Thoughts on bike size for riding in northern NM

[boatdetective]

Hey guys- thanks for all the great responses. I've pulled the triggered and booked the trip! In addition, a buddy of mine was so intrigued, he's going to come along. He hasn't ridden for many years.  I was able to rent a Bonnie with bags- seems perfect for routes 4, 64, 84 through the mountains in NM. He was concerned that it would not begin enough.

It seems to me that the roads there are in mountain passes, mostly two lane undivided. Although I'm sure a Road King would be fine, it seems to me that the Bonnie would be more nimble and easier to manhandle (especially if the person has not ridden for a long time). Your thoughts?

[Lannis]

Hey guys- thanks for all the great responses. I've pulled the triggered and booked the trip! In addition, a buddy of mine was so intrigued, he's going to come along. He hasn't ridden for many years.  I was able to rent a Bonnie with bags- seems perfect for routes 4, 64, 84 through the mountains in NM. He was concerned that it would not begin enough.

It seems to me that the roads there are in mountain passes, mostly two lane undivided. Although I'm sure a Road King would be fine, it seems to me that the Bonnie would be more nimble and easier to manhandle (especially if the person has not ridden for a long time). Your thoughts?

Depends on what kind of bike he really wants.   Any modern bike is going to haul him down those roads faster than he can hold it on the road.

If he wants a giant Rocket III or an 1800cc V-twin, he should get one.   If he wants an Aprilia Mana or a 650 Versys, he should get one of those.

The capability due to "size" is just a modern marketing construct.    I strongly suspect that I could comfortably get away in front of whatever he's riding with me on a GS500 Suzuki.

I had a brand new rider on an 1100 V-twin question whether my 990cc Centauro was actually big enough to take out on the highway.   He rode his 1100 for about 500 miles then went and bought an 1800cc Vulcan so it would be "big enough".

All in the imagination.

Lannis

[PeteS]

Depends on what kind of bike he really wants.   Any modern bike is going to haul him down those roads faster than he can hold it on the road.

If he wants a giant Rocket III or an 1800cc V-twin, he should get one.   If he wants an Aprilia Mana or a 650 Versys, he should get one of those.

The capability due to "size" is just a modern marketing construct.    I strongly suspect that I could comfortably get away in front of whatever he's riding with me on a GS500 Suzuki.

I had a brand new rider on an 1100 V-twin question whether my 990cc Centauro was actually big enough to take out on the highway.   He rode his 1100 for about 500 miles then went and bought an 1800cc Vulcan so it would be "big enough".

All in the imagination.

Lannis

What Lannis says. Just about any bike would work on those roads. In my experience the eastern mountains are steeper with tighter curves than the western mountains. Even there a Triumph twin would do just fine.

Pete

[boatdetective]

I agree with you. I've told him that they really are the golden retriever of motorcycles. He always had mid sized jap bikes anyway. I think he had the idea that these were vast, open multi lane freeways.

[LowRyter]

I think a fellow that hasn't ridden in a while should do some practice riding before heading to the Rocky Mtns twisty roads. 

Obviously a lighter bike with moderate power (like a Bonnie) would make the most sense for a novice rider.

[Demar]

I have a 2010 Bonnie T100 and I've ridden it over 3 Sierra Nevada Mountain passes many times, two 8000ft passes and Tioga Pass at 9943ft and the bike ran flawlessly. I rode it to Crater Lake, OR and back from San Francisco with all my camping gear and the bike ran flawlessly. It will cruise all day at 90mph if you want it to.



Ebbets Pass road... both directions...no center stripe

[rocker59]

Either bike "would work", but the Bonnie will be more "fun" in the twisties.

There are some tight sections on NM-4 and US-64 that are lots of fun.

Lots of long sweeping stuff, though.  Especially US-84 and US-550.

I've ridden the roads of the Jemez and Sangre de Cristo mountains quite a bit.

My V11 Lemans Nero Corsa was a blast there.

NM-4 map link

US-64 map link

US-84 map link

[rocker59]

This is what the roads look like:

[LongRanger]

This is what the roads look like:

Unfortunately, only for a few more weeks!

[charlie b]

Well, seeing as how I've ridden my 850T5 all over NM and CO, loaded with a fairing, ammo cans and trunk full of camping gear, I think the Bonnie will be fine.  Enough to get you in trouble on almost any of those roads.

A road glide might be more comfortable, just because of the plush seat, but, probably won't be as much fun on some of the tighter roads.

When he did ride was it HD's?  If so, he might be more comfortable on one now.  If not, then to me it would be way too much bike after not riding for many years. 

[boatdetective]

Thank you all for the input. Mike- your photos have been great! 

Just for further background- the trip has been enough to coax my friend to join in the adventure and get back on a bike. He is the one, BTW, who first showed me a shot of the then new Guzzi V7. So, he is guilty of getting me into this in the first place. I have no doubt that the trip will convince him that life is way too short for him not to buy a motorcycle.  Can't wait for the journey!

Demar- sweet ride. My best friend here in town has the same exact model. They are lovely machines.

[Dharma Bum]

My daughter and I spent three enjoyable days last month on those very roads, me on my Cali 1100, her on a CBR 250.  Both were "rightsized" for the ride.

[nunzio]

I hate to be a party pooper,but, I would be very hesitant to have some one who has not ridden in several years using the Rockies as a re-entry practice course.
Riding Downhill in the twisties can be a very dangerous situation for even experienced riders.
Overshooting a turn in the mountains..well.

Good Luck.

I can't remember who told this to me ,but I always remember it at the top of a steep grade.

You only downhill too fast ONCE ....Alan

[ohiorider]

One more Bonnie 'out west'pix for you.  From May/June 2006.  Here the two 790cc Bonnies are parked 40 miles or so from Las Vegas NM.  I think our next stop was Taos.  As I recall, our round trip was over 4000 miles.  Neither Bonnie experienced as much as one little hiccup.

[Lcarlson]

An old school friend and I rented bikes in Las Vegas and spent a week touring Utah last June. I chose a Road King; he had a Heritage Softail Classic. I found the Road King to be pretty ideal for those wide open spaces and good roads. I appreciated the spread-out comfort and loping character of the big V-twin. My friend is an experienced rider but hadn't ridden in about a decade. He dropped his bike three times the first day. Those big twins are a heavy lift.

[Rich A]

I hate to be a party pooper,but, I would be very hesitant to have some one who has not ridden in several years using the Rockies as a re-entry practice course.

Any chance your friend could do some riding before heading out to NM? Also, I'd think he'd need a MC endorsement to rent a bike.

Rich

[Lannis]

I hate to be a party pooper,but, I would be very hesitant to have some one who has not ridden in several years using the Rockies as a re-entry practice course.
Riding Downhill in the twisties can be a very dangerous situation for even experienced riders.
Overshooting a turn in the mountains..well.

Good Luck.

I can't remember who told this to me ,but I always remember it at the top of a steep grade.

You only downhill too fast ONCE ....Alan

I had 400K+ miles and 40 years on motorcycles before I rode in the Rockies for the first time, and I STILL had to exercise a lot of extra care to avoid running over a cliff.

The reason in my case was the spectacular scenery that I'd never seen before, since all my previous miles had been east of the Mississippi.   The Appalachians have some twisty technical roads, but they are DIFFERENT than the Rockies.   The whole "scale" is different.   

I was riding LongRanger's BMW F800S, an extremely competent motorcycle, and Mr and Mrs LongRanger were setting a reasonable pace on their bikes.   The bike was easy to get used to, but the scenery wasn't.    I found myself over and over again paying too much attention to the amazing vistas, and not enough attention to the road.

If I'd been a newbie rider, it would have been worse .... !    Care is called for!

Lannis

[Guzzistajohn]

Try not to overthink this. The bonne will be fine, just have fun!

[charlie b]

................I found myself over and over again paying too much attention to the amazing vistas, and not enough attention to the road.

This.  My last trip to CO was filled with a lot of slowing down just so I could look, along with stopping at a lot of wide spots so I could snap a pic.

One of the roads I liked the best was the road from Ouray to Silverton, and it wasn't even a fun ride (weekend traffic).  But, I almost regretted being on a bike cause I would have loved to look at all the scenery instead of riding/driving.

I'd recommend that if you want to do that drive (US550), do so toward the end of your trip when you both are comfortable with your bikes.  Narrow roads, long drop offs, no guard rails, little or no shoulder.  Not horrible, but, not something for a 'new' rider.

[Attackpug]

Think of the bike you always wanted and get that

[Lannis]

Think of the bike you always wanted and get that

MMmmm ... a Brough-Superior SS-100!    That'd be a nice ride but I wouldn't have a home to ride it to; I'd have sold it to get the $300,000 price to buy one ....

Lannis

[Attackpug]

Hey, koa's have cabin's just a thought

[rocker59]

Hey, koa's have cabin's just a thought

KOAs are sparse in Northern New Mexico.  The one in Santa Fe is right beside I-25.  And that's about it, save for Raton.

There are some in Southern Colorado.  The one in Ouray is really, really nice.

[LowRyter]

there are KOAs in Las Vegas and Gunnison as well. 

There are lots of state and federal parks and campgrounds.  Personally I like Trinidad State Park CO vs Raton and Ridgeway St Park N of Ouray is pretty nice too.  But that just scratches the surface. 

[nunzio]

MMmmm ... a Brough-Superior SS-100!    That'd be a nice ride but I wouldn't have a home to ride it to; I'd have sold it to get the $300,000 price to buy one ....

Lannis

I'd love to have one ,but, I have enough problems pronouncing Moto Guzzi correctly when people ask. 


Well, and there is that pesky lack of money thing.

[biking sailor]

I'd love to have one ,but, I have enough problems pronouncing Moto Guzzi correctly when people ask. 

Someone help me out here.  Isn't it "Bro" as in brother, and "Superior" as in Mother?  Yeah, and that's the same reason I don't have a "Norge".   

[Jurgen]

You really don't need a BIG bike to go riding in the north-west mountains.  I've taken several 2 week camping trips on my F650GS thru the Rockies, the Mogollons and more, fully loaded and kept up easily with my riding buddy on his R1100.  It just takes a little more time and care to pass 18 wheelers.  And besides, I always used less fuel than the R1100.  Jurgen

[Tom]

Have your friend ride in front of you.  I wouldn't want him behind me.    A Bonnie will do fine.  Just shift dow  n.  How large of an engine do you need for 15 mph or slower on hairpin turns.    Definitely have your friend ride before going out west and renting a bike.  He's really rusty and needs some re-educating. 

[oldbike54]

Someone help me out here.  Isn't it "Bro" as in brother, and "Superior" as in Mother?  Yeah, and that's the same reason I don't have a "Norge".   

 It is pronounced Bruff .

  Dusty

[Chuck in Indiana]

A guy that hasn't ridden for years renting a bike and riding in the mountains is a recipe for disaster. Sorry to be so blunt, but it is.