The off ramps get to be a hoot.

 

I've never been covered in bug slime even close to what I did on a night ride in Florida on a naked bike. Crossed the old Tamiami Trail from Miami to Naples, stopped at an all night coin laundry (do those even exist anymore?) and fortunately no ladies came in while the pants and jacket got washed (well after midnite). Last trip there was in a car, and I was sure glad I had airconditioning while creeping along in the rain in a long line of 15mph snowbirds somewhere south of Tampa.

 

hell i remember when there was no love bugs anywhere. up till my 07 road king i never used a windshield, now days i cant ride without one. or music for that matter

 

super reasonable price for the bike. Lots of bikes would load up on the train for Rolling Thunder every year. Just get upgraded sleeping quarters. Otherwise its like sleeping on a plane with everyone snoring, belching, and what not.

 

This is going to be zero help in making your decision but the advantages / disadvantages of where you choose to reside is always relative and a compromise.

Going to be -30 odd tomorrow morning so from my perspective Florida looks good. Might have one or two more hills here though but I wouldn't bet much on it. My only experience of FL was 10 minutes outside at the Miami airport. We do get summers like FL (45 C or 113 F) but northern winters to -50 C, but it's a dry heat and cold. No earthquakes or hurricanes but the odd tornado.

The main positive is the entire province (251,700 sq. mi) has less people (1,178,657 people) than a lot of cities. Oh maybe one more positive Sask and Alberta are the two most non-liberal provinces. I could easily feel at home living in Wyoming, Montana etc.

 

what’s the train cost Kawickrice?

 

I think it was $125 extra for the bike. We upgrade to a sleeper too so the cost goes up. Couple hundred per person plus the bike. Its nonstop from 4pm to 9am the next morning. Dinner included with the room upgrade.

 

Im from NJ and moved to FL in 1995. One thing nobody has mentioned is the heat and humidity, at least where I am at. It is awful in the summer. To me its like the winter in the NE. In the winter it can be bad that you don't want to do anything outside, same here in the summer. Walk to the mailbox and my shirt is soaked in sweat. 92 degrees with humidity in the 90s is not fun. I have a real nice pool for those times. Have friend with boats, that's the best!
I live 15 minutes from Alabama and there is some nice back roads there, obviously you would be a long way from there. I save a bunch on car insurance and property taxes for sure compared to NJ.
Id spend a week down here to see if its for you or not.

 

I am in the Fort Myers area in the winter, I moved my 3 bikes down from NH

If you are used to curves, twistys, changes in elevation, scenery, etc.... you will be sorely disappointed with riding in Florida, especially areas developed in the last 40 years where snowbirds (like myself) tend to congregate.

Get away from Mousewitz ( Orlando sucks!) the major population areas, and there is decent riding if you look for it.

I ride with a bunch of older guys from my gated cemetery waiting room and they know all sorts of good places to eat and the back roads to get there. If it wasn't for them I'd probably sell off 2 of the 3 bikes I have here.

I tend to try to avoid highway riding, it is different... 70MPH speed limit flat, straight, boring, risky.

My favorite rides are (from my home base) NE into say Arcadia and beyond on US 17

PS you don't know what suck really is until you've done I-4 or any section of it.

For you any good riding is going to be Southwest... and once you get inland into horse, cattle and citrus country the scenery is nice and the roads have some character.

I got here in Mid September, it was blistering hot until Veteran's Day, as in I was hardly riding and even then I was on the water cooled rice rocket.. it was too hot for the baggers. Blistering hot and oppressive humidity.

Love Bugs..... forget riding from the end of April to when it gets too hot to ride anyway. I have been here in the summer to check on my house and the bike never left the garage... again oppressive humidity 90+ degree temperatures.

Today it was record heat 89 degrees, but no humidity, I did get out on the 03 bagger and the 17 Kawi for a while.

The previous 2 Saturdays, our Saturday lunch ride ended up getting caught in some serious rain.... not fun.. it rains here and when it does it is rarely gentle showers, it is open up he heavens and empty it all in one deluge rain... sometimes it is 15 minutes, sometimes it is hours.

Have I discouraged you yet? If your life revolves around motorcycling, there are better places than Florida's east or west coasts.. if you like flat, straight and no curves, Florida is the Twiggy of states. It is different here, and you will have to adapt. If your boss is willing to send you down to scout out the area to see if it is for you, make sure you rent a bike and put a couple of hundred miles on it in a day.

 

Might suck but we ride all year. Don't ride much in the rain or the extreme heat but my bike isn't put away for the Winter.