Factors to consider when buying a motorcycle

Hello Baraza,

I am a great fan of your articles, and I read you from the Laikipia and Samburu border, where I reside. I am considering buying a motorcycle, a 150CC to be precise, to help me get to work on time. I write to request guidance on the following: Kindly recommend a high-performing bike for both off-road and on-road that can go for long distances without overheating. I need a fuel-efficient bike which is easy to maintain and durable. Its spare parts must be available and it must be a fast bike, since here the presence of wild animals is real. My first thought was a Bajaj boxer 150CC, but any other recommendation will be highly appreciated.

Robert

Hello Robert,

In case it escaped your notice, I don’t review motorbikes. I actively refuse to learn to ride one or get a licence for one; the main reason being they are noisy, nasty, uncomfortable, murderous little chainsaw-powered contraptions and now they have become a clear and present factor leading to the deterioration of road safety in this country. If I become transport minister I shall ban them.

I'm unlikely to become transport minister any time soon, so you can safely own a bicycle with a generator where the main sprocket should be, for now.

However, my knowledge of bikes is limited compared to that of cars, but I can tell them apart according to function: from the gnarly, skeletal off-roaders (dirt bikes); to the snazzy, high-revving street bikes on which the rider lies prone at speed; to the more common bike type on which one sits bolt upright regardless of speed, a deathtrap that was once the preserve of village pastors before being appropriated by boda-boda operators; to choppers with handlebars reaching skywards like the antennae on a grasshopper’s head such as what The Undertaker would ride to the ring back when I was still interested in wrestling; to bruiser-cruisers such as the Electra Glide and the Goldwing and the BMW R1100RS with engines and dashboards that wouldn’t be out of place on a motor vehicle, et cetera.

FUEL EFFICIENCY

Of course my mentioning the Goldwing and whatnot means my motorcycle knowledge extends to the ability to read the name brand emblazoned on the fuel tank, and this is the point where we approach the upper limit of this knowledge.

I also know that street bikes with a long wheelbase offer very good high-speed stability, especially north of 300km/h, but it compromises handling.

That may explain the Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa’s rather strange characteristics. I know KTMs are good off-road, but they are expensive.

I know in bikes, one operates the clutch by hand and selects gears by foot: the exact opposite of cars.

So, that is the entirety of my two-wheeled knowledge, summed up in two short paragraphs; none of which is particularly helpful. This is the much I can contribute to your query:

Fuel efficiency is a given for almost all motorcycles. The smaller and slower the bike, the more fuel efficient. We are looking at figures better than 30km/l for the 150ccs.

MAINTENANCE

Durability is heavily dependent on using the right type of bike for the tasks demanded, especially if we are talking off-road sojourns.

Just like motor vehicles, maintenance is key as well and just like motor vehicles, Japanese bikes tend to fare better in this.

There is a new bike on sale in the country called the Kibo that is not Japanese but sure looks promising.

I hope our resident bipedal correspondent gets his hands on one for thorough analysis.

Maintenance should not be a problem since you don't seem to require a street bike or a cruiser, which tend to be relatively complex in its multi-cylinder affairs.

A single-cylinder (or even a twin) is one of the easiest motorised objects to repair and maintain, and it will provide a very good entry point into understanding how engines work.

Strength could mean structural rigidity, in which case see Durability above, or it could be engine power/torque; in which case bigger engines have more, just like cars.

SPARE PARTS

There are details such as the use of reed valves, ECU tunes and fuel injection. But I won’t go into details because, again, these mostly apply to performance bikes and not the regular buzz boxes you may be interested in.

Availability of spares: You can’t beat the Chinese at this. There are swarms of spares in every single hamlet; in every corner of the country and shops, even in the remotest areas. Spare parts distribution is excellent as far as Far Eastern marques go.

Fast: No. Just no. You do not need speed on a bike. How fast do you want to go anyway?

I’m getting the vibe that you are a beginner in motorised riding, so I do not think you want to go fast right from the get-go, lest you become yet another statistic.

Besides, you mention off-road use and the only people who go fast on bikes off-road are motorsports competitors.

I don’t know how you will handle the wild animals because much as you may want to outrun them, you don’t need warp speed to do it.

SPEED

The fastest land animal is the cheetah, which has been clocked with a trap speed of 110km/h, and this cat doesn’t hunt humans, so you don’t need mad speed to escape from an animal that has no interest in you.

The cheetah can also do this dash for only 300 metres or so before it runs out of boost and has to cool down lest it dies from overexertion. Most other animals will do 60km/h and below, so you are safe even on a small, slow bike.

Speaking of cooling down, I know bikes are air-cooled but I don’t know how far they will go before heat becomes a problem.

However, here is a little anecdote to put things in perspective: (The Great Run 5 was held in June 2014 and the route took us from Ndumberi township in Kiambu, up to Limuru, down to Maai Mahiu, across to Narok, on to Bomet, into Tenwek and Mogogosiek — where the children's home was located — then picked up again to Kericho, Mau Summit, Salgaa, Nakuru and back to Nairobi: A round trip of 700km, give or take a few furlongs.

GREAT RUN

The head of IT at the Motoring Press Agency, bless his heart, blew a fuse on his mind-brain and believed it would be a good idea to undertake this journey on two wheels rather than four.

There are two things to get right: First, these were the days when Great Run activities were compressed into only 12 hours of sunlight — a one-day event.

So, the man had to cover 700km as well as make some children happy in the narrow sliver of time that is dawn to dusk.

Secondly, Bomet, Mogogosiek and Kericho are in the highlands of the Rift Valley, and it was the month of June. The weather report said rain, and rain it did, heavily and incessantly.

My IT working staff made the distance. Every single inch of it. It need not be said that the man did not have fun, but it must be said that it was a feat worth recognition.

It wasn’t the first Great Run to feature motorbikes — our very first event had half the entries on two wheels — but that first event was much shorter and the weather more forgiving compared to the ride to Bomet and back.)

OVERHEATING

I don’t know exactly how much fuel he used, but I know the answer lies within the phrase “very little”. But even more pertinent to this discussion, there was no overheating.

This is over 700km of relentless throttle-on antics uphill and down dale through hell and high water to keep within sight the Lancer Evolutions and WRX STIs that were leading the pack.

Yes, it was a village-pastor-cum-boda-boda-style Chinese bike, and yes I was concerned about who would maintain the Motoring Press Agency website because I was fairly certain the man would not make it back to the city, but he did it, by Jupiter.

I guess that answers your question about overheating. You are NOT covering 700km on the daily, are you? Even if you are, overheating does not seem like an incipient difficulty.

I don’t know what a Bajaj Boxer 150cc is, but I recognise the name Bajaj and I daresay it is one of the more established brands in two- and three-wheeled transport.

It could be the Toyota Corolla of bikes, if you will (discounting the actual Toyota Corolla of bikes, which is the Honda something-or-other); which means inoffensive, globally available, impossible to break and easy to own and operate.