learn me, getting motorcycle license

Originally Posted by tennisfreak

My advice:

Unless you have a mechanic friend or someone that is very experienced with motorcycles avoid trying to buy used unless its from an authorized dealer. More people than not wreck their bikes and then turn around and sell them. You need to be very astute and know what your looking for when buying a used

I don't know about where you live but here where I live people are pretty honest about the history of their bikes.

I dropped my bike once and let the buyer know before hand of the damage it had and the things that were fixed. As do most people

For a first time buyer I'd recommend buying used... the MSRPs on the 300s are ridiculous. Not only that but the low cc bikes for the most part hold their value. I bought my bike at 4250 and sold it 2 years later after thousands of kms for the same price.

The same goes for 300s and 250s. Buy them at a low price, learn on them for a year or 2, sell them and get a higher cc bike of your choice. Though some people like wringing out lower cc bikes.





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[covance]

In terms of the first and second bike, I am most concerned with the riding position due to my back. I don't think I will ever take the bike on the highway. Will stick to smaller local roads.

I think I will try and go to a dealer since I don't have any friends experienced with bikes and wouldn't know myself what to look for when assessing something used. On used japanese bikes is there room to bargain or is there not much margin to work with?

Originally Posted by covance

In terms of the first and second bike, I am most concerned with the riding position due to my back. I don't think I will ever take the bike on the highway. Will stick to smaller local roads.

I think I will try and go to a dealer since I don't have any friends experienced with bikes and wouldn't know myself what to look for when assessing something used. On used japanese bikes is there room to bargain or is there not much margin to work with?

There's a couple basic things you can check. Tire tread depth, leaks in the forks, rust on chain, any other leaking fluid other than the gas overflow tube are a few starting points. Get maintenence records and make sure oil changes were done before the manufacturers recommended miles.

If the bike was dropped and at what speed it was dropped is a whole other story. You gotta check the frame, shift and brake levers as well as hand levers etc.

If you want pm me I might be able to link you to a helpful forum post on a local motorcycle forum

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[bcj]

You can check out ergonomics for various brands on this web site

http://cycle-ergo.com/

[bfrank1972]

One additional thing I'll bring up regarding safety - I like louder bikes. Doesn't have to be Harley short pipe loud, but will help with people knowing you're around. Good friend of mine used to ride a Harley Sportster, switched to a sweet BMW that happened to be much quieter. Less than a week someone swerved right into him on the highway (survived only because he was sent flying into the median).

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by bcj

You can check out ergonomics for various brands on this web site

http://cycle-ergo.com/

Great site, didn't know it existed. I ran my bike history through it, and it was pretty accurate.

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Great site, didn't know it existed. I ran my bike history through it, and it was pretty accurate.

hahahahha

The knees are the windshield.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by ButeraFRS

hahahahha The knees are the windshield.

Well, to be fair if you were 12ft tall your knees would be on the windshield and your head would be dragging the ground....

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Well, to be fair if you were 12ft tall your knees would be on the windshield and your head would be dragging the ground....

In the picture my head was the optional flipper plate if I just bent back a little further.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by tennisfreak

Unless you have a mechanic friend or someone that is very experienced with motorcycles avoid trying to buy used unless its from an authorized dealer. More people than not wreck their bikes and then turn around and sell them. You need to be very astute and know what your looking for when buying a used bike.

Originally Posted by ButeraFRS

I don't know about where you live but here where I live people are pretty honest about the history of their bikes.

Yea, I've NEVER bought a new bike (you think you take a hit on cars when buying new, try motorcycles). What you need is a good local shop that will do a bike check for you as part of the purchase. I do agree with @tennisfreak though, if you aren't willing to do/pay for a prepurchase inspection you should buy from a dealer with some sort of warranty.

Going to a large used bike dealer also gives you an opportunity to narrow down your choices. I'm fortunate enough to live near Wow Motorcycles. What a toy store that is!

[Re_Invention]

I'll throw in another recommendation for the MSF course - I consider it mandatory for anyone interested in riding in traffic.

Don't worry too much about the size of the motorcycle engine, horsepower, torque, weight or any other specs people throw out. It's not the motorcycle, it's the rider. Don't think you'll ever outgrow anything either - again, that's a fallacy to think "It's been now 6 months of riding and I can handle an R6" hahah! Yeah... right. Riding is about your ability, only. It's about personal responsibility, only you and yours alone. Think of this way - anyone who makes a mistake, it's your a$$ on the line. If you're comfortable with that, it doesn't matter what you ride, you need only the right attitude. The mechanics between an R6 and a Rebel 250 are the same. The ergo's are different and the speed 'can' be different, depends up to you. One is more conducive to allow for attention to be focused on your environment (the Rebel) while the other requires a greater attention to detail on subtleties. But that's entirely up to you.

I started off with a CBR600 Hurricane and have been riding 12 years on two continents. It's all the same, doesn't matter if it's a street bike, a standard, a cruiser, an enduro or scooter. You must take responsibility for everyone's actions around you. Because when your ass goes down, who cares about blaming or being right - you're the only one that needs to deal with the consequences. And, yes, it's exhausting.

And lastly, don't forget to practice. It's like shooting or a martial art - your MSF is your yellow belt: basics but you're still going to get beat down. Take it upon yourself to practice all of those drills and maneuvers, read the theory (total control), watch videos (twist of the wrist) and keep practicing with your bike for months/years after the course. Confidence and muscle memory will be the two (also luck) keys to bailing you out of your own or other's stupidity. Treat riding with respect and with enough luck you'll live to put on hundreds of thousands of joyful miles!

Just to add onto your first point. Most people can barely ride a 250 or a 125 to its (or their own limits). Most people will have chicken strips, improper lean angles etc etc.


Just putting my personal experience on it, the reason I want to upgrade to higher ccs is because I want to do longer road trips (in the 2000+ km range). The longest ride I ever did was 7 hours and my knees were on fire at the end of it because of how high the engine was revving for the whole trip.

At the end of the day, if your first bike isn't going to be a 300, think about what type of riding you're going to do. Long trips? Think about a tourer or sport tourer. Want to go fast or be road pizza (I say that tongue in cheek, no offense to the Ss riders I may get a gsxr which isn't the best idea for a bike that does long trips but it's the most comfortable out of the 3 ss) get a supersport. City riding? Get a low cc bike with some decent mpgs or even better get a drz. Want to make a lot of noise and park at coffee shops, get a harley (I say that tongue in cheek as well).

So long as you know what type of riding you're going to be doing, your decision on your first bike will be exponentially easier.

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Oh and I don't know if it was mentioned but if you're a new rider I recommend ABS. I just pmd this to covance.

I had a bunch of close calls where MSF saved my ass in terms of emergency braking, but almost ate shit when the front wheel nearly locked up on multiple occasions.

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[Coaster]

Anyone own any Honda scooters like the pcx 150?