What It’s Like Riding Down The 400 on a Motorcycle in Western New York

Riding a motorcycle is fun, but many consider it too dangerous to try themselves. So, if you ever wondered what it would be like to ride around on a motorcycle on the highways of Western New York and Buffalo, but aren't ready or interested in doing it yourself, here's a video to give you a first-person look.

What's The 400?

The 400 connects many of the Southtowns of Erie County to Buffalo. It's a main vein for places like East Aurora, West Seneca, Elma, and all the other surrounding towns. It has a speed limit, for the vast majority of it, of 65 MPH. In total, it's just under 17 miles long before turning into Route 16 in South Wales.

What I Used for the Ride

I connected a GoPro to my motorcycle helmet’s chin with a MotoRadds chin mounting kit, and took The 90 to The 400. (We say “the” in front of major routes in WNY. I don't know why, but it's what we do.) I rode a 2023 Honda Rebel 500. In case you're curious, I wore a Bilt summer armored riding jacket, Castle X modulate helmet, Wicked Stock armored riding jeans, and Sedici gloves, which I had just purchased that day. The gloves are great for people with big hands but shorter fingers like me. All of these things are entry level, but effective.

Check out my bike:

I took a ride on all this down the 400.

Conditions for the Ride

For this ride, I picked the nicest day we've had so far in WNY, weather-wise, which was Memorial Day 2025. Very little wind. Nearly 70 degrees. This was taken in the early evening/late afternoon. I rode to the Elma/Jamison Road exit as I wanted to ride down Jamison, which is another video for another time. Check out the video, and keep scrolling for my thoughts below.

It was a really nice ride. Merging onto the 400 was easy, as I stayed to the right on the 90. The big corner connecting the two routes is fun. I took extra caution passing the Walmart truck because wind shear and blind spots can be problematic on a bike.

The best part of the ride? It was mostly quiet, not busy, and I always love riding out to the country on a sunny day. After all, I'm originally from Marilla, and it's nice to head back that way whenever I can.

The worst part? The road conditions. It wasn't awful by WNY standards, but it wasn't good. Lots of potholes and pumps. Again, it could be MUCH worse, and it has been. I recall that when I was growing up, there was a pothole so bad near the Elma/Jamison Road exit that it caused legit traffic slowdowns for people trying to avoid it. So nothing was like that. Bugs were also no big deal as it's early in the season.

What road should I ride down next? Let me know: Pat@WBUF.com or on Instagram @PMBuffalo.