[el mechanico]

How clean and miles? Those things are tanks to ride ya know it takes a lot of fun out of owning a bike. Where you live there should be tons of better options
[attachment=12039]
[attachment=12040]

[Cincinnatus]

Reasonably clean. It doesn't belong on a show room floor but it's been stored in a garage that never gets below 40F for the last few years. 25-30k miles.

[el mechanico]

(05-11-2013 10:07 PM)MSW2007 Wrote:  

Reasonably clean. It doesn't belong on a show room floor but it's been stored in a garage that never gets below 40F for the last few years. 25-30k miles.

Yea get it for 5 and put it untouched on criagslist trade only for something else.

[augen sehen]

(05-10-2013 11:13 PM)porscheguy Wrote:  

In the riding course I took, we all rode Honda Nighthawk or Rebel 250s. After that course the next bike I rode almost a year later was a 600 (Kawasaki Eliminator 600.) I'm 6'0 tall and weigh 220lbs. While a 250 is ideal for learning the very basic skills, beyond that, I would never own one. The problem I have is I don't find them particularly comfortable due to their small physical size. And yes, the physical size is much smaller than most bikes with larger engines. I've been riding since some posters here were in diapers, and others in elementary school. I've owned a few different bikes, and ridden countless others, from a 250 Nighthawk to a 700lb BMW K1200LT. As far as a Ducati goes, they tend to cost a fair bit more to maintain, and they require more maintenance than a Honda or Yamaha. They're not the shit they were 20 years ago however.

A lot of people say things like "should I get a naked bike since I plan to do my own maintenance?" From a maintenance perspective, I don't see plastic fairings as a big deal. On most modern Japanese sportbikes the plastic fairings are well designed and executed. The first time you remove them, if you're smart you'll go slow so you don't break anything, but once you figure out how it's done, you can pull the side covers from around the engine in about 10 minutes. When I had my Ninja, I could pull ALL of the fairings and gas tank in about 30-40 minutes. It's really not a big deal to me. (But trust me, there's no shortage of fucking morons who can't do something like that without fucking it up.) The only reason I would skip a bike with fairings as a beginning rider is because they're expensive to replace if they break or get cracked, and as a new rider you will do something dumb and drop the bike. At your price range, it will be next to impossible to find a bike with fairings that don't have at least 1 or 2 cracks, and most sportbikes in that price range have been beat to shit.

You're in Germany. Germany is cooler and wetter than much of the US. For that reason alone you should look for a fuel injected bike because carb bikes in cool, wet climates are bad for a problem the Brits frequently bitch about called "carb icing." In most cases it won't leave you stranded, but it can be an annoyance. Some water cooled bikes with carbs do have a coolant circuit that passes near or through the carbs to warm them and prevent the problem, but IMO, fuel injection is the way to go. Many would disagree with me for the same reason 20-25 years ago they complained about the switch to fuel injection on cars. The frequent claim is "too complicated." The thing is, your average asshole who says that is too fucking stupid to work on a bike running multiple carbs despite what they may think. These dummies think they have some kind of golden touch that allows them to tune a bike better than the manufacturer, and they don't like feeling locked out with fuel injection.

Whatever you decide on, the best purchase you make when it comes to maintaining your bike is a FACTORY service manual. Skip that Clymer bullshit unless you're purchasing it as a supplement for the Factory book.

Thanks for putting in your views man. If Ducatis do cost more to maintain, plus more to buy, maybe I should wait until next season. What's a good naked/upright bike in the 500-650 cc range that's good for a beginner rider and beginner DIYer? Now I just need to know what to look for when buying one of those.

[AntiTrace]

I never understood the "naked bike for maintenance" argument. If you can't manage to get the fairings off your bike you should not be doing your own maintenance.

And like you said, they are easy as hell to remove. On my ninja I pulled all the fairings and gas tank to get to the air box, and changed to an aftermarket yoshi slip on exhaust in less than an hour.

[AlbertoDelMuerto]

Remember Marlboro Man?

[augen sehen]

(05-12-2013 11:41 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

I never understood the "naked bike for maintenance" argument. If you can't manage to get the fairings off your bike you should not be doing your own maintenance.

And like you said, they are easy as hell to remove. On my ninja I pulled all the fairings and gas tank to get to the air box, and changed to an aftermarket yoshi slip on exhaust in less than an hour.

I'd like a naked bike for the upright riding position since I see myself doing most of my riding at less than 80mph as well as ease of maintenance and of course the image since I don't really see myself as congruent with the superbike crowd and I'd feel like a tryhard.

[RexImperator]

I just took my state's motorcycle course and passed the test. Dang that was fun. I had never ridden before. What's a good starter bike to look at? I prefer traditional bikes or cruisers, not sport bikes. Honda Rebel 250 or maybe Yamaha V-Star? I don't want to spend too much. I might look for something used.

[el mechanico]

(07-26-2013 03:05 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  

I just took my state's motorcycle course and passed the test. Dang that was fun. I had never ridden before. What's a good starter bike to look at? I prefer traditional bikes or cruisers, not sport bikes. Honda Rebel 250 or maybe Yamaha V-Star? I don't want to spend too much. I might look for something used.

Where do you live?

[Santoro]

For easy cruisers on the cheap...+1 for yamaha virago 1100. Inexpensive if you can find one (~2-3k), easy as hell to maintain, fast, decent sounding.

great for road trips as well

[RexImperator]

Hmm good call on the Virago. Doesn't look too bad and there are several on craigslist near me.

Though 1100cc might be a bit much for a first bike, no?

[el mechanico]

Lol I mean if I go on craigslist and cherry pick you some bikes which city am I looking at? Bridgeport or Bangor.

[RexImperator]

Boston

[iknowexactly]

Get a jacket with the armor in the shoulders, elbows and spine. I went down at only about 25 MPH in the rain in San Francisco ( changing lanes across the wet trolley rails) and landed with all my weight on my shoulder, and it's dented in about an inch for life. It hurt quite a bit off and on for about 1-2 years.

If I had had shoulder armor, I think it would have been probably a very minor injury.

I've been in two crashes I remember, one was lane-splitting in slow-moving traffic when someone did what I call an "irritation lane change"

I was also going about 20, they were going like 5. He jumped his car out in front of me to change lanes at exactly the right moment so I couldn't avoid him. Luckily I went flying and landed flat on my back. There's a lot of muscles along your spine so one point on my body didn't take all the impact.

If you don't have a lot of experience riding bicycles in traffic, motorcycles are so dangerous I wouldn't even recommend getting one at all.

You ever see a guy 30-50 year old guy limping around with a seriously fucked up leg? How do you think most of them get that way?

i always though a lot of those guys fucked up their legs in motorcycle crashes. THey don't call them "donorcycles" for nothing.

[iknowexactly]

(07-26-2013 03:05 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  

I just took my state's motorcycle course and passed the test. Dang that was fun. I had never ridden before. What's a good starter bike to look at? I prefer traditional bikes or cruisers, not sport bikes. Honda Rebel 250 or maybe Yamaha V-Star? I don't want to spend too much. I might look for something used.

Rebels 250s are a marvel of minimalist engineering. I gues they've probably made over ten million of that basic engine design, it's probably quite perfected.

Mine went over 70 MPH and got over 70MPG. I used to pull one spark plug wire off (it was a 2 cyl) to try to prevent theft, I lived in Honolulu. I assumed it wouldn't run if someone tried to hotwire it.

One time I went back and started it up, and it started up fine on only one of the two cylinders. I pulled away and realized there was something wrong and that I had forgotten to connect one of the two spark plugs.

[el mechanico]

(07-26-2013 06:52 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  

Boston

What's your inseam? Do you want to get something you can stop "flat footed" ??

Here's one..
http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/mcy/3950926897.html

One of my small CC favorites W/roller crankshaft 14,000 rpm
http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/mcy/3961277158.html

I love these and very balanced and easy to ride regardless of what it looks like they perform great
http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/mcy/3953721663.html

[RexImperator]

I'm 6' 1" with a 32" inseam. Yes I think stopping flat-footed would be more comfortable.

I like the look of the s40.

I don't plan to use it daily or in city traffic- im thinking more to take some rides out in the countryside on weekends.

[Santoro]

Rex...there's a 250cc and 600cc version of the virago as well, with almost the same looks...the 250 is one of the only small bikes you'll see with a twin engine. The 600 is harder to find, and the gas tank has a very small capacity. Don't really recommend that one. Strongly suggest investigating the virago 250...was my first bike and it treated me very well

[Albertron]

My current bike and helmet. 2012 Suzuki GSX-R 600. Shoei GT-Air.

Extremely fun to ride, pretty much built for the track. Very lightweight too so very nimble around bends.

There are plenty of country roads outside of my city with almost no cop surveillance or cameras (basically all farms and fields), so some weekends I'll drive out to another town with these open roads and just go full throttle. Such an adrenaline rush with that sheer torque. Nothing compares to it.

In the city, always turns heads. The exhaust's got an awesome soundtrack. I don't have a problem with city riding. You just need to learn to ride defensively. My mentality whenever I'm on the road is "Everyone's a dumb driver", so I always assume the worst scenario, therefore forcing me to ride safer (well, in the city, that is).

[Teddykgb]

Just got my motorcycle endorsement.

Since I am new to motorcycles I was thinking of getting a smaller bike. I was looking at the Harley Iron 883 Sportsters. I really like the all blacked out look.

Is it that big off a difference between the 883cc and the 1200?

I will be mainly using it to commute to work which is about 15 minutes each way and other around town stuff.

[RexImperator]

El Mech, the S40 was a good suggestion. I sat on one the other day and liked the feel. I also sat on a Rebel 250 and in comparison it's not as comfortable for my long legs. There may be only 1" difference in the distance to the pegs (if that) but I noticed it. I plan to check out some more bikes next week.

The shop also one of the new Honda CB1100s. I was drawn to it right away. Very comfortable. I really liked the feel of this. Its not a cruiser, as the foot controls are further back - more of just your standard/traditional/classic bike. It's out of my price range though. I'm thinking I should also look for an old (pre-1980) Honda CB550 or CB750.

[Pacific]

How about the Vulcan 500? I don't know much about cruisers though, just one of the person I used to ride with had this.

[RexImperator]

Actually that's one I came across searching for info on the Yamahas and I think it compares pretty well. I sat on one in a shop and it was very similar to the Yamaha.

A cool new bike I got to look at was the Yamaha Bolt. More than I want to spend but it has a very nice stripped-down look to it. I guess it must compete with the Harley Sportster and Honda Shadow.

I'm also considering the Hyosung GV250. I had never heard of this brand before going shopping for bikes (its Korean) but there seem to be a few around (popular starter bike) for not much money. Comparable to a Suzuki, I guess. It has 28hp, which is much more than a typical 250.

I also really liked the Triumph Bonneville. This is not a cruiser, as the pedals are further back. Very comfortable for me, though.

[BeerandFlannel]

I ride a 1975 Kawasaki KZ400. It's not the fastest or flashiest bike, but it's in mint condition with less than 3500 miles on it. It gets noticed for sure, and it was cheap as hell. Also, I get a lot of points when I mention that I restored it and maintain it myself.

[Kingsley Davis]

(07-27-2013 06:25 PM)Albertron Wrote:  



My current bike and helmet. 2012 Suzuki GSX-R 600. Shoei GT-Air.

Extremely fun to ride, pretty much built for the track. Very lightweight too so very nimble around bends.

There are plenty of country roads outside of my city with almost no cop surveillance or cameras (basically all farms and fields), so some weekends I'll drive out to another town with these open roads and just go full throttle. Such an adrenaline rush with that sheer torque. Nothing compares to it.

In the city, always turns heads. The exhaust's got an awesome soundtrack. I don't have a problem with city riding. You just need to learn to ride defensively. My mentality whenever I'm on the road is "Everyone's a dumb driver", so I always assume the worst scenario, therefore forcing me to ride safer (well, in the city, that is).

Clean up the tail.