Forum Replies Created
Genuine Black Cat
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Nah, that isn’t an old man motorcycle. It only has two wheels! And where are the hard boxes? You need at least three!
Ahh… soo… no magic bullets, just more practice.
Mark your calendars- The rubber meets the road on April 17th (unless we get a freak snow storm that packs another half inch of ice on my driveway…)I think it really comes down to a difference in how we choose to ride. Personally, I don’t really have a problem standing up on the pegs of my S40, and wouldn’t advocate the bike for either touring or dirt riding anyway.
As you say, it is good for tooling around town, or as I prefer, relaxed afternoon rides in the country. I don’t have much experience with highway riding on it, so I can’t really give an opinion on that aspect. Welcome to the forum!
First, definitely take a riding course (commonly referred to as an MSF or BRC course). It sounds like you know as much about motorcycles as I did this time last year, and the course will give you very valuable experience before you decide what to buy.
I also found that after taking the course, I was alot more in tune with what I wanted in a bike for comfort in riding. The bike that I had started out looking at ended up at the BOTTOM of my list after the course.
Not a bad bike, well recommended for beginners, just not for me.Do beginners crash often? The common wisdom is that it isn’t if you will crash, rather when. I got it out of the way quickly, but not everyone has the same experience. Mostly you have to decide on your personal risk tolerance, realize that crashing is a distinct possibility and do what you can to reduce the risk of crashing and the risk of injury in case of a crash. The risks can be reduced by taking riding classes, doing practice in parking lots of the skills learned in the riding class, being aware and responsible while riding, and wearing proper safety gear.
Are parts expensive? Depends like everything else. However, instead of worrying about the bike, why don’t you think about yourself? A helmet, gloves, jacket, pants, boots.
And cruisers aren’t old man bikes. They can be sexy young woman bikes too- though I will say that my husband’s coworkers were all disappointed in my choice since it wasn’t a sportbike.
Read around some of the other threads on the forum. We tend to cover a lot of ground and it is usually pretty accessible for the new rider (though I am completely lost with the recent fork seal oil discussions…).
Good luck!
Owlie
A lot of people worry about whether a 250 would be underpowered for them…. Even the ones who don’t count themselves as “big guys”.
There are several cruisers in the 500-650 range that you could take a look at. Vulcan 500, S40 (which is a 650), V-Star 650… Generally these are considered to be at the top end of beginner range. I have an S40. Other than the MSF, it is the only bike I have ever ridden. For me, the learning curve was in applying the throttle (okay, so clutch and throttle). I would have had the same problems on any bike, but the S40 was light enough to be forgiving, but strong enough to make me glad that I don’t have heart problems.
Strength really doesn’t play into the game any more than it does anything else you do.
As for buying and selling– if you buy a used 250, common wisdom is that it will retain its value fairly well for resale if you only hold onto it for a year or two.
Good luck!
Okay, so not exactly lonely… I know people who ride (like half my IT department)… More like BBM lonely- nobody on the forum to swap favorite rides with.
As for someone to ride with, I got a stark reminder last weekend about riding your own ride. Thankfully 1) snow is soft, 2) the tree was dead and 3) I was wearing a helmet.
Have you considered a dual sport rather than a sport bike? I hear that they are a blast, and if you are in the middle of a peer pressure dilemma it would take you completely out of the bike style paradigm.
Best of luck!
Sorry Jeff-
Usually we are pretty good about not flaming guys. Occasionally the conversations get heated, but generally we all find common ground in the end.
First disclaimer – I didn’t bother reading the article. Only so much time to shoot away.
I think there are two take-aways from what little I read of the article and the responses (which I enjoyed reading in their entirety) and one observation of my own:
1) Watch that what you are posting isn’t too advanced. Alot of the people who are introducing themselves are still trying to figure out where the kick starter is. (What, you mean there isn’t one?!?)
2) Please don’t post long articles that are cut and pasted from other sites. A simple link to the site with a note that the author has some ideas that you think are relevant works fine. It will make give you more plausible deniability regarding the suitability of the response and cut down on the flames from people like me who just had to jump on the bandwagon.3) We value your opinion and observations from your years of riding experience. What do you think is most important for a new rider to know? Do you have a favorite book, video, pneumonic for your pre-ride inspection? (I’m still trying to come up with something that doesn’t grate my nerves like TCOLCS). How about a funny or scary memory from when you started, or maybe when you got your last bike?
Okay, now I’m going to see if I can locate a fire extinguisher…
Happy posting!
Owlie
