[Ben]

That is a beautiful bike! I really liked the green color, but man that blue looks so good! Congrats on the bike

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Haha, that is top secret, to be announced later this week. Thanks for the heads up.

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Sounds like quite the adventure! You seemed to handle yourself well and not panic even when you bike stalled. I had a friend who stalled his bike at a green light and was so paniced that he couldn’t get his bike started again until the light started to turn yellow. Needless to say he made the light, but the cars behind him weren’t so lucky haha.

The only thing I could recommend is maybe to count gears that way you know you are in the correct gear for your speed. I personally tried to get in the habit but it never took with me. All I do now is if I’m slow enough to stop I always stomp down a few times on the shifter to make sure that I am in first. Not the most elegant way of solving the problem, but it works

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Practice does indeed make perfect I think they also recently paved the shoreline which would be perfect for parking lot drills.

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Hola Megaspaz!

What type of bike did you get? You don’t happen to work at google do you? I saw some guy on an SV650 cruising around today on campus, he looked like he was getting the hang of the bike.

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Hey Megaspaz,

I actually live in the CA bay area and commute from San Jose to Mountainview so I think I know what you are talking about. Are you worried about a big line of cars or something? Usually if there is a line and a meter I just ‘share lanes’ all the way up to the front of the line, and if there are no cops I just keep going. If there are cops, then I tend to stop at the light, but I find that most drivers don’t really like this since I am sort of cutting in line.

When I split on the onramp I make sure to do so on the inside curve and not the outside, I find that the inside shoulder is pretty wide and mostly free from debris. I’m not sure on the legality of doing that maneuver since I think to properly split lanes you have to do it on a dotted line, not a solid one. But I usually just take my chances because…

1. It lightens the load of traffic and gets me to my destination quicker. Win/Win for everyone.

2. If I do happen to pass a cop car while I am splitting chances are I will be way too far ahead of him in gridlocked traffic and he won’t bother trying to pull me over.

3. If I do by chance get pulled over, I explain #1, smile, and get a ticket if they deem it necessary. Whenever I take risks on my bike like splitting in that situation or speeding, I know that there is a chance my luck will run out and I will get a ticket. So far it hasn’t happened, but I am always aware of the possibility.

Does that answer your question?

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Hey Grizzle,

Sorry about jumping on my soapbox about gear, I’m not sure what people know and what people don’t. Let us know when you get your moto and post some pics of it!

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Welcome Grizzle!

The bike bug is a very dangerous disease, if you aren’t careful it will consume your whole life!

The vulcan 500 is a great bike, and I think it would fit your situation well. I would suggest that you do the following:

1. Take the MSF course, they start you on 250cc bikes and go from the very basics to the more advanced skills. It’s a really great class.

2. Buy a used bike if you can, you will get the bike much cheaper and and generally you can sell them again for a few hundred dollars less than you paid originally. With a brand new bike you are taking a huge depreciation hit that you will never recover as soon as you drive the bike off the lot.

3. Keep the car. I did the same sort of thing and got rid of my car and bought a motorcycle. It’s a lot of fun, but it requires a lot of work. I wear full gear which means Leather Jacket, Leather Gloves, Full face Helmet, textil overpants, and motorcycle boots. Whenever I get on my bike I have to put all that crap on, and take all of it off when I arrive at my destination. Thats no problem if I am going to be driving the 20 minutes to work, but if I just want to hop down to the store thats a few blocks away it is a pain in the ass.

Now I know that a lot of people just don’t wear the gear so they don’t have to deal with this, but I would really recommend that you do. Every motorcycle rider I know has crashed at least once (including myself), and generally after they crash they start wearing ATGATT (All the gear all the time). I personally don’t like broken bones and skin grafts, thats why I wear my gear even going to the store a few blocks away.

Anyway I digress. What I was saying is that it is much easier to do small little errands if you also have a car, plus if it gets really hot or really rainy then you can take the car to work instead of the bike which makes things a lot more pleasent.

Hope that helps!

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Haha thanks, but it’s really you guys that have added all the great content. I just got the ball rolling with an article or two, but this site would be really shitty without all the comments, questions, and answers that you guys provide.

I’m glad we could help you with your research RydRy!

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Waterproof overpants are a must for crappy weather. As a side note, I ride rain or shine, and I really don’t like riding in the rain. Sure it looks ‘tough’ because your on a motorcycle in the rain while all the poser riders are taking the car instead, but that is pretty much the only good thing about the rain. Tires slip, you get wet, its harder for people to see you etc…

If I had to choose between it being 100 degrees or it raining, while both are unpleasant I would rather ride in the desert than a tsunami.

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

I haven’t actually heard too much about the sportster, although I am a fan of harleys. One of the main reasons I wouldn’t get one as a first bike is what matt said, just too expensive. Chances are you are going to drop you first bike a couple of times, and which would you rather drop, a cheap ninja 250 or a brand new Harley Davidson Sportster?

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Hey Jiriki!

Santa Clara huh? Always nice to meet another Bay Area rider

I have known people that buy their bikes and ride them home, but I personally didn’t do that with my first bike (a gs500 I bought in S.F.). I posted in BARF (Bay area riders forum) asking if anyone had a truck that they could use to help me get my bike home. I got 3 or 4 replies and one of the guys took me up there, test rode my bike for me, and then loaded it up and took it to my house.

I think if you took the MSF course before you get your bike you should be ok riding it home if you don’t have to go on highways. If I had a truck then I would help you out, but all I have is a motorcycle.

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

The Ninja is a great bike, if I was just getting into motorcycles today I would choose the 08 ninja as my first bike.

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Welcome!

Make sure to wear full gear, pavement hurts a lot more than dirt!

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

[Ben]

Goddamn! Normally when people on this site say “Am I too tall to fit on this bike” they are only 6’0 – 6’2″! Your height it definitely a challenge. I’m surprised that the GSXR feelt more comfortable for you, in my experience most 600’s are pretty damn cramped. In fact my 2001 Kawasaki ZX6R is LESS roomy than the 2008 Ninja 250.

I honestly haven’t heard of the ‘mode C’ that you are talking about, do you know how much it limits the bikes power?

Maybe try look at some of the dual sport bikes like the DRZ 400, they are pretty tall and might be more comfy for you. Also check out the SV650, that is a really tall bike in my opinion.

Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin

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