more motorcycles!

[Cliffio]

thats why you should always wear ALL of your gear, cause you never know what can happen.

they say that some crazy percetage of crashes happen on trips shorter than 10 minutes.

but i have to say, its one of the funnest things ive done, i had to quite paintball to afford this bike (my second), but it was worth it (shocking i know but true)

yeah zumina, your right something in the early 80's is always a good bet, unless its been sitting around

kawasaki 440 ltd is one of the good ones.

phil- haha flip flops, all the tools around here wear em.


Cliff

[cphilip]

Originally posted by Cliffio
for insurance, i would check around your local area for companies, i went to progressive and they wanted 1100 for full coverage, geico wanted 1800 for full coverage and my local place, Country Companies wanted 350 for full coverage, needless to say, thats who i went with.

DAMMMM! I paying $76 a year for my Progressive, only liability though. Them numbers sucks...

yea I see the shirtless fip flop riders all around here. And funny thing is I have no idea how they shift them things in flip flops but they often have Booty Babes on the back! Makes ya wanna try it!

[MiniMag84]

Well, if you think it's a bad idea to get a sport bike right away, I was also looking at the Honda Rebel. It's more of a cruiser and it's also a 250. What do you guys think?


Cliff- Have you ever fallen?

[Zumina]

that's funny, I pay $120 a year for liability on two bikes, and I'm 18.

[masterninja]

I bought a Suzuki SV650 last year as my first bike. It's been very good to me and is very forgiving when you screw up. A great bike to learn on I think. Sporty enough and fast enough to get you started. The new ones are fuel injected. Pretty low priced too.

[masterninja]

watch the painted lines when it's wet out. That Suzuki Bergman has the same engine as the SV650.

[maglover52]

this is a highly modified xr50 it is probally worth cose to $8,500.00 bucks. my new little hobbie. also it makes a nice pit bike for at the mx races

[rhetor22]

Originally posted by Cliffio
i get around 165 miles on a full tank (4.8g tank)

Cliff

wow. i get 200 miles out of 18 gallons. and less than 200 a year for insurance?!!?!??! if i could find a bike in good condition, thats missing an engine... oh boy i would be so happy. I can build little engines like those in a snap!

Is the 250 a 2-stroke? cuz that would really make my day! I love two stroke engines, the powerbands on them are unmatched for fun.

[MicrOMag]

Originally posted by cphilip
Thats all I got Heat. I not sure where the guy clipped that from. Dam Europeans supposedly actualy drive thier scoots like that I hear! The sparks flying is cool but one wonders how many times you can do that and not wear through to the oil.

they put skid pads/bars down on the back to do that

[MicrOMag]

Originally posted by cphilip
Well one thing I found out today that I didn't know is that BMW makes a scooter. Rather odd cool one at that...

In Spain I saw a bunch of the BMW ones where the people are enclosed.

[MiniMag84]

rhetor22 the 250 is a 4stroke i believe.

[JRSJKD]

new bike ideas...long rant...

wow....havent posted here in forever. but this is hot topic lately at school so......

First off lemme say that i just got off of summer break from school. Spring fever hit Cali and all of a sudden theres a ton of new bikes parked next to my dirty '00 R6. Lots new riders on '03 Gixxer 1k's, '03 R1's, '03 R6. When I got back to school this week and 4 riders had crashes over the 3 1/2 week break.

First.....you have to be realistic about the power that even a 600cc bike is capable off. Yes there are uber car enthusiasts out there with 8 milion HP mustangs....but for the most part.....you can crush just about everything out there on a stock 600......liter bikes are in a world of their own.

that being said, you also need to realize most new riders go down in the first 3 months of riding.

ok, ok....enough lecturing. I would say start with the MSF course(motorcycle saftey foundation). Will teach you some valuable tools and in most places is good for a 15% annual discount on insurance after completion. sound like you can already ride, the course is also good for its statistics and street strategies. by knowing where the most accidents happen(as compiled by the Hurt report) you can more actively aviod them.

ok.....so buying. I would say no bigger and no smaller than a 600. You will outgrow a EX500 fast, a 600 will be faster than you for years after you have been racing it on the track. most cant even exploit the 600 full potential there either. I really like the SV's. Great bikes, a blast to ride in the canyons, right price, and there are a ton of guys who race them up here at Willow Springs. I think the bike is damn sexy too!!! Id steer you towards a DUC or Aprilla.....but being only mortal and having a mortals bank account...well i just cant afford one...and the premium servicing too.

Something to keep in mind. tires dont last long5-7k depending on riding. Its almost $400 alone in tires every couple of months for me depending on how much rec riding I do. If your going to the track, that set of tires will be shot by the end of the day.

couple other things to consider. Make sure you have a good helmet, gloves, boots, jacket. You should have almost 1k just for this. Dont make the mistake of getting serious about gear AFTER you first fall. Im stuck with the huge funny shaped scar on my knee...hopefully you can learn from my mistake.

No matter how hard you try, you wil push your limits at some point. We all learn(most anyway) at some point in our riding that we have to respect the power. My lesson came AFTER flipping what was my then 3 month old R6, while getting too hot in a turn up on Mulholland drive. I walked away, banged up pretty good...bike took couple months to get back since there were 3 other R6 ahead of me in the shop and an eventual trip to the frame shop as well.

My lesson/crash was best thing that ever happened to me. Instead of going bigger, badder, faster...i spent tons cash in suspension setup and track time.

I guess im preaching here, but its fresh on my mind after having three friends go into the hospital in three weeks. Everyone wants the 'busa's and gixxer 1k's to prove how fast and bad they are. They just prove pavement always wins.

Grab an SV, get good gear, go riding, learn, read, go to a track school, keep it rubber side down and have a blast. Its a life long hobby if your smart about it :)

jrsjkd

[Cliffio]

phil, i have one ticket in the last 3 years, and those are my insurance numbers. of course they depend on where you are located.



jrsjkd- i agree with almost everything you have said except the part about the 600. my friend has a ninja 500 for just over a year now, and hes just getting ready to get a 600. the problem when you tell people a 600 is ok, is that they buy 2003 r6's or a gixxer 6 or something in that nature, and those bikes are too dangerous imho. now maybe a late model katana 600 or an older 600 ninja would be good, but these new super sport 6's are too fast for begginners.

but in my opnion i would NEVER buy a NEW bike as a first one, just not smart. some people think, well my insurance will cover it, but when you total it everyones premiums go up.


tires arent really that big of a problem for me, i mean you can always find some discount tires if your in a jam, i mean yeah they wont handle AS WELL but they have to be decent. not always a smart thing to do, but if you just ride the bike in town, not a HUGE deal. - dont get me wrong a good set of tires is hard to beat. and if you order them off the internet prepare to be RAPED when you want to get the mounted!!! so depending on the dealers in your area it can be cheaper to just buy the tires from a dealer, the best thing to do is find out how much BEFORE you order them from the internet.

but minimag seems to have a good head on his shoulders, he wants a 250 and not a liter bike.


on a side note, i have something to say about other riders. i cant understand it but harley riders tend to not wave at sportbike riders. but i ALWAYS wave at anything with 2 wheels, i waved at some old lady on a scooter this morning. i would advise any new riders to do the same.


i dont really know who im talking to but oh well:)

Cliff

[Zumina]

Harley owners are just too proud. When you spend $12k on a big, heavy, loud bike that utilizes 1930s technology, you'll know why.

[Cliffio]

well i still wave at em all, i hope it pisses them off.


anyway zumina, what year is that zx6?