don't abide by rules.

[Nice Goat]

I do however dream about taking off and doing my thing ...

Did you make it to PR this summer?  Any pics?

[scrappyjon]

I do however dream about taking off and doing my thing ...

Did you make it to PR this summer?  Any pics?

We did. It was awesome! I did however, follow the advice of some of the folks on adv rider and stayed away from motorcycles. It was a good decision. The roads over there were as scary as the drivers. I was terrified in a CAR. The roads were extremely narrow and some of them were so steep that I literally could not see the road or where I was going. All I could see was the hood of the car and the trees. If you heard a truck horn in the distance that means pull over off the road as far as you can which is sometimes just a few inches. The people drive so fast on those mountain roads that the traffic sounds like a drifting car race. I tried to keep up so we wouldn't get run over. The tires on our rental car were pretty chewed up when I turned it in. It would be a great place to to some off roading though, with a group.  Puerto Rico has everything. Beautiful beaches, mountains and rain forests.











Edit to say. After seeing it and how the traffic flows over there, I would like to go back and ride it with a KLR or something that could handle the roads there. Sans passenger.

[Nice Goat]

We did. It was awesome! ...

Cool...I've been several times, always for work, always find something interesting to do.  Wife wants to go someday for vacation.  I would love to ride a dirt bike in Puerto Rico, no traffic per the Dasuberalles' rules.

[mojo1]

Dream ride for me but I want more than a week if its going to be a dream ride. :)