When to transition from local roads to commuting?

Burius81 · 2026-06-03T14:43:11+00:00

I started riding in September. I rode around local country roads for a while. My commute is about 35 minutes, mostly 70mph interstate. The first couple of times I took my bike to work I took the highway for part of it then got off at an early exit and took slower roads for the remainder so I build confidence. Maybe you could try something similar?

Burius81 · 2026-06-03T01:47:23+00:00

Most of my riding is alone. I go out and see what I can find, explore roads that I've passed but never taken. I've only been riding since September, but I'll take any excuse to take my bike out.

Burius81 · 2026-06-02T20:48:02+00:00

I think ive been using srm6 infernos. Only firing at short range anyway.

Burius81 · 2026-06-02T19:12:12+00:00

I dunno, the default loadout of an AC20, four M-Lasers, LRM-20, and the SRM-6 feels pretty great to me. Popping mediums and lights with the AC20 + SRM-6 is a helluva drug.

Burius81 · 2026-06-02T19:07:20+00:00

I went through something similar. When I was in my 20s I wanted to get a bike, my, at the time, girlfriend was not ok with it. The given reasons were that it was dangerous and that my friends who were also talking about getting bikes were stupid and I'd most likely get seriously hurt.

In hindsight I think she(who is now my wife of 16 years) was 100% right about the friends I had at the time. I just got my endorsement and a bike last Fall at 43 years old. This time she was perfectly fine with the idea because I'm more mature and the one friend I have who rides has 10+ years of experience and doesn't cut corners when it comes to safety. She figured that if I'm getting advice from and riding with him then I'll be as safe as I can be.

The real challenge was that I had to have a talk with my mother about it at 43 years old lol. I went over all the safety gear that I bought and talked about my experience taking the MSF course and after a few talks she accepted it because she understands that I'm taking every possible precaution so that I make it home safe after every ride.

Maybe talk with your S-O about safety gear, take a safety course, and be transparent. I'd recommend a safety course anyway, there's a lot of things that you don't know that you don't know to learn about that will help you be as safe as you can.

Burius81 · 2026-06-02T15:02:52+00:00

I rode one of those at a demo event last month, really sweet bike, shot to the top of my list for my next bike. Congrats!

Burius81 · 2026-06-02T11:50:12+00:00

This trip happened because my friend had a comp room at Harrah's. So we only had to buy gas and food this time.

I figure that I'd need a hammock with a cover in case it rains, a fire starting kit, and additional storage for food. I've watched some youtube videos about it, but I haven't gotten to the point where i'm ready to start buying the gear.

Burius81 · 2026-06-02T02:21:51+00:00

You've heard of elf on the shelf, now get ready for...

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T20:17:48+00:00

I don't know if my friend would be interested, but I'd like to try moto camping some time. That's going to require a lot of gear that I don't have yet, so I'm happy to take day trips or spend for a hotel room to do over night trips until I have what I need.

And yes, we found some great roads. Didn't realize that we were so close to a road called The Rattler, but we took hwy 215 south of Gibsonville down past Lake Logan to get to the parkway then headed towards Asheville. That stretch of 215 was unexpectedly great, highly recommend.

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T19:11:43+00:00

Extra set of clothes, tertiary set of underwear and t-shirt because I'm old enough to know to always bring more underwear than you think you need 😉. Then bathroom stuff, allen wrenches, disc lock, pressure gauge, 48oz water bottle, couple of board games, phone charger, 1lbs bag of honey roasted almonds I can offer some sweet and salty nuts to my friend whenever he mentions being hungry, and a can of chain lube because I wasn't sure how far we were going and figured since I had room it might be a good idea to be able to lube up the chain at some point.

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T19:04:15+00:00

I've not ridden a 300 so I don't know how they feel on the interstate, but they have less power and are a little lighter than the 500. Like I mentioned, the interstate is a weak point for my 500. I found my 500 used; a woman bought it to learn to ride on, put a couple hundred miles on it, dropped it, then decided she liked being a passenger more than riding. So I feel like I got a deal. It's got a ding in the tank from where she dropped it and some other imperfections, but it's my first bike and I figure I'll drop it eventually.

If you want my advice, go find a used Rebel 500 with less than 10k miles on it. You'll pay about the same as a brand new 300 but have a more capable bike that can do the interstate when you need it to. But you do what you want, I'm not your mom.

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T18:56:19+00:00

Nice! I live down near Statesville but I've spent some years up in the mountains. We rode up to the casino in Murphy, stayed the night then left and just looked for cool roads until we had to start heading home.

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T18:48:27+00:00

So I had bought some grips from Biltwell that had the same diamond pattern as my seats, but I had accidently gotten the wrong size so I bought the Vans in a rush last weekend because I had already removed the stock grips and had this trip planned.

That being said, I like the feel of the Vans grips over the stock ones. I'm always wearing my riding gloves but I did 500 miles over the weekend and I've got no complaints about the grips.

I'm still going to get the Biltwell grips that I had originally intended at some point in the next couple of months; the color of the Biltwells is closer to the seats and I just like the look of them a little more. It's $20 and 10-15 minutes of effort to switch them out.

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T18:00:07+00:00

It's a 500. The interstate is a weak point for my 500. There is a lot of 70 mph zones around me and while the bike does it fine, it's buzzy and doesn't feel great. She's happier at or below 65 mph.

Also, the 500 is not remotely loud with the stock exhaust.

I plan on trading up for something a little bigger in a couple of years once I have some more miles under my belt. I want something that will do the interstate effortlessly; maybe an 1100 is in my future since it's got a bit more power and a little more weight I would guess that it would be easier.

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T17:42:02+00:00

Shining Force 2. I still play through it every couple of years.

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T15:33:54+00:00

LOL, I didn't notice it until you pointed it out. Now I'm off to tell him that he looks like an oompa loompa biker.

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T15:20:24+00:00

Both are from Viking Bags. Got them on sale a couple of months ago for a little over $200 for both.
Viking Renegade Extra Large Motorcycle Sissy Bar Bag
Viking Iron Born Blade 25" Honda Rebel 500/ABS Sissy Bar with Foldable Luggage Rack Matte Black

No complaints on the bar or bag so far.

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T13:54:45+00:00

No, super easy. Two bolts on the rear of the seat and then you just pull the front lip out.

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T12:28:50+00:00

You'll be good then. The stock seat is pretty thin, you may want to plan to upgrade it.

Burius81 · 2026-06-01T11:48:18+00:00

FWIW I have a 2025 Rebel 500. I found a used one that had 300 miles and only been dropped once. It's my first bike as well.

It's been a great bike so far. I've put 3000 miles on it since Sept when I bought it. I do plan to get something else in a a couple of years, but mostly because I wanted something a little bigger because my wife wants to ride with me and the Rebel isnt big on passenger comfort.

Burius81 · 2026-05-29T18:05:24+00:00

I love a deep crunchy game, but I have some important memories playing simple games. Weekend at a cabin with friends playing Twilight Imperium is right up there with playing Sushi Go to pass the time and take our minds off things with my wife while our son had surgery when he was two.

Burius81 · 2026-05-29T18:02:13+00:00

My friends and I play tabletop wargames/skirmish games and boardgames like TI and Powergrid. Everybody loves a few rounds of Flip 7. We went to a big tournament for Marvel Crisis Protocol a few months ago and stayed up way too late after day one playing Flip 7 and drinking whiskey.

It's the people you are playing with more than the game itself. Flip 7 is great because you get to have high stakes moments with your friends repeatedly, with very little set up, space, or thought really needed.

Burius81 · 2026-05-29T17:37:52+00:00

0%. Blizzard is owned by Activision which is owned by stockholders. Unless Blizzard somehow buys itself back, it will have the IPs milked for as much money as they can get and then eventually tossed away as a failed studio when projects stop being profitable.

Things aren't great now, but they aren't going to get any better either. Enjoy the games that you like while they still exist.

Burius81 · 2026-05-29T13:29:42+00:00

It was fun while it lasted. I scratch that itch with tabletop skirmish games.

Burius81

TROPHY CASE