- This topic has 23 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 8 months ago by eternal05.
Got my bike
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August 3, 2009 at 11:39 pm #3231EliasParticipant
…sorry, no pics yet. I drove it straight to work. I just happened to be wondering through craigslist on Sunday. I found a 2003 SV650S that had been posted one day earlier. 14,000 miles, custom black paint, laid down once and repaired with new fairings. The bike was clean, no leaks, no weird noises, nothing abnormal. Started right up and the engine sounded great. All fluids looked good, and the title was clear. I bought it flat out for $3,100, no financing for me. I was extremely nervous about the ride home. When I had imagined buying my first bike, I planned to take residential streets all the way home. Unfortunately the SV was located about 30 miles away from my house, in 110 degree heat, and as a beginner, I went ATGATT in LEATHERS to be careful. I entertained the thought of taking the freeway, but erred on the side of caution and took the surface streets. So I picked up the bike, got the insurance and took it to the nearest DMV. After it was registered, it was me and 30 miles to work. Took about an hour. Problem-free ride (except for the heat) and I love my new bike. Light, agile and PLENTY of power. I especially like the “Pass” button that I can use to flash my brights when approaching an intersection. Today’s my bday so I consider it a gift for myself
I’ll post pics asap
August 3, 2009 at 11:49 pm #21188MunchParticipantHappy B-day…. congrats on the bike…. but as is often said….
if there aren’t any pics….it didn’t happenAugust 4, 2009 at 2:27 am #21189zeppelinfromledParticipantNice find, and happy birthday.
How did you get to the place where the guy was selling it? I can just picture a guy in full leathers and a helmet on his lap, just sitting on the bus.
August 4, 2009 at 3:23 am #21191yugen852ParticipantHappy birthday. You couldn’t have given yourself a better gift. And I agree with zeppelin, how DID you get to the place of the buy?
yugen852
August 4, 2009 at 7:15 am #21198eternal05ParticipantCongrats, and happy birthday!
August 4, 2009 at 7:35 am #21200EliasParticipantHAHA I got a good laugh out of that too…but my girlfriend drove me in my truck up there and then brought it back down for me. Now ain’t she a sweetheart…
August 4, 2009 at 7:43 am #21202EliasParticipantI know how it works here…rest assured pics coming soon. I put 60+ miles on her on my first day! I rode at night too, which was a bit uncomfortable, even with high beams. But man, I have had this permanent smile on my face that I just can’t wipe off…like a grinning idiot.
Thanks for all the support BBM!
August 4, 2009 at 8:16 am #21203MunchParticipantjust make sure when the girl friend asks…it’s because of her
August 4, 2009 at 8:04 pm #21212eternal05ParticipantAlways keep them thinking they’re the only ones that can make you that smiley
August 4, 2009 at 8:43 pm #21213SafetyFirstParticipantOh, man. Clear the streets, Elias is on two wheels! Just pullin’ your chain!
Take that nice big parallel twin to an empty parking lot ASAP. Extra points if it’s the parking lot that they teach MSF classes in, so the markings are there. Get good with turning and braking. Especially emergency braking. Don’t be gung-ho and try to get mad short distances your first week, but focus more on getting used to it. It’s better to get the over-ambitious emergency stopping mess-ups out of the way in a parking lot than at an intersection at 45 MPH with a cage behind you waiting to crush you when you low-side. And remember, roads are slick as hell in the middle. What you can pull off in a clean parking lot ends up causing massive skidding and sliding near a stop light due to the oil and grease on the road. Be ready for it!
I’d avoid highways at this point. There’s not much to highways, but there are a few things that will make you anxious until you are used to your bike. Mainly, accelerating up to speed on the on-ramp if it’s a curve and merging. And getting used to the mad wind gusts of a semi-truck flying past, or you flying past it. Just don’t fight the gust too much. You’ll know what I mean when you get there. And because everything is happening so quickly, you truly do need to give yourself more room to the car in front of you, and look farther down the road. A busted up tire piece in the road comes up quick at 70 MPH. Until you’ve had to swerve around something in the road at 45-55, I wouldn’t recommend freeways. At some point on your first highway ride, it’ll probably hit your mind like it did me my first highway ride — the only thing between me and the pavement is my riding skills. Things are happening so quickly, you can’t let your mind wander off. Emergency stopping to a complete stop isn’t a good solution at 70 MPH — swerving and making your own (hopefully paved) path out of trouble is.
If any of you guys think I’m giving bad advice, speak up. I only have 2 months under the belt of the Ninja 250, but it seems like the difference between night and day at this point from when I started riding the 250, afraid to leave residential streets.
August 4, 2009 at 8:57 pm #21214nok610ParticipantCan’t wait to see some pics!
August 4, 2009 at 9:09 pm #21216MunchParticipantnope pretty much covered it. I would recommend however in those 45 mph residential type area….if theres no one around… slalom your bike and get used to the “delay” thats there at different speeds for swerving. Though on my 500 and now my 900 I never had issues with wind lasts from trucks. Though I don’t have a fairing on my scoot to get pushed on. Just remember what your taught in MSF… pass to the left and never loligag doing it.
August 4, 2009 at 9:42 pm #21220JackTradeParticipant…my strategy when I started riding in the real world (i.e. not the parking lot in the BRC).
I started on the back streets of a nearby residential neighborhood, getting a feel for everything, both major things like turns and braking, but also the smaller things like using the turn signals and the mirrors properly, and smooth starts and stops (even though I was, I didn’t want to *look* like a beginning rider while on the road).
While in said residential neighborhood, I’d usually make a stop at a local (empty) church parking to practice my emergency braking and my low speed turns. As the hardest part for me in the BRC was “the box,” I would spend tons of time at this church riding in really tight circles. Paid off though…when I took the ERC course recently, the box was nothing.
After a few weeks of doing that, I started to venture onto busier and busier roads with more and more traffic.
Agree on saving highways and expressways until last. Not that they’re hard (they’re not compared with low-speed around-town riding), but because of the confidence factor. As SafetyFirst points out, it’s somewhat disconcerting the first time you reach highway speeds (55+)…it’s both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
Congrats on a great bike!
August 4, 2009 at 9:55 pm #21221EddiepowerfmParticipantCongratulations. I went thru the course on my birthday last year and bought my bike 5 days later. I wish I would have started when I was younger.
Keep rockin!
August 5, 2009 at 2:12 am #21230owlieParticipantCongratulations! Excellent birthday gift for yourself.
Can’t wait to see the pics.
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