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5 Common Wear and Tear Items on Motorcycles
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KendrickParticipant
I’ve finally arrived at a decision. I’m seeking out the Rebel. No, it won’t be the safest for the freeway, so I decided I’d use it on the alternate route, a 2 lane highway, which gets less traffic, and has a lower speed limit. I think time-wise, it won’t be slower, due to my typical work schedule and the traffic I will have to deal with.
I think a 250 it’s probably the only real economical choice if there is one. For one, the bike itself doesn’t have to cost a lot. Any good Rebel from whatever year, as long as it’s in good shape, should be about the same, mechanically.
For a toy, I’m thinking about building my own bike. Since I’ll finally have space to work, as opposed to my previous apartment life, I can seriously consider working on having a real toy. In the mean time, at least I’ll be keeping my riding abilities in good practice.
Thanks again guys. May I get 80mpg. Here’s the route.
KendrickParticipantI wasn’t about to completely shrug them off. It looks like your about right. I came across this thread here and it indicates that Buell basically had some problems, up until after 2001 models, and folks seem to be quite satisfied with the reliability on these later models.
Not sure what kind of warranty I could hope for on a 2005 Blast from a dealership. I will definitely keep them on my list. Thanks for inspiring a second look man.
KendrickParticipantThe more I read about the Buell Blast, the less appealing it all seems, only due in part to its apparently bad reliability. Sort of a let down. It’s hard to ignore the poor reviews, and think to myself that mine would be an exception to the rule.
Royal Enfield seemed to offer some pretty good options, but top speed is lacking. Seems to have a rather bumpy history of reliability. They certainly win in the looks department. Speaking of which, I would be willing to ride a rat bike if I have to. Maybe I should build a frankenrat bike of sorts.
So as it is, I will be testing a Rebel. There’s a dealership near a nice stretch of highway that I could figure some things out on. If that doesn’t measure up, I’ll look more seriously at the 500cc class again.
I want to be able to get home to my daughter and wifey in a timely manner
As far as re-gearing, that’s definitely something I will look into. I will need to start with a good bike though.
KendrickParticipantThank you for the tremendous feedback.
After reading your posts, and that article on the It seems like the most cost-efficient solution is the Honda Rebel 250. I hope it holds up maintenance-wise, better than my ’76 Honda CB500t did (I’m sure it will…).
My tolerance for motorcycle comfort was toughened by that old bike, I believe.
As far as my own shape goes, which you can’t really ignore when discussing motorcycle MPG, I’m not a very big guy. Although I’m in the worst shape of my life right now, I just started a workout program at the start of this month, and I see myself continuing it and getting in shape. I’m 5’9″ 180lbs right now, which concerns me, but all in all, it could easily be worse and I AM getting back into shape.
Yes, SantaCruz, thanks for the reality check. I should actually look at the actual overall cost. I have to admit, I want to ride because I want to ride again. However, I really want to save on gas too, perhaps moreso. I know gas prices went down, but they are already climbing again. The longer commute I will be taking on in the next month or so, got me thinking about the cost of gas. I think for most people, it may very well be a white lie, but in this situation, the amount of miles I’ll be putting on is so high I think it actually would benefit me.
Oil changes: At least with motorcycles, I do those myself. With that in mind, I should probably change the oil once a month, although, maybe pushing it closer to a change every 2 months (with the good synthetic-for-motorcycles expensive kind). Depends on the motorcycle and how much oil it needs.
Tires.. The good ‘sport-touring’ kind will be about $100 per tire, and will need replacement roughly every 2.5 months or 8000 miles. That means about 3-4 times a year (factoring in 2 months of not riding, that comes out to 3.5 times a year I have to replace tires. $700)
Insurance ($100-200) a year so. Maybe cheaper now for me, than it used to be. I’ll be 25 in April, and I have still never gotten a ticket.)
Gear: I probably shouldn’t use my old helmet from 2 years ago. So that’s another $100. I’m a believer in the DOT approved, full face ‘generic’ helmets. I prefer my helmet to not be too hard to absorb impact. While I don’t care what bike I ride, I can’t help but wanting to at least kind of dress the part. I have full gear, but I think it’s better suited for a cruiser or similar bike. Chaps just don’t look right on a sport-bike, or protect my rear-end for that matter. So let’s figure at least another $400 in gear, in addition to the helmet.
Overall, it works out to be expensive up front, but over time, could save me something. Cars require maintenance as well, albeit, not as much, but when they do, it’s always more expensive.
Choices, choices. I’m still liking that Buell Blast. It’s really a bargain. I’m surprised the rebel’s MSRP is not a whole lot lower than a Blast.
And thanks Jon, I will do some research, but this has given me a good start. As my eyes home in on the Blast, I find myself scrutinizing the Buell forums (like badweatherbikers.com ). The Rebel 250 is probably my number 1 scientific choice, but at the same time, I can’t outright lie to myself, that I’m only in it for the MPG. I plan to test ride a bit. There’s some steep hills even on the highway, here and there, and I want to be able to maintain a safe average speed up them. I have my doubts the 250 will be quite as well in this altitude, and going up the hills on the highway. The last thing I want is a semi-truck or SUV stomping on the breaks behind me.
I think it’s at least time to test ride. There’s a nice hill near the Buell/Harly dealership, but I’m sure the Blast is up to the test. Not sure how extensive a test I would be allowed on a Rebel 250.
FYI the speed limit on my preferred route home would be 75 mph, with an average cars speed of 80mph. My goal is to have a safe ride maintaining the speed of the cars around me.
Thank you again, kind Sirs.
KendrickParticipantThank you Jon, the Buell Blast has caught my eye now. I will look into it further. I hear those belt-driven bikes require less maintenance, which is a plus, and a cost that we can easily overlook on chain-driven bikes.
If I think I’m up to riding it like a sportbike, it looks like it can take on a clipon handlebar mod better than a typical roadster. An option I’m considering to cut down on wind resistance (just about the only hypermile mod I’m willing to consider).
After all this time riding a ‘beginner’ bike, I still don’t see myself graduating from them
KendrickParticipantGood point Munch!
It doesn’t actually matter to me. Dual-sport has some nice options, but so do the cruiser-styled ones, and the sport-bikes present some good options because they make me more aero-dynamic, which is a significant factor, but I have the least amount of experience like that, and I’m not sure if I’d ever get used to the sport-bike hour+ drives all the time.
The TW-200 is looking appealing. Not sure if it would really appreciate me taking it on the highway so often though.
There are two routes I can take, but both of them require 70mph and/or 80mph at least for safety reasons (don’t want to be slower than the average traffic).
Edit: In conclusion though, to your question, I’m willing to try anything, if it will increase the fuel efficiency more, except perhaps those crazy hypermiling mods I hear about.
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