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PadreScout posted:Even a non-sporty 650 will haul your gigantic rear end around no sweat. My brother(he's like 6'3" but more like 300 pounds) crashed the poo poo out of my KLR650 once by pulling a wheely directly into a cinderblock wall, the drat thing looked like some sort of demented mechanical goat trying to climb a sheer cliff face before it fell backwards onto him. The Ninja is definitely fast enough, no question, but I find it's just a drat small bike. I'm 6'0 and at the edge of what I'd consider comfortable on it; I gotta get pretty drat folded up. A KLR650 might be a nice choice, they're pretty tame (38hp vs. the Ninja's 35), but a physically much bigger bike.
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Aug 13, 2012 03:45
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Yeah I'm like 300 lbs and a Ninja 250 is fun/fine. You can wring it out without breaking speed limits. But yeah you'll probably still want a bigger bike next season. In my area $2000 for a Ninja doesn't really happen often unless you wait until November when 'tards realize you need to do work and have a place to store a bike for the winter.
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Aug 13, 2012 03:49
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Corrupt Cypher posted:The Ninja is definitely fast enough, no question, but I find it's just a drat small bike. I'm 6'0 and at the edge of what I'd consider comfortable on it; I gotta get pretty drat folded up. A KLR650 might be a nice choice, they're pretty tame (38hp vs. the Ninja's 35), but a physically much bigger bike. Around town the KLR650 is loving hard to beat. They sit you up nice and high to see over traffic (trust me, you'll love this) and they have good wide bars so they're really tossable. About my only complaint is that once you're doing 70-80 you really have to grab a gear and give it the bees for much to happen. Around town speeds 0-50 they're downright spritely. Go take a look at one, I think you might like it.
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Aug 13, 2012 03:50
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:Hello CA, I'm reading this as you want a cruiser style and not a Ninja. 250cc cruisers don't have a whole lot of fizz. A 600cc cruiser is a perfect beginner size and is plenty tame (particularly once it's a few years old), but try not to go over 800cc. Used small-displacement cruisers are a dime a dozen, so focus on one that looks like it's been maintained / needs the least work to get and stay roadworthy. All these bikes are cheaply and easily customizable so don't fret too much on getting the exact color / air cleaner style / fringed leather seat you dream of.
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Aug 13, 2012 04:37
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Excellent input guys, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks! And yeah, I'm not big on sportbike styling. Dunno, it's just never interested me. I'm looking around at some larger things and I dig the VStar 650s, but it seems all the ones around me are a bit out of my pricerange. I also found a 1986 883 Sportster that tickles all the right places, and is also out of my range. What about a 1982 Honda V45 Magna? I found a super clean one for about $2K, 11k original miles and I really like the styling, aside from the double seat. Looks pretty lightweight for 750ccs though. drat it looks nice.  edit: Also found a 1985 V30 Magna (500cc) for about $100 less in similar condition. PadreScout posted:the drat thing looked like some sort of demented mechanical goat trying to climb a sheer cliff face before it fell backwards onto him. I laughed way too hard at that. The Royal Nonesuch fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Aug 13, 2012 |
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Aug 13, 2012 04:56
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Nonesuch, not really sure where you're from exactly, but your profile says SoCal, so I'm just gonna post some examples from somewhere around there. http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mcy/3201598163.html http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mcy/3195036326.html http://sandiego.craigslist.org/ssd/mcy/3193472550.html http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/mcy/3193364173.html There are a lot of SoCal goons around here who would probably be willing to go look at a bike with you if you're not too knowledgeable about them. The problem with buying an older bike is (probably pretty obviously) that there's more potential of things to go wrong, and when they do, being able to find parts to fix them. I wouldn't let this totally discourage you, as I got an '84 as my first bike, and have had pretty much zero problems with it. As far as that Magna goes, I'm pretty sure they're solid bikes. Though I've heard the carbs are a real bitch to work on. But then, I've heard the same thing about my CB650, and I didn't think it was bad, so maybe some people around here are just whiny babies. Good luck!
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Aug 13, 2012 05:17
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Zubumafoo posted:Nonesuch, not really sure where you're from exactly, but your profile says SoCal, so I'm just gonna post some examples from somewhere around there. Thanks. I like the looks of the Vulcans. I'm located on the east side of LA/San Gabriel Valley area. Gotcha on parts, but whatever it is it can't be worse than fixing things on my E46 BMW 
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Aug 13, 2012 05:27
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So I'm looking at buying my first road bike to take touring next summer through the rocky mountains from Edmonton - Vancouver - Seattle and back. I just paid off my truck, so I have a fair amount of extra income and I've decided that I'm going to buy a bike. I had to sell my dirt bike when I moved out west and I've wanted to get a cruiser to go on adventures with for years. I figure now is around the time people will be looking to sell their bikes so they don't have to store them for the winter and I might be able to get a deal. Right now I'm thinking that I either want to pick up a Honda Shadow 750 or a Harley-Davidson Sportster 883. My budget for the bike is around 6 - 8 grand (or lower, obviously). I have a lot of experience trail riding on 450cc dirt bikes so I'm comfortable on bikes and I'm taking a road safety course in a few weeks to learn how to ride on the road with them. I guess my question for you guys is mainly: Would these bikes hold up well on a long road trip? Would it be better to buy used since it's entirely possible I outgrow these bikes in a season and wind up wanting to get something bigger by next year? Should I go an entirely different way with it and try to a find an older touring bike? Samu fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Aug 13, 2012 |
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Aug 13, 2012 06:36
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Samu posted:So I'm looking at buying my first road bike to take touring next summer through the rocky mountains from Edmonton - Vancouver - Seattle and back. I just paid off my truck, so I have a fair amount of extra income and I've decided that I'm going to buy a bike. I had to sell my dirt bike when I moved out west and I've wanted to get a cruiser to go on adventures with for years. I figure now is around the time people will be looking to sell their bikes so they don't have to store them for the winter and I might be able to get a deal. Since you say you want the bike to tour on not to pose, look for a "metric" cruiser and avoid paying a premium for HD. Pretty much any modern Japanese cruiser bike (or even something like a BMW R1200C or a recent Moto Guzzi) should do the trick. I assume you would buy used anyway rather than new. Road bikes (at least ones not owned by morons) tend to get beat to poo poo less than dirt bikes, so just don't buy something so old that it's not supported by the factory and is suffering from the accumulated half-assed repairs of 27 previous owners. If it were me, I would buy a tourer to tour on. Something up to 10 years old with its own luggage and a full service history.
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Aug 13, 2012 07:13
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Yeah, I know what you mean about used dirt bikes. I had an '06 Honda CFR450 and when I went to go to sell it in '10 it had already dropped in value to just over half of what I paid for it and even then it took a while to sell. So would a used Shadow be a good call then or do I want something bigger? I see a lot in the $5000 - $6000 range that look brand new and are between 2005-2010. How pivotal is getting a wind shield and highway bars for long trips? The only BMW R1200C in Edmonton is a 2000 with 70 000km on it going for $5600. Seems like a bad deal to me. I'm really tempted by the Sportster though. The black on black look really works for me, and my uncle will not shut up about his Harley. Plus it's not that much more expensive than a new Shadow.
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Aug 13, 2012 07:48
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:What about a 1982 Honda V45 Magna? Just as a heads up, while this bike looks like a slow cruiser, it's pretty darn powerful. It had ~80hp when new and the top speed was in the 120 neighborhood. Just be prepared for hilarious speed if you accidentally grab a handful of throttle.
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Aug 13, 2012 12:52
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Samu posted:So I'm looking at buying my first road bike to take touring next summer through the rocky mountains from Edmonton - Vancouver - Seattle and back. I just paid off my truck, so I have a fair amount of extra income and I've decided that I'm going to buy a bike. I had to sell my dirt bike when I moved out west and I've wanted to get a cruiser to go on adventures with for years. I figure now is around the time people will be looking to sell their bikes so they don't have to store them for the winter and I might be able to get a deal. Based on my (fairly limited, <1,000mi) on a 2003 883R I would not suggest the Sportster for touring. Now, I mention the year because '06+ models are pretty different - in '04 they got rubber-mounted engines that cut down on some engine vibration, and in '06 they got EFI. The vibrations do mostly go away above a certain speed/RPM, and 55-60mph is pretty good, but if you're going to be trying for any freeway stretches you will really, really wish you had a 6th gear. I think the 1200s have a taller gear ratio and should handle higher speeds with less vibration. 883s are also slow. Of course you could re-gear, and there's such a broad aftermarket that you can easily change the seats, pegs, bars, etc. to whatever you could dream about.
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Aug 13, 2012 18:50
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:Excellent input guys, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks! It's a great first bike, the guy above is right that it's not at all a slow cruiser but it's a high torque engine so the power band lives quite a few rpm's above 'ooops a bit too much gas' territory. It will have no trouble when you want it to get up and go but it's tough to make it do that by accident. In the 80's 1000cc engines were king. An 80's 750 was 2nd tier and has loads of bells and whistles that your average 750 cruiser of today won't have. They're more comparable to modern 1500's in virtually everything except the engine size, including torque and horse power. The only issue is the bike is 30 years old. No amount of mileage or test rides can give high confidence of what you will have to fix on it. My 83 Honda Shadow has been down to the frame and back together twice now for engine gaskets and other poo poo that just rusts or dry rots away over 30 years and a meager 14k miles. That said... I am its 6th or 7th owner and I bought it knowing it had spent a lot of its days in tool sheds and backyards not running for years at a time. That Magna looks very clean by comparison to what I got for $1500 about 5 years ago. I am absolutely gay for 80's bikes and would kill for a modern lightweight power cruiser to be made in their image. After the Honda Magna disappeared in the mid 90's the last hold out was probably the Yamaha VMax which went from a nimble and fast 1200cc to an 1800cc abomination in 2007. Be weary of 80's bikes if you're fearful of wrenching, if you fall in love with them as I did there's nothing comparable to their size and performance in modern cruisers and you're stuck in that decade to ride something you like. For example here are the specs on that Magna: 79 hp 57.6 kW @ 9500 rpm 66 Nm @ 7500 rpm 6 Speed (5 with overdrive gear) / shaft driven 1/4 mile time: 12.2 sec / 109 mp/h The 2012 Shadow RS 750 - designed to be a 80's throwback bike clocks in with: 44.87 HP (33 kW) @ 5500 rpm 63 Nm (46.47 lb-ft) @ 3000 rpm 5 Speed / Chain Top speed: 99.42 mph (can't find 1/4 mile time) :edit: Note: I speak only of cruisers. There are tons of modern sport bikes with <1000cc engines that wipe the floor with those 80's specs. That's only worth something if you want to buy a sport bike though. Halo_4am fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Aug 13, 2012 |
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Aug 13, 2012 19:30
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Samu posted:Yeah, I know what you mean about used dirt bikes. I had an '06 Honda CFR450 and when I went to go to sell it in '10 it had already dropped in value to just over half of what I paid for it and even then it took a while to sell. Yeah, the 1200C apparently has a rarity (at least in the UK they are) + boxer BMW premium. There are probably more cruiser experts in the CAHOG thread, despite the Harley bias, but the Shadow is a fine bike as far as I know. You don't need anything bigger for your stated purpose IMO, albeit I'm not a cruiser afficionado. With cruisers, once you get to middling capacities anything more is basically penis size compensation. They're all designed to do up to about 80 mph in a straight line at a push, with lower speeds a much more natural home for them. You don't need that much motor to manage put-putting at 55mph, even with galactic 300kg+ weights. I would absolutely go for a windshield. And some sensible bars - read, not ape hangers. That said, I wouldn't tour on a cruiser in the first place, I'd get a sedate tourer. Having once spent a week on a Softtail, the ergonomics were completely wrong for it. Arms above shoulder height, no wind protection, lower back unsupported and bent like a pretzel, don't even think about corners, etc. But if that's what you want, you're certainly not alone so don't let me dissuade you!
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Aug 13, 2012 20:25
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Halo_4am posted:Magna: Honda in their infinite wisdom (not actually being sarcastic here) put a superbike engine in a cruiser. (The 750 in the v45 and the 1000 in the v65) This was the stupidest idea ever and made a bunch of loving amazing bikes. The Magna v65 was the fastest bike the year it came out, by the way. I was next to a v65 the other day and it made quite literally the best sound I've ever heard from a motor vehicle. It was clear it didn't have stock pipes, but it wasn't absurdly loud. Kind of sounded like a really angry small version of the v8 from the Ferrari 458. I've been dreaming one of the Honda 80's v4 engines since then. But I'll probably wind up with the VFR.....but I don't have a cruiser.... e: Sounded a lot like this, maybe it was the Kerker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlrZBenmlo0&t=99s Bloody Queef fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Aug 13, 2012 |
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Aug 13, 2012 23:44
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Halo_4am posted:It's a great first bike, the guy above is right that it's not at all a slow cruiser but it's a high torque engine so the power band lives quite a few rpm's above 'ooops a bit too much gas' territory. It will have no trouble when you want it to get up and go but it's tough to make it do that by accident.... Great post, thanks for the info. Unfortunately tonight I got back from work and the classroom part of my BRC, and that Magna listing was pulled already. Consider me a beginning rider educated in the powerband on an old Honda
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Aug 14, 2012 08:51
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The quoted stuff below is from my earlier (weeks ago) post, for context. Just wanted to say, I got it! And rode it home ~7 miles.  It was my first ride not on neighborhood streets or in the MSF parking lot, so a 7 mile ride was a little daunting but it turned out fine. Any immediate "just got it home" tips for my first motorcycle, besides (on this particular one) changing the oil and adding coolant? Eventually I plan to clean the carburetors and change the fork oil, also, but those aren't super urgent, are they? Craigslist posted:2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 - $2500 alnilam posted:The major things I noticed are:
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Aug 14, 2012 18:00
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) from what I could tell, as a new rider and riding it in gears 1-4. It was clean and didn't show any signs of drops.
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alnilam posted:The quoted stuff below is from my earlier (weeks ago) post, for context. Make sure the chain is properly lubed and well adjusted. Check the sprockets- if they're hooked, change 'em. Check to make sure the brakes function and have material left on the pads. Check to make sure all the lights work. Check to make sure the fuel petcock is in the ON position, not Reserve. Also, make sure you can switch it into reserve by feel -- that first time when you run out of fuel on the road is surprising. Then sit on it and make BRRRRRRRRMMMMM noises, because nothing beats that first bike feeling.
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Aug 14, 2012 18:16
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Covert Ops Wizard posted:Check out the sv650 and some 600-800cc cruisers. You will be wholly underwhelmed on a 250cc bike at your size and weight. I started on a ninja 250 but I'm 140lbs soaking wet, and hadn't even taken the course yet. You should be fine on something a little bigger after you take the course. Yeah a 650 Vstar would probably be on the little side for a guy standing 6'3" - and they DEFINITELY don't make too much power.
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Aug 15, 2012 03:27
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I went to help my parents check out some furniture a guy in my town was selling as he's moving to Chicago. Noticed he had a Blue 2005 Suzuki SV650 in his garage and when I asked if he was going to sell it he told me he hadn't decided yet. He let me drive it, felt great and sounded good but I have no idea what to really look for. He bought it I believe used from a dealership and has been kept in his garage when he wasn't riding. He's laid it down once but I didn't notice any scuffs when I was checking it out and he doesn't wear any gear (??) so I assume it wasn't too bad. Has ~10k miles on it and off the top of his head if he was selling would ask $2800 for it. Does that sound about right for this bike? Looking around it seems good for this area (central Indiana) but it appears to be completely stock. And since it is a 2005 model, should I be concerned about the lack of ABS? YouTube makes a compelling case for but not sure of that was worst case or what. My only previous experience riding was a 2002 VTX 1800c which I'm pretty sure didn't have ABS and drove that for a while with no issues but don't know if that's comparable. Recluse fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Aug 15, 2012 |
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Aug 15, 2012 04:06
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:Great post, thanks for the info. Unfortunately tonight I got back from work and the classroom part of my BRC, and that Magna listing was pulled already. Consider me a beginning rider educated in the powerband on an old Honda You can check out dealerships that hold considerable used inventory. They often have at least 1 80's Shadow or Magna kicking around that's in fair shape and sometimes they have them absurdly cheap because they're tired of putting them out every day. I was here: http://www.roadtrackandtrail.com/ last weekend helping a friend pick out their first bike (ended up on a very clean 2005 Suzuki C50) and they had about 10 80's bikes that were <$1,500.
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Aug 15, 2012 04:11
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Just saved the ladies mom from getting hosed on a CL scam. 2008 ZX-6R with 4k miles for $950 dollars. Got an email all formatted up like Ebay from Motor-Purchase.com saying she won the auction and to wire the cash to this person. I think I crushed her dreams of an inexpensive motorcycle, but honestly even if this bike was real it would be a terrible bike for a first time rider.
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Aug 15, 2012 04:48
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I bought that silver SV650s I showed earlier  .It also fell in the U-Haul and broke the radiator  . Dear everyone do not rent motorcycle UHaul trailers they are rickety pieces of poo poo which literally have parts break off of them and they will murder your bike if you aren't careful.EDIT: I should say though that I'm pretty goddamned lucky only the radiator was damaged. Other than a scuff on the frame and exhaust, literally nothing else was touched. No fairing or gas-tank damage. Grimes fucked around with this message at 08:05 on Aug 15, 2012 |
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Aug 15, 2012 06:17
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Grimes posted:I bought that silver SV650s I showed earlier I keep telling you people: Home Depot trailers are amazing. U-Haul trailers are poo poo.
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Aug 15, 2012 12:50
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I'm looking for my first bike at the moment and I'd really appreciate some advice. I've mainly been looking at Ninja 250s, VTR250s and GS500s. Of all of these, the Ninja seems the most comfortable for a guy of my height (5'8") and the relatively light weight is also pretty confidence-inspiring for an inexperienced rider like me. I've tracked down two relatively similar ninjas, both at dealerships. Bike A: 1999 ZZ-R250, travelled 40,000km. Described as being in excellent condition. Aftermarket muffler (brand not specified) and single-seat conversion (which results in slightly cheaper registration costs). I can probably get it for around $3000*. Bike B: 2006 GPX 250, travelled 10,000km. Described as being in excellent condition. Completely stock. I can probably get it for around $3500*. As I understand it, these two models are mechanically identical, with the primary difference being a slightly sexier fairing on the ZZ-R250. I'm going to check them both out tomorrow but my question is this: assuming they are in similar condition, is it worth spending the extra $500 to get a bike seven years newer, and with less milage? I'm looking to use it for recreational riding rather than commuting and the plan is to sell it and move onto something a little larger after gaining a year or so of experience. I already have all my gear so if I go with the cheaper bike the plan would be to hang onto the $500 I'd save and use it for potential future repairs/tyres/tools so I can do a bit of my own work on the bike. * Don't worry, Americans - these both actually seem to be reasonable market values here in Australia.
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Aug 16, 2012 09:22
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Why buy one of these bikes at a dealership? You're just paying a huge premium for nearly nothing.
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Aug 16, 2012 13:37
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That's what I thought initially, but after I started looking I found that most of the lower milage, well maintained private sales were not significantly cheaper than the two I mentioned. Of course, there are few cheaper ones on the private market - but they're all quite a bit more beat up with a lot more miles on the odometer, and most require some amount of money spent on them to get them roadworthy. I could consider them as well, but my first instinct was to just avoid the hassle (and any increased chance of problems down the track) if the price difference was only a couple hundred. The reality here is that the legal restrictions on what bikes the newly-licensed can ride seem to have artificially inflated the price of small capacity bikes. I often watch ebay listings and see well-used ten-year-old CBR250s sell for as much or more than newer CBR900RRs.
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Aug 16, 2012 14:09
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Safety Dance posted:I keep telling you people: Home Depot trailers are amazing. U-Haul trailers are poo poo. Home depot rents trailers? 
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Aug 16, 2012 14:20
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It sure does! (click to see the KLR 650 hiding in there) Not every location does, so you might have to call around. I'm lucky; the a block from where I work does. They're sturdy, heavier than U-haul trailers, and come with surge brakes and those stand things that you crank down to lift up the tongue.
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Aug 16, 2012 14:34
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Is there an older bike (1980s to now) that's easy to wrench on? I've been looking for supermoto's near where I'll be moving but no dice. I love the look of 80-90's sport bikes and I figure it might be helpful to do a little basic work on a bike that's semi-easy to repair and learn more about it then buying one straight up. Edit: Also, this is for sale an hour from where I am moving and it looks great. Hopefully it doesnt sell until I get there and have a chance to look at it, insurance is only $194 a year for some reason also .http://dayton.craigslist.org/mcy/3199020064.html Tenchrono fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Aug 16, 2012 |
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Aug 16, 2012 21:53
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Tenchrono posted:Is there an older bike (1980s to now) that's easy to wrench on? I've been looking for supermoto's near where I'll be moving but no dice. I love the look of 80-90's sport bikes and I figure it might be helpful to do a little basic work on a bike that's semi-easy to repair and learn more about it then buying one straight up. The less stuff there is to work on, the easier it tends to be. To those ends I'd recommend a single or twin cylinder. This limits the # of valves you need to adjust and the # of carburetors you'll inevitably need to clean. If it only has a single brake disc/caliper on the front, that cuts your front brake work in half. Shafts are easier to deal with than belts, which are easier to deal with than chains. For example, a Savage 650 is pretty much dead simple; single cylinder, single carburetor, one front brake, belt drive. The only way you can get much easier than that would be with a OHV or 2 stroke single. The difficulty with buying a bike to fix up rather than buying a good runner is that you never get an initial baseline on what works and how well until you start fixing stuff toward getting it road worthy and getting a new problem at every step.
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Aug 16, 2012 22:00
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Tenchrono posted:Is there an older bike (1980s to now) that's easy to wrench on? I've been looking for supermoto's near where I'll be moving but no dice. I love the look of 80-90's sport bikes and I figure it might be helpful to do a little basic work on a bike that's semi-easy to repair and learn more about it then buying one straight up. If you can find one, get an MZ ETZ. The maintenance section of the manual actually says something along the lines of "Please have a skilled mechanic carry out these maintenance procedures. If a mechanic is not available, your local blacksmith may have the tools and expertise required". Those tools, by the way - with which you can do literally anything to the bike from a spark plug change to a complete strip down - are an 8mm and a 12mm spanner, a big screwdriver, a little one (blade type doesn't matter, the fasteners are so soft they just sort of mould to whatever tool you put to them like memory foam), and of course a big loving hammer.
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Aug 16, 2012 22:21
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Dirtbikes are basically the easiest bikes to work on. In general they are all sort of derived from the racing/mx based bikes and those get torn apart all the time. I would then say that for street bikes aircooled bikes are easier than watercooled. Bikes that are less sporty I'd say are generally easier. The fewer the cylinders the easier to work on. One carb is a pretty simple item, 4 carbs can be a wee bit of a pain. I would say that certain makers are a wee bit more known for making bikes that are hard to work on. Honda I'd say somewhat deservedly puts performance over serviceability. A Honda VFR800 is pretty brutal if you have to try to work on a V4 jammed as tightly as possible into a twin spar frame. All that being said if you buy a bike in good condition that doesn't have a huge reputation for unreliability you really won't be doing much work on the bike regardless.
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Aug 16, 2012 22:27
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HateTrain posted:I'm going to check them both out tomorrow but my question is this: assuming they are in similar condition, is it worth spending the extra $500 to get a bike seven years newer Yes. And as you say, for licensing reasons you'll probably be able to sell it for a similar amount in a couple of years.
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Aug 16, 2012 22:43
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HateTrain posted:my question is this: assuming they are in similar condition, is it worth spending the extra $500 to get a bike seven years newer, and with less milage? I'll second Saga here; years are usually harder on a motorcycle than miles.
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Aug 16, 2012 23:23
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Saga posted:Yes. And as you say, for licensing reasons you'll probably be able to sell it for a similar amount in a couple of years. clutchpuck posted:I'll second Saga here; years are usually harder on a motorcycle than miles. Thanks for the advice guys, appreciate it. Went and looked at the lower mileage one today, looked clean, discs, pads, fork seals all looked good, started easily from cold. Took it for a test ride and it rode smoothly so I pulled the trigger. I've wanted a bike for so many years, feels great to finally have one.
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Aug 17, 2012 14:04
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Safety Dance posted:Check to make sure the fuel petcock is in the ON position, not Reserve.
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Aug 18, 2012 05:43
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Pokey Araya posted:Wish I had checked this on the KLR I just bought, I ran out of fuel 12 miles down the road. Luckily I rocked it back and forth and had enough to get to the next gas station. I did that to a friend of mine: I was learning on his bike, and he explained to me how the reserve tank system worked. His bike had two settings, PRI and ON. Well, it was dark, so I flipped it to PRI thinking that meant primary. He ran out of gas on the interstate and had to push it a mile. I later bought that bike and did the same thing to myself: I had hit reserve on the way home the night before, and I thought, "I'll just get gas in the morning." Well, I was running late for a meeting that morning, so I decided to just get gas after work. No dice. Had to push it about a mile. I ran out of gas on my KLR once, too: I hit reserve on the interstate, but still had miles to go. Well, I got off at my exit and ran out of gas at the top of the ramp. I just rolled to the gas station down the hill. The moral of the story is, when you hit reserve, get gas.
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Aug 18, 2012 05:57
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http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mcy/3212164587.html Thoughts on this as a learner bike for my girlfriend? I've got a garage and a driveway where I can do maintenance if needed. Given that this is the SF area and most older Japanese bikes are getting sold for $1000+ as "cafe racer projects" (no seat, doesn't start, needs tires, etc), it seems like a pretty good deal. Edit: I'm wary about the title business, though. Could be a major source of hassle.
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Aug 20, 2012 00:30
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| # ? Jun 9, 2024 16:27 |
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Well, it's time to move on from my old bike which got stolen, and look at what my next ride will be. I've had a long hard look at my finances, and I can't really be pushing much beyond what I expect to get from insurance without taking out a loan (something I don't want to do). I started out looking for something with a shaft drive or the belt driven BMW F800S/ST, because I loving hate chains and chain maintenance. I've come to the realisation though, that basically nothing in that category is appealing AND affordable. The BMW R850R/R1150R is ok, and comfortable, but a bit of an old man bike, and just pushing the affordability (I figure I could stretch to £3000, but the lower the better). F800's don't creep down that far unless they're Cat C/D repaired. So it looks like I'm going to have to live with a chain a while longer. I could just get another Aprilia Pegaso, but I've been wanting something a little more distance and motorway capable for a while now. One of these is parked a few blocks from me:  and I think it's pretty handsome, but I don't know about a fizzy 600cc 4, especially coming from a big thumper. They do come in around my budget though, and well kitted out too: http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/bikes-for-sale/searchresults/detail/Yamaha/FZ6-FAZER/2005/_/R-NXGN-7579234 Then I started thinking about VFRs... And I started looking at pictures of them... And I found this for sale:   http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/bikes-for-sale/searchresults/detail/Honda/VFR800/2000/_/R-NXGN-7579421 And I want it. The best part is there's shitloads for sale and they're almost all well within budget and come with all the extras I'd want (bar a Scottoiler, which can easily fit into the budget). I used to have a '93 VFR, I think it's time for a newer one... What do y'all think? Anything glaringly obvious I should be looking at?
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Aug 20, 2012 14:37
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