- This topic has 6 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 4 months ago by jayboydog.
Boy Dog
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November 25, 2007 at 6:32 pm #1183jayboydogParticipant
Hi everybody! I am Jayboydog. My mom got a dog about ten years ago. It was a cute white Maltese which is a small critter that looks like a mop running around in circles. The doorman in her apt bldg said “that’s a good boy” and so the dog was named boy. I am in Los Angeles. Have been for twenty-five years. When I arrived in ’83, I would stop at motorcycle stores and peruse. When growing up in Cincinnati, there was a Harley-Davidson dealership near our house. I often would look around and was attracted to the Electraglide style without bags and windshield. I have never ridden a motorcycle although I did ride a Honda Trail 70 a few times in 1974. I am about twenty-five years away from a natural death and I am again fantasizing about riding a motorized bike. I live in a big city so riding around town would probably be in stop and go traffic during days with lots of warm evenings of relatively uncluttered boulevard cruising. I like analyzing specifications of new motorcycles but I do not have experience of what the bang for buck yields in relation to what will give me the most pleasure riding.
November 28, 2007 at 12:10 am #4802KickprivateParticipantWelcome to the forums Boy Dog.
Have you a bike in mind? Maybe a style of bike that you would like to see under you?
November 28, 2007 at 3:42 am #4804jayboydogParticipanthi kicks! thanks for asking! i like the cruiser bikes and i like the standard bikes. i do not think i want lean forward cafe racer or a bike like the Honda 600rr or the Yamaha YZF-6r. so i am considering something like the Yamaha FZR-6 but I am looking at the cruisers. I met a fella riding a belt drive harley last summer and he mentioned the belt drive was better than shaft when going over bumps in the road. another fella told me he’d never buy another chain drive because of the messy oiling. so looking towards a belt drive cruiser…. kawasaki vulcan 900 and yamaha v-star 1300. but i do not know if i would be happy owning any bike! maybe after a few months, the novelty of riding would wain and the bike would just be something to look at. i have a car. i really do not need a bike. i am not sure i want to spend time riding. bikes look fun! i am afraid of getting hit by a car. i do like looking at bikes! i like comparing specs! i like analyzing bang for buck in terms of features of diff bikes. i do think fuel injected and liquid cooling are superior to carb and air-cooling. i fear getting one bike and then wanting a diff kind (if i buy an FZR-6 i might see the cruisers and wish i had made the other choice or vice-versa!). insurance costs are another factor as well as my financial situation in general! i am confused and i like reading what others think! i also think i might be satisfied with a 250cc std bike!
December 18, 2007 at 11:31 pm #4848FateParticipantHave you looked at the SV650 or the new Kawasaki Versys? The Honda 599 might also be suitable for a mature beginner. I personally like the look of the Honda more than the others but it is a bit expensive. This site has a nice shoot out
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/roadtests/middleweight_motorcycle_comparison/
The Versys
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycles/kawasaki-versys/The Versys to me looks like a cheap Ducati Multistrada (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).
Or a clone of the Moto Guzzi Stelvio (with the 2008 Kaw KLR650 being a clone of the Moto Guzzi Quota).These last few bikes are more dual sport bikes (the KLR650 and Quota for sure) but they are more 90% road 10 dirt
like the Suzuki V-Strom and the DL650 “wee-strom”.Of course you’ll never look badass or cool or whatever on a dual sport. You don’t have the hat turned backwards riding in a tank top squid look or the pony tail and sunglasses and leathers look of a cruiser. Just the utilitarian go anywhere do anything look that certainly won’t impress the women.
December 19, 2007 at 4:18 am #4855BenParticipantUghhhhhhhh… The versys is soooooooooo ugly, please don’t ever recommend it!!! lol, the same goes for the multistrada, those are two of the ugliest bikes ever produced
heheh
Ben~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin
December 20, 2007 at 2:52 am #4862FateParticipantI agree. But for every ugly bike there are a handful of people that absolutely love it.
Plus you should always get what you like and what does what you need it to do.
If you are just riding to look cool you probably won’t stick with it and are wasting money
and going to end up a speedbump for someone in an SUV.There are even whole classes.. some people think supermoto bikes just look stupid. But then you have a lot of people that love putting street tires on a Honda XR600R or buy one of the new factory supermotos like the DRZ400SM that someone on here said they have.
December 26, 2007 at 5:25 am #4878jayboydogParticipantafter reading and looking and enjoying the process, i lost interest in a cruiser. i was looking at one guy’s suzuki boulevard c50 and i kept thinking (regardless of his reason for selling it) that an 800cc engine on a 540 lb bike must not be giving a cruiser rider much fun after he gets used to the accelration. (most harley-davidson have 96 cu inches –1550 cc and weight 600 lbs so i concluded an engine size of only 50 cu inches is probably boring!) and i was thinking i want my feet below my butt not out in front!
i met several guys independently while shopping at a dealer who ride the BMW R 1150. this bike has not been manufactured for a few years now. R is the BMW boxer engine with two opposing cylinders– one to the right side, the other to the left, horizontally configured. 1150cc is the total displacement of the cylinders. the R 1150 RT has suit cases attached above the rear wheel. the T means touring. the R1200 is the current engine. and a variety of fairings and fenders come with the diff models. G means adventure. R1200G, the R1200R is cool looking but the newer BMW are expensive. maybe a five year old R1150 would be cool. The R bike is said to have power which is not especially torquey from a stop but is lovely throughout the RPM range.
one of the guys who loves his BMW R1150 said the Suzuki DL 650 v-strom is popular as a similar riding experience to the BMW. light weigh, the v-strom 650 accelerates quickly and is fun to ride. i believe that is probably true.
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