Hi, again kind of!

[JVRR]

So I was here a million years ago when I was just a kid, though in full disclosure I still consider myself a kid. It looks like I might finally get a bike, so figured I would come back (teenage hopes didn't pan out). Parents are still trying to throw out road blocks but I am pretty much 100% confident I can get past it now (it used to be I was too young, then it was until I started paying my own insurance, now it's "I don't want another vehicle parked outside"). Anyway...

I had my first part of class tonight, start riding on Saturday and hopefully Sunday I will be leaving with my certificate. Unfortunately I am unemployed and do not really want to purchase a bike until I have a job, even if its just a temporary thing (I have plenty of savings, but that's not technically what they are for , won't dip into them until I have a way to replace them). Particularly now that I started pricing out gear, thinking a helmet, jacket, gloves, and knee guards/pads will do the trick for now . Pants and boots can come later (that stuff adds up quick)!

I am keeping my eye on deals on Craigslist, leaning towards a 500cc sport bike. I think in the end I will prefer a cruiser, but I feel confident I will like a cruiser, so I would rather start with a sport bike (since my first bike will be used and cheap, rather dislike my cheap bike than go out and get a nice new sport bike after getting a good job, and deciding I preferred my cruiser... if that logic made sense).

Anyway there I am . Oh and I guess since this is an introductory thread... My names James or Vladimir, or any derivative of the two if you prefer. I just moved back to the states after moving (for a very short time) to Russia, but did not get the job offer I needed. After putting things on hold between university and now due to the planned move to Russia I am finally just now career hunting, which is code for I am unemployed, I went from working seven days a week to zero, and I am bored out of my mind . Hopefully I will get something at least temporary going again asap.

I have always wanted to ride, my dad used to ride recreationally and now for about a million years has been a motorcycle officer in Seattle.

Looking forward to it all. Definitely have a lot to learn (definitely about riding, but about bikes too!), though I suspect I will start learning for real after I get a bike, motivation goes up from there .

[totalmotorcycle]

back James! As I always say Total Motorcycle is a big friendly family, you are always welcome back no matter how long it may have been since your last visit.

Many face the parents issues of riding a motorcycle. It's understandable, they care and love their kid(s) but fear something might happen to them doing (insert sport name). As long as you show them you are responsible, care about your own safety and will do your best to be safe, they should be ok with it as they do want you to have fun in life and take in lots of experiences too. By taking the motorcycle safety course you are doing a great job.

Going used and cheap is a great idea. You can find bikes for less than $1000 that are just fine. Like any vehicle look how it was cared for and maintained. The forums here have lots of threads on that topic. For your first bike I would advise agaist anything that needs repairs off the bat.

You will have to share what it was like to live in Russia, it is one Country I'd like to visit.

Total Motorcycle offers a wealth of motorcycling information that is completely free and quite useful. Read all you can, post any questions you have and remember, we are there for ya.

Mike

[sunshine229]

Hi and welcome back!



You're definitely going about it the right way, starting with the course and buying a cheap bike to learn on.

The parents thing is no surprise. I had it lucky... even though my Dad is an ambulance paramedic he never told me not to ride. He's seen so many crazy bike accidents that I'm sure he would like to say "honey, don't do that" but he didn't. Like I said, I'm lucky!

[JVRR]

Thanks guys! I am almost thinking a 250cc would be good to start on just for the gas mileage, makes it easier to look at it as a "money saving" activity . But I do not think I will go that route, seems there are a million 250ccs for sale for a reason!

Looking forward to starting to ride tomorrow in class.

I forgot for an introductory thread, my passions are video/computer games, movies, reading, shooting/firearms, and I hate to admit it but I love anime. I am not in great shape but I am also into minimalist running, and go off and on of running regularly (the snow is not helping). If I am on the treadmill its barefoot, otherwise I have VFF's (Vibram five fingers - Google 'em ). Hopefully before long I will add riding to that list.

P.S. The style of bike I am finding the most attractive is what the class is calling "standard," probably most evident by the Ducati GT1000 my buddy recommended, that I love the look of (but even used is just a tad out of my max price range for now). It would appear to me to be a sort of cross between a sport and cruiser. Something that may be more comfortable than a typical sport for long rides, but, well, still sport in nature?

Have not seen many used bikes that look like they fall into that category- and that is based entirely on looks, maybe in actuality the bike is the same as a typical sport?

[totalmotorcycle]

A 250cc bike is a perfect starter bike... don't go thinking a 250cc is small, in some parts of the world (like India) the biggest bikes are just 150cc and they do just fine with those.

I started with a 500cc myself in the early 90's and I bet a 250cc of today would come real close to it's performance. The greatest things about the 250cc is cheap insurance, amazing gas milage, super light in weight and they are cheap to buy.

The standard is a great do-it-all type of motorcycle, think of a standard as almost the speed of a sportbike with almost the comfort of a cruiser. It truly is the best of both words in one. There are a lot of standards out there still, don't dispair. In the early 2000's sportbikes and cruisers became the biggest sellers over the standards and the standards had a hard time for sales. The most modern ones that are starters (and inexpensive) would be:

Suzuki GS500E
Honda Nighthawk 250
Kawasaki Ninja 500R
Honda Rebel 250
Buell Blast! 500

The problem is the manufacturers really stopped making 500cc and smaller bikes as (I think) we hit the Boom Times and people could afford big luxury motorcycles again... this could all shift back again...

Mike

[JVRR]

I will have to keep my eye out for those!

My only concern with 250cc is that I am surrounded by mountains. Granted I won't pass them often, but 70MPH (speed limit) up a mountain pass will be handled much better on a 500 I think. That being said I would prefer a 500 just for the staying power, I have no idea where I will be in the next few years and I may not be able to upgrade, and finally as you mentioned year makes a difference and in my price range a lot of the bikes I am looking at are from the 90's.

What it will come down to is the deal, I would rather get on a 250cc than nothing for my first bike, and I'd rather get on a 250cc in my budget than go over for a 500cc.

[Larry Culling]

I went three months from the time I got my license untill I got my first bike, it seemed like a year as our back yard backs onto a main street in town and sitting watching the bikes go past was hard. I have a great sister in law who was thinking about selling her 750 Honda Shadow Spirit, suggested I should take it for a ride. The brother in law and I went out for a day and that did it, I told her to make up her mind if she was going to sell it to me or not. I love the 750 as it has lots of power for the highway but not too much for a beginner. Getting it in late July and riding to the beginning of nov. I put on 3000KLM. if you are looking at any amount of highway travel I think a smaller bike might not cut it.

[JVRR]

Well first [riding] day of class is done, and wow. I am impressed that my fingers and toes still work. I just lived in Russia for over a month, I lived in Spokane for four years (where I saw a low of -22 F!)... and I am not sure I have ever been as cold as I was today. Note to other beginners reading this, I would wait for it to warm up to take the class !

I had a lot of fun, definitely changed my plans though. I struggled a lot with the clutch and shifting in general, I think a huge part of this is that I have never driven a stick shift before so the entire concept is new, not just different. Adding to the frustration was my bike kept dying (they had the exact number of "working" bikes for students, apparently several were not working), and last but hardly least I found the clutch pedal incredibly close to the foot peg (was riding a Nighthawk), and my boots are huge.

This changed my plans somewhat. It became glaringly obvious one will not leave this class and be ready to ride. So I think I am going to try and grab a cheap (sub $1500) standard to learn on right away, job or no job. I think it will be a while before I even am ready to take it out of our development (I can get an easy 25MPH ride to some big school parking lots which will be great practice). And then I can also delay the expense of gear as I will be keeping the speeds down so low, at least initially.

This is of course assuming I pass the riding test tomorrow, but I kind of suspect they are going to shorten the practice/drill time and go a little easy on test time because of the weather (not even their comfort, it is quite a bit harder to ride correctly when you cannot feel your fingers or toes!).

Had a blast, cannot wait until the whole shifting/clutch work is second nature! It should warm up a bit within a few days, and then we are getting close to riding season so if I do not put things off I should hopefully feel more than ready/comfortable for any roads by the warmer weather.

[JVRR]

Finished the class today. I wore some smaller boots that made a huge difference with shifting, but my biggest struggle is still clutch work and the friction zone (though I was definitely the weakest in the class in this category, I did make a huge improvement and only stalled out about two or three times, and not once during the test practice and test). My riding went downhill right before the test, and for the test (as it appeared a lot of peoples' did), for example the little two u-turns in the box thing I had ZERO problems with when drill, in practice not once did I get the path right (did two u-turns in the same direction), for the test I got the path right but had to put a foot down both times . I did improve it appears on speed, I was told several times I would struggle on the test if I did not get my speeds up, and they mentioned only one student got under 1:00 on one test exercise, most were in the 1:10 range, I saw when I got mine back I was at 1:02 .

I got the "not forbidding it" a-okay from the parents tonight. It is funny how back-and-forth they go, my dad is a big rider (though only for work now), and my mom used to ride on back with him. So you can tell they are torn between wanting me to enjoy it, and the obvious protective parent thing. Optimally I would prefer to get a great job and moved out before I get a bike, but who knows how long that will take and really getting started is not a huge expense. I think I can confidently say if I drop $2,000 on a bike and get into some sort of pinch (I have lots saved up) I can get $1,000 back out of it easy. And with my savings I cannot see how $2,000 broker is going to screw me, let alone $1,000 assuming I have to eat a bunch on resale. Heck, considering summer coming up, I might eat nothing if I have to resell. (Heck if I can drop my auto insurance down to a "I never drive it" level, I could save a ton of money).

I think the two I am looking at hardest right now are a 1992 Kawasaki EX 500. The price is great at $1300, and it looks like the standard style I am looking for. Probably in first place is a 2002 Suzuki GS500 for $2150. If I had a job I would definitely spend the couple hundred more, but I feel like I know I won't be completely jobless for long (I have one I can go back to if I do not find something new soon) so I might as well spend the money since I have it.

Of course gear kicks that up, but I know I will be staying in the neighborhood for a long time and so all I really need to start is a helmet and maybe the knee/shin armor deals. Birthday is coming up for other stuff perhaps .

[ZRex]

Welcome, good luck with finding a bike. The clutch will become second nature soon, be careful out there and have fun.