[owlie]

Beautiful Trip!

For marking where you took pics, if you do the GPS thing, just set a way-point. Otherwise, carry a map, highlight your route and make notes as you go.

[owlie]

Feel free to use it.

I’ll not mention my age (old enough to drink, young enough to still get carded), but I will say that age does have its privledges. As with several other members on the board, I’m old enough that it doesn’t really matter what my Mom thinks. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t respect either her feelings or her opinion.

[owlie]

I agree with Elwood. And even at that, I’m not sure that I’d try it on a couple of those bikes until I had a little more road experience…

[owlie]

Thank you, Ben! We now have email notifications!

So let me add another suggestion for your consideration…

Every now and then someone drops off the face of the planet for vacation or life just catches up to them. Could you maybe add a feature where when someone who hasn’t been active in a while gets a “we miss you and are a little worried that we might have read about you somewhere, could you check in but you don’t really ever have to come back if you don’t wanna” email? Maybe just have them reply and have a canned system note on their profile saying that they have checked in, and might be back someday… Just a thought…

[owlie]

Woo-hoo!

[owlie]

I agree with what you say about the cost analysis, but it is worth the time if you are researching justifications and you never know until you actually do it. Once again, even if it didn’t come out as a savings, it would show that the poster is putting thought into what would go into owning and riding a bike.

[owlie]

Glad to hear that it went so well! Your enthusiasm is catching.

[owlie]

Congrats on the new bike and good luck with the course!

[owlie]

If you want a 250, get a 250. Your parents will be thrilled that you made a responsible choice for your first bike.

Unless you are going to spend alot of time doing highway driving (I would define that as more than half an hour daily), I wouldn’t worry about it not having enough at the top end or being too much of a sail.

Eternal got a Ninja 250 for his first bike and has written reams on how much he loves it.

For other suggestions on sexy beginner bikes, see this article.

Best of Luck!
Owlie

[owlie]

I think that it is a great thing that your parents are willing to consider letting you ride a motorcycle if you can persuade them via a research paper. While you said early in your original post that you are having difficulty discussing it with them, it sounds like they are willing to discuss it if you put real thought into the issue.

I guess then that us giving you the highlights would be cheating, now wouldn’t it? I know, I know, I’m terrible.

My suggestion would be to take your time and do it right. Don’t rely on anecdotal evidence from the forum. Instead, look for published sources regarding the pros and cons. My suggestion would be to start with David Hough’s Proficient Motorcycling. This one is a very balanced look at the risks of riding a bike and how to manage those risks.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation also has a book called Guide to Motorcycling Excellence. This is basically an expansion on the book that they give you for the BRC. It doesn’t have as much information about actively managing the risks of motorcycling, but it does talk about basic riding skills development.

I read the MSF book first and then Hough’s book, but for what you are doing Hough’s book will be the better resource.

Also, for the pro side, you might think about putting together a dollar cost analysis for the two vehicles. Insurance, maintenance, fuel, gear, etc.

Finally, use footnotes, endnotes, appendicies, list your references. Maybe put in an appendix with specific information about the 250 that you are interested in. Put it in APA or MLA style. Do whatever you can to make sure that they know that you are serious about it.

Best of luck!

Owlie

[owlie]

Sounds like a great trip. Good job on keeping your cool.

You might spend some time duck walking the bike to get used to your clutch.

[owlie]

If you decide to challenge the ticket, be sure to take several photos of your bike with you showing where the lights are placed. Wear a suit, show up on time, be brief and courteous.

There’s no telling why you got pulled over. My brother got pulled over once for no apparent reason while he was pulling his boat. The cop went through a whole laundry list of stuff trying to find something to cite him for, but in the end asked where the fire extinguisher was for the boat. My brother pulled it out and the cop let him go since he couldn’t find anything wrong.

[owlie]

Congratulations! Excellent birthday gift for yourself.

Can’t wait to see the pics.

[owlie]

Ah, well…

Point taken that some people will always want to trade up to bigger, better, and faster. I’ll keep it in mind.

For myself, I drive a 2002 Saturn sedan. My boss has been after me to trade up to a Mercedes for years. Even a Subaru would be better than the Saturn. I’ll drive my Saturn until the wheels fall off.

Something tells me that if I find a bike I am comfortable riding, trading up for more power or sex appeal isn’t going to be really important to me.

[owlie]

Not cold, just honest.

This is not really the place to go into my views on death and dying, but I agree with your statement more than most people would understand. To me, it is not about when a person dies, but how that death impacts the world.

[Author]

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