- This topic has 19 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 1 month ago by swede.
Hello from northpole (sort of)
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January 17, 2008 at 9:41 pm #1201swedeParticipant
Hey everyone!
I’m new to the forum as you prob can tell.
I’m a 22yrs old guy from Sweden about to get my mc-drivers license (gotta wait for the ice and snow to clear from the streets first ) and i’m also trying to get my nose in to this whole buy-your-first-motorbike-business, think i’m going for a 250cc (either kawa~ el 250 or yama~ virago 250) since insurance is really expensive for higher-powered bikes when your a 22yrs old guy just waiting to drive yourself (and perhaps others too) to death (in the eyes of the insurance company’s)
Not totally new to motorbikes though, I was driving motorcycle-‘trial’ for about four or five years back in my middle teenage which I really enjoyed, but for some reason quit (perhaps to prove how careless of’a teenager I was)
Anyway, rest assured i’ll post some questions about motobikes and such in the days to come.
Regards / Jonathan the swede
February 3, 2008 at 9:49 pm #5028KickprivateParticipantWelcome to the forums and Welcome to BBM Swede, Enjoy your stay.
February 6, 2008 at 8:40 pm #5032swedeParticipantWell, thank you private kicker. I’m glad to be here.
I’ve been looking further into what type of bike I’m going to get, and every time I sort of decide what bike to get I read all these cons with the bike in question (extreme timingbelt wear and such) always ending in me upping the ante…
The frame I have to stay within is that the bike HAS to be at least 20 years old (-1988) cause of the insurance policy’s (a >20year old bike is ~140euro’s/year and a <20year old bike is like 650-1000euro),
The the money I have to spend on the bike alone is about 1000-1500euros (up to 2000 but that’s gonna hurt)My wish was to get a sort of all-day road bike which would normally carry only me, but also carry a passenger and some luggage occasionally. Preferably liquid-cooled, mono-shock absorber, and a real stand (those usually seen on touring bikes)
I’ve been trough the usual Japanese manufacturers catalog’s and read about all the different setbacks these bikes seemed to have. I’ve basically come up with two bikes that seem robust enough; Suzuki GSX 1984- and Honda VFR, now the Suzuki is air-cooled, so I kind of had to give up the vision of liquid-cooling there, but it seems like a good enough bike anyway, and ahead of its time with suspension and frame construction. The Honda VFR is really the preferable one of these two but quite lot more expensive. And since this will be my first ‘heavy’ motorbike and I’m planning to do the maintenance and service’s myself, I would like if the bike wasn’t unnecessarily complicated or expensive.
The cubics I’m looking at have been upped from 250 to 400 to 500ish (the GSX im looking at is 550cc)
Well, if anyone here has any suggestions that’ll make me more confused and ripped apart, please don’t hesitate
Bye for now
February 7, 2008 at 6:34 am #5034BenParticipantI’d definitly rock the VFR! There is a classic late 80’s VFR at my work with a custom white paintjob and it is oh so beautiful.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminFebruary 22, 2008 at 7:40 pm #5076swedeParticipantYou’re absolutely right there Ben, but I’ve been checking the net daily for ads on used VFR’s and since my first post, I’ve only found one! (that one was a total robbery!)
The reason for this is (I think) that the bikes are that good that the owners don’t wanna loose them, and get a raised insurance in the same time.
A fun fact on the VFR is it’s famousness of eternal life and robustness. It was made to replace the old Honda VF which had an really troubled and ill constructed engine. To counter the bad rumour of the VF-engine, Honda decided to go overkill on roughness, robustness and stress tolerance, resulting in the VFR engine. (later many of the technical solutions on the VFR has been changed back to less robust ones, because of cost)Any way, im looking for a specific year on the bike as well (has to be 20yrs) and the owners of VFR’s of these make years seem to hold on to their bikes, so it looks like I’m gonna go with the Suzuki GSX 550/750 ES/EF/F
The GSX isn’t as beautiful, but the market is flooded by them, giving them a lower price and a bigger bang for the buck in general.
BTW, I passed my MC knowledge test last week (dunno what it’s called in english, the test with traffic laws and signs and such) with a good 64p out of 65p possible, which wasn’t so hard since i’ve been driving a car for a couple of years
Having that done, i booked my first mc driving lesson, which I was sad to hear doesn’t start until mars 31stJonathan
February 22, 2008 at 10:20 pm #5078BenParticipantCongrats on passing the knowledge test Jonathan! I remember when I took mine I studied a lot and I was still nervous about it (bad test taker I guess). Are you going to be using your own bike for the MC driving lesson y ou booked, or is the teacher going to be providing a bike?
Have you got the GSX yet?
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminFebruary 24, 2008 at 2:49 am #5081swedeParticipantWell as to whether I get to use my own bike depends on what engine volume I go for.
Swedish law requires a bike with no less than 700cc and/or 35kW to be used during driving lessons and final driving test (I guess to prove that you can actually handle a ‘heavy’ bike)And since it looks like I’m going for a 550cc, I won’t be able to use that one.
Can’t really decide if I should buy the bike before I get that license or not. I mean, I would like to take the bike for a test drive before buying it, but getting caught means loosing my ordinary drivers license for 6months and 2 years postponement on the MC license. And I really don’t know anyone else with a license to do the driving for me.
So unless I come by some killer-deal (and perhaps locate someone on a swedish bike forum who lives nearby the seller and can go look at it for a bottle of scotch), I think I’m gonna wait.
On the other hand, prices tend to go up as the riding season gets closer. Decisions decisions decisions. Sigh.
February 24, 2008 at 3:38 am #5083BenParticipantWow they actually REQUIRE a bike over 700cc’s!!! Thats pretty amazing. I guess in that case see if you can borrow a bike from someone for the license test? I hope it all works out, keep us posted with any updates. Also, what is your avatar from, is it a movie?
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminFebruary 24, 2008 at 5:13 am #5084swedeParticipantIt’s really stupid, see the MC drivers license is divided in three classes;
A1, light (max 125cc 11kW) ;
A*, limited (max 25kW and max 0,16kW/kg) ;
A, unlimitedSince the 550cc bike I’m going for is well above 25kW I’m gonna have to go for the ‘unlimited’-class, that bike does however not represent the ‘average’ heavy bike which apparently is ‘700cc’ >_< …bureaucrats… Oh and the avatar is a self-portrait I did for a photo contest, I sort of went for the ‘evil-Anakin-in-his-jedi-hood-starwars-look’. Although people have told me (much to my disappointment ) that I look more like Alex Delarge in ‘A Clockwork Orange’. Figures…
March 8, 2008 at 6:32 pm #5146swedeParticipantI went to check out two bikes today. A GSX550 and a GSX750. I was positively surprised by their performance, brought a friend with a driver’s license to take ’em both for a test drive and his verdict was very positive, even though he normally drives a Fireblade…
I’m having such a hard time deciding which one to get. They both have pros and cons.
The 750 has recently been overhauled with new piston-rings, renewed valves and all sealings relplaced. Tires, chains and such are in mint cond. Price $2,875The 550 hasn’t as much power, hasn’t been newly maintained except oil and air filter change, but is in general good condition any way. Tires are 6 yrs old, but well preserved. Some occasional noise from (i think) the cam-chain (timing-chain?) this noise disappeared when the engine was warm. Price $2,340
whatcha-think? I’m gonna give my decision to the sellers by tomorrow evening.
smörgåsbord
JonathanMarch 8, 2008 at 6:56 pm #5147KickprivateParticipant“Swede”-The 750 has recently been overhauled with new piston-rings, renewed valves and all sealings relplaced. Tires, chains and such are in mint cond. Price $2,875″
Why?
~Not your average hairless monkey
KickMarch 8, 2008 at 7:01 pm #5148swedeParticipantIt had a somewhat increased oil-consumption, and it was a bit ‘slow and tired’. This was rfixed in the overhaul.
smörgåsbord
JonathanMarch 8, 2008 at 7:02 pm #5149BenParticipantHmmm.. that is a tough one. What years are the bikes?
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminMarch 8, 2008 at 7:46 pm #5150KickprivateParticipantHehe how old is this bike? Miles, year?
~Not your average hairless monkey
KickMarch 9, 2008 at 1:38 am #5153swedeParticipantThey’re -86, mileage is about 55,000km (34,200miles) on the 550 and 65,000km (40,400miles) on the 750.
No, I can’t get a newer bike, the insurance would kill me, if I get a newer one the insurance would rise with about $2,000/year >_< Think I’m going with the 750. Looks aside, this is the better of these, I want to ride my first season, not change part’s and tinker all the time. smörgåsbord
Jonathan -
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