I was looking at a friends motorcycle the other day and wondered how comfortable it would be. I was even more curious about which style of motorcycle has the most comfort.
What is the most comfortable motorcycle to ride? American riders think cruiser motorcycles are the most comfortable for long trips. The best motorcycle is the one that best suits your needs and riding skills.
You can see picking the most comfortable motorcycle is like picking the prettiest flower. It all depends on what you prefer. We can peel this back and help you pick the most comfortable motorcycle for your needs.
We first need to start by knowing how to test or score the motorcycle by asking the right questions.
Knowing Which Questions To Ask To Pick The Most Comfortable Motorcycle
Sometimes getting started is the hard part. Here lies the opportunity to explore a new space and learn the things you don’t know.
By selecting a few strategic questions, you can find the right characteristics in a motorcycle. Think of it as finding your type. Get it right, and the world becomes a grand place.
Here is a quick example of what I mean.
When I was younger, the sport bike was my conceptual machine of choice. It was sleek, long and lean. Boy was it fast and sounded awesome with the Vance and Hines header. I also thought the blond-haired blue eyed babe in high school was the most gorgeous thing in this world too.
As I aged, I saw better choices were avaible for motorcycles. Yeah, I had the sport bike for a few years and rode my wife (then girlfriend) around on it a few times. I found out it sucked for the riding that I really enjoy. The blonde, that did not work out either, she moved away. Frisky brunettes work for me.
Picking Your Style Of Riding & Comfort
You do not see people leaving for a trip without knowing something about how they will get there. Travelers also know what they will do along the way.
For the motorcycle rider, you need to know where you will spend most of your time riding. This is not to say you spend 100% of your time riding in this style, but you need to make sure you have the right equipment with you.
Let me share an example about a family member who could have better prepared for an outing. Recently I went to an extended family gathering. One of the young cousins showed up with a toddler, and a newborn baby. So far, this is nothing out of the ordinary for family gatherings.
What was out of the norm, was the vehicle they traveled in to the family function. Most of us would expect a family sedan, minivan, or something else designed to haul families. This cousin showed up in a Chevy Camero. While the car was cool, the entertainment value was seeing mom and dad get the kids, tools, and kid bags out of the small back seat.
The same goes for riding motorcycles. Here is an example of a time when I took my Harley onto gravel roads. When it happens again, new considerations will be top of mind.
As we explore some styles of riding, know there are even subcategories. I will give you a few things to consider for each style.
Road
New adult riders think about jumping right on a street bike and taking off into the sunset. The dream sounds great until you realize there are more things to consider.
For example, will your road riding mainly consist of commuting to work. I know this seems to be where most of my miles come from with a young family. If so, then you will want to consider a standard style of motorcycle.
Will you plan on completing pleasure rides in the evening and weekends? Yes, consider a cruiser or another style of bike meant for comfort.
When you know your miles will come from the road, know the bike you choose will probably have a soft suspension and maybe a windshield for highway riding.
Dirt Bike Motorcycle Comfort
Dirt bike riding includes everything from riding in your backyard to racing off-road on a professional level. Let’s break this down.
Backyard riding- Leisure riding with your buddies in the backyard may get competitive, but what you really want is an off-road bike that lasts a long time and provides a high level of joy.
Fun for some though means going fast. For those people and bigger riders, a larger displacement engine will be the answer.
Professional Motocross- Like most professional athletes, very few people make it to this level. However, the amateurs and local circuits thrive with motocross bikes (MX). These motorcycles look the same as the motorcycles you would ride for leisure in your backyard.
This is where the similarities stop. MX engines, suspensions, settings, and gearing are all different. I am finding this out myself at the moment.
The Honda CR 250 I bought will receive a few upgrades before I can take it enduro riding. Right now I mainly ride around on a family farm, which is great for now. My daughter looks forward to riding at other places on her 4-Zinger ATV.
Enduro- Think about trail riding for enduro bikes. The rides here are over a good deal of different terrain, but at night and during the day, and go on for long periods of time.
Comfort plays a big role in enduro riding. These motorcycles have much grunt in the low RPM range of the motor. Dirt bike gearing, on the other hand, is best suited on the moto-cross track.
MX riding and back yard riding are different in that they are much shorter in duration.
The point in breaking down backyard riding, mx riding, enduro riding is getting beyond the looks of the bike. I had not had a dirt bike in 25 years and made the mistake of buying a high performance mx dirt bike when I should have purchased an enduro or backyard dirt bike.
Track
Track riding involves taking your street bike and riding it on some race track. As you can easily imagine, sport bikes are the big thing in this style of riding.
Riders like the high horsepower of the Japanese sport bikes. They willingly sacrifice comfort to hug the tank for aerodynamics.
The tires on the sport bikes are soft and sticky. The rear tire looks more like a black donut than anything.
You can search your local tracks for “track days” to you can see what you’re made of. I recently had a friend who dreamed of going to superbike school so he could learn how to ride these quick machines.
He still has an ear to ear grin months later.
Track Day Prep
If you’re serious about a track day, make sure you go through the following steps for safety.
- Make sure you have the correct helmet. Check the Snell rating since they are the primary rating group for racing. If your helmet is over 5-7 years old, look at replacing it. The padding and energy absorbing material breakdown. You should spend a few hundred dollars on a good helmet.
- Buy a set of riding leathers. If you go down, it will save you lots of pain.
NOTE: Leathers do not prevent road rash, but they protect your from the amount of damage it would have otherwise received from a crash.
- Go over every nut and bolt on your bike. You want nothing falling off at 100+ mph.
- Check your brakes and brake fluid. While it’s common to check your brakes and fluid, amateur riders do not replace it. The fluid gets dirty and breaks down. You want to ensure the bike has optimal stopping performance.
On a side note, know that supermotard is a new thing for “track days.” People take dirt bikes, change the suspension and tires and ride them on a road racetrack.
I am increasingly seeing people take cruisers on the track. Neither in my opinion are conformable for track days.
Road and Dirt
Maybe you are one of those people who want to ride both on the road and on dirt on the same ride or trip. This splits motorcycle design. It is hard to make a bike good for the road and the dirt.
You noticed from the previously discussed riding styles that off-road bikes require a different setup than street bikes. If you did not pay attention just look at the differences in a picture between dirt bikes and street bikes.
The industry makes a special motorcycle for this group called an adventure bike. They design it to go both off-road and on the road.
Know these bikes will be capable of both styles of riding but not great at either. You can think of these bikes as the utility vehicles of the motorcycling world.
Trail Riding
Trail riding is another form of off-roading but different from motocross, or backyard riding. Here you ride on trails in the woods or backcountry. A small group of riders classify this style as an enduro ride. I do not as it includes ATV riding and enduro riding is on two wheels over terrain that ATVs cannot get over.
Trail riding frequently gets done in groups.
I refer to the first group as an ATV style riding. These places have nice wide trails where two bikes can pass each other going in opposite directions. The trails are only wide enough for one ATV to ride. The two wheeled rider does not worry about hitting his bars on brush on the side of the trail. Jeeps also frequently run the trails.
The second style of riding two wheeled heros tackle is single track. Think very deep in the woods on a small narrow trail. Here, your bike will hit the brush on the side of the trail. You will ride in first or second gear most of the time. The trail goes in a loop or one direction.
The rider needs a good sense of balance to ride single track well. While you ride at a much slower pace, you will crash more on the single than you will on the ATV style trails.
Other Riding Styles
We could give you several other riding styles but here we have covered the main kinds.
You should also be aware there are motorcycle campers out there. These riders focus on different gear and finding awesome spots to camp.
Tour riding is about getting out on the scenic roads of America. The journeys may be a few hours or several days. You may even see riders combining different styles, i.e. camping while doing a tour of the mid-west.
What is your skill level? It affects your comfort.
Once you know the style of riding you will do, next assess your skill level. Here are things to think about of each level of rider skill.
| Skill Level | Note On Comfort |
| Absolute Beginner | Start practicing skills on a bicycle to increase comfort. |
| Novice | Do not let comfort create bad habits. |
| Intermediate | Comforts increase ride length and awareness. |
| Long Time Veteran | Comfort is the primary factor in selecting a specific model. |
| Professional | Comfort allows the racer to go faster. |
Never Ridden Before
The brand new rider will not be comfortable on a big heavy cruiser, having something as close to a bicycle will be your best bet. Practice some skill drills on the bicycle and then work on practicing on a dirt bike.
It behooves the brand new rider to even rent a dirt bike for a day or so before moving to the pavement.
Novice
Comfort plays an important role here. The novice rider needs to be careful about not developing bad habits because they are comfortable.
Even veteran riders of twenty-plus years still have bad mistakes. I am working on the bad habits I know I have now. There are still many bad habits that I have not yet identified.
Intermediate
Comfort for intermediate riders becomes a focus in selecting a bike for a few reasons.
- Being comfortable preserves energy by not wasting it trying to become comfortable.
- Your rides longer because you are comfortable.
- You have increased awareness of your surroundings because you are not fighting to become comfortable.
Long Time Veteran
Long time riding veterans of twenty-plus years are a little older and comfort is the primary determination of the bike they pick for their preferred style of riding.
Let me clarify, when I say “primary determination of the bike” they pick, I am talking about the specific model. An enduro rider will not pick a cruiser for off-road riding.
Professional Rider
Comfort for the professional rider, means preserving energy. The more energy they preserve the faster the go later in the race. It also increases confidence helping them go faster.
What needs should you address physically to improve comfort?
Sometimes it is even a bad idea to put a round peg into a round hole. How?
If the peg is smaller than the hole, it will eventually fall out.
| Body Parts | Consideration |
| Short Legs | Make sure you can put your fee on the ground. Important for quick stops. |
| Long Legs | Make sure the pegs do not put you in a crunched up position. |
| Short Arms | Make sure you can reach the handlebars when fully turned either direction. |
| Long Arms | If the handlebars are to close, your elbows will hurt after a long ride |
Will you be riding by yourself or two up?
The most under rated feature of a motorcycle that helps with comfort is the seat. Having a worn out seat, hurts your tailbone and your kidneys and shortens your ride.
Make sure your seat’s comfortable and replace the foam and cover once you notice it breaks down.
Passenger Comfort
We cannot forget about the comfort of our passengers. Check with them on the two items that I found to increase their comfort for longer rides.
Foot Pegs
My wife is 5 feet 10 inches. The first cruiser I had for her was awful. She felt like I screwed her knees into her nose because the passenger pegs were too close for her.
Go to a dealership and sit on several used bikes. Many of them have different style of pegs. The passenger can try different things to see what they like before you buy new pegs.
Back Rest
The same cruiser I just told you about did not have a backrest on it. One day while on a ride, we hit a bump, and she almost fell off.
Riders make sure your passenger stays on the bike by having a backrest. They will thank you for it.
Go through and map out the answers these questions and select the most comfortable motorcycle.