I'm from Texas, where do you put your rifle on this thing?

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Texfire · #1 Unread post by **Texfire** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 3:35 pm

Howdy everyone. I'm a new rider, just starting of at the tender age of 35. I've been interested in riding for years, but my wife had seen a bad accident and was really down on the idea of me riding. I decided that it wasn't worth disturbing the peace to indulge my riding impulse. Fast forward to today. I'm divorced, and free to indulge myself without having to concern myself with inflicting worry upon anyone, other than my mother that is.

I don't have any riding experience, other than the MSF Basic Rider class which I completed last week. I got my license this week, I've got safety gear, insurance coverage, and as of tomorrow I'll have a bike.

As a firefighter I've seen the aftermath of some bad crashes, so I'm walking into this with my eyes open. My dad also used to ride bikes and had a pretty bad wreck that fractured his femur. Even with all this evidence of my own mortality, I want to ride anyway. I signed up for some more accident medical coverage, maybe a little morbid, and I've bought good gloves, a modular helmet, and a Cortech jacket and pants.

I went and sat on a bunch of different bikes, it was hard to find one that was right for me. Most of the salesmen at the big dealers wanted to upsell me to 800-900cc cruisers or higher. While my 32" inseam and 6'1' frame would fit those larger cruisers better, I had decided that they were too much bike for me, given my limited experience. I knew that my criteria were conflicting, I wanted a bike that wasn't bigger than 600cc, yet could operate safely on the highway when required to, and fit me right, and was forgiving for a beginning rider.

I think I found the right bike in a Honda VLX 600 Deluxe. It's probably not my ideal bike, but from all I've read I think it'll be a good starter bike. It's a 2006 with 2400 miles, and a much newer bike than I thought I could afford. Honestly it's in better shape than I was hoping. I wanted a bike that I could drop without wanting to cry, but it just felt right when I sat down on this one. I expect to ride it for awhile to get experience, then purchase a larger cruiser when I've got some miles under my belt.

I'm picking up the bike tomorrow morning, and taking it to an empty parking lot to practice some of the maneuvers from the Basic Rider course to get used to it's balance, shifting and quirks. After that it's the ride to it's new home in south Austin. I'd like to thank everyone here, especially those in the new rider forum. I've been doing a lot of research online and stumbled onto this site. I credit the help already given here with helping me to find the right bike for me.

Tex

zed · #2 Unread post by **zed** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 4:09 pm

Congrats on the new bike and have fun!

Thu Jul 12, 2007 4:19 pm

I started the same way you did. 35, no experience except BRC and saw lots of aftermath as a medic and firefighter. It's awesome! I hope you enjoy riding as much as I do.

Also, this place rocks for answers, stories and just general motorcycle knowledge.

Good Luck, Have Fun and Stay Safe Out There!

Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:51 pm

Welcome to TMW, Tex.

When you get your bike home please take pics. We'd love to see your new bike.

Texfire · #5 Unread post by **Texfire** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:25 pm

Can do. She's gorgeous, even to my jaded eyes...

Tex

Texfire · #6 Unread post by **Texfire** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:41 am

Okay here's a placeholder until I get some of my pictures hosted.

btlegend · #7 Unread post by **btlegend** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:44 am

it must be a fab or something, all us 35 yr olds getting on the road,...
those vlx's are nice bikes, good for intry level riders like my self.
are you getting bags, and windshield...

Texfire · #8 Unread post by **Texfire** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:56 am

I'm trying hard to resist the urge to customize. But I'm not doing very well.

So far I've already considered changing or adding:
Aftermarket seat
Saddlebags/Hardbags
Windshield
GPS mount

Is this a bad thing?

Tex

Septimus · #9 Unread post by **Septimus** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:15 pm

Not at all! I don't consider most of that customizing.

The seat is just a question of comfort. Sargent and Corbin both make good seats, but I'm waiting until I've taken a few long rides before I decide -- that's $300 I could spend on something else...

Windshields vary a lot by bike and some help more than others. On my 500r, none of the aftermarket windshields reportedly help a whole lot with wind buffeting, though I've heard from some folks that the laminar lip does a nice job. Again, I'd wait until you have this problem to fix it.

Saddlebags - one of my first purchases. This isn't a modification, this is required if you want to go anywhere that requires more than a single change of clothes! I got a tank bag, a tail bag, and a pair of saddlebags off of Ebay for about $200 shipped. Research different gear and then hit Ebay (standard Ebay purchase practices apply) -- I bought all my stuff (Motopak) new from the manufacturer, but if I'd bought directly from their web site I would have paid about $315.

GPS always seems to be a lot of money for marginal return, but I guess if you want to just be able to take off into the wild without a map, it'd sure be nice.

My priorities were:
- Get the bike
- Get good gear (Jacket, pants, gloves, boots, helmet, tinted shield for helmet, earplugs)
- Stuff for the bike: Saddlebags, tail bag, tank bag, bag bag, EZ-pass, chain, disc lock
- ?!?

Your mileage may vary.

Texfire · #10 Unread post by **Texfire** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:13 pm

I've already got some good gear. First thing I picked up, literally before the bike, was a KBC modular helmet, Cor-tech jacket and leather gloves. I didn't want to find the bike and be tempted to ride it before buying gear. After the first really hot riding day of the summer I purchased ballistic mesh jacket, gloves and zip-up riding pants. I also purchased some better rain gear after the first time I got caught in a summer storm.

I started off securing the bike with a bike lock that I already had through the wheel/disc brake, but have picked up a disc lock now. I've got a tank bag that is functioning as storage for my lock and rain gear. But I really want some secured on-bike storage, lockable or not. I know nothing about bags however, and I'm a little scared about how many have a little footnote next to them that requires I move the turn signals for mounting. One possibility is one of those LED brakelights with integrated turn signals, but I don't know how much install that takes.

The GPS is a Garmin c330 that I already have. I know it's not supposed to be for motorcycles, but at 1/3 of the price of a Zumo I'll play with it first and if it breaks so be it. I'm going to get a RAM mount for it, as soon as I can figure out which way I'm going to mount it. The one on the mainstem nut, whatever the actual name is, looks like a winner if it doesn't block the speedo too badly.

As far as ear protection goes, I've been using a pair of in canal earphone for my MP3 player. But I'm looking at some kind of helmet intercom as another solution down the road.

I'm in a quandary about the seat. The stock one isn't very comfortable after riding for more than an hour, but I don't have anything else to compare it to, so I have no idea if that's normal or not. I've been looking at a couple of seats, and have my eye on a Mustang. They are one of the few aftermarket who make seats for the '06 VLX.

Tex