Total Motorcycle Community Forums

hello everyone, i'm james and i thirst for knowledge. i'll be twenty in august. i work for a trucking company 20 miles from home and i want a better way to get there and back every day. although here in the seattle-tacoma area (as you might be aware) it rains a few hundred days out of the year so i wouldn't necessarily say i'm going to be commuting year-round. mainly i want something i can use to commute during the summer and maybe go on a few short day trips (200 mile or less) on less-than-60mph roads.

i'm taking my endorsement test the first week of june and buying a bike as soon after that as i possibly can.

i'm looking at 250cc cruisers (the rebel, virago, etc). not a big fan of sportbikes, but i guess i can't say that until i've ridden one.

i've read every review of every 250 i could find and ideally i'd like an alphasport gv250 but i can't find one anywhere. to be honest i don't have much of a preference after that, it seems like they all have their ups and downs. i'm about six foot and i've heard the virago might be a bit small for me, but i'd like to sit on one before i rule it out. anyone had a similiar experience? at this point i'd be happy with someone just telling me "get a virago, all the rest suck." my indecision is getting old.

and one thing that's been driving me crazy for a while now: how do you shift on a motorcycle? i know the clutch is a hand lever and there's some kind of foot-lever business going on but i can't really visualize how it all works. does anyone have a picture/diagram/anything? or is it something that can be easily explained? or should i just wait until my MSF class?

if you've read this far, you rock. any help/suggestions/ideas/vulgar names you want to send my way will be greatly appreciated. i spend quite a bit of time at work waiting for trucks to show up so i have plenty of time to talk about anything. including tree climbing.

For a cruiser I recommend the vulcan 500.

You'll enjoy the course you will be taking and it's a great step toward getting out there on the road. I'll let you figure out what bike to get cuz all other's opinions are just that - their opinions and you're the one who's gonna be riding it.

The gear shift will be a lever located just in front of your left foot peg. You work it (usually) down one from neutral by pressing down with your left toe to get into first gear then up into higher then first gear by pulling up on the lever with your left toe. Having it as a foot control leaves your hands free to work the clutch (with your left hand) and the gas/throttle (with your right hand). Your rear brake will also be a foot control located just in front of your right foot peg.

Good luch with your course and enjoy your riding experience

vulgar names you want to send my way will be greatly appreciated

Ohh, shane-o will be so happy to know that! Unfortunately, you seem to be staying well within the expert recommendations for a first bike, so he is not as likely to be drawn out of his lair. Ask about a liter sportbike instead, and insist that its the bike for you, and trust me, it'll be raining vulgarities!

to TMW from Columbus, Ohio! You are tall, so waiting to take the MSF course might help you get a handle on the right bike for you. One of the many beauties of the MSF course is that they will slowly bring you along with the clutch/gear/throttle business, and these starter skills (I'm thinking of the friction zone and power walking, specifically) will be most helpful to you when getting used to your own bike.

Yup, used Hyosung cruisers are hard to come by. They have a very small slice of the market. Have you googled for a local dealer?

JIBTEXHNKA wrote:i'm taking my endorsement test the first week of june and buying a bike as soon after that as i possibly can.

The 250 cruisers sound like they'd meet your requirements, but you'll have to go to the bike shop and try them on for size. It's not your height that is a factor, but the proportions of your legs. Given that, I'd probably pick the Virago over the Rebel, because it does perform a bit better and there seems to be more leg room for larger riders. If none of them fit, your next best bet is the 500-600 class of cruisers (Honda VLX, Kaw Vulcan 500, Virago 535).

Bike shifters are very un-car-like. Instead of a typical "H" pattern, bike gears are oriented vertically, with 1st gear being the lowest position:

5
4
3
2
N
1
After taking off in first, you put your foot under the lever and firmly push it up through neutral into second. Same deal for upshifting to 3rd, 4th, 5th. When downshifting, you put your foot on top of the shift lever and push down through the gears (this explanation assumes you know how to use a clutch). They'll teach you all about this in the MSF course. The can take folks that have never used a clutch in a car and have them riding and shifting within a few hours.

thank you all very much, that makes perfect sense.

on sunday i'm going with a friend to look at a suzuki gv700 because i hear it's a great beginner bike and 250's are way to small and lame. just kidding, it's a 250. it has less than 300 miles and it comes with saddlebags and a windshield so i'm pretty excited about it. the guy lives about an hour away so we're bringing a truck and i'm hoping to buy it then and then spend the next two weeks gawking at it until i'm legal.

on that note, any tips on putting a motorcycle in a pick-up? or is this even a smart thing to do? i've got all kinds of straps and tie-downs.

My father and I lifted my bike into the back of his truck, no problem, and then rode back with it strapped and tied down an hour and a half from Connecticut to MA. It'll work out fine, no worries.

If you do a search of our forums you will find some information on transportation. Below is also two links.
Hope this helps
http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/street ... index.html
http://www.whybike.com/motorcycle6.htm

If your commute is going to be on I-5, I'd look at something with a bit more punch than a 250 cruiser. I'm not advocating going out and getting a Mean Streak or anything like that, but I'd be more comfortable on the freeways around here with a bit more power for "just in case", a safety buffer if you will. I'd check into cruisers like the Vulcan 500, or the 600-700cc cruisers from the other manufacturers.

Make sure you budget for good riding gear too, you can double or triple your comfortable riding season by dressing right.

mgdavis wrote:If your commute is going to be on I-5, I'd look at something with a bit more punch than a 250 cruiser. I'm not advocating going out and getting a Mean Streak or anything like that, but I'd be more comfortable on the freeways around here with a bit more power for "just in case", a safety buffer if you will. I'd check into cruisers like the Vulcan 500, or the 600-700cc cruisers from the other manufacturers.

Make sure you budget for good riding gear too, you can double or triple your comfortable riding season by dressing right.

i've been thinking about that a lot... i keep reading that the max cruising speed for a 250 is around 65mph, and even that's pushing it if it's for extended periods of time. i'm a big fan of back roads and side streets so i don't expect it to be a problem. ideally i'd like a 350 or 500 but i haven't found one in my budget. i fully plan on selling/trading whatever bike i start on within a year for something bigger so at this point i'm more focused on just learning how to ride.

i haven't bought any gear yet, but i'm looking at textile jackets that all say "rainproof" or "water-resistant"... is that usually pretty accurate? i assume it helps to spray it with waterproofing stuff every once in a while but with a good jacket i shouldn't need to wear rain gear, should i?