| Author | Message | ||
     Midknyte |
Don't know when I'll let on yet, but... I know that I've made noise about moving before, but with a bonus payout (in lieu of a raise...) and aggressive 401k stashing [not part of the plan, but a backup], we can actually do it now. I'm turned on by the Houston area - please tell me that there's a good dealer down there to service my Buell...? | ||
| Ducbsa |
Pretty hot down there for longer than in Illinois. If you can, try to go down for a weekend in August to see how it is. | ||
| Ourdee |
+1 on leaving Illinois. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Georgia or Tennessee get my vote. | ||
| Teeps |
We need your tax money in California. Pro: Year around riding Filtering between cars stopped in traffic is legal. The ocean. The mountains. The desert. You don't have to deal with snow; unless you want to... Con: Everything else not mentioned above. | ||
| Ourdee |
Northern Illinois -vs.- California, why waste the fuel? I could handle rural Southern Indiana. Tennessee is not the same place I lived in the early 70s. Still a great place to visit and ride. I'd choose Nev. or Arizona for out West living. Vegas would make a great jumping off point for rides, but, I'd have to have a light dual sport or a CR500 two smoke for the sandy bits. Moving to Texas sounds good at first. On second thought, you can move to Texas, but you will never be from Texas. I did like watching the Texans while there though. They just seemed bigger than life. Alaska would be nice three months out of the year, if you could just tour. (where is that AX) You do sound like you're already sold on Texas. It could really be time to service the Buell on your own. That would eliminate a possible fly in the ointment for finding Heaven on Earth. A nice air conditioned man-cave of a garage could be key in setting up a home base. The BRAN list may give you someone to call and get local info from. | ||
| Satori |
+1 on spending some time there. I've moved to two different places in my life sight unseen. Seattle and Phoenix, after two years in Phx, I was making plans on leaving, I unfortunately fell in love and being with her kept me around another 13 years. I would also say try to find people who live there and talk to them, to see what they like or don't. Also when you do go down, don;t just do touristy things, get out and see the real town. | ||
| Swampy |
Georgia! Tennessee, Florida, it will get you far enough away from the madness... Today I was in Dalton Georgia, I stopped for a red light, when the traffic cleared I turned left while the light was still red, my brother in law was, "Rob, Rob, Rob, ROB...Dude you just ran that red light!", I said yeah I know, and just a half mile away from the Georgia Highway Patrol, he responded, they wouldn't have bothered you, they just would have figured Damn Yankees! Go South Young Man! Thar's Hills just south of that sheep hole you call Ickynois! | ||
| Sagehawk |
bring you're tools dude! prepare for flat profile tires! weave in you're own lane for corners! oops! said the wrong things , sorry bout that. moneys pretty good down here but thats it. we have been wanting to get out of this area for a while but i havent found work in nw like i want to. seems like everyone wants to be somewhere but where they are. last dealer in houston area was mancuso's crossroads location. they never did work for me but i used to get parts there. lately i've moved on and used american sport bike for the few things that i needed. in all fairness , there are a few that know the roads north of houston and over to college station/ bryan area and they are pretty cool. out west of san antonio are the three sisters by leakey. there are some roads and areas that are cool but you have to drive a bit to get there. keep in touch with what you got going on. | ||
| Strokizator |
Texas is BIG. Here's and interesting geography tidbit. El Paso is closer to San Diego than it is to Houston. | ||
| Midknyte |
>try to go down for a weekend in August to see how it is yup. Is the plan. Wife and I went down there last spring. We're taking the boys down to introduce it to them. Have been talking to someone down there to fill in the gaps and googling. Aware of the heat and just see it as a tradeoff for these northern winter dead times. Its one or the other. | ||
| Ourdee |
I only had 1 month this year that I didn't get to ride up here in Northern Illinois. I can put on clothes in the cold. You can only take so much off. I didn't find TX so hot after NV though. | ||
| Midknyte |
I've got the gear for cold weather riding, but I call it quits when they salt the roads...  | ||
| Fahren |
I spent a year in Houston one summer. It can be fun, once you know the places to go. Until then, though, you get the feeling that there's no "there" there. It's all a big sprawl. But there are some really cool things to discover there, or at least there used to be. I would hate to move there for riding, though. Too hot in the summer, and not enough twisties. Just my .02 worth. YMMV | ||
| Macbuell |
I know some people that live in Houston and they aren't big fans. It is really hot, really big, lots of urban sprawl and strip malls. Why not look at Austin if you want Texas? Much cooler town. There are some hills there too for some nice riding. (Message edited by macbuell on March 31, 2014) | ||
| Midknyte |
I agree, Austin looked like a cooler town, but we want to be near the ocean. | ||
| Sifo |
We considered Corpus Christi about 20 years ago. Not a bad town for the most part. I'm not sure about riding there though, I wasn't at that time. The humidity is ridiculous though. Hang a towel to dry and it wont for six months! | ||
| Midknyte |
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/ad/travel/2014/ houston-texas-guide-hotels-restaurants-shops-artic le | ||
| Aaron_thomas |
Houston is not bad once you get used to dealing with the humidity. close to the ocean. Great food. Houston is a little different then say Dallas or west Texas. More southern influence. it for sure is urban sprawl. Riding there isn't anything to shout to the world about. where I live is not what I would call great riding either But anyplace can be what you make it. year round riding is a big plus | ||
| Ridesinnm |
I lived in Houston for six years in the 80s. I didn't care for it. Too big. I didn't think it was a great place to ride, the traffic was terrible and I didn't care for the weather. Good places to eat, though. I lived up around Humble, and rarely went south to the ocean because it was such a chore to get down there. Moved to Albuquerque and have never regretted leaving. Great weather, great riding and great flying out here. Brad. | ||
| Zane |
Understand wanting to come south. Was in Arizona and then moved to Bay City Michigan. Couldn't get out of there fast enough. Move back to the Phoenix area and love it here. Think this is gonna be home from now on. I spent most my life in Florida. Never go farther south than the north end of Lake Okeechobee unless its to get down to the Keys. South Florida is an arm pit. Tampa Bay is great, lived there 19 years. Panhandle is really nice too. Orlando is crowded and dominated by the mouse. I've been to Houston on business a couple of times. Wild traffic and very crowded. Stay on the edges and it's really nice. (Message edited by Zane on April 01, 2014) | ||
| Midknyte |
A month or two excessive heat vs four to five months of snow? I'll suck it up. The sheer ability to ride year round would make up for having to look for good routes to ride - heck, that just means more riding to find out.  If I could choose on location alone, I'd go to Tennessee. I loved the mountains and felt plain relaxed. But I was out of work for 8 months straight during the (ongoing?) recession and I want to be an economically strong area. Wife grew up near the ocean - keeping her near water improves her mood, and we all know how that helps everyone elses. I would have never thought of moving to Texas had I not gone down there and seen it in person last year. Might not be perfect, but it's not a downgrade [from Illinois]... Might have a wrench here in this thread http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/713 493/735276.html?1396323953 http://houstonsuperbikes.com/ | ||
| Macbuell |
Riding in excessing heat suuuuccks ... especially when it is really humid. I always thought it felt like riding with a huge hair dryer stuck in front of your face stuck on high. But that's just me. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"A month or two excessive heat vs four to five months of snow?" Yeah, that's what we thought too. Year round summer in FL was a novelty after 23 years in the tundra (Northern MN). Going to the beach on Christmas Day was very cool. But the humidity and the heat that started sometimes as early as March (temps in the 90's) and lasted well into October, if not November, really lost its luster, especially after I started working outside. Some of my favorite people are from Texas, but you can have that part of the country, with its humidity, flat roads, bad hair days, hurricanes and bugs. Going forward, I'd be hard pressed to find any reason to live anywhere but "out west". Good luck whatever you decide. B. | ||
| Jim2 |
As Ridesinnm pointed out, unless you live outside of Houston to the South it's a long ride/drive to the beaches. Where in Houston do you want to work? There is big oil inside the loop, to the North and to the West. There are hospitals all over and there is NASA and related contractors to the South. | ||
| Midknyte |
I'm thinking somewhere west/southwest/south of the city to live. That still puts us about an hour or so from the coast, I know... | ||
| Whitetrashxb |
not sure what the big draw is to the 'ocean'. the gulf coast area around Corpus and Galveston is OK, but its nothing like Florida or Cali. IF its just water you want, Austin has big lakes all around, much better riding roads, people, and all around scene, but its getting way too crowded here... on second thought, er, yeah, Houston is where its at.... | ||
| Jim2 |
I've lived South of Houston most of my life. It's very urban, very crowded and only getting more so. Great food, esp. gulf shrimp. I like the beach even though it's not the best beaches. When I was young I enjoyed partying on East beach. Now that I'm older I enjoy the quiet West end much more. I would never make it my choice and yet somehow I still ended up back here. You will likely put many miles on whatever vehicle you use. And still not get out of the Houston area!!! There are a couple of good tracks right here. Not a single curve for miles other than the freeway exchanges but the tracks can cure the itch if you go that route. I do enjoy the speed on the freeway when that's not too jammed up. PM me if you make it down, I'll be here. |
