[eon]

Hoping to hold off till next summer but my newbikeitis keeps flaring up (reading this board does not help). Looking at my credit card statement is the painful medicine.
Anyway, thread hijack over.

[eon]

As ever, great video. Fun and entertaining. The 2nd one did make me wonder though about how much road temperatures affect your grip.

How much less grip will there be on a dry day in the 40’s versus one in the 60’s?
What about the same question on damp roads. Same difference?
If you ride for 20miles will your tires get hot enough to overcome the cold road?

Sorry for all the questions but I don’t want to find out the answers the hard way!

[eon]

Great work. Must be satisfying being able to to put together your own bike like that.
So are you going to get a yellow helmet?

Have to tell ya, I saw a bright yellow GoldWing the other day with headlight modulators and the guy was wearing a bright yellow jacket and the neon yellow Scorpion helmet. And I thought I went overboard trying to be seen. You could see this guy from space!

[eon]

Tempting, but the tiny gas tank puts me off. I need something that I can go touring on. I am really eyeing this

Slap some bags on there and I’m off to see the world! Or at least the NW part of it.

[eon]

Congrats. Looks like a whole lot of fun.

Dang it, why is everyone getting new bikes apart from me. I’m turning Kawasaki green here.

[eon]

Hey Candice, your post describing your new bike somehow ended up somewhere in limbo. It’s not in any of the forums but appears at the top level somehow. Looks like you created a new article or something

[eon]

Nah, I’m not hardcore. I mostly work from home or walk the 1.5 miles into the office. I take a 15 mile journey twice a week to play soccer and that is sometimes nasty but that is as hardcore as I get. Other than that it’s when it is nice out. Doesn’t get too cold here so I can get by with a good winter jacket as I am sheltered from the wind behind my screen. Some heated grips would be nice though.

Good luck with the class and the hunt for a bike.

[eon]

The link now has Suzuki USA confirming this is true. Should mean you are able to get a good deal on a new Suzuki I would think. Are they suffering more than other brands?

[eon]

I would go ahead and take the training now. Although our winters can be a bit wet it is rare you cannot go riding at all. I started about this time last year and rode all winter. By the time spring came around I had some experience under my belt and was able to go on longer rides and have a great time.

Cruisers have that reputation, mainly because your feet are forward and do not help support your weight. If you are not set on the retro style bike then all kinds of possibilities open up for you. Read through the posts here and you will quickly see numerous bikes mentioned. Eternal had a spreadsheet at one time that was a very handy reference. Would be nice if that was a sticky.

I’m not sure if the TU250 would handle the freeway rush hour traffic. I believe the Ninja 250 would but not all 250’s are created the same. What kind of speeds do you get up to while commuting?

[eon]

Welcome to the board. That sounds like a respectable dealership, one that turns away a sale in order to protect the new rider. Would earn my respect and future dollars. Was that the dealership in Seattle or is there another up up your way?

There are a couple of us on here in the Seattle area. I’m one of them and live downtown. Only 6 more months till we see sunshine again

I’m not so sure a Bonneville makes a good starter bike. The Suzuki TU250 has a similar look and might be more appropriate to start on.

Good luck with the course and let us know how you get on.

[eon]

Cannot comment on the Bonneville but why are you getting a loaner? Didn’t you just pick up a new F800GS last week? Hope all is well with it…

[eon]

You have crabs?

[eon]

Having an automatic I’ve not had to worry about hill starts (yet), but I have driven stick for over 15 years. I also learned how to drive in the UK where (shock) we have an actual test and hill starts is one of the things you are tested on. Roll back an inch and it’s an automatic fail. The principles are the same so here is how to do it in a car.

I’ll assume you have come to a stop facing uphill with your foot on the brake and the clutch pressed in.
1. Pull on the hand brake (what you call the e-brake here)
2. Foot off the brake making sure the hand brake is supporting the weight of the car
3. Give it some gas and ease off the clutch into the ‘friction zone’. We actually referred to it as the ‘biting point’ which I prefer. There is one point where the engine starts to bite and you can support the weight of the car with just enough gas and just enough clutch so that you are neither rolling back or forward.
4. At this point you can then ease on the gas, ease of the clutch and release the hand brake and away you go.

Replace hand brake above with rear brake on a bike and everything else should work the same (I imagine!).

[eon]

In regard to “look where you want to go”, what they really mean is point your chin where you want to go. In other words, your eyes are looking straight ahead and you turn your head.

Other than that my advice is to not worry. The course is designed for absolute beginners. Go there with the intention of having fun and learning. Don’t go with the intention of passing a test or else you will stress out and likely fail. Being relaxed is the key to a lot of the exercises.

You can do some of the bookwork online before you get there if you want to get a head start but it is not necessary. It’s not exactly rocket science.

[eon]

I could have the opposite argument about the automatic. There is so much to learn when starting out that it’s not necessarily a bad thing to postpone one part of it. As someone who started on an automatic I know I will have to go back to absolute beginner for that part when I get a manual next year. In short I don’t think it makes much difference whether you learn that skill now or later. If an automatic bike appeals to you then by all means go for it.

And are you saying the suspension on a 250 cannot cope with a 225lb rider? Surely that cannot be right? It also seems a bit of a stretch for someone interested in a 250cc automatic cruiser style bike to go for a Ninja 650R. Quite a big difference in style, performance and price there.

[Author]

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