Santa has come and gone, and hopefully, you found your stocking full of crispy hundreds and not a lump of coal. If that’s the case, and you’re itching to spend a little something on yourself now that the Holidays are done, here are a few ideas from AMERiders of how you can spend that wonderful moola.
Learning Curve(s)
One of the best gifts a motorcyclist can give themselves is a day spent on a motorbike alongside better riders. Instruction is the fastest way to go faster, so if Santa slipped a little moola in your stocking we suggest spending some of it on a riding school. Like So-Cal Supermoto, where you’ll master how to hustle around a race track on either a TTR 125 or one of their many race-ready DRZ 400 SMs.
So, what do you get for your Christmas cash at a place like So-Cal? You learn to ride on both pavement and dirt, how to see through a corner, when to stay on the pipe and when to get off the gas, how to back a bike into a corner, and all sorts of useful skills. There are lots of other awesome schools out there, offering lessons for all flavors of motorcyclist – Hit “the google” Type in Motorcycle Rider School. You don’t have to do one in your city or Even your state… I just picked one at random for this article that one was across the U.S. from Me. Just choose one that looks like fun.
Proper Pants
Having had friends that have had off-bike experiences while wearing a pair of 16.5oz raw denim jeans, I can attest to the need for wearing something more serious south of the waistline.
Motorcyclists have a tendency to take everything up top to the right level – helmet, gloves, a jacket with armor – but for whatever reason, we often opt for Levis and little leather boots over something more substantial. I too love my jeans, which don’t give me much protection and I need to fix that soon.
However, Men’s options are abundant, especially in the premium riding jeans or leather pants category, but I’ve been keen on new leather trousers or chaps which would save me more than my regular pair of blue jeans will. A good pair of riding jeans is worth its weight in gold (and will save you money in skin grafts should you have a get-off), and new riding gear is always a good way to spend your money.
Maps and Apps
An affordable navigation or map option might motivate you to hit the road, help you find the best roads and trails, or just navigate to your office a little faster in the new year. Our favorite classic option, Butler Maps, offers both on and off-road options plus a line of Backcountry Discovery Route maps.
They’ve also teamed up with REVER, a mobile app available on iTunes and in the Google Play store, that lets you plan, track, and share your rides. Sign up for their Premium Subscription, and you’ll have access to a digital version of Butler Maps’ rated roads. Another app we’re into, which also happens to be free, is WAZE. They recently added a ‘motorcycle’ option and integrated it into their navigation software – think Google Maps only more intuitive and aimed at motorcyclists. It’s about time!
Straight Trippin’
Treat yourself! One of the best ways to beat the winter blues and to spend that holiday moola is to put something – a motorcycle trip you’ve been daydreaming about or a ride you’ve put off for years – on the books for spring or summer. Better yet, book a trip south of the border into Baja with the gang from EagleRider.
A Friend took one of their guided tours last year and loved it. Let them handle the hard stuff – logistics, lodging, etc. – while you enjoy what you came to do: ride. Another great option is to rent a bike from MotoQuest and hit the road using the maps and apps we recommended above. International options are more expensive, so that’ll depend on how much cash versus coal was inside your stocking. If you do go international, a friend recommends riding in Northern Thailand. They spent the month of July exploring the area with some other friends and said it was phenomenal, and I tend to believe them when they say something is fun or fantastic it usually is.
Races in Places
While we don’t have an ever-present motorsport culture like they do in Europe and elsewhere around the world, Americans are lucky to host some pretty amazing series here at home. You could, for example, take that moola and head to Texas in April for the Moto GP race, or cruise along the west coast to catch the World Superbike (WSBK) round at Laguna Seca.
There are also a variety of dirt-oriented racing events that move around the country all year. AMA Supercross will hold 17 rounds in 2018, while the newly renovated EnduroCross series will get going again in August. Or don’t forget the X-games either. We’ve got at least one friend that has attended one or more of the above, and although we can’t recommend one more than another we can say that you should definitely plan to watch one or all of these races in the New Year.
Wrapping it up… Like a present, get it?
I didn’t want this to be a buyer’s guide. The internet is inundated with those ahead of the holidays, and besides, it’s a little late for buyer’s guides anyway. Instead, I hope to inspire you to spend your post-holiday moola on something more substantial than the latest this or that. Instead, we suggest that you take that money and use it to learn to be a better motorcyclist, protect yourself—from top to bottom—when you ride, find new routes and roads that’ll inspire you to sit on a motorcycle instead of a couch, go somewhere you’ve always wanted to, or spend some time watching talented young men and women thrash bikes around race tracks. Merry Holidays, Y’all!
~And as always…
~Live Free Ride Hard~
~AMERiders
and
Let AMERiders help you find out How to Spend Your Wonderful Christmas Moola Biker Style
And as always don’t forget to send us your stories, pictures, and events for posting to GALLERY.AMERIDERS @ GMAIL.COM and we will post them for you. The more people that know about your event the better and we are offering free advertising. We would also love to hear about your rides and love to see those bikes so send those stories and pictures.
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