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Johnj wrote:Owning a pickup truck and a ramp.

how is a pickup truck sitting in your driveway going to help you when you and your bike is stranded in the middle of nowhere?

HYPERR wrote:

Johnj wrote:Owning a pickup truck and a ramp.

how is a pickup truck sitting in your driveway going to help you when you and your bike is stranded in the middle of nowhere?

Ummmmm........ that's why I'm married??!!! Call the Mrs. and beg for a rescue. She always comes through for me, though sometimes it "costs" me something....

(The vehicle with the trailer hitch is actually hers.)

Jerry D wrote:i am expecting a $2,000 bike to be a handy man special. which will on occasion require tows.

Learn to do your own wrenching, and you can head off most issues that would leave you stranded, or be aware of oncoming major mechanical issues. Last time I got stranded, it was a broken clutch cable. If I'd had a spare with me (some guys zip tie a spare in place right alongside the operational cable) and about two tools, I could have fixed it on the spot. Also, I didn't realize it at the time, but the old cable was giving me warning signs - now I know what to look for.

jstark47 wrote:

Jerry D wrote:i am expecting a $2,000 bike to be a handy man special. which will on occasion require tows.

Learn to do your own wrenching, and you can head off most issues that would leave you stranded, or be aware of oncoming major mechanical issues. Last time I got stranded, it was a broken clutch cable. If I'd had a spare with me (some guys zip tie a spare in place right alongside the operational cable) and about two tools, I could have fixed it on the spot. Also, I didn't realize it at the time, but the old cable was giving me warning signs - now I know what to look for.

that is part of my plan, i am kind of handy with cars and figure that with a little work i can be with bikes. although i am very much out of the loop. the last time i worked on my own car must have been around 91-92. in the late 1980's (i think it may have been around 86-87) me and a friend took a 4 door '71 dodge dart with a beat up body and switched out the slant six putting in a 440 magnum with a cross ram intake and duel 4 barrel holly double pumpers. it was nice, a real sleeper. with the big v8 we also had a 4 speed manual and a dana 60 rear end. no one every suspected that dart of being fast and man was it. it is funny for some reason i can't wrap my mind around liters i still think of engines in cubic inches.

Jerry,

You don't say if you have had the safety course? I forgot a lot from the first time I rode and it was good for me to take it.

Keep looking, you can find decent used bikes. Use the forum here to check out a history of the make and model and you should end up with reliable transportation. Free cycle for your area is a good source. Find and make a relationship with a local bike shop. You can get good recommendations there too.

I wouldn't be shy about spending a little more on your safety equipment and a little less on the bike.

Good luck with it.

Pete

pchast wrote:Jerry,

You don't say if you have had the safety course? I forgot a lot from the first time I rode and it was good for me to take it.

Keep looking, you can find decent used bikes. Use the forum here to check out a history of the make and model and you should end up with reliable transportation. Free cycle for your area is a good source. Find and make a relationship with a local bike shop. You can get good recommendations there too.

I wouldn't be shy about spending a little more on your safety equipment and a little less on the bike.

Good luck with it.

Pete

i am starting from scratch and taking a riding lessons and going for a proper bike license. my road test will be in the middle of october. when i signed up for the course i told them i had never ridden. the instructor says i learn fast. truthfully i don't have much experience. when i was a kid my parents had a vacation house in eastern PA. around the time i was in junior high one of the neighbor kids taught me how to ride. he a had a few dirt bikes and we buzzed around the woods. it was a lot of fun but only lasted for a few weeks maybe a month or so. other then that after high school i had a BSA and a Triumph that ran possibly a total of twenty times between the two of them. and normal only one way. at the time i was a total motor head and into hot roding and drag racing. bikes where more of an side thing. if i remember correctly the BSA had a hard time starting so i would park it on hills and ride it down and pop the clutch. which seemed to work fairly well. it is strange i remember those bike fairly even thoe they gave me nothing but trouble.

none of that really adds up to a hill of beans. but hey the brit bikes looked really cool sitting in front of my house.

i do plan on taking a safety course eventually but the only local one i have found requires you to bring your own bike. i am not as young as i used to be but then again i am not as dumb as i used to be so maybe it will work out well. actually i am still pretty dopey.

http://www.tramas.com/

Jerry,

Its kind of amusing that thats almost identical to my history. I wonder
how many late starters like me, on here, had the same history.

Pete

couldn't say, although almost everyone i know who rides started fairly young.

i've been taking the lessons, the class i singed up for give it on a honda rebel. wow that bike is so small. when i put my feet up on the pegs it feels like my knees are in my armpits and the handle bars are so close to my chest that if i look down my chin will rub up on the front wheel. i feel like i am riding a 15 inch BMX with the seat all the way down and squatting on the floor.

Jerry D wrote:the class i singed up for give it on a honda rebel. wow that bike is so small. when i put my feet up on the pegs it feels like my knees are in my armpits and the handle bars are so close to my chest that if i look down my chin will rub up on the front wheel. i feel like i am riding a 15 inch BMX with the seat all the way down and squatting on the floor.

Heh, heh! When I took the MSF course, they had two TW200's. Those went to me and one other big guy. There were a couple of other big guys who got stuck on little GZ250 cruisers - kinda like Suzuki's version of the Rebel. They passed the course, but it couldn't have been comfortable for them.

so far i have been lots of fun, it is a blast, i can't wait for a bike that fits.