- This topic has 29 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 15 years ago by briderdt.
What was your Experience…From day 1.
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April 4, 2009 at 12:50 am #17513smokeizfireParticipant
Wow, sorry to hear about your brother. A scooter is cool. Anything on 2 or 3 wheels is cool as long as you don’t have to pedal…Lol
April 4, 2009 at 1:07 am #17514smokeizfireParticipant…My brother in law bought a R6 for his first bike. I tried sitting on that thing and whoa! He is like 6ft tall and I’m like 5’5″ so it was just too tall for me. I need to flat foot anything on 2 wheels to feel comfortable. I have to say, for me the cool factor was pretty high on the list. Or…maybe not since I wound up buying a 250cc bike which are sort of on the other end of “cool”. I am cool initially but a white helmet wouldn’t work for my blk/”look at me”orang bike….Lol….but that’s just me.
April 4, 2009 at 1:16 am #17515smokeizfireParticipantUnlike you, I’m never selling my baby when I upgrade. I’m definitely looking at Kawi’s direction for the next rocket. My list is pretty long though because there are soooo many great choices out there. I definitely want something I’d be able to customize, for sure.
April 4, 2009 at 1:24 am #17516smokeizfireParticipantThere is a Kawi 600 Ninja in my back yard that I was trying to buy off one of the owners of this house. It has been sitting up for years now and for some reason he refuse to sell it back when I was in the market to buy. Glad I know now what I didn’t know then, or you and I would have shared the same story. The bike probably is worth more in spare parts than trying to fix it up for the pavement.
April 4, 2009 at 1:31 am #17517smokeizfireParticipantI agree…..in spades!
April 4, 2009 at 12:19 pm #17519WeaponZeroParticipantI’ve wanted a motorcycle ever since I was in my mid teens. What started it for me was 80s movies where teenagers who were still in high school had motorcycles, and the way they depicted it, there was like a whole world of freedom these teenagers in these movies experienced because they had their bikes. By day they were normal kids but by night they saw and experienced things that most people never see in their entire lives.
I was seriously in danger of becoming a squid or an involuntary organ donor because I almost bought a ’98 CBR900RR for my first bike when I was 19 or 20. But due to a family emergency that sprung up I had to blow my savings on helping out my mom in a dire time for her. This led to my not being able to buy a motorcycle until 7 years later.
During those 7 years, my obsession with what got me into bikes in the first place (cheesy 80s movies) grew and I decided that when I did buy a bike, I wanted something that was like those 80s bikes in the movies: a practical, sporty standard. This led to my doing research on the SV650 and I became dead-set on buying an SV650N for my first bike.
I was browing cycletrader.com at work when I saw an ad for a 2000 SV650 in my area for $3000. The ad stated that it had an upgraded rear shock but was otherwise bone-stock. I called the number only to find out that the guy selling it lived only 4 blocks from my work. So, I went over there with my dad on my lunch break one day, he rode it around to test ride it, and I bought it the very next day along with a Joe Rocket jacket, River Road gloves, HJC CL-15 helmet, and Tourmaster Solution WP boots, and my Class-M restricted.
I signed up for the first available MSF course but it wasn’t until almost 3 months down the road. During that time my dad said we should take the bike to an empty parking lot to practice with it. I spent one weekend riding around this parking lot getting comfortable on the bike, which led to riding it around neighborhood residential roads and practicing starting on hills, which led to commuting to and from work on it. I waited until I had taken the MSF course before I took it on the highway.
April 4, 2009 at 8:06 pm #17522SantaCruzRiderParticipantFirst real riding experience was a dirt bike weekend with friends in Palm Desert, Cali. 2nd day out I took off on my own on a borrowed bike, jumped it into a dry creek bed and failed to consider that the other side of the creek was waiting. Seeing the 2-foot dirt wall quickly approaching, I hit the gas to try to get the front wheel up. Unfortunately, being a moron, I didn’t think this through too well. Front wheel cleared the bank but the frame/engine did not. I flew forward, both my knees hit the bars, hyper-extending and dislocating both joints and providing sufficient leverage so that the bike tumbled over the embankment and on top of me.
Luckily, the bike stayed running and I was able to ride back to my friends — staying in 1st gear because I couldn’t shift. I ended up totaling the bike (frame, forks, front wheel, bars and engine were destroyed). 6 months on crutches/in casts, then another 6 in knee braces and I was wanting to try again.
But I waited 10 years for my next episode. I was living in Hawaii, went to the DMV, took the written test, rented a big scooter and passed the practical. I then showed up at the Harley shop and bought a new Sportster. Dealer showed me how to shift and off I went. First month in, I set the bike down at a stop, and broke a taillight (subsequently replaced with a nicer set). Otherwise, rode the bike 360+ days a year for several years with no incident.
Sold the bike and took a break from riding when my son was born and I moved out of the states.
A few years later I was back in Cali — so back to the DMV for another MC license. Written test for the permit, borrowed a friend’s bike for a couple hours refresher, then passed the DMV practical on it. Now racking up 1,500+ miles a month riding to work and loving every second.
At times, my knees still ache from that first crash 25 years ago — a good reminder of the consequences of a momentary lapse in judgement.
April 5, 2009 at 3:27 am #17526EddiepowerfmParticipantAs a kid I thought motorcycles were cool but as an adult thought they were not worth the risk. Well when gas hit close to $4 last year I started to think about getting a scooter and taking it on back roads to work but that is a one way 23 mile commute. I then learned about the big super scooters but I saw how expensive they were compared to bikes like the Honda Rebel. A guy who listens to the radio station I work for told me about the MSF course and said “man on a freeway here in Dallas you need at least 500 CC’s”.
So on my birthday (July 5th) I took the course on the 5th and 6th. My wife and I agreed that I could se how I picked up the shifting and if I did not like it we would consider spending more money on a scooter like the Yamaha Majesty. Well after the class I decided that this is something that I can do. I am a very good and safe driver, and that’s what my wife tells everyone who ask why she let me get a bike.
So I passed the written test and got my class M license. The shopping was on. A few of my wife’s relatives and the people at the MSF course agreed that I should not get a 250 to commute on Dallas highways. I narrowed my search down to a Suzuki Boulevard S50 and a Kawasaki Vulcan 500. Now that I’ve found this site, I kinda wished I would have considered used. But my wife’s cousin convinced me that I should buy a new bike, especially since I do not know much about bikes and what someone may have done to a used one.
With all the fees the S50 would have cost me over two thousand more than the Vulcan. So on July 10, 2009 at 42 years of age Eddie Alcaraz picked up his first ever motorcycle, a brand new 2007 Vulcan 500. I only had 2 days of riding a Honda Rebel on a parking lot at the calss under my belt, so riding on Cooper Street in Arlington Texas was a little nerve racking. I drove up and down a little street the dealer was on to get ready, then on to Cooper and home to Grand Prairie. First I just rode in the neighborhood, then from one exit to the next, and pretty soon I was commuting 23 miles to work. I have been riding almost 9 months and have put 6,000 miles on the bike. I am loving it and wished I would have done this much earlier.
God bless you guys and keep rockin!
April 5, 2009 at 3:39 am #17527EddiepowerfmParticipantMy wife and I are cyclist too. We just rode our Trek 7.2 FX’s 30 miles in Tour Dallas today.
April 6, 2009 at 6:30 pm #17549Clay DowlingParticipantSecond best way to get around, in my book. And if I don’t have to go far, the best way to get around. It’s still got two wheels, and I’m getting in shape by riding it. I’ve found two wheels to be lots of fun with or without the motor.
April 6, 2009 at 6:37 pm #17550MunchParticipantwhen I was a kid bicycles were great…. now I am older and know that once I peddle my way to where I want to be….. grrr….I still have that much further to go to get back.
April 6, 2009 at 6:43 pm #17553Clay DowlingParticipantI’m getting fatter. Bicycle helps to combat that.
It also helps that a friend sold me a really good road bike for under $50, so I can go relatively fast with little effort and little outlay of money. Only down side is that this kind of bike doesn’t work with any kind of saddle bag, so trips into town to the library or grocery store are awkward.
April 7, 2009 at 10:51 am #17560smokeizfireParticipantAnd Wow, what a love story. A lot of people cannot believe how much money I save in gas. When gas prices went down, I was paying like $5 to fill up. I commute everyday during the week so I wouldn’t have to see the gas station ’til the next week or so. I am due for a long trip myself…except…I don’t know where to go…Lol
April 7, 2009 at 11:04 am #17561smokeizfireParticipant… I hope she isn’t deterred from riding if it is something that she still wants to do. And as for you, I hope your ego has healed up pretty well, too….Lol That is my next mission….to get a bike I can customize. “…(it wasn’t until MANY years later that I realized they weren’t both brake levers)….” L’dMAO btw
April 7, 2009 at 2:24 pm #17577briderdtParticipant…for the first time since January. Just some parking lot cruising. I was roller-blading around the same lot. So, yeah, she’s recovering pretty well. She’s going to re-take the class as soon as she can get in. With a school schedule to work around, it might be a while though. Thanks for the well-wishes.
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