Thinking about buying a motorcycle....

[hattaresguy]

Buy a Ducati, if your going to make yourself road putty might as well do it in style.

http://www.ducatiusa.com/bikes/superbike/1199_panigale/index.do

You want to be able to keep up with traffic on the highway.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Well, I dunno. Dad will be coming home before long and until he buys another bike in a year or two, the Shadow will be his again. I can't really ride it right now until I swap out the starter and starter clutch anyway.

I was thinking about picking a small cruiser to commute and ride on weekends. I've been looking at the Yamaha V-star 250. It's inexpensive, and gets good gas mileage (80mpg). But I commute 60+ miles a day, almost all of it highway. I'm also a bigger guy (230lb, 6'0" currently) and I wonder if a 250cc bike would be enough for me. I like the easy to ride aspect. If not, I would look at a pre-owned 500CC or something. And yes, I will be buying it outright, no financing. Any thoughts from the motorcycle crowd on this one? =| The VT500C is great to me, but once dad comes home he'll want to use it most of the time for riding to/from work.


Dude I work with has a 250 V-Star (I think a 2009)...he likes it enough he sold his Vulcan 900! It's completely highway-capable, will top 85MPH, and will manage about 70MPG. It's capable enough he rode it from Fall River to Albany & back. He ran it about ten miles flat-out on that trip with the speedo buried (90+)...never missed a beat. Yes, SOME 250's are highway-capable!

He's about 220lbs.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
What about this? Not familiar with the Savage- a 650cc single? Anything I should watch out for with one of these?

http://albany.craigslist.org/mcy/3750891862.html


Edit also this on
http://albany.craigslist.org/mcy/3725512285.html


My mother has one: big thing is, they VIBRATE! They are pretty basic (not even a fuel gauge), and I think all LS650's were carbuerated. (It's an 80's design.)

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle

What about this? Not familiar with the Savage- a 650cc single? Anything I should watch out for with one of these?

My mother has one: big thing is, they VIBRATE! They are pretty basic (not even a fuel gauge), and I think all LS650's were carbuerated. (It's an 80's design.)



But the '80s designs didn't vibrate that much. Ride an '80s VT500 Shadow or Yamaha XV550 Vision! You can feel the engine but it's not annoying. The Vision in particular was a brilliant freeway bike predating the Honda Hawk GT 647 and Suzuki SV650.

But then ride the Shadow VLX 600. It's slower and less responsive than it's 500cc Shadow little sister and will buzz your hands and feet to sleep at freeway speed. I can't fault the VLX for it's durability, but it was an unpleasant bike above 55mph.

It's as if the pursuit of a certain style and sound ruined a great many good engines

 

[Silverado12]

It's worth mentioning again, safety on your part and visibility are the keys to staying alive. I wear knee guards, safety yellow vest, Kevlar padded jacket and the bike has a engine guard/crash bar. I also have H-D's best quality 3/4 helmet (sorry, I just can't stand full face helmets). Don't ride in others blind spot, assume no one sees you, and don't speed and do crazy stuff. You'll be ok. I've seen some m/c crashes and most could have been avoided. The ones that couldn't be avoided could have minimized injuries w/ protective gear.

 

[Mykl]

The best first bike is the cheapest one you can find that runs and is safe to operate; preferably one on the lower end of the horsepower scale.

Buy decent gear; take an MSF course; practice low speed control skills away from traffic; ride like you're invisible to other traffic; and have fun.

Truth be told, in my riding years an overwhelming majority of the people I knew who died while riding did it to themselves. By this I mean most died due to excessive speed in inappropriate situations. I well equipped, properly trained, safety minded motorcyclist is as likely to survive the commute to work as anybody else on the road.

 

[grampi]

[size:14pt][/size]
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
It's worth mentioning again, safety on your part and visibility are the keys to staying alive. I wear knee guards, safety yellow vest, Kevlar padded jacket and the bike has a engine guard/crash bar. I also have H-D's best quality 3/4 helmet (sorry, I just can't stand full face helmets). Don't ride in others blind spot, assume no one sees you, and don't speed and do crazy stuff. You'll be ok. I've seen some m/c crashes and most could have been avoided. The ones that couldn't be avoided could have minimized injuries w/ protective gear.


The most important thing you said was "assume no one sees you." I've stuck by that notion for 40 years and it's kept me alive!

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle

What about this? Not familiar with the Savage- a 650cc single? Anything I should watch out for with one of these?

My mother has one: big thing is, they VIBRATE! They are pretty basic (not even a fuel gauge), and I think all LS650's were carbuerated. (It's an 80's design.)


But the '80s designs didn't vibrate that much. Ride an '80s VT500 Shadow or Yamaha XV550 Vision! You can feel the engine but it's not annoying. The Vision in particular was a brilliant freeway bike predating the Honda Hawk GT 647 and Suzuki SV650.

But then ride the Shadow VLX 600. It's slower and less responsive than it's 500cc Shadow little sister and will buzz your hands and feet to sleep at freeway speed. I can't fault the VLX for it's durability, but it was an unpleasant bike above 55mph.

It's as if the pursuit of a certain style and sound ruined a great many good engines


Nothing to do with the design age, it vibrates simply because it's a big single-cylinder! Calling it an "80's design" was more about it still being carbuerated.

 

[Bladecutter]

I've been riding motorcycles since I was 12. I'm hitting 39 this year. You guys can do the math on that one.

There's so much bad and mis-information in this thread for a rider, new or otherwise, it isn't even funny.

I learned how to ride on one of these:

My first motorcycle that I owned was this:

My next motorycle was this:

I then traded that one for this one:

Which then got traded in for this one:

Then a lady blew a stop sign up the road from my house when I was on my way to work, and I wound up with a broken left hip.

So, it was 3 years before I bought this:

Then I picked up one of these:

Well, actually I picked up two of those, and a frame from a third.
Still have it in my garage.

Eventually I picked up this for long distance touring:

Never really used it for touring, but I did ride it from NYC to Denver when I moved back here in July 2006.

Finally I picked up all of these:

Which all eventually lead to the bike that I feel will be the last bike I ever want to buy:

So, Nick, motorcycling can easily lead to be an incurable disease.
You might not like sport bikes now, but you might eventually explore it, like I did, and not be able to turn back. But, if you buy a bike, it probably won't be your last one.

And if you have an accident, it might not be that great, but it might not be anything of significance. There are more people who have small accidents that they walk away from, and learn valuable lessons about themselves and riding, than those who get killed, and never get to try again.

The only thing I can recommend is that you be careful, no matter what type of bike you buy. People crash cruisers way more often than they crash any other type of bike here in the US. Most accidents are usually caused by the owner's own stupidity (alcohol, or screwing around, or both at the same time) than they are a result of outside influences, though the outside influence accidents are usually the one's that tend to be life threatening (just ask my left hip).

But, buying a motorcycle usually leads to buying another motorcycle, which leads to buying yet another one, and next thing you know, you've owned more bikes than you've owned cars.

BC.

 

[whip]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: whip
Life is too short not to have fun. Ignore the chicken littles as they sit in their houses hoping they are safe.


I've wrecked my fair share of motorized vehicles and have to say I am glad the higher speed incidents happened in a vehicle that can eat a tree without killing me, and be put back on the road the next day. I've wrecked on open-air vehicles too, but off road on comparatively low speed ATVs where there were no soccer moms waiting to paint the road with me and my sorry [censored] Suzuki Quadrunner. 70+ MPH with only a helmet and clothing for protection, and most of all OTHER PEOPLE all around you, is a totally different level of risk that the OP would be taking day in and day out.

Yes, everyone should have some fun, but I don't think reminding a relatively inexperienced rider about the potential risks is a bad thing. Ignoring those risks is irresponsible. The OP hasn't been riding for 30 years...he hasn't been alive that long. If commuting on a bike is totally worth it to you, by all means do it, but I don't see anything wrong with giving someone who is kicking around the idea fair warning.

Putting up with other drivers wandering around in their CUVs in some sort of prescription drug / Dunkin Donuts induced coma for 60+ miles a day doesn't really sound like a huge amount of fun anyway. It does sound like a good way to get creamed on your way to work though. Commuting on a bike is for the truly dedicated, it's not for everyone or a lot more people would do it. I don't think the idea of buying a bike is bad, but I think a relatively new rider jumping into a 60+ mile commute on one should involve some consideration/forethought rather than just saying "buy a liter bike and ignore all the sissies!"

Getting into bikes isn't much different from getting into guns or anything else where a split second of not paying attention to what you are doing can kill you. It's worth paying attention to the risks and being fully aware of what you are getting into.

Funny that you elimintaed a very important part of my post. I'll share it again since your reading skills are diminished for the weekend.
Originally Posted By: whip1
Life is too short not to have fun. Ignore the chicken littles as they sit in their houses hoping they are safe. Get a bike, and get some good training. have fun.

I took the liberty to bold the highlighted part about getting some training. I'm a former MSF instructor. I'm familiar with the risk.

Here's an interesting article from Keith Code. Google if you don't know. Closely read the part about the training program he started in 2006 for the USMC

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/features/columns/122_1305_riding_limits_and_attitude/

I've been driving for 20+ years. I've had one auto accident, and never wrecked a motorcycle on the street. If you've crashed your "fair share" of cars, you might also want to consider getting some more training also.

 

[SlipperyPete]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Originally Posted By: Vikas
When Nick asks a question to purchase a vehicle, answers do not matter. Anybody wants to bet how soon we would have "I just purchased a new 2013 Ninja 300 because I got insane deal on it"



I hope that is in jest. Whatever I buy, I'm buying outright, and if I'm going to buy used I'm going to stay around $2k. Also a ninja? That's a sport bike. No thanks.


Neither the Ninja 250 nor the Ninja 650 are sport bikes inasmuch as you sit straight up and the power band is not at the top of the rev range. Either would be a better choice for a highway commuter than a 250cc cruiser. IMO the Ninja 650 is likely one of the best all around motorcycle available.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: whip

Funny that you elimintaed a very important part of my post. I'll share it again since your reading skills are diminished for the weekend.
Originally Posted By: whip1
Life is too short not to have fun. Ignore the chicken littles as they sit in their houses hoping they are safe. Get a bike, and get some good training. have fun.

I took the liberty to bold the highlighted part about getting some training. I'm a former MSF instructor. I'm familiar with the risk.

I'm sure the couple days of training is great, but that doesn't mean he's instantly ready to do 60 miles a day of commuting.

Quote:


Closely read the part about the training program he started in 2006 for the USMC

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/features/columns/122_1305_riding_limits_and_attitude/

I've been driving for 20+ years. I've had one auto accident, and never wrecked a motorcycle on the street. If you've crashed your "fair share" of cars, you might also want to consider getting some more training also.


This part?
"More Marines had been lost on American soil in riding mishaps than in the Iraq war during the same time period."

I've crashed one car twice, and crashed many other motorized vehicles. Use your reading comprehension skills. If you push the limits of what you are riding/driving, eventually you get a little banged up. The risk of that happening is just higher commuting on a bike for 60 miles.

Like I said, there is nothing wrong with the idea of getting a bike, but don't get it because you think it will be a great commuter vehicle that gets 80 MPG. Get it as a project or toy and if it happens you like riding it to work, that's your choice to make. I think just jumping into 60 miles a day on a motorcycle is kind of ridiculous though. That's not like going from a CX-5 to a Focus.

 

[whip]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl

This part?
"More Marines had been lost on American soil in riding mishaps than in the Iraq war during the same time period."


That's the part. A 2 day training program took the number down to one fatality and two injuries.

Training works, and that was my point. Get a bike, and get good training. Life's too short to not have fun.

 

[Spazdog]

When I was 14, I took the MSF course so I could get my license on my 15th birthday and ride one of these:

Ironically, the course used Yamaha Exciters that I would not be able to ride legally on the street until I was 16.

I rode that 125 to Austin. The national speed limit was 55mph at the time and that was a steady cruise speed for the little Honda. Uphills were done wide open at times but it handled the trip without so much as a hiccup.

My dad rode to and from Ft Bragg, NC and Dallas, TX on a Honda 160 using his M1C Paratrooper helmet as a motorcycle helmet. I do not know if he "met the nicest people on his Honda" but that's a big trip on a little bike

So much for little bikes being "unrideable"

 

[swirlparanoid]

Its not what your looking for but you should look into supermotos and dual-sports. Fun and nimble on-road and the ability to explore beyond the dead-end street. Many trade in 600cc+ sport bikes for them. Not the best highway bikes though.

Harley's got some good looking Sportster's from the factory out now. Look at the Sportster 72's wow.

There ive been no help whatsoever lol

 

[Nick R]

So for now, I have convinced myself that I don't need to buy one, and instead will just fix the shadow and use that occasionally. Mom and Dad don't like the idea of me commuting on it either daily, so weekend and occasionally to work. And next spring I'll look into possibly doing it then. Thanks for all the advice in the meantime though.

 

[SlipperyPete]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
So for now, I have convinced myself that I don't need to buy one, and instead will just fix the shadow and use that occasionally. Mom and Dad don't like the idea of me commuting on it either daily, so weekend and occasionally to work. And next spring I'll look into possibly doing it then. Thanks for all the advice in the meantime though.


Fixing the Shadow is probably the best way to go financially, and it will get the job done. You will be an extremely rare person if you don't want to move to something bigger after a while, but it won't really be the bike's fault.

Family objections can sometimes be a problem, but sometimes should be considered seriously. If I had bought my first bike when I wanted to, I would have had a GSXR-750 when they first came out. I was 18 and stationed in Germany, when the autobahn truly had no speed limit outside urban areas. Looking back, I don't think that would have ended well and I'm glad I listened to the objections.

Several years later, despite the same objections from the same people, I took the MSF course and bought a 650cc street bike, then went to a Triumph Tiger 1050 the next year. I am equally glad I didn't listen to the objections that time.

In any event, I wish you luck. Commuting on the bike won't save much (if any) money, but I think it is one of those things that makes life a little bit more worth living.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
So for now, I have convinced myself that I don't need to buy one, and instead will just fix the shadow and use that occasionally. Mom and Dad don't like the idea of me commuting on it either daily, so weekend and occasionally to work. And next spring I'll look into possibly doing it then. Thanks for all the advice in the meantime though.


My dad hated me having a bike. He sold mine on me while I was at University. I drove every day for a number of years. Drove it to school.

I learned to ride on a little "thimble piston" 2-cylinder Honda 250 that was all "chopper'd up". It had the huge handlebars, the massive "Easy Rider" seat back, straight exhaust and I can't remember what for tires. It went places most people wouldn't take a dual-sport. It belonged to my buddy Neil, and we used it to explore the dykes along the bay of Fundy in NB and NS. I bought the 400 from his dad.

Like another poster, I've never dumped a bike on asphalt, but I put that 400 down on grass and gravel being an idiot.

I was the moron on the motorcycle in December driving in 6" of snow on the Trans Canada highway trying to get home. Yep, I'm "that guy". I didn't want to stop riding, having to take the dreaded school bus again...... I made it. And kept it upright the whole trip. But that was a little nerve-wracking, to say the least.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: SlipperyPete
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Originally Posted By: Vikas
When Nick asks a question to purchase a vehicle, answers do not matter. Anybody wants to bet how soon we would have "I just purchased a new 2013 Ninja 300 because I got insane deal on it"



I hope that is in jest. Whatever I buy, I'm buying outright, and if I'm going to buy used I'm going to stay around $2k. Also a ninja? That's a sport bike. No thanks.


Neither the Ninja 250 nor the Ninja 650 are sport bikes inasmuch as you sit straight up and the power band is not at the top of the rev range.


The Ninja 250's powerband is at the top of the rev range, but one does sit upright more like a sport-tourer/standard than a sportbike.

 

[Thomasterrible]

I would not get a 250 unless it was a dirt bike. I have ridden and raced bikes for over 30 years and that is just way too small, especially for the type of motor and power it generates. It is also a small bike for your size...you certainly won't be having any passengers ever. Nothing wrong with a new or used bike but get one appropriate for your size and riding style and TEST RIDE BEFORE YOU BUY!
Weight and size make significant issues on motorcycles, even with high powered bikes when I get someone on the back performance suffers greatly. For a say 550 pound bike wet having 400 vs 200 pounds makes a giant difference in ratios. Also I have always made sure I had powerful performance bikes so that I could easily be able to accelerate, brake or swerve out of the way of the car that cuts in front of me because they do not see you which happens ALL THE TIME. Bikes get good MPG in general and especially for highway use go with something bigger. Even a used Japanese bike that has been well maintained and in good condition is going to be extremely reliable for you. I think it is a great idea, it is about bike season up here and I am super happy. Get a competent bike and wear good protective gear. I have been in crashes with just a leather jacket and jeans and when wearing my current Alpinestars full Kevlar head to toe. Trust me you want the protective gear on if you go down, I had serious injuries without the gear and have had zero injuries or even pain or damage to my high quality riding gear during those times riding down the road without my bike! Stay safe!