Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hi all, second post here. The first was in introductions.

Aspiring rider here, and I want to start off by saying how glad I am that I found this website. The wealth of information here is outstanding, and I have spent several hours reading a lot of posts going back a page or two. I also read the Beginners Guide and was very impressed by it. A lot of the advice in it is not something I think I would have thought of on my own, and some of it I did think about. I was glad to see that others saw things the same way and wrote an excellent guide. Through reading this section I have also placed the Proficient Motorcycling books by David L. Hough on my "to buy" list on amazon. Will pick those up next month when I get some fun money in my pocket.

As for myself, I've got such little experience with riding motorcycles that I don't count any of it. Most of it has been joyriding on dirt bikes and scooters, and all of it was over 15 years ago. As far as the big iron goes, all I've done is sit on a few different bikes that friends and acquaintances had. So I'm straight up FNG and want to do things as close to the right way as possible. As it stands right now, I'm in the "information gathering" stage because actually buying a bike isn't in my immediate future. I'm a soon to be 30 year old full time college student and husband/father so my expendable income is limited. Going to have to save for awhile to get the funds to purchase a ride. My motivations are two fold, I've always liked riding two wheeled vehicles dating back to the first time I rode a 50cc minibike when I was 7 years old. Also I'm going to have to do a bit of commuting when I transfer to a University next spring, and my 1998 Dodge Ram is not exactly the most fuel efficient vehicle. I don't want to get rid of my truck, but I also don't want to get shafted for $100 in fuel each week.

My very first step is going to be signing up for one of the state sponsored basic riders courses. I absolutely would not be willing to try things on my own, or let some joe off the street "show me how it's done". I understand that MC riding is a risky undertaking and I want to stack the cards as heavily in my favor as I can. I look at it the same way I did when I got my Commercial Drivers License and drove 18 wheelers... I don't know squat and I'm going to learn everything I can to make sure I don't become a hazard to myself or others. Life's too precious to put things "to chance", especially when there is one thing I can control- Myself.

Anyway, just thought I'd post and give my thumbs up to this forum. Everybody seems helpful and knowledgeable and to be perfectly honest, I think if I'd not started browsing this site I'd still be a little "iffy". Now I'm feeling a lot better about my choice to try to get into riding. It's nice to know that a lot of helpful people are just a click away.

on wanting to do it the right way.

And heck, if I can do it, just about anyone can

Glad you found us. Welcome to the insanity!

Rex!! I'm glad you found this site too, please feel free to make Total Motorcycle your new home on the internet.

There are so many questions a new rider had and we are here to help you!

I also read the Beginners Guide and was very impressed by it. A lot of the advice in it is not something I think I would have thought of on my own, and some of it I did think about. I was glad to see that others saw things the same way and wrote an excellent guide.

Hey, thanks for the complement! I wrote that myself, glad you found it useful! It's helped out millions of riders since I created it. Please pass the URL along to any of your friends or to post a URL link to it on other sites.

Signing up for a state sponsored basic riders course is a GREAT idea, your skills and confidence will improve by leaps and bounds. You'll even get to meet other new riders who you might be able to go for those first rides together.

Welcome to our community!

Mike

Been spending several days getting a feel for the cost of used motorcycles on the market. Looks like stuffing money under the matress to get my first bike won't be as hard as I thought. It also put the wife at ease about the purchase, especially since I'm putting off buying for at least six more months.

I'm looking to get a cruiser, not a big fan of sporties. Sat on a few of them that friends owned, and never found them to be comfortable. Sat on a couple of cruisers (Harleys) and a standard that a friend had (1980's vintage Honda Nighthawk IIRC). The cruiser was the most comfortable to me, and since I intend to do some commuting I think it'll be the best bet. I'm not at all hung up on a particular manufacturer, and although I do have preferences, the biggest determining factors will be price, condition, and size. Not looking for anything too big to handle as an inexperienced rider.

Maybe for something fun to do in the near future, I'll head to the dealerships in the area and do what I saw suggested here; sitting on as many different bikes as I can and filtering out the salesman's BS.

As for the MSF course, I'm hoping to get signed up for one in either August or September!

Hi and welcome!

You're making a very sensible start by researching and understanding what it takes to get into the sport. It doesn't have to cost a fortune but it sure isn't cheap either... by the time you've bought your safety equipment and taking the course, then buying a bike, it's a fairly big investment. But if you keep saving your pennies you will get there!

Good to hear you are enjoying the forums and the site content as well.

Some expenses, such as safety equipment, are costs I'm more than happy to deal with. The list of stuff I'm looking at is already over $400 and that doesn't include helmet. Money towards not getting jacked up in a fall is money well spent.

Saw an ad on Craigslist today for a bike I wouldn't mind having. My wife was the one that found it actually! She even said "Darn, too bad we couldn't get the $2,000 together, it would take at least two months, and by then it'll probably be gone". Looked it up on KBB and the asking price is right on the mark.

1998 Yamaha Virago 535. 5,500 miles, garaged, and maintained. Original toolkit too.

Gonna miss out on it, but such is life. I'm sure I'll find something similar when I can actually pull the trigger.

Signed up for the BRC, will be starting on July 22nd!

Excited!

If you're in Oregon you actually have a slightly better course, the BRT. For grins and jollies you should check out the video of their advanced training here

More info on their website about locations, times etc for motorcycle training

Yep, I'm going through the Team Oregon training. What's nice is the training location is a two minute drive from my house. I've been all over their website and I was quite impressed with it. I think Oregon is doing something right by the way they are mandating the training in order to get a Motorcycle endorsement (though they are easing in the mandate by increasing the age cut off each year).