My main method of transport is sitting at the back of my boyfriends bike :) I can ask him for tips if you want, but things like prices and availability are different in Canada. As an example, old BMW are a pain to own here since it was never sold here and parts are rare. What kind of advice are you looking for? Could help out on the technical/maintenance aspect for sure! Do you know if you want to go sport/chopper/cafe racer/whatever yet? He has an 84 Yamaha maxim he bought last year for 500$ cad right now but he's been talking about getting a new bike lately... He's owned 3 in the past 3 years and I don't think it will ever stop :)
I do love the look of naked bikes. Some of the older Honda CB's are pretty nice. My girlfriend's father has a gorgeous Thruxton 900 that I'd love to ride someday... The restrictions on learner riders in Australia are pretty heavy now though, so a lot of the bikes that I like the look of are out of the question until I've held a license for three years. How are you finding the traffic in SE Asia? I was terrified riding around in Indonesia. I guess you get used to it pretty quickly though.
Naked bikes are my faves! Sports just dont look as good with a bunch of plastic all around!!! We only rented a scooter in Chiang Mai, which was pretty relaxed trafic-wise. Don't think I would do it in a big city like Bangkok (or any city in cambodia, it's next level choas compared to Thailand here). But i trust my boyfriend about this, he's had a moto for 10 past years and drivers in MTL suck. Dont think we ever passed 40km/h here anyway. I've been more scared back home going 100 and seeing someone changing lanes in front while we're in the blind spot... However, a bro-looking guy got into an accident at the hostel the other day and is pretty scraped up. But these news from the same dudes that got mugged and beaten by locals multiple times (how!?) Intheir 2 week vacation makes me doubt they were careful riding the scooters. Good luck with the license, I think its going to be worth it in the end. And, if it's the direction the government s going in, it's only going to get harder/more expensive with time.
People who get mugged and beaten by locals multiple times within two weeks sound like they're looking for trouble... Thanks for wishing me luck. I can't wait! And you're right. I think it's only going to become more difficult to ride in the future!