Which motorcycle?

AAAintheBeltway · Jul 23, 2012

What the heck were they using to teach beginners that weighed 800 freakin' pounds?

ps. I would agree with the instructors that a Sporster is more than a starter bike. And don' t move the pegs, not unless you want to look like an idiot. I think of starter bikes as something a lot smaller and lighter. I don't know what you rinterests are, but a dual purpose, ie street/off road, bike makes a good starter.

nitro · Jul 24, 2012

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

What the heck were they using to teach beginners that weighed 800 freakin' pounds?

It is a Buell, some sort of sportster. Probably closer to 700 lbs with a full tank.

ps. I would agree with the instructors that a Sporster is more than a starter bike.

Right. They said that many people end up getting a bike with like 500 to 700 ccs, and then find out that at they outgrow the bike. They said this bike has plenty of power, but is small enough for a new rider.

And don' t move the pegs, not unless you want to look like an idiot. I think of starter bikes as something a lot smaller and lighter. I don't know what you rinterests are, but a dual purpose, ie street/off road, bike makes a good starter.

Maybe I mean all the controls including the shift level and the rear break and pegs. The riding position with your legs so far back is a bit uncomfortable, imo. Maybe I just have to get used to it.

I am not worried about how I look. I am not even interested in the whole "Harley and chicks" thing, although riding with my girl would be great. I just want to ride and enjoy myself. No tattoos, no bars. Yes national parks, yes back roads, yes helmets (it is amazing how few Harley drivers wear helmets. I understand the desire to have the wind and sun in your face and the total freedom, but it is an unwarranted risk imo)...

AAAintheBeltway · Jul 24, 2012

I think it would be a mistake to move the pegs and controls forward on a sportster. No doubt someone makes a kit to do it but why? If that is the seating position you want, why not just get a cruiser? I think Star , which is Yamaha, makes an 800cc cruiser. Honda used to make a terrific sport cruiser called the Magna I think. 800cc and shaft drive as i recall.

What I would look into is going to a dealer and negotiating a deal where you would buy a used smaller bike with a guaranteed trade-in on a bigger bike within a month or so. That way you can get used to riding on something easier, see if you really like it, then get somehting you can enjoy for a while.

The most dangerous miles you will ever ride on a bike are the first 200 or so. It's a lot easier to control a smaller bike, but make sure you do get something that can keep up with freeway traffic.

r-in · Jul 24, 2012

If it was a Buell it was their smallest model, and there was no way it weighed 800 pounds. It was a pretty small bike, and was their intro bike. I don't think any of the bigger Buells came in close to 800 lbs. A sportster is a Harley. Harley screwed Buell out of exsistence, but fortunately Eric Buell kept going making a race bike, and now has financing to produce street bikes again.

Runningbear · Jul 25, 2012

I read a statistic once that said 80% of motorcyclists that die, get killed in the first 8 months of having their license. So you have to be really careful during this period. Believe it or not, it's over confidence that gets you into trouble. After 3 months of riding, you think your good at it and you take more risks. This is the danger zone. You want to push the bike a bit harder and get a bit of a thrill. But you can come off pretty easily and some times its not even your fault. I've dropped the bike once when I hit oil at an intersection and I got knocked off once by a car that turned without indicating. Luckily both happened at less than 15mph. Another time I nearly crashed when I hit a piece of furniture that fell off the back of a pick up. Another time I nearly crashed when a bee bit me on the neck. And one other time I got hit in the face by a bird. Believe me, it doesn't sound like much but at 50 miles an hour, its like getting a straight right from mike tyson.

You have to be ready for the unexpected.

Runningbear

AAAintheBeltway · Jul 25, 2012

Quote from Runningbear:

I read a statistic once that said 80% of motorcyclists that die, get killed in the first 8 months of having their license. So you have to be really careful during this period. Believe it or not, it's over confidence that gets you into trouble. After 3 months of riding, you think your good at it and you take more risks. This is the danger zone. You want to push the bike a bit harder and get a bit of a thrill. But you can come off pretty easily and some times its not even your fault. I've dropped the bike once when I hit oil at an intersection and I got knocked off once by a car that turned without indicating. Luckily both happened at less than 15mph. Another time I nearly crashed when I hit a piece of furniture that fell off the back of a pick up. Another time I nearly crashed when a bee bit me on the neck. And one other time I got hit in the face by a bird. Believe me, it doesn't sound like much but at 50 miles an hour, its like getting a straight right from mike tyson.

You have to be ready for the unexpected.

Runningbear

Wow, you had some close calls. I know a bug hitting your face shield at hihgway speeds can make your ears ring. I don't even want to think what a bird felt like.

I don't know what they teach at the safety school, but in traffic I would probably want to get close up behind an SUV. Cars will turn left in front of you like you're not even there.

DanS · Jul 25, 2012

Find a used Honda blackbird 164hp at 10500rpm. I ride one and it is a blast. Not for first time riders though . I,ve ridde 100,000 miles in the last 10years. Prior to the blackbird I had a Honda 1800 vtx. I put 50k miles on it. Nice upright position.
Be careful.i

jnbadger · Jul 26, 2012

Quote from Runningbear:

I read a statistic once that said 80% of motorcyclists that die, get killed in the first 8 months of having their license. So you have to be really careful during this period. Believe it or not, it's over confidence that gets you into trouble. After 3 months of riding, you think your good at it and you take more risks. This is the danger zone. You want to push the bike a bit harder and get a bit of a thrill. But you can come off pretty easily and some times its not even your fault. I've dropped the bike once when I hit oil at an intersection and I got knocked off once by a car that turned without indicating. Luckily both happened at less than 15mph. Another time I nearly crashed when I hit a piece of furniture that fell off the back of a pick up. Another time I nearly crashed when a bee bit me on the neck. And one other time I got hit in the face by a bird. Believe me, it doesn't sound like much but at 50 miles an hour, its like getting a straight right from mike tyson.

You have to be ready for the unexpected.

Runningbear

Holy crap. These are the reasons I never got a road bike in the first place. I grew up riding dirt bikes, and was use to taking big jumps, and intentionally kicking it sideways to get around a turn faster. (Not to mention riding the occasional wheelie to impress the neighbor girl. Didn't work, BTW)

But my brother would let me take his V45 Magna out once in a while. And my room mate had a Ninja he would let me take around the suburbs of the Twin Cities. They were easy for me to get the hang of, but I always had the urge to bring that balls to the wall mentality to the street.

I had very little discipline, and I eventually got to the point where I realized it, and it started to scare me. Then, when a friend was killed when a car pulled out in front of him, that pretty much did it.
He was fairly new to riding, and I knew that if the same thing happened to me, I didn't have the skills to deal with it. Maybe his crash just scared the hell out of me, but it's like I was absolutely positive I was going to die soon if I kept riding on the streets.

That was over 20 years ago, and riding road bikes still scares the hell out of me. I won't even get on the back of one. But put me on a dirt bike for the first time in 15 years, and I'll see how far I can jump.

Hats off to you guys who are with it after all of these years, and still going strong. Or even you new guys who are smart enough to be disciplined and take it easy and be safe. Just be extra careful with all of the nut jobs who still insist on texting and driving. Drives me f...ing nuts when I see it.

Done rambling now. Be safe.

(And oh yeah... watch out for the birds and the bees. They'll get you every time.)

Runningbear · Jul 29, 2012

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

Wow, you had some close calls. I know a bug hitting your face shield at hihgway speeds can make your ears ring. I don't even want to think what a bird felt like.

I don't know what they teach at the safety school, but in traffic I would probably want to get close up behind an SUV. Cars will turn left in front of you like you're not even there.

Actually, being too close to the car in front also has its problems. Once I was just cruising along behind a car and there was a guy parked on the side of the road looking to do a U turn. He was watching the car I was behind in his rear vision mirror but could not see me behind the vehicle. As soon as the car passed, he pulled out behind it. I saw him coming in from the side and the only thing I had time to think was 'I'm fucked'. He missed me by 6 inches. That was another really close call.

nitro · Jul 29, 2012

Runningbear,

One thing that we learned in the class is that the only thing you can control on a motorcycle is time and space.

It was pointed out that it is rarely one thing that causes a motorcycle accident, but a confluence of things. Most human beings are able to act quickly when faced with one danger. But the more decisions he has to make in concert, and worse quickly, exponentially raises the chance of accident.

So one of the best things they did in our class was, they would play a video with some situation for three seconds, and stop it. We would then have to identify all the key issues in the video from memory, and predict scenarios. It was really instructional, and in fact, one very similar to your situation came up. The answer of course, was to anticipate that the driver at the intersection view of the motorcycle may be blocked. Since giving yourself more time and space is often the answer, and to reduce complexity (since the other driver can now see you or at least you can react if by letting him go by), it was obvious the answer was to slow down.

It is actually amazing how often slowing down is the answer, since it lengthens time and space.