[Candice]

Is your Dad looking at 250cc Cruisers or higher cc cruisers? If he’s looking at 500-600cc cruisers then you can say that the 250cc is less cc’s anyways and therefore more appropriate for a beginner and show him some of these articles on this website. There are a few on the NINJA too. Good luck!

[Candice]

Ok, I have been thinking on this one, do you mean biker etiquette towards other bikers and bikers you are riding with or just generally on the road?

Things I have thought about are:

If it’s starting to get dark I try to remember to turn off my highbeam so I don’t blind people.

If I come up behind another biker I’m not technically riding with I still ride staggered even though I’m not really sure if this is what I’m suppose to do or what.

When bikers acknowledge me I acknowledge them back if I can if not then oh well.

I don’t really take liberties that I’ve seen other bikers take just because they are on bikes and can squeeze inbetween cars when they are not suppose to, I think that is kind of rude and I don’t want cars to get pissed at me as they are dangerous enough as it is. Lane sharing and that kind of thing is not legal illinois.

Otherwise I really just abide by the same etiquette I use in my car, let people in if they have their signals on etc.

I don’t really use the finger too much and especially not on the bike. I had a lady in a HUGE SUV tailgate me recently and I really wanted to give her several fingers but I chose not to since she could just step on the gas and run me right over so I just suffered severe anxiety until I could move.

When riding with other bikers I try not to pull my bike too close to them. One girl I rode with really made me nervous with how close she would pull up her bike at stop lights and in parking lots, I was sure she was going to collide with me. Not that it would be that bad since we aren’t really moving but still.

If I think of anything else I’ll post, hope this helps a little.

Oh AND – turn off your signal lights after you make your turns.

[Candice]

I do what zeppelin said and I also count up and down. I used to just shift a million times down to make sure I was in first at a stop light but now I just count down. Have fun!

[Candice]

I was on vacation for awhile. I see that SUNL is Chinese. Interesting. I was also looking for a cheap bike for my first bike. Mine is a LS650 SAVAGE – Suzuki. You can pick up a used one for under $3000.00 which is pretty good, not sure how much you are looking to spend. Mine is a 2002, I bought it with 700 miles on it and I paid $3200.00 but I think I overpaid by a few hundred. It’s been a great first bike, I’m really happy with it. I will probably ride it for a year or two more and then trade in for something else.

Good luck looking for something! Let us know what you end up with!

[Candice]

Oh really? I didn’t know what I was getting into at the time. I didn’t feel in control on it and I was really happy when I arrived back at the dealership in one piece. I could not go medium speed on it and I was jerky a lot. I was just kind of feeling scared on it. So, X that one off the list!

[Candice]

I forgot to say that on one of the rides we saw a guy do a wheelie – a big wheelie. I had never seen that before live and in the flesh.

[Candice]

I had to look up Supermotard – they look fun.

[Candice]

I don’t know why they look so good. I obviously think they do but my brother said they were ugly. I was aghast.

[Candice]

Hi! I ride the Suzuki LS650 Savage, I love it! They are not that plentiful here either I have noticed. My dream bike is the Triumph Bonneville though, it only weighs around 400lbs. I always hear people in the USA complaining that they can’t find the bikes they want that are offered in Europe but not here. Goes both ways it seems. Good luck!

[Candice]

Pros:
Close to country roads for a nice Sunday ride.

Gas is cheaper than in Chicago (50 miles away).

Highway driving is not as scary away from the city.

No earthquake problems

Cons:
Lots of trucks causing bad road conditions (Wal-mart has a distribution center so there is a walmart truck that gets off at my exit every 19 seconds, gravel trucks from the gravel pits, other 18wheelers for all the industrial parks on the edge of town).

Trying to avoid above mentioned trucks.

Horrifying Winters.

No twisties and lots of TWISTERS.

Too many drunk drivers, well, I think they are drunk, they drive like they are.

[Candice]

So, packed up my backpack nice and full and used 4 bungees (since I don’t have rockstraps yet) and tied that sucker down to the back seat, rode 30 miles and it stayed put. Now I will experiment with camping gear this weekend. I am on a ROLL!

Thanks Everyone!

[Candice]

Thanks! I went home last night and got out my manual and checked a bunch of stuff and it all seemed good to me so I started it up, rode it, it was totally fine. I rode to work this morning with no problems. I wonder if I was just uncoordinated yesterday or something, you know, operator error. How embarrassing. Hee hee.

Well, I did add towing to my insurance now because of this so that’s a good thing! Live and LEARN!

Thanks!

[Candice]

I second what Eon said, EXACTLY.

[Candice]

Well, I will definitely get ear plugs for noise now.

[Candice]

It seems like everyone listens to their ipod when they ride and I have been thinking about whether I wanted to try it or not. I was wondering that maybe you can’t hear the other vehicles around you then very good and that would be a disadvantage.

[Author]

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