Buying a bike(the kind with a motor)

Ask Wilso.

Oh, crap! Nothing worse than having a motorcycle or corvette pull in front of you and proceding down the road at a stately 30 in a 35mph zone. Twice the bucks as my car, and they plunk it down to drive like grandma - and here comes another.

Yea, it sucks when a guy is hogging a lane on a bike, and I'll never tailgate someone driving a motorcycle. Maybe I'm wrong, but on the highway I actually feel safer on a bike in the left lane going with/slightly faster than traffic, rather than being in a middle lane with cars around me.

Motorcycle riding
I personally ride a bike to the tune of about 25,000 (yes thousand not hundred) miles a year. I guess you could say I enjoy my riding. I started at age 14 and am now 58....got a few years on the highway. To me, there is no greater danger to a motorcyclist (or motorist) than people who feel compelled to talk on a phone while driving. I have had more near mishaps since the cell phone came into existance than I have had in 30 years without them. As for the speeds....I do the limit and if someone behind me doesn't like it, go around or take another road.

Welcome to the forum Jon Miller.

Hey Slappy, what ever came of this bike thing?

Hmm, I've been considering a bike too.

<scary clown avatar is, well, scary>

I have long considered having a bike. It can't be a primary vehicle here - it's too cold. And, I can't afford two vehicles.

Trust me, you have forgotten everything you ever knew about hills. My dealer tells me that once mine gets broke in, it will have more horsepower, though.

The bike turned out awesome, I love it. Except the battery died a couple weeks ago, and I have to have it replaced. You can find one pretty cheap, Lil K, or you could even go the scooter route if you're going to just use it in the city.

Did you recently get one, roger?

Er, I got the kind without a moter about 6 weeks. My dealer is a comedian, that's all.

a bike with a motor?
does it have any differeces with motorcycle?

That's actually what I meant...a motorcycle.

My next purchase will be buying a bicycle (sans motor). Maybe after the pets are gone and I'm out of the debt that will outlive them, I'll think about a motorized version.

So what kind of bike did you get, Slappy?

I'm trying to find topics about bikes in here, being a year-round biker myself here in Greece and this is all I came across

I've got a 97 CBR900 and I don't know why you wonder how people don't get killed on them from the minute that it's got smoother torque on the bottom end (more forgiving) than, say, the R1, and exceptional handling.

I ended up buying the 97 Katana 600.

What I meant about the CBR 900 was really me...it's too much bike for me at this point. The Katana's only my second bike, 1st being a Ninja 250. I loved the CBR, don't get me wrong, but I don't really trust myself with that kind of power. I did learn on a CBR 600, though.

Katana doesn't ride nearly as precise as a super-sport, but it was cheap, is more comfortable, and enough power for me. I haven't been able to ride it over the past month, it needs a battery and I've been too lazy to replace it.

The Katana's a good bike

Since it's your second bike, it's a good move up, but don't think a sportbike would be too much for you because it's all up to you, not the bike. Besides, sportbikes these days are a huge improvement over bikes, say, 10 years ago. You would have to do something really stupid with the throttle to highside it or flip back. I still get scared sh1tless when I really get on the throttle in 1st-2nd gear, and that's after 4 years of riding it but that's all the fun!

Back in 1990 I was naive enough to buy a Yamaha RZ500 for my first bike. That two-stroke, four cylinder 85 model and I wiped out about a dozen times in the first few months alone

I hear what you're saying, but don't think a 900/1000 would be too much for you. It's not like you have to spend a couple of years in the 250 category, another few years in the 400 category, and so on and so forth. If you're able enough to ride bikes for a couple of years, you're able to tackle bigger bikes because it's all in the mind, as long as you don't bite off more than you can chew and you do sound like you are logical in your approach to riding; it's not like you are speaking like a testosterone driven kid that only wants to impress and brag.

The thing is, do you have a passion for riding or are you doing it for other reasons or out of curiosity, something to try? I tend to procrastinate myself, but not riding because you haven't changed the dead battery doesn't sound like you are all that enthused about riding to begin with.<--well meant

Actually, I just don't trust myself right now with a 140+hp bike, and don't have a need for something with that much power. Although I'm not reckless on my bike, I do enjoy getting on the throttle. I'm sure my next bike will be something "more," but I didn't want to jump from having just a couple thousand miles on a 250, with some 600 experience up to a liter bike.

I actually love riding, that's why I have it. I went a couple years in between bikes, and every time the weather got nice I was kicking myself for not having one. But the weather's gotten pretty cold anyway over the last few weeks, and I just haven't gotten around to picking up the stupid battery. I've been away the last couple weekends, ect.

I hear what you're saying there, Slappy.

I would assume you have riding buddies for weekend cruises? Nothing beats riding with 5-6 other bikes, quite the brotherhood

I wish I had 5-6 buddies to go with. My roomate has a sweeeeeet 2003 Harley Night train with a lot of nice touches to it. I'm not a big fan of Harleys, but this is a pretty badass looking bike.

We went out riding a handful of times. I only got the bike in June I think. I took my now ex-chick out on mine a bunch of times over the summer, that was fun. Couldn't hear her bitch about things...good stuff.

I'm not a big fan of Harleys either but some of them are nice. Not rideable, though. Harleys are more like driving, not riding.

You just reminded me of when I was still with the ex. I would pick her up in the morning and drop her off downtown near my work at her campus. The thing is, she was such a bitch at times, she wouldn't even say good morning but would rather go straight to her "you're 5 minutes late and here I am waiting" bitching when I picked her up. Since I'm not a morning person, that type of behaviour would have me getting her to downtown classes in 5 minutes flat. "You $#@! bitch", I would say inside my helmet, "not even a good morning but straight to bitching, let's see how you like hanging on for dear life"