[zeppelinfromled]

Wow, that’s pretty awesome. I might do track days down the line sometime, but probably nothing serious. It would be cool to get my bike up to triple digits in a responsible manner, but I wouldn’t want to release my inner dare-devil (although as long as I keep it to the tracks, that wouldn’t be so bad).

What kind of bike are you on?

One thing that I notice that you’re probably doing on purpose is that if you take a left hand curve and you lean off the bike for the curve, you stay off center to the left even when the track straightens out. Especially if you know you have another left hand curve coming up. Is that standard for track riding?

[zeppelinfromled]

First off, welcome to the site. I’m sure you’ll find lots of good tips here – I certainly did (and do).

I don’t have any experience with a Gold Wing, but I suspect that it’s probably too big to start out. We’re talking about a bike that weights almost 1,000 lbs and whose engine is almost 2 liters. I realize that you’re not a tiny person, but I’m just over 6 feet and almost 250 pounds, but I think that a Gold Wing would have been too big for me to start with. Plus (according to the Honda website) new Gold Wings start out around $22,000, which would have excluded even a used one from my considerations anyway. Personally, when I see a Gold Wing, I always cynically think “why not just take a car,” but I still see the appeal. I prefer a smaller bike, and you can always add luggage. For me, part of the appeal of touring on a motorcycle is that you can’t bring all of your stuff with you like you can in a car.

That being said, everyone is different and my opinion is far from the divine word. Talk to people, and try sitting on one. You might decide for yourself that it’s too big, or you might decide to go ahead and get one.

It sounds like the main things you want are comfort, the potential for a passenger, and the ability to tour. Most any bike will have the last two to varying degrees, and comfort is a personal choice. I would advise you to go to a dealership that sells multiple styles of bikes, and just explain your situation. They should let you sit on however many bikes you want, and you can get an idea of what you find to be the most comfortable. And keep in mind that comfort extends to being comfortable controlling it, not just sitting on it.

[zeppelinfromled]

Awesome, congrats on the course and passing. Are you planning on getting a bike soon?

I was up in Canada over the weekend myself. The link you posted earlier said that they’re Alberta-based, but I was in Montreal.

[zeppelinfromled]

I tend to use a rag and a finger to get at the hard to reach spots (both on my car and my bike). Anything that’s painted or made of stainless steel (so basically everything), you don’t have to worry about rusting – unless the paint chips or something like that. I always dry it after washing it, just with a couple dry towels/rags, but that’s just to avoid water spots. You can definitely polish it if you want, but I don’t think it’s necessary for rust protection.

[zeppelinfromled]

To warn about cops, did you tap the top of your helmet?

[zeppelinfromled]

I’ve definitely seen a youtube video where the person didn’t end up as lucky as you.

For me, it wasn’t that I forgot to put the kickstand down, it’s that I decided not to. I’m not actually sure if this is better or worse than forgetting.

[zeppelinfromled]

At this point, I just have a tank bag and a backpack. The backpack isn’t anything designed for a motorcycle, but it has the chest strap and the “hip” strap (really more like a stomach strap if you wear your backpack at a proper height). Next will be a tail bag, and finally saddle bags. I figure I want to keep everything in line with me as long as possible, because anything off to the side will increase drag. So that’s why saddle bags are last on my list.

I ride a Ninja 650R, if that matters. I have a Rapid Transit magnetic tank bag that I’m quite happy with. I’m looking into the Cortech tail and saddle bags, but I haven’t actually gone to look at them, so I don’t know if they’re as good as they seem online. The Nelson Rigg mentioned above looks pretty cool too.

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If anyone on a scooter waved to me, I would return it, no question.

I find that most people who ride scooters do it for convenience (I say most, certainly not all). It’s a way to get around town quickly, and they don’t have to worry about locations that aren’t near the subway, or the bus schedule. I see nothing wrong with that, but that’s why I say that a number of scooter riders aren’t part of (and don’t want to be part of) the motorcycle community.

One interesting thing that I’ve found is that when the weather is gross (cold and rainy), I still see scooters out and about even if I don’t see any motorcycles. Those are the kind of scooter riders who I’ll wave to without a problem. It’s impossible to identify them when the weather is nice though, which is a shame.

[zeppelinfromled]

How important do you guys think it is to get it done at 600 on the nose? What if it’s at 650? or 700? or 800?

My bike a little over 600, and I’m planning on bringing it in on Saturday, but I’m trying to figure out if I should avoid putting miles on it between now and then.

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As was mentioned, we should start a new thread for it if we want to discuss a lot. But I think your first problem is that you were riding on the sidewalk. People did it all the time in college, myself included, but you should ride on the road, not the sidewalk. Cars are way less likely to see you if you’re on the sidewalk, and you’re also a danger to pedestrians.

[zeppelinfromled]

I’ve definitely seen some guys on sport bikes in a McDonald’s parking lot. We don’t really have a main drag, but I’ve seen it a couple times. I’m assuming it was just a break from a ride. Since they can’t talk while they’re riding like you’d be able to in a car, I guess. I’m sure it’s also to show off their bikes though.

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It seems that the more similar your bikes, and the closer your amounts of safety gear match, the more likely you are to get a wave. If you’re both on sport bikes, and both wearing jackets and full face helmets, it’s pretty likely. If you’re on a sport bike in a jacket and full face helmet, and he’s on a Harley in jeans, a cut-off T-shirt, and no helmet, it’s unlikely that you’ll get a wave back.

I don’t usually wave to scooters. The reason I wave to other motorcyclists is because it’s a community, and that’s a way of acknowledging that community. Scooters aren’t part of that community, nor do they usually try to be (I’m of course speaking generally here, I’m sure there are exceptions). If I got a wave from a scooter, I would return it, but I don’t initiate.

It’s always awkward when someone waves, but you’re on the clutch. I just give a head nod, and I’m sure they realize that it’s just because I needed the clutch.

[zeppelinfromled]

At the beginning of my MSF, when the instructors were going over the basic controls, then included the horn. And they said something like “go ahead and hit it once now to get it out of your system,” and at least most of the horns worked.

I mostly end up using the horn when someone doesn’t start moving at a green light. I also use it pretty frequently to mean “hey man, that thing you did was pretty stupid and dangerous,” but that’s less common. I definitely have perfected the short, polite tap on my car’s horn since I moved to the city.

[zeppelinfromled]

You should definitely take a course to start out. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) offers a course for new riders called the Basic RiderCourse. Check out http://www.msf-usa.org for details on the courses that you can find near you. The course is usually run over a weekend, totally about 15 hours. This course replaces the DMV road test, so you’ll get your license after you pass the course. You’ll probably need your motorcycle permit before then (a simple computer test – read the manual and you’ll be fine).

In terms of bikes, there’s not much on the market that can’t handle your needs. A lot of people recommend starting off on a bike with a displacement of 250 cc. For style, it’s a matter of preference. The four basic types that you’ll want to consider are sport bikes, cruisers, standards, and dual sport. Since I only ride on paved roads, I eliminated dual sport from my considerations. We have mostly sport bike and cruiser riders on here, and plenty of both.

Try to sit on as many bikes as you can. Most decent dealerships will let you sit on a bike (with supervision) without a problem. Finding what style of bike you feel most comfortable on is a huge first step. Narrowing your search to cruiser or sport bike or standard is more than half the battle, I think.

I would definitely wait until after your MSF course to buy a motorcycle and probably wait to buy gear too. If you get into the course and discover that you don’t like riding motorcycles, you’d feel pretty silly with a motorcycle and hundreds of dollars of gear.

In terms of saving money on gas, make sure you do the math before you assume that you’ll save money overall. I just did a quick calculation. If you currently drive 15,000 miles/year in a car that gets 20 mpg and you switch completely to a bike that gets 50 mpg (and also put 15,000 miles/year on it), and if gas costs $3/gallon, then you’ll save $1,350 per year on gas. Now, I used a pretty low car gas mileage, and a reasonable motorcycle gas mileage, but it’s unlikely that you’ll switch completely to the motorcycle. So it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll actually save $1300 on gas. And with the costs of the motorcycle, gear, and insurance, you’re likely to actually be spending more when you have both the motorcycle and the car – at least it will be a few years until you make up the costs. If you’re talking about selling the car and buying the bike, that’s a different story, but I’d imagine Denver gets pretty cold, so keep that in mind.

All I’m saying is to be realistic about the amount of money that you stand to save. I still think that getting a motorcycle is a wonderful thing to do, even if it costs more overall.

[zeppelinfromled]

I’m not sure how mechanically important it is, but it’s probably useful as a once over, to make sure things aren’t going badly. It is also potentially mandatory for maintaining your warranty – in which case it is very important.

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