[briderdt]

…the Aprillia Mana has what you’re looking for — storage space, and “automatic” transmission.

[briderdt]

If you’ve got $11K+, you’re at the right time to pick up a cheap ride…

The beginner types, though, are as expensive as always.

[briderdt]

Similar with the mapping, but I just like the gas tank lower and hidden inder the seat, and the “tank” baing a huge trunk that you can put a helmet in…

[briderdt]

And right now I’ve got 5 vehicles as well as a home-owners policy with them, so I got a lot of discounts. The SV plus a new Suzuki C50 (my wife’s) added $85 a month to the total payment. But I’ve probably got pretty high coverage compared to most.

[briderdt]

… and it was a handful when I first started out (just 3 months ago), but I’ve got a pretty good handle on it now. My worst transgressions now seem to be not rolling off the throttle enough when shifting, so the engine revs up a bit.

Anyway… KBB is a big help: http://www.kbb.com/kbb/Motorcycles/Default.aspx

My SV had 4100 miles on it when I bought it, and I got it at blue book. Aftermarket parts/mods really don’t mean much to the price of a used bike. Yeah, the seller usually wants to recoup the cost, but if they were smart, they’d hang on to the stock parts to put back on before selling, and then sell the aftermarket parts separately.

“Low” and “high” mileage are more relative to how the bike has been maintained than any absolute number. A meticulously maintained bike with 20K miles can be in much better shape than a bike with 3K that’s on it’s original oil. You are somwhat at the mercy of the seller’s say-so as to what’s been done to the bike and when (maintenance records can help).

Hope that helps.

[briderdt]

The steel toed work boots aren’t too bad, but there are issues you need to be aware of when using them:

(1) That steel toe will take away almost all of your shift lever feel.
(2) The toe area may be too thick (bottom of sole to top of toe cap) to fit under the shift lever (not an issue if you run floor boards with heel/toe shifters).
(3) Minimal ankle crush protection (though this is the same for most any boot that’s not a full race boot).

[briderdt]

They make a great base for a bobber…

[briderdt]

I tried some on in a store and couldn’t get them off fast enough. Fit is a very personal thing, apparently.

[briderdt]

“The lack of graphics almost certainly means that the fairings have been replaced”

Not necessarily. Many people like the “stealth” look of a bike with no graphics or logos. I’m one of them. They could have been removed by the previous owner.

[briderdt]

I had a very extensive background riding and racing bicycles on the road, so I already had a good “radar” for hazards of traffic unique to vehicles that can disappear into the background. So really I only had to concentrate on the actual riding.

Before I bought anything, I checked out every book on riding from the local library (actually scoured the entire county library system). I found Hough’s books the best, along with “the Complete Idiot’s Guide”. With that, and sitting on a bunch of bikes, I bought my SV and then registered for the MSF class a month out. I did a lot of parking lot practice (the parking lot is only a half-block away on residential roads) and a couple forays out on public roads before the class.

My class was a little different in that I think there was only one person who hadn’t been on a bike ever, but even that person did well. The one thing that happened most was that once the instructors stopped talking when we were riding (read: during the test), people forgot to look through the turns. The figure-8 was kind of humorous to watch, as people would go into it trying to control speed with tht throttle intead of the clutch, and look at the ground about 12″ in front of the front wheel… WRONG! I’m glad there weren’t any cars we had to turn between…

One girl dropped the bike on a ghost-stand (she forgot to put the side stand down when getting off the bike), and unfortunately it was during the test, so she had to be taken out of the rotation. That was the only drop in the class.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I can even see myself becoming an instructor at some later time when I don’t have kids schedules to deal with. I’ll be taking the ERC probably a year from now, and the sport bike class as well.

[briderdt]

I did just what you’re suggesting — bought the bike before taking the MSF course. And I did have to “unlearn” some habits. But the habits I had to unlearn were things like covering the brakes while riding (they teach not to, while others — like Hough — teach to cover them), or using 2 fingers on the brake lever.

In Washington, there is no requirement to have a learners’ permit prior to taking the course. I went ahead and took the DMV written test, though, so that I would be legal to practice riding before taking the class.

Would I do things differently if I had to do them all over again? Probably. But that has more to do with what’s happened after the class (my wife not passing her class, and her very slow climb up the learning curve) than anything else. Reason is, part of the “why” I got the bike I did was because we’d planned to doing some longer road trips together, and it looks like she is going to be a lot slower in getting to that point of ability. I could have done fine with a smaller bike (not that I’m afraid of the bike I have) and upgrade in a year and still not impact the schedule of our planned trips at this point.

[briderdt]

…is more like the original bobber — take off everything that isn’t necessary, cut down the things that are to the bare minimum. Maybe some parts restyled. Not going to tinker with lowering, stretching, and the like, though.

[briderdt]

The rider position has some pretty significant differences between these two bikes. Not like the difference between a sport and a cruiser, but if you can get on them side-by-side, the differences will become very apparent. Also, when you climb on the bikes to get their feel, make sure you’re doing so with both feet on the pegs.

“the highway romps seeming to be next to impossible on the Ninja 250R”

Uh… Wrong. It’s plenty capable. Don’t feed into the myth.

[briderdt]

Especially bicycles. I’ve always had at least one bike in a state of disassembly for an upgrade or reconfiguration. I can see myself doing the same thing with motorcycles. WHich means I’d have to own at least two bikes so that I always had one that was ready to ride.

But unlike most, I’m not looking to go up in cc’s… I’m happy with the SV650s. I’m looking at a cheap 250, Ninja most likely (since we don’t get the Honda CB250 Hornets or the Aprilia 125 or 250 street bikes in the US). But I’d be turning it into a streetfighter…

[briderdt]

…will be fine for a single 250lb rider.

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