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Simkin posted:Nope. It's almost as much of a pain in the rear end finding a bike to fit big bastards as it is for the midgets - except that where they only have wee little things like the 250 ninja and CBR125 to lust after, the whole spectrum of gigantic dual sport/adventure bikes is opened to you. Yeah, I definitely won't be buying a new one. They happen to have a nice used one there for cheap anyways, so that might work out great. Thanks Simkin.
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Jul 17, 2009 14:18
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Just got a reply from the seller of the Maxim. He's going to send me some more pictures tonight, and said he's the same size as me and it's a good fit. I asked if I could go see it if I liked the pics. Anyone want to go with me when I do? Schlomo?  edit: Just got another reply - he said I can absolutely see it but he's got another person interested who's going to see it tomorrow, so I was thinking Saturday or Sunday after MSF (which gets out at 5:30PM).
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Jul 17, 2009 20:02
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Myrddin Emrys posted:Just got a reply from the seller of the Maxim. He's going to send me some more pictures tonight, and said he's the same size as me and it's a good fit. I asked if I could go see it if I liked the pics. Of course there's "another person interested". I have never in my life called about an ad and not heard that line. Not a single time.
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Jul 17, 2009 20:05
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frozenphil posted:Of course there's "another person interested". I have never in my life called about an ad and not heard that line. Not a single time. Fair enough.
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Jul 17, 2009 20:06
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Myrddin Emrys posted:Just got a reply from the seller of the Maxim. He's going to send me some more pictures tonight, and said he's the same size as me and it's a good fit. I asked if I could go see it if I liked the pics. Echoing Frozenphil on this one. EVERYONE on Craiglist has an interested buyer. Or several. I'm free Sunday if you wanna shoot me an email: cloudsthree at hotmail dot com. I'm charging you my physical therapy bills if I have to ride with those handlebars though. Ugh.
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Jul 17, 2009 20:29
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Shlomo Palestein posted:Echoing Frozenphil on this one. EVERYONE on Craiglist has an interested buyer. Or several. I'll shoot you an email in a minute! Thanks! Also, I have no clue how I will like those handlebars, but assuming I don't, are they the kind of thing you can replace?
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Jul 17, 2009 20:59
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Myrddin Emrys posted:I'll shoot you an email in a minute! Thanks! Easy as pie.
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Jul 17, 2009 21:52
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Shlomo Palestein posted:Easy as pie. Good, then I won't let that be the deciding factor.
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Jul 17, 2009 21:53
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Yeah, new bars are like $20-30 new and probably cheaper out of a junkyard. They're gonna be 7/8" (like most metric bikes). I'd say, depending on your height, any set of standard bars from any bike in the 70's/80's would do. But honestly, you might like those bars; who knows. To replace them, you just remove the grips/throttle, all signal switches, master cylinder, and loosen the bolts holding it on. It should come right off, and you can stick the new bars on from there.
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Jul 17, 2009 22:12
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The bike wiki appears to be down so I thought I'd pose my question here. First I know that Ninjas, SV650's, etc are recommended for a newbie starting off, however; I want to know how plausible this situation is. I've recently been offered a Honda CBR 600 F3 '98 for ridiculously cheap (1k cnd). There is absolutely nothing wrong with the bike as I know the person who is selling it. Is this a bike that I can pick up and learn to ride on or am I asking for death? So in essence good call/bad call?
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Jul 18, 2009 04:14
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If you haven't taken the MSF course, you're definitely asking for death. If you have, it's a pretty contentious grey area.
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Jul 18, 2009 04:23
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If it's ridiculously cheap and you have willpower/storage space, I say buy it, save up a bit more, buy a better learner bike (GS500 or something), and when you've got a season or two of full riding under your belt, it'll be a bit better adjustment getting on the CBR. This is assuming your friend won't be pissed you're not using it. If you want to be really underhanded, buy it, flip it, and buy a better learner bike.
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Jul 18, 2009 04:41
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I forgot to mention I did take the MSF course and am now looking for a bike. If I buy it, I'm not going to flip it, there is no way I can do. I can always decline and keep looking but this is the best deal that I seem to have come across. So whats the consensus here: get it or not?
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Jul 18, 2009 04:46
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oxy posted:So whats the consensus here: get it or not? If you have the cash get it and store it while you learn on a different bike, otherwise let this one pass.
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Jul 18, 2009 05:29
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Yeah, I'll definitely second the "keep for your second bike, if you can afford to". My friend who's learning to ride and I went to a bike store a while back and they were having a prize draw for a a brand new GSX-600R. I mean, we both entered, but I was very very emphatic when talking to him that if he won the bike, we were (or I was) driving it back to his, parking it in the garage and then I was stealing the keys until he had at least 6 months experience after his test. In hindsight I may have been a little too emphatic, but there was no drat way I would let a friend of mine get on a gixxer six just after passing his test. Hell, I don't think I'd let myself ride one now, and I've got at least 3000 miles and 12 months of experience since my test. I suppose it's like politics, the people best suited to serve don't want to, and anyone who wants to shouldn't be allowed to. I dunno, maybe I'm a little too cautious, but I'm pretty sure if I should let myself go, I could and would drive far too fast and far too dangerously.
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Jul 18, 2009 13:41
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I bought the bike. Its now sitting in my garage until at least next riding season. I'm going to get something safer. My friend agreed to this idea saying that it was very smart. He doesn't seem to mind at all that this route of action was taken. Thanks for all the input.
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Jul 18, 2009 17:22
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I'd say fire it up and run it for a few, then dump some stabil into the tank so you don't come back to gloopy carbs when you are ready to ride it.
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Jul 18, 2009 17:38
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100 Years in Iraq posted:I'd say fire it up and run it for a few, then dump some stabil into the tank so you don't come back to gloopy carbs when you are ready to ride it. Well that plus change the fluids, put stabilizer in the tank, and drain the carbs after it runs for a bit. Think of it as a loooooong winter break.
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Jul 18, 2009 18:03
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I'm thinking about getting my motorcycle license next spring (I'm in Sweden) and I'm currently looking at bikes for the upcoming fall price drop. My main purpose of getting a bike is being able to take long camping trips, but also to commute to work and just riding around. I'm not at all interested in racing or stunting. Being a motorcycle n00b, and insurance being a bitch, I would like to get a less powerful bike, but powerful enough to haul me and a full camping kit around hundreds and hundreds of miles. I'm not a big guy and thus I don't want a big and heavy bike. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, but I'm not interested in a bike that needs constant fixing. Style wise I'm into naked standard bikes, not too much plastic or chrome. This would be my first bike and it is likely I might upgrade to something more powerful and modern in a few years if I feel that riding really is for me (Bandit 1200  ).For a first bike I have narrowed it down to early to mid-eighties 400cc, such as the Suzuki GSX400. Would this be large/small enough? Would a 550cc be OK? Does old bike mean more time in the garage than on the roads? Thanks
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Jul 18, 2009 23:24
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It's best to go by horsepower ratings. Stay under 70hp (52 kW), thereabouts, and you should be good. That GSX400 looks pretty good specification-wise; if you're doing distance-touring and Sweden is anywhere near as mountainous as Ola's made Norway seem, you might actually want to go up in power a bit. Aside from that, I testrode this Weestrom today. Guy's asking about $500-1000 more than the competition (FZ's and SV's, mainly), and he does seem to be firm on the price. Also, I found out what the Strom boards mean by "buffeting issues" around the helmet. I felt like something out of Jacob's Ladder, which means if I did bite on this I'd have to get an aftermarket windscreen. Other'n that it seems like it's in good shape. Is it worth the price?
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Jul 18, 2009 23:47
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Seems like a pretty decent price on the wee. With an aftermarket screen, you pretty much completely eliminate any buffeting - I was more than comfortable riding around with my visor up all the time.
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Jul 19, 2009 07:36
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My old 2004 ninja 250 is in the process of being totaled by the insurance company, and I've been looking on craigslist for comparable examples with which to negotiate prices (and potentially buy, if I decide not to salvage my old bike), and I came across this: http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/mcy/1276907395.html A 1990 Honda VTR250 Interceptor in what looks from the photo to be pretty good condition, below blue book prices. Convince me not to buy this bike, CA, or I fear I will do so in haste.
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Jul 19, 2009 08:40
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sectoidman posted:My old 2004 ninja 250 is in the process of being totaled by the insurance company, and I've been looking on craigslist for comparable examples with which to negotiate prices (and potentially buy, if I decide not to salvage my old bike), and I came across this: I'd buy that if the bike checked out ok
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Jul 19, 2009 14:09
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sectoidman posted:My old 2004 ninja 250 is in the process of being totaled by the insurance company, and I've been looking on craigslist for comparable examples with which to negotiate prices (and potentially buy, if I decide not to salvage my old bike), and I came across this: They're good bikes but they have only been imported for 2 years in the US, I believe. Parts are a result can be a little hit or miss. But good bikes.
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Jul 19, 2009 19:14
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They're also a honda. So parts? so long as you don't wad the bike, you're not likely to need many.
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Jul 20, 2009 05:30
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Dear CA, My ninja 250 is just too big and powerful and scary. http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/mcy/1278714275.html As cool at that bike is, the look of that chain scares me about the condition of the rest of that bike which would probably be a PITA to get parts for. edit: I've got half a mind to lowball the gently caress out of this guy as this bike has been on craigslist for about a year now. edit2: Forgive my selfindulgent craigslist links but OH GOD http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/mcy/1251968755.html blugu64 fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Jul 20, 2009 |
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Jul 20, 2009 05:49
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blugu64 posted:Dear CA, I saw one of those when I was buying that had been supposedly bored out to 80cc. I never went to see it in person, but it sounds like a neat little bike at 7/8 scale.
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Jul 20, 2009 06:04
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The RS50 is one of those high strung 2 smokes that treats pistons and rings as consumable items. Just the same, I think it would be a fun bike to ride-it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than ride a fast bike slow. They count as a scooter in most states, being a 50cc bike. I'm pretty sure they didn't have the RS50 in mind when they set the scooter rules.
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Jul 20, 2009 07:25
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Gnomad posted:The RS50 is one of those high strung 2 smokes that treats pistons and rings as consumable items. Just the same, I think it would be a fun bike to ride-it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than ride a fast bike slow. You probably mean moped, in which case, depending on the horsepower rating (and in some states, lack of pedals), means it still needs to be registered as a motorcycle technically. As far as I know, states don't make distinctions for "scooters". Of course, some states basically stop at the 50cc restriction, but most I'm familiar with have other items that would rule that bike out (though in practice (anecdotally), the police tend to just sort of guess at what's legal and what's not situationally with regard to odd things like mopeds; if you're polite and obeying the law, you'd be fine. If you're skidding around and trying to overtake at speeds on the right hand side, you may not be so lucky). ...according to the first website I found, it has 12 horsepower. In Massachusetts, that's six times as much as you're allowed to have. Knowing the process, it'd be easy to register as a moped, but it would be equally as easy to have it impounded for going well over the restricted 25 mph limit for mopeds.
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Jul 20, 2009 12:09
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Shlomo Palestein posted:I'm charging you my physical therapy bills if I have to ride with those handlebars though. Ugh. The handlebars were very, very comfortable
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Jul 20, 2009 15:10
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blugu64 posted:Dear CA, Hmm. Is there any interest in having a CA craigslist thread like in greater AI?
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Jul 20, 2009 15:13
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While I was at the BMWMOA Rally in TN, I had the opportunity to take in a lot of BMWs. I think I'm going to get one unless someone has a better idea. I took the K1300S and F650GS on demo rides while I was there. The F650GS is upright, comfy, and had me bored out of my mind. The K1300S is sporty, comfy, and has way to much power to really use it on the street while staying at legal speeds. A friend I was there with had an R1100S and I think that might be the bike for me. The R1150R Rockster is also in the running. However, I'm sure my judgement is being clouded by being around so many BMWs and their owners for so long. Is there anything else out there that is a) At minimum as sporty as a 1989 GSX600F. b) Either a big twin or triple. I don't think I feel like another 4 cylinder. c) Fuel injected. d) Comfortable, with easily available hard luggage. e) No single round headlight. Or single 80's style rectangular one. edit: Added headlight requirement because I just hate the way they look. laymil fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Jul 20, 2009 |
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Jul 20, 2009 21:01
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Myrddin Emrys posted:Quoting this for posterity. They actually weren't terrible. It makes it sort of like riding a tiny bus; you just sit upright and sort of make wide gesticulations. It's not uncomfortable at all, just ...weird.
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Jul 20, 2009 21:16
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laymil posted:While I was at the BMWMOA Rally in TN, I had the opportunity to take in a lot of BMWs. I think I'm going to get one unless someone has a better idea. Speed triple. It'll make you remove c) as one of your options! Seriously, though, speed triples are nice bikes. Besides that, maybe a street triple? I like the R1xx0S series as well, very good bikes. I'm just not a huge fan of the engine. Besides that, maybe a ZRX or something else? What price range are you looking at?
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Jul 20, 2009 21:27
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Z3n posted:Speed triple. It'll make you remove c) as one of your options! Yeah, I have the Triumphs in mind as well. I thought they were fuel injected though? Also, I've heard some fairly poor things about the suspension on the Street Triple. I've realized I want a quarter fairing or less on the next bike. Price range will probably be up to about 7k or so, though I think I can find an R1100S for around 5k.
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Jul 20, 2009 21:35
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laymil posted:Yeah, I have the Triumphs in mind as well. I thought they were fuel injected though? Also, I've heard some fairly poor things about the suspension on the Street Triple. I've realized I want a quarter fairing or less on the next bike. Price range will probably be up to about 7k or so, though I think I can find an R1100S for around 5k. I had a S3 955 that had absolutely the worst FI ever. I managed to get it tuned at a good dealership and running ok, but it still was occasionally problematic. As I've mentioned here and there before, carb or FI isn't that important, it's more the tuning and care that went into setup on the bike. I'd get a Street Triple R, personally. Or an old 1050/955i Speed Triple. ZRX11/1200 easily falls in that price range as well, if you want something that's a bit more standardish but still old school sporty. Comedy option: B-King. You can find a new one for 9k, a used one for 6-7 with very low mileage. In about 3-4 years, I should be able to score one for around 3-4k.
Z3n fucked around with this message at 21:43 on Jul 20, 2009 |
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Jul 20, 2009 21:41
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Z3n posted:I had a S3 955 that had absolutely the worst FI ever. I managed to get it tuned at a good dealership and running ok, but it still was occasionally problematic. As I've mentioned here and there before, carb or FI isn't that important, it's more the tuning and care that went into setup on the bike. Gotchya on the fuel injection. Its just a personal preference. Added a headlight preference in - the ZRX frontend looks terrible  . I wonder what the insurance would be like on a B-King...edit: $2858/year. Phew. laymil fucked around with this message at 01:02 on Jul 21, 2009 |
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Jul 20, 2009 23:35
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laymil posted:the ZRX frontend looks terrible You and I can never be friends.
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Jul 20, 2009 23:59
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Phy posted:You and I can never be friends.  If you don't like the way the ZRX looks, you need to hand in your 
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Jul 21, 2009 00:03
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Simkin posted:
I stand by my opinion. Its straight out of the 80s and I've already had one 80s bike that I hated the look of.
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Jul 21, 2009 00:56
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