Total Motorcycle Community Forums

The day has finally happened. Got the bug in June, and now, mid October it has come around. Took the MSF class in mid September, had my eyes on two different bikes...the Yamaha VStar 650 Custom and the Suzuki M50.
Well, this past Saturday my wife and I drove up to Vincennes, IN (about 45 miles away) and got my new, blue 2005 Suzuki M50!!!
Fifty minutes later, I was hooked! Rode it home from the dealership (nervous as all heck), but made it without any problems. Actually, my wife did tell me one thing I needed to work on (she followed me all of the way home)...my turn signals. The M50 doesn't have auto-cancel, so must stay on top of that.
Love the bike, love the riding, and cannot WAIT until the work day is over so I can ride it home. Yes, I rode it today, and it was a little cool for a "newbie". It was about 45 degrees outside, and I had a ride that was 35 miles long. Thank goodness for lined leather jackets, full-face helmets, tall boots, and Thinsulate gloves!
Thanks, everybody, for the wonderful information that gets posted here!
I now close with a "Top Ten" list I came up with this morning:

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.
#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.
#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".
#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.

We don't care that you smell twenty times stronger than a skunk and that you have messy hair. WELCOME.

I always liked the smell of road kill skunk. It must be some road trip nostalgia.

Anway- I had problems with smells when i first started riding. Even with my full face helmet you smell an incredible amount of car smells that I never knew existed. For teh first week I was convinced something was going wrong with my bike (23 year old Yamaha). It was very unnerving.

Congrats on the new bike. Once your hooked, your hooked for life. I agree about the smells but why is it that the bad smells are always stronger than the nice ones.

Congrats, brbolin!!! We want pics! And more details about how the M50 rides, responds, feels, etc. There are quite a few members considering that bike as their next ride so the more you can share the better!

Yeah, the M50 is on my list of bikes to check out. Let me know how you like it!

Thanks, guys! Yes, I'll get pics up ASAP!!! I just bought batteries for the camera, so I need to pop those in, clean the beast up some, then get some pictures online.

Personal, review of the M50:
First off, let me just say this bike is GREAT!!! I was on the fence between this and the V-Star 650 Custom. Their styles are very similar, but the M50 has an 800cc engine and is about 75 lbs. heavier.
I was really close to getting the V-Star. It's weight feels just a little bit lower than the M50, but the styling of the M50 kept drawing me back.
Having taken the MSF class a month ago, everything was fairly fresh in my head. Sort of like...riding a bike, I guess.
I have never ridden before, other than moutain biking a few years ago, so all of this motorcycle craziness was brand new to me.
My wife and I headed up to Vincennes, IN (about 45 miles away from where we live) to get the bike. I must admit, all of the way there I was a nervous wreck. I didn't dare show it, though...the wife was about sick, too. We got to the shop, they showed me the bike, showed the ins-outs of it, and then cleaned it up and took it out front.
We finish the paper work, I put on my full-face helmet and we're on our way. I sit on the bike, then realize I forgot my jacket and gloves in the back of the car. Okay...get everything on, get set and pull up to the divided highway. It's a rock parking lot, so that "helps" my nerves...
There is a pretty consistant flow of traffic, so I sit for a bit and breathe deeply and relax. Luckily, the wife and I decided to stop at a Wal-Mart about 5 miles away to pick up some things and eat before heading all of the way home.
Finally the last car goes by and I'm off. Smooth take off. Release the clutch slowly, and boom, I'm in 2nd. Third, fourth, and fifth come and go like nothing. I felt like I was flying on a cloud. The road wasn't the smoothest, but that bike went over the bumps like they were nothing.
Pulled up to the stop sign to turn right, slowly roll on the throttle and I'm on the way, again. So far, so good. No big corners or anything yet, though. I carry on to Wal-Mart. Get off the bike and my wife asks how it was. I take off my helmet and she can see the giant grin on my face, and just smiles back. I put my helmet, gloves, etc in the back seat of the car and we go into Wal-Mart to get our stuff and eat.
I couldn't eat half my sandwich, though. Between being nervous about the upcoming 45 mile ride through some tight corners, and the excitement of actually riding a motorcycle my stomach was as tight and knotted as it could get. No food was going in there.
We head back out. We somehow manage to travel all of the way home with no other cars behind her, so I can "take my time". I continue to cruise about 55-60 mph. I could just tell the bike was wanting more, though...and I wanted to give it more, but I'm still new, still taking my time.
It's a regular, two-lane highway with HEAVY coal truck/semi traffic. I see the first of many semis heading towards me and "brace". It goes by and I feel the gust of the backdraft. The bike just laughs at it, and I in turn laugh, too. Many more trucks and semis come my way, but the bike just nods it's head at them, and we continue on our way as if nothing just went by us at 65 mph.
Now we're to the first set of tight, 90 degree turns. I slow down to the posted speed and go around. The bike laughs at me now and says, "C'mon! You can do better than that!" The next corner is about a 140 degree turn. I slow it down, again, start going through the corner and slowly, smoothly roll onto the throttle. The bike says, "thanks!" and kicks it on. The low-end torque of this puppy just slowly pushed me more firmly into my seat as I rolled onto the throttle. The bike seemed to tell me, "relax...you're in good hands".
I meet five other bikes coming the other direction. The first didn't acknowledge me...that's fine. The next four do...so I'm grinning after waving as these fellow motorcyclists. When we get home, my wife asks what those "signals" were. I say it's just a "bike wave". She laughs and says that's cool. She says that the bike looks great, and wants to know when she gets to ride, too. I told her after I get more practice...to be safe. She gave me the sad puppy dog eyes, then smiles. I get her to sit on it, holding the handlebars and she admits it feels good! Then, I get on, put down the footpegs and she gets on the back. "I think I can handle this," she says. Man, those words were music to my ears.
Rode it to work yesterday morning. The fuel injection is nice. It was about 40 degrees outside when I started off. The bike started right up, and was ready to go. I about froze my honkey off, but that's just something I'll chalk up to "experience", now.
Last night, I rode it up to a friend who has ridden bikes in the past. Hasn't actually owned one in a while, but has been considering a VStar 1100, or a Harley of some sort. He rides the M50 around the block a few times (gets on it a couple of times...and boy you don't know how good it sounds until someone else goes by on it...). He comes back with that same grin on his face. He says, "Okay...I changed my mind. I love this bike."
He loves the styling, loves the power, loves the STOCK sound...
He may end up getting the C50, due to the wider seats up front/back. He also likes the fenders and such more, too.

Anybody curious if the M50 is a good starter bike? If you take the MSF class, sit on it a few times and feel comfortable (lean it back and forth...) with the weight; I personally see no problem with it.
Is the M50 a good bike for someone that's been riding for a while? I cannot personally speak for this, but my friend is ready to go out and get one of his own. He was so impressed with the comfort, power, and feel; all other bikes have been dropped down a notch.
From a newbie perspective, I am not "scared" or "nervous" on this thing at all. It's a "comforting" bike...if there's such a thing.

This thing gets two, frozen turkeys up!!!

Pics to come once the camera is set.

Great story-- thanks for sharing

Maybe that will get thing flowing for an upgrade someday.

http://www.newenough.com/hjc_cl14_breath_guard_page.htm
breath through your mouth all you want. they really work nicely.

Loved the story!

Brought back memories of picking up my bike in March...went from the Buells in MSF to the Softail Deuce....just a little difference. My buddy who helped me pick it out suggested I ride it around on the training tarmac next to the dealership to get used to the feel of the bike, friction point etc.

I can see your grin though....bigger than when you buy your first car....at least mine was:):)

Congrats on a beautiful looking bike!