100% agree with last 2 posts, track time also makes you a better and safer rider. It is also way safer then street riding. If you have never done a track day on 2 wheels I highly recommend if for nothing else other then just becoming more in tune with your bike.
Josh wrote: I'd bet the 35 year old guy with 10 years riding experience on a sportbike wearing ATGATT has a smaller statistical chance of biting it than any of you guys did in your first car at 16 :).
Hmmm...point taken.
I'll probably still buy a bike anyhow, and I guess this intimidation factor I have will better help me to respect the increased saftey required when riding motorcycles.
motogpfan wrote: 100% agree with last 2 posts, track time also makes you a better and safer rider. It is also way safer then street riding. If you have never done a track day on 2 wheels I highly recommend if for nothing else other then just becoming more in tune with your bike.
Once I get my motard that's one of the first things I plan on doing after getting some experience on the bike.
PHeller wrote:motogpfan wrote: 100% agree with last 2 posts, track time also makes you a better and safer rider. It is also way safer then street riding. If you have never done a track day on 2 wheels I highly recommend if for nothing else other then just becoming more in tune with your bike.Once I get my motard that's one of the first things I plan on doing after getting some experience on the bike.
last time I was at Jennings there was a guy on an old WR400 motard that was smoking the 600 class. It was so much fun to see a guy on a dirt bike pass sportbikes on the outside of a turn.
haha, and I was just looking at a WR400 too.
Unfortunately, my cash flow does not allow me to spend $1500 on a bike and another $1000+ on wheels and tires, blinkers, and other stuff to make it streetable.
find one already set up. You can find a decent one for about 1500. Especially a 2 stroke.
I haven't been able to find any sub-$2000 Motards in my area thus far.
Alot of on/off bikes like the XT650, XR400, KLR250 and 650, but no specific SMs.
PHeller wrote: I haven't been able to find any sub-$2000 Motards in my area thus far. Alot of on/off bikes like the XT650, XR400, KLR250 and 650, but no specific SMs.
i doubt youre going to. look into converting older sport bike wheels onto a dual sport. i.e. older narrower cbr wheels, gs500e wheels etc. you can save quite a bit that way. if you search you can probably even find the exact machining you need to do, which is usually just making some kind of spacer.
The only thing keeping me from wanting a Motard is when I still had my bike, a good day out was putting ~400 miles in the NW Arkansas twistys.
I can't imagine doing that much seat time on a Motard with no wind protection.
part of the fun on a motard is having no wind protection. but I agree 400+miles would be a bit much.
MitchellC wrote: I haven't messed with my project for a few months, a '75 RD350. Here's how it looks at the moment. To the OP: What are your four other Ducs? The Monster is one of the most comfortable bikes I have sat on. I saw the video to Leno's Desmosedici, and oh man...
Oh I miss my '76 RD 400 Cafe special Pre-rocket bike.. it embarrassed many , many 4 cyl bikes
Hint: When the old lady convinces you to sell it "because you never ride it , anymore" Clean it up and go riding... alone!
Thankfully there's no old lady in the picture, so I can take my time putting it back together.
I have a question to throw out to all you two two wheeled guys and gals.. I have been considering getting a Honda Ruckus but talking to a friend about it, they recommended maybe looking into an older 250cc dirt bike since it might be a little more practical out on the road since the Ruckus tops out at about 45. Keep in mind i've never been on a motorcycle before. I found a line on a mid 80's Honda Cr250 for a pretty decent price that got me pondering. What is everybodys opinion about all this?
I'd agree with your friends. I love the way some of the scooters, including the Ruckus, look, and nothing seems cooler to me than riding around on a vintage Vespa, but you can find a real bike for so much cheaper it's silly.
Plus, you can do a lot more on a real bike.
92dxman wrote: I have a question to throw out to all you two two wheeled guys and gals.. I have been considering getting a Honda Ruckus but talking to a friend about it, they recommended maybe looking into an older 250cc dirt bike since it might be a little more practical out on the road since the Ruckus tops out at about 45. Keep in mind i've never been on a motorcycle before. I found a line on a mid 80's Honda Cr250 for a pretty decent price that got me pondering. What is everybodys opinion about all this?
How tall are you and what do you wiegh? The wieght doesn;t affect the dirt bike, but the height may, depending on what you get. The wiegh plays a factor in the scooter.
A guy I ride with here has a GSXR 750 and a Honda Metropolitan scooter. He's 6'1, and a good 200, but the Metro does just fine for his city street commute. Another buddy who rides a little further picked up a Honda NX 250 for 2 c-notes and put signals/headlight/tailight on it.
The deal is, the 250 will hurt you worse than the scooter, but will probably be more fun. It will be cheaper to fix when you scuff it. The Ruckus is actually a pretty rudgged scooter with little or no add ons, but will still cost you a little more when you dump it.
Which leads into the next part. You will dump it. Period. We all do. So even if you get a scooter, or the dirt bike, take an MSF course, drop some serious money on a good helmet, get a good jacket and gloves and wear boots. Wear this stuff all the time. In the heat of July it will be a bit uncomfortable, but you can get a nice mesh jacket that still has armour on the contact pionts.
Gear is the difference between an annoying $15 turn signal replacement crash and a trip to the ER.
Yeah, scooters are fun- for a short while. Around urban areas they would be great. Once out in the 'burbs or the countryside, not so much.
A CR250 is a 2 stroke MX bike. Here in the Great Satan, those are hard to license for street use. Honda did make dual sport versions for Pacific Rim and European use, though. AFAIK those can't be licensed for street use here (emissions laws).
FWIW, I recommend a 400 4 stroke as a D-S type bike. Enough beans for short highway trips but not so heavy as to intimidate someone just starting out.
I'm about 5'7 and about 130lbs.
Josh wrote:PHeller wrote: Still though, seeing a fellow rider get whacked by a truck is not something that would sit well with me. I hate the feeling on a motorcycle that your on borrowed time, because it always seems like life long riders end up dying on their bikes.And smokers die of lung cancer, beer enthusaists die of liver failure, meat enthusiasts die of heart disease, and people who are afraid to do anything that looks like fun die of boredom.
We die by the disease of our choice.
The wife and I just had a huuuuuuggee fight about bikes the other day. I've wanted one for forever and she works in the rehab (physical, not drug) unit at the local hospital so she gets to see all the fun results of motorcycle accidents. She seems fairly certain that the second I touch a bike I'll burst into flames or something.
Doesn't help that one of my best friends just bought an 03 ninja 250. Riding it around the neighborhood really rekindled my desire for 2 wheeled transport. I may end up calling her bluff and just show up at the house with a shiny new bike. Well, I would if it were possible to buy a Ninja 250 new lol sold out.
92dxman, a lot depends on your inseam length. The WR400 I just sold had a unloaded seat height of 33", loaded it was around 30". Most D-S bikes have a lower seat height, usually 30-31" unloaded and 27-28" loaded. If your inseam is roughly those measurements, you should be able to sit 'flat footed' on the bike.
Here's the thing about life: none of us is getting out alive. Every damn one of us is going feet first. We can choose to 1) live life as if the things we love to do are too dangerous and as noted above wind up doing nothing or 2) accept that there are inherent risks in anything that we enjoy and balance that risk with leading a full and satisfying life.
Me, I choose (2). I have weighed the risks of street bike ownership and the rewards to me haven't been enough to overcome the uncontrolled risks of riding in the middle of a sea of obliviots. The controlled risk of a racetrack or off road riding is okay IMHO.
As always, YMMV.
92dxman wrote: I'm about 5'7 and about 130lbs.
XT225, DR200, or simialar dualsport. Cheap, reliable, and beginner friendly. Enough power to do pretty much anything you need, but not too much for a new rider. I'm the same size, and would feel comfortable on either. Any of the smaller, less powerful standard, or semi-sport bikes like the Ninjas, 250/500, or a GS500 would be fine, too. If it were powerful enough to do what I need, I would have no problem with riding a scooter daily. One of my riding buddies rides a new Gold wing as his main bike, but uses his 250 scooter as his runabout/daily driver, and loves it. He is 6'4"/325, and has 30yrs riding experience.
For a beginner, I like the 250/200 dualsport bikes, especially for your size. Don't let people tell you that a 250 is too small.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=201349
There are also separate threads for the XT, and DR. I ride a 250 on the street (including highway), and it has plenty for me.
take the MSF course before you do anything.
Woodyhfd wrote: We die by the disease of our choice.
I'll have to remember that one.
MitchellC wrote:Woodyhfd wrote: We die by the disease of our choice.I'll have to remember that one.
Everyone should.
Here is an update: upon further thinking, i'm holding off on something two wheeled. I came to the conclusion that a Ruckus would be too underpowered and also i'm also on the fence about a bike. Also, I can hop on my bicycle for errands around town. I'm definitely going to take the motorcycle safety course as well. For now, Im buying a set of springs for the Escort and going to play with this...
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