Finally! My new, first bike!!!

[sapaul]

It's all about how it makes you feel, I can feel the excitement coming from my screen.
Congrats man, to you and your good lady. Thanks for the great write up and chalk another one up for large CC first time riders. Your biggest problem now is keeping it real, don't let the adrenalin control the throttle hand. We wish you may happy and safe miles.

[TKW]

what the heck is wrong with you! I was all set on the V650 and now you're making me think twice! How dare you!

Congrats. I hope my stories are as filled with smooth experiences as yours. I could have written your original post myself, i'm in the exact same position as you were.

[KarateChick]

Thanks for sharing! The Top Ten list was great. Can still remember that great feeling after that first ride and receiving my first biker wave. Enjoy your ride & watch out for those pesky dead skunks...

[brbolin]

FINALLY got a chance to ride some more yesterday. Up to a whole 150 miles on it.
I am SO HOOKED! I can think of NOTHING else I want to do in my free time. Good thing I only have one or two more "mowings" left on the yard. Needless to say riding presides of riding lawnmower...
I actually got to ride through a light rain yesterday. Wasn't too bad at all. Granted, it wasn't a "storm" or anything...but it was nice to get me used to rain pelting me and hitting my face shield. By the time I got home, I was getting it ready to pull into the shed and it started pouring! I got it into the shed, ran into the house and got a soft towel, ran back to the shed and toweled the bike down. Was planning on riding today, but it was still raining, and I don't have rain gear.
Hopefully I can ride some this weekend. I may need to layer my clothes, but as long as I get to ride, I don't care!!!

Hello. My name is Bryan, and I am an addict.

[sv-wolf]

FINALLY got a chance to ride some more yesterday. Up to a whole 150 miles on it.
I am SO HOOKED! I can think of NOTHING else I want to do in my free time.
Hello. My name is Bryan, and I am an addict.

Congratulations Bryan. I envy you, enjoying your first experience of a motorcycle. There's nothing like it. Even the 'nerves' are part of the fun.

Have fun. Ride safe.

[brbolin]

As I read through my post, I have to apologize if it sounded rather "J. Peterman-ish".
Anyway, here are some pictures of the bike. Rode it for a few miles today (heading out tonight, so had to get SOME riding in).
Rode through a light drizzle the other day. Just enough rain to get me an idea of what it's like to ride in it.

http://www.suzuki-bikes.com/forum/showt ... 714&page=3

Scroll to the bottom of the third page. You should be able to see the pics there.

[Mag7C]

I looked at the pics. That is a NICE bike. Love that shade of blue.

I felt the same way when I first started riding. Nothing better can be done with free time than ride. Actually I still feel like that...

A few things I've learned with by first bike…

#1.) Get a comb to carry around with you, get a short haircut, or just get it all shaved off…helmet hair is NOT attractive.
#2.) Do NOT forget to factor in "wind-chill" when you decide to ride in the morning. Forty degrees outside is going to be about twenty below while riding.
#3.) Gloves are a good thing.
#4.) People making fun of you for riding in 40 degree temperature are just jealous.

Wait til you get used to riding in the frigid mornings. You step outside with people and they're all complaining about the cold and you actually think it's quite pleasant out... And the difference between you and those guys who stand out in the cold in t-shirts and act all tough "huh huh it's not that cold" is they're struggling not to shiver and have goosebumps like no other. You don't. It's great.

#5.) Breathe through your nose as much as possible with a full-face helmet on. A fogged up visor isn't a good thing…also, if you forget to brush (which I did NOT forget to do), the morning breath blowing back into your face can be just as bad as hitting a deer, I believe.

I also found if you breathe out slowly and angle it down it disperses through the bottom of the helmet instead of all over the face shield.

#6.) Remember to try and keep track of what gear you're in. If your bike is a 5 speed, don't try shifting into sixth gear…it ain't goin'.
#7.) Smells are amplified 20x stronger than in a car. Cut grass smells better, someone burning a brush pile smells better; but it also works the other direction…a dead skunk smells deader and "skunkier".

Yeah i love the riding smells. Sometimes you can actually smell the trees. Very nice. The good thing about nasty smells is in a car it circulates and takes 10 minutes to go away. On a bike it's more powerful but doesn't last as long.

#8.) Don't forget…the button on your turn signal switch turns off your signal. You're not in Florida and not 95 years old (no offense to anybody that is… ).
#9.) The "biker wave" is cool. Makes you feel important.

#10.) Grin as much as you want while riding…nobody can see the big, goofy grin on your face with a full-face helmet on, anyway…enjoy it.

Also feel free to belt out songs at random.

Glad you love riding even in unpleasant temperatures. This is what life is all about.