Hey everyone, new member here, been lurking for about a month doing some research. Always been a car nut but have recently been looking into bikes for a few reasons. First off, they look like hella fun. Secondly, I always wanted a project car to work on, but don't really have the money or space. I feel like for just a few grand and working in my basement and friends' garages I could probably build a decent enough bike over the winter.
Here's my situation though, I'm finishing my last year of my undergraduate degree with no real direction afterwards as I want to take a year or two before I apply to grad school. So, a friend of mine discussed biking out West across the country with just the bare essentials and try to get jobs for the summer/fall out in British Columbia or Alberta, just looking for some adventure basically. He already has a bike that he thinks he will take, a 2001 CBR929. Modern crotch rockets really aren't my cup of tea though, I really prefer classic cafes...
Which leads me to some questions, would it be reasonable to drive a naked cafe across the country? I'm a total bike noob, so I dunno a whole lot about it. I imagine it would be a lot more comfortable with some sort of mini faring like some of the Cafes on here seem to have. Would bike choice matter a lot? Would it be unreasonable to get a CB360 or other small-ish 2 cylinder? Should I look for larger 650+ 4 cylinders? Does anyone ever use saddle bags on their cafe?
Basically, any advice you guys might have for traveling long distances would be great as well as building up a cafe that would be suitable for this would be great. Or alternatively, tell me it's a crappy idea and get a real job and a career and get my life in order... ;D
Here's my situation though, I'm finishing my last year of my undergraduate degree with no real direction afterwards as I want to take a year or two before I apply to grad school. So, a friend of mine discussed biking out West across the country with just the bare essentials and try to get jobs for the summer/fall out in British Columbia or Alberta, just looking for some adventure basically. He already has a bike that he thinks he will take, a 2001 CBR929. Modern crotch rockets really aren't my cup of tea though, I really prefer classic cafes...
Which leads me to some questions, would it be reasonable to drive a naked cafe across the country? I'm a total bike noob, so I dunno a whole lot about it. I imagine it would be a lot more comfortable with some sort of mini faring like some of the Cafes on here seem to have. Would bike choice matter a lot? Would it be unreasonable to get a CB360 or other small-ish 2 cylinder? Should I look for larger 650+ 4 cylinders? Does anyone ever use saddle bags on their cafe?
Basically, any advice you guys might have for traveling long distances would be great as well as building up a cafe that would be suitable for this would be great. Or alternatively, tell me it's a crappy idea and get a real job and a career and get my life in order... ;D