Thinking about buying a motorcycle. (1 Viewer)

[Bob Friend]

And so many more are caused by the infamous "car makes a left hand turn in front of an oncomming bike"

 

[Buzz Foster]

You're right, Bob. Keeping enough distance from those situations is something you are taught in the MSF rider course.

 

[Zen Butler]

Of course I'm going to bat for my own team here but Suzuki has a very nice lightweight "cruiser" right in your budget

http://www.suzukicycles.com/Products/S40K7/Default.aspx

I wouldn't go too big out of the gate. An employee here got a little ahead of himself and purchased one of our "flagship" cruisers. This guy is large dude but he was a total wobbler. Too much bike(at this stage) for even him and he eventually went down.

In no way will I engage in a make debate but Suzuki has some very nice(and reasonably priced) cruisers. And no I don't get brownie points because I work for them.

 

[Buzz Foster]

Uhhh...that's the old Savage, right?

I know it's a good bike, but I also know a petite 100 pound gal who had a Savage, but moved up to a Vulcan 750 because the Savage was too underpowered. I'd guess Chad to be at least twice her weight, and I know he's at least a foot taller. Bike wisdom might say that a 1600 is too much, but a Savage would be way too small. I rode a bike that size at the MSF class, and I felt like a Shriner on a mini bike, and I'm two inches shorter than Chad.

And no, I have no brand issues. Kawasaki and Suzuki have shared a lot of engineering, in fact.

 

[Zen Butler]

I missed him listing his height. Yup, the good ol' LS. At 5'10" almost borderline. There is always the Intruder......... C50

 

[Philip Hamm]

The remake of the old 800 Marauder. Good bike. Equivalent to the Kawasaki 800/900 Vulcan also discussed. Would be a good choice. As would a Kawasaki Vulcan 750 which is pretty ugly but a darn good bike.

 

[Chad Isaacs]

So I took a peek at some of the Suzuki, they are ok but nothing really screamed out and said "I'm what you want" I think it was the C50 that I liked the best looks wise but I could be wrong on that model.

Camping was good. Friday night got way too cold, I got way too intoxicated ( I say that but I don't drink except times like those so 3 drinks and I was done) so I did not sleep much, I got a good amount of sun burn yesterday and the grief of breaking camp today.

Some distant family members showed up for steak last night, they all rode in on their Harleys. I think there were 6 sitting there in our site. I never did get to go for a ride but I picked all of their minds. One guy suggested something, but I don't recall excatly what it is called, something about forward control? Ring any bells. He said it basically gives my foot controls further up which is good for my long legs. They are excited for me to get on the road with them but disappointed that its not going to happen over night. The 2 gurus offered to go shopping with me when the time comes, just to look over the bikes I look at, test drive them and make sure everything is working properly. They also supported my decision to go through the course first. I was almost suprised at that. THey often try to radiate a "I'm hard core because I do it my way" image, but, they all said they took the course even after riding for 20 years.

Well, I need to get my beauty rest.

 

[mazersteven]

Why don't you stop goofing around.

http://www.americanironhorse.com/fla...Site/Home.html

 

[Chad Isaacs]

Those were pretty killer... bad choice of words? I think the Tejas was my favorite bike, but, the "host" was the best part!

I am taking a sick day to recoop from this weeked so I am going to spend some time reading motorcycle stuff online. I will post back later with what I come up with... I also have to mow :frowning:

 

[Philip Hamm]

Forward controls are horrible IMO. They absolutely destroy your lower back and are terrible for handling. Normal controls and highway pegs for occasionally stretching out are much better.

 

[Chad Isaacs]

Well, I did not stay online eariler, I did get the yard done though.

I had to stop for gas today and there was a biker filling up as well. Does the tank on a bike stop the gas hose like a car does or will it just over flow? How big is the typical tank and how far will it take you? I understand there is no exact answer here, but averages...

Do you get as much life out of bike tires as you do car tires? If you are not going to be riding through the winter seasons, what is the best way to store the bike? Regardless of season, it will always be in the garage.. when I'm not on it of course.

 

[Buzz Foster]

A) Your gas tank will overflow if left unattended, or at least there is not a nozzle input like a car. You probably couldn't leave it there if you wanted. On teh plus side, you are talking usualy 3 to 4 gallons at a time, which is cheaper and quicker.

B) My 2005 Nomad uses an odd tire size that makes the stock Bridgestone tire about the only one that fits. I get about 9,000 on the rear, and 18,000 on the front. The full tire job I got last week was under $250, which is about $150 less than the cost of one Eagle VR that my Mustang required, without including balancing, etc. A good deal by any standard.

C) Garage should be fine. Might want to trickle charge if you don't ride in winter.

 

[Chad Isaacs]

Whats a trickle charge?

I would probably go fire it up from time to time, maybe even go for a ride around the block. We are just south east of downtown Indy. We used to have brutal winters, but the past several years we have a few really rough weeks and the rest of the winter is like a long fall / early spring. We bought this house while the kids were on christmas break. We move in short sleeve shirts, my brother in law had shorts on! I probably would not ride to work as Indy is very hard to judge, it might be balmy in the early afternoon and a foot of snow by 7 p.m

What about stuff like oil changes? I assume you can't just pull up to your local jiffy lube ( which I don't do anyway). What does everybody use to keep their bikes so shiny and clean? How bad is riding on gravel? Is it a nightmare if you are cruising along and there is a rock in the middle of the road and you run over it?

I found a pretty cool website last night that sells used bikes. I doubt I would buy from them but they give me a good ball park idea on cost plus they have some killer bikes listed. I found a few alternatives to the nomad... but I still really want the nomad!

 

[Bob Friend]

When storing mine for the winter I fill the tank with gas, add a couple ounces of Stabil and unhook the battery. It's fired right up after sitting for a few months each of the two winters I've stored it that way.

 

[Buzz Foster]

For long non-use stretches, you might want a trickle charger, which you hook to the battery to keep it from going dead. Mine's not sat for longer than a week or two, so far. Not a big problem for me.

I bought a motorcycle jack from Sears, and simply follow the manufacturer's reccommendations for service, though I do use AMSOil, not Kawasaki oil. Tires, you don't want to mess with, but the rest is easy enough to do yourself. Get a brake fluid siphon to make changing brake fluid easier. They are $25 or so at Harbor Freight.

 

[Chad Isaacs]

So I have been looking at a lot of bikes online, they all have one thing in common.. a red button on the right handle bar, what does this do?

 

[wendortb]

I think you are talking about the kill switch. Southeast of indy huh? Around shelbyville? I am down in martinsville. I am looking at getting a motorcycle next year.

You can pick up a service manual so you can do your own maintenance if you want.

Going over gravel isn't too bad as long as you remember not to make any sudden moves. Don't brake hard, turn hard, or accelerate hard and it won't be a big deal.

I think when you take the riders course they should cover going over different surfaces.

I have been looking at cycletrader.com and have found some bikes locally. Is that where you were looking?

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Yes... unlike cars motorbikes have a 3 stage ignition

1. Disengage killswitch (Its normally off... but whatever)
2. Disengage iugnition lock by turning key
3. Press 'start' button. (People pay big bucks for this feature in a car, which is kinda dumb because every other car does it simply by turning the key further clockwise).

 

[Chad Isaacs]

Small world Wendortb, I lived in Paragon ( shut up!) for a while when I was a kid, went to school in Martinsville for a few years. I moved back to the Indy area in 91 / 92 ( finish of sophmore year) and finished school here..

I am in Beech Grove, just north of Greenwood.

I assumed the red button had soemthing to do with starting / stopping but was unsure.

 

[Dave_Brown]

I believe that is the History Erase Button. Whatever you do, do NOT touch that button!!!!!!!