[eon]

Glad to hear you are ok and are treating this as something to learn from. As well as the ATGATT rule you obviously know you need to practice your emergency braking. Add to that your situational awareness so that these little old ladies don’t take you by surprise. This last bit is the hardest skill to learn I think. I have not had a spill yet (fingers crossed) but most times I’m out at least one person will take me by surprise. I try and learn from each of these so I can prevent it from happening again. It takes time and many miles on the bike but I know I am much better at it than I was 6 months ago. Still have a long ways to go though.

[eon]

I use them all the time. The only time I skip them is when I know I will not be going far or fast (ie. just local streets). I also use the cheap foam kind which is good as I have a tendency to lose them.
Why do I use them? By cutting down the wind noise they make the ride more pleasant, not to mention saving my hearing.

[eon]

Welcome on board!

[eon]

[eon]

Current 500cc scooterist here who is also planning on moving to a bike at some point. I wouldn’t sweat the whole gear thing. Some parking lot practice and I’m sure it will come naturally. I’m sure the throttle response on a bike will be a lot more pronounced but I think with common sense you could handle just about any bike. You will already have mastered a lot of the skills you need, allowing you to focus on smooth shifting and throttle.

[eon]

I think the recommendation is at least 6 months and 3000 miles. I will be taking it in a few weeks so I can let you know my impressions of it. From what I have read it is really a compressed BRC (without the class time) where they reinforce what you learned on the BRC. Now that you’ve had time to get comfortable with the basics and start developing bad habits, hopefully they will catch that put you back on the right path. At least, that’s my impression from reading about it. If nothing else you get to spend some 1-on-1 time with an instructor so it can’t be bad.

[eon]

Wow Matt, great post. Especially interesting as that BMW F650GS is firmly in my sights as my next bike. Looks like I will have to take it nice and easy if (when!) I get one.

Elias, sorry I misinterpreted your intent. Oh so easy to do on forums like this (at least for me). I know you are trying to understand what makes a good beginner bike but you could just take the easy way out like me. Buy a scooter and no matter the size, you won’t need to worry about too much power!

[eon]

This seems a pretty snide reply. Not sure if that was your intention but it came across that way.

I’m afraid I cannot help with your quest for answers as I am the most mechanically retarded guy there is, but it is obvious to me there is more to the equation than simple cc’s, or even engine configuration. Other issues such as weight, ride height, gear ratios, suspension, rake/trail, wheel size, brakes; all of these would factor into whether a particular bike is beginner friendly or not. As to why one 650cc engine produces twice the HP of another, I’ll leave that to the engineers to explain.

[eon]

webikeworld tries to describe helmet shape/fit for each lid it reviews, that may help. I never used it much as I was able to try on the Scorpion that I wanted locally. I could swear though the EXO-400 and EXO-700 fit differently (they are made from different materials) so at the end of the day you might just need to try on a few. So +1 on the good return policy.

[eon]

I have never been able to figure out how insurance companies come up with their quotes. At the end of the day the only way you will know you are getting the best deal is to get on the phone to as many of them as you can and shop around. Don’t be afraid of telling them you have a better offer somewhere else, they may suddenly be able to find another discount option.

The only other thing I can add that has not been addressed by the others is to weigh up the reputation of the company as best you can (hard to do but you can get some idea by the number of complaints online). If you are ever in the bad position where you need to make a claim the last thing you need is to be dicked around by your insurance company. I will put in a plug for USAA here. If you are ever in a position to use them (they have restrictions) they are the best company to deal with. I have had claims with them 3 or 4 times and it has been a pleasure each time.

[eon]

Sounds like you are planning on riding along with your car pooling buddies. It might be better if you were to leave before them so you could ride at your own pace and stop when you want to. They will be able to maintain a higher speed than you (at least in comfort) and you will need to gas up before them. If you left 30 minutes ahead of them help would never be far behind (in case of break downs) and you would likely arrive at your destination at the same time.

[eon]

I must be missing something, why do you think he is a troll or retarded? And why would you not post that?

Other than his comments on how to solve the problem and the stupid video link, he is has raised a point that has also struck me as being odd. Just last week on a group ride someone’s bike broke down and he had to get a ride back. Everyone squirmed around at the thought of him riding “bitch”. The ride leaders partner was also riding with us and she gave up her bike and she rode pillion behind her dude. The guy who broke down rode her bike back. Now if that had been me I would have told him where to go. He could ride behind me or he could walk. I thought it was uncool to ask her to give up her bike because all the guys had machismo issues.

I put it down to just another one of those cultural differences that seem never ending (being a foreigner myself). I still haven’t got over the public toilets here with doors 2 ft off the ground and a 2 inch gap at the hinges. As well pull down my pants and shit in the park for all the privacy they give you.

[eon]

I did not feel any fear, just excitement. I picked it up just after 5pm in downtown traffic and while I could have pushed it to my condo (I live next door to the dealer) I immediately went out on a ride. Admittedly I headed straight for the nearest quiet residential area to practice but I could not wait for the traffic to die down. Also it is a scooter so that helped a lot, no worries about clutch or gear changes.

[eon]

Look for the image below the box you type in. Clicking that allows you to upload images.

[eon]

I would be careful over leaving deposits with a seller. If you do that make sure whatever written agreement you have specifies when and how you get your money back or when the seller can keep your money and sell it to someone else. On another board someone left a $500 deposit on a $2500 bike but then changed his mind. He wanted his deposit back (wrongly in my opinion) but got very upset when the seller told him no. Because it all happened quickly he felt justified in asking for his money back. Most of the board members backed him up and some seemed to think the law backed him up. Didn’t feel right to me. What was the deposit for if he felt he could back out and get the money back?

In short, if you are planning on leaving a deposit put some thought into a written agreement before you get there. Save a lot of pain later on.

[Author]

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