motorcycle riding (Austin, Hamilton: homes, safety, moving) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

StreetBAller85 · 06-24-2011, 05:30 AM

anybody ride their bike in austin? i ride sports bikes and me and my gf are moving down their next week from nyc

im so excited. does anybody have any experience on the roads with biking?

my friends that are there says the traffic is bad but i was wondering if anyone had any personal experiences on motorcycles, i.e. the size of the roads and driver safety and such matters . thanks for any responses its appreciated

Mrs.JT · 06-24-2011, 11:23 PM

My husband rides - R1. I'll try to ask him for his input. The hill country is popular for riding. You dont have to contend with a lot of traffic out there, and there are long stretches of road. Welcome!

cBach · 06-25-2011, 10:41 AM

Tons of people riding all the time out on 620, 2222, 360, and other points in the Hill country.

xtalman · 06-25-2011, 10:49 AM

How about parking downtown? Do you just park in regular car parking spots? Or are there free motorcycle parking spaces anywhere?

Mike78613 · 06-25-2011, 10:13 PM

Class "M" licenses owner here.

Owned 3 bikes and almost all 3 times I almost got hit here in Austin.

Sold all 3 bikes and keeping the "M" licenses status, but I be damn to ride a motorcycle in the city of Austin. Idiot ***** drivers that either text or running their mouths on the cell-phones that are looking for an accident to happen!

txgolfer130 · 06-26-2011, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StreetBAller85

anybody ride their bike in austin? i ride sports bikes and me and my gf are moving down their next week from nyc

im so excited. does anybody have any experience on the roads with biking?

my friends that are there says the traffic is bad but i was wondering if anyone had any personal experiences on motorcycles, i.e. the size of the roads and driver safety and such matters . thanks for any responses its appreciated

Haven't ridden in Austin in nearly two years, but before that rode for 10 years there. The roads are okay size wise, but the Austin drivers are really some of the worst in America re: aggressive driving and cutting people off. You must keep your head on a swivel constantly. Many bikers get rear ended simply b/c the car drivers are just so occupied they don't see us stopped at a light.

There is a big sport bike scene in Austin, a few are into the stunt riding and such, some into back road riding ~some are too into and need to take it to a track...canyon carving ~ and some are into riding to destinations via back roads.

Austin is pretty good bike riding area, but watch out for Austin PD (APD), they show no mercy. Austin is also a roving speed trap...and m/c riders are persecuted harshly.

There are some awesome roads to check out. 2222 (!!! caution it's a tricky area that is SLICK and is two lanes w/ no dividers that has little to no margin for error if you're riding quickly. Volente area...this is patrolled by both Travis county Sheriff's and Williamson County Sheriff's. No jokes, they'll write ya up in a heart beat. Mostly cause there are some riders who like to blast up and down there early mornings and late in the evenings...and there are homes built near the roads there. Hence, all the calls and complaints. Hamilton pool road...awesome, awesome, but not one to push too quickly as it has a lot of switch backs and trees near the road that drop leaves on the two lane road leading to some tricky braking areas. Just a few quick areas that are fun, but can be tricky or costly.

Welcome to Texas and good luck.

StreetBAller85 · 06-26-2011, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by txgolfer130

Haven't ridden in Austin in nearly two years, but before that rode for 10 years there. The roads are okay size wise, but the Austin drivers are really some of the worst in America re: aggressive driving and cutting people off. You must keep your head on a swivel constantly. Many bikers get rear ended simply b/c the car drivers are just so occupied they don't see us stopped at a light.

There is a big sport bike scene in Austin, a few are into the stunt riding and such, some into back road riding ~some are too into and need to take it to a track...canyon carving ~ and some are into riding to destinations via back roads.

Austin is pretty good bike riding area, but watch out for Austin PD (APD), they show no mercy. Austin is also a roving speed trap...and m/c riders are persecuted harshly.

There are some awesome roads to check out. 2222 (!!! caution it's a tricky area that is SLICK and is two lanes w/ no dividers that has little to no margin for error if you're riding quickly. Volente area...this is patrolled by both Travis county Sheriff's and Williamson County Sheriff's. No jokes, they'll write ya up in a heart beat. Mostly cause there are some riders who like to blast up and down there early mornings and late in the evenings...and there are homes built near the roads there. Hence, all the calls and complaints. Hamilton pool road...awesome, awesome, but not one to push too quickly as it has a lot of switch backs and trees near the road that drop leaves on the two lane road leading to some tricky braking areas. Just a few quick areas that are fun, but can be tricky or costly.

Welcome to Texas and good luck.

thank you for the response, and thank you for the welcome. im happy to be here.