[Munch]

Yea you never likely will either. Can you imagine the effort it would take to get that bad boy in a turn? Or heck even more to get it back up out of a turn.
Judging from the tire…the trailer is brought to the bike and loaded/unloaded each time, would even probly assume a winch is involved.

[Munch]

Guess I am the odd ball on the tunes. My helmet has pockets in the ear pads and I have ear buds in them. I don’t always listen to music but theres times where I prefer them. I don’t find the music as a distraction at all as it does nothing to break my attention. At minimal it may get me into a good rhythm while I am cruising the back roads.
Other then that…. I actually show up to work in a bad mood if I have to take the cage. Riding is my time, quiet or not and I enjoy it thoroughly!

[Munch]

GRATS!!!!

[Munch]

It’s all about personal comfort man. There’s a saying it will for anything on two wheels wether it be hard cases, saddle bags, or “trunks”:
Properly equipped and loaded it will carry everything you need but not everything you want.

[Munch]

Wow…. I got to the Pasadena TX part and stopped. Yep that certainly had to be a portion for being the worst. Lived there for 2 years. Still have stuff down there. Will never go back to get it.
Hate to here about the self inflicted injuries. I know the ride your talking about… drove that trip many a time. First couple of times took 95 to 10…. Next couple of times… 85 to 75 to 10…. 75 has got to be THE longest stretch of nothing. Especially at 3 am. The sign designating it as “The Lost Highway” doesn’t help that feeling either.
Glad that your still riding.

[Munch]

Yea. It looks great! Though I still will wait for a later time in life for the HD , then go for the original Blacked out look on the Street Bob.

[Munch]

Personally for me… if I can’t justify it… it means theres a part of me that knows that I don’t need it or want it bad enough to try hard enough to justify it …even in the flimsiest of reasons. Granted….that was a discovery I made too late, but a result of Jeep ownership.

[Munch]

If the bike ran great no, wouldn’t indicate a problem…however if you hadn’t already I would check the gap of the plugs and compare to what your bike requires. 2 miles could indicate a slow shifting condition on your part to get up to speed in that time.
There’s alot of factors that could come into play, hill, load on the bike such as laden saddle bags etc. Even though you have a tach I would probly say keep using your hearing to judge shift points. Tachs are funny things, especially aftermarket.
I would say try it again…ofcourse at a less congested time and see what changes you can physically make to see if theres a difference. If none can be noticed then might want to take it to a professional mechanic to give it a good check up.

[Munch]

Probly need a tad more information. How far did you have to be on the highway, what do you use to shift, sound, tach, watching the speedo etc. Though I doubt shifting is the culprit. How did the bike act with more throttle. Have you suffered MPG lately … knowing you have had a time with your carburetor I would look into possible adjustments. Fuel delivery, spark timing etc can all slow you down a bit.
Really though …more information would be needed.

[Munch]

Chaiya’s list is pretty much the required set list. Make sure the gloves are closed fingered.
The only thing I can think of for the difference between the Public courses and the Roder’s edge is that with the HD course…. some , maybe not all but some offer free rental of their products. A plus for you even if you don’t plan on dropping the green on one of theirs but it gives you a chance to ride a bike in the real world. Also if they offer both the Buell and Cruiser rentals like Ray Price did it will let you get an opportunity to try two different riding positions to see what suits you, which may surprise you or may not.
Security… well you have disc locks to keep the bike from moving. You can add Lo-jack to the bike incase all your preparing doesn’t work out and you improve your chances to get it back. For mine, being that its fuel injected I disable the fuel system, lock the handle bars and run a chain through the wheel and frame. The chain is for more extended period away from the bike and out of view. Remember…. if its inconvenient for you …imagine what it is for a would be thief whos “craft” is dependant on speed and stealth.

[Munch]

That would be a better benefit to the learning curve. Not only do you need to be comfortable ON the bike, flat footing, handle bar room for slow speed turns etc. But you also need to be comfortable with the power and power delivery of your first bike.
It’s not impossible to learn on the bigger bikes, can make things on the bad side of interesting though and have more potential to spooking you to riding all together. As many on here have said…the 250’s hold their resale value very well, get atleast a minimum of a riding season under your belt to get the coordination, awareness, and overall skills you will need to prepare yourself for the bigger bikes. Its easier to adjust an acquired skill to suit the ride difference then it is to learn through an intimidated mindset.
The 250 will give you the muscle memory, not only for good shifting and turning but also to get your body adjusted to how the bike reacts under certain conditions such as a loose back end, hard front braking, counter balancing in parkinglots the timing of a mild speed turn and the time consumption that increases as your speed does in response.
Make sense?

[Munch]

“grabbing”….hmmm my first question is do you have rear drum brakes?

[Munch]

Definitely wait til you take the MSF course. Seeing another post of yours it would seem your in NC to. Where abouts? I took the Riders Edge course at Ray Price HD. They used the Buel Blast for the course. It’s a 500cc single piston pumper. The delivery on those bikes were rather mild but enough to where the unwary could get into trouble quckly.
Let the MSF bikes help you better judge what you might be prepared for.
For someone getting into motorcycle riding ( I refuse to call it a sport) for the first time I will always tell you … Sit on many and let YOUR honesty decide what bike suits your comfort. NOT your EGO or your FRIENDS.
Other then that ….welcome!

[Munch]

If I remember correctly talking with the sales guy at the local HD dealer here. The boots they carry are actually made by Justin boots. You can likely go To an western wear store and pick up the same exact boot for a better price. You won’t have the HD name sake to pay for.

[Munch]

Hmmm…. aim a tad lower. I believe theres even a video on here in the vids section of a guy wiping a Gixxer in his first .10 of a mile ride. Might not even be the same bike. Alot of them look very similar to me. I do know here locally Gixxers are known as rookie wreckers, and or the motorcycle “whips”, I have seen these things stretches to the point of insane ridiculousness.
The sport bike riders will be better to chime in though. However don’t let your pride, ego or friends chose your bike for you.

[Author]

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