Need some motorcycle advice

[Chris B]

Was out riding today, and was reminded why exactly I wear a helmet! I saw a guy sitting in a field with a couple of guys standing around him, and his bike was on the road completely trashed! Basically got thrown about 50 metres or so

[Nuno]

Everyone can have his "baddest luck" day, but then again, there´s a thing called "suicidal tendences".

If you have 100+hp under your butt it´s not a good idea to have it at full throtle most of the time.

I ride a bike for around 10 year and the worst thing it ever happenned was a stupid fall (at around 50 Kph) because a front brake malfunction.

[Wulfman]

stupidest thing ever? tried to ride on 5cm melting snow... only with 2hp

100 meters... then some without bike

mfg
wulfman

[This message has been edited by Wulfman (edited 06 May 2001).]

[Rags]

I used to ride occasionally in the snow when I was plowed just to show off, my ex wife would get real pissed when she heard my bike fire up at 3 AM....oh those were the days

Rags

[Chris B]

Ok here´s my crash...

Driving out from a driveway, accelerated to about 50 kph, then some lady drove out from another driveway, her trailer jums off the hitch.. runs across the street and hits me and the "ass"!

1 week in the hospital and 5 weeks with my leg in a cast! yup... summer of 97 sucked

[Richard999]

If this is your first bike, I recommend getting a used bike without any fairings. Trust me on this one. Plastic is expensive to replace.

It is practically a certainty that you'll drop your first bike. Most likely it'll be in the parking lot or driveway of your own home.

Something that gets a lot of riders in trouble is hitting the brake too hard and turning the handlebars. *Boom* Down on its side it'll go faster than you can say, "Broken turn signal, mirror, and clutch/brake lever"! <--- Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

Another thing that new riders get into trouble is they'll ride outside of their own limits. I suggest taking it very easy for the first few months. Always, ALWAYS give yourself plenty of leeway when going into a turn. There's no shame in taking a turn slower than a guy that's been riding for 10 years. Don't try and keep up. Especially, if he's on a more manoeuverable bike.

I'd say, for your first bike, considering your size a 650-800 cc bike is more than adequate. After you've had the bike for a year, and if you still love to ride, step up to a nice shiny new bike. *Warning* Most accidents happen with the first 6 months of riding a "different" bike. Experienced riders can still have accidents on a new bike. I recommend always taking the first 500 miles a little bit easy. Get acquainted with your new steed, and in time you'll feel a lot more comfortable.

I love my crotch rocket, by the way. Kawasaki ZX-9R. 140+ HP of pure adrenalin. :-)

However, my next bike will definitely be a nice laid back cruiser. I've had both, and I can tell you, once you've kicked back on a nice 1200 cc haus you won't want to go back. LOL!! BTW, I'm not big on Hardly Ablesons myself. Crappy brakes, crappy reliability, overpriced pieces of...

I'll probably end up getting a 1300 cc Sport Tourer some time next year. I believe Yamaha is bringing a new Sport Tourer to the states next year. *Darn lucky Europeans get all the nice bikes first.* <grumble grumble>

[SCompRacer]

One of the bigger hazards of riding is even with that headlight on, some people in cars just don't see you in the daytime. Got a few stitches in the knee once cause I laid a bike down to keep from hitting someone that pulled out in front of me. That was just cruising too.

[Rags]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by SCompRacer:
One of the bigger hazards of riding is even with that headlight on, some people in cars just don't see you in the daytime. Got a few stitches in the knee once cause I laid a bike down to keep from hitting someone that pulled out in front of me. That was just cruising too.</font>

Agreed. Another problem is other motorists who think that a motorcycle shouldn't be on the road and refuse to yield because of this. I had a guy run his car into me trying to merge into the lane I was in, I kept myself propped up while riding around 45 mph, my right peg tore his sheet metal up pretty good. When we got pulled over, he said " You stinking motorcyclists think that you need the whole lane to yourself...". The cop who cited his ass had a differing opinion

I think everyone should be required to ride a bike part time before they get a full license to drive. It definitely makes you want to drive defensively

Rags

[Alec]

The longest threads ever in the MURC:

- the one about Cheese...
- the one about women
- the one about cars
- and this one... about motorcycles!

Strange mix...

[Nuno]

I remember one about BEER, too

[Alec]

Yes, but cheese is still one of the most important things in life.

[agallag]

What's so strange about it? Those are the 4 most important thing in any man's life, aren't they?

------------------
Andrew
Carpe Cerevisi

[Wulfman]

..here we go again...

has anybody experiences with an EN500 (kawasaki) or a LS650 (suzuki)?

anything to look after when buying 2nd-hand?

thx
wulfman

[Dr Mordrid]

I had a Kawasaki KZ-1000 lo many years ago. Nice bike

As far as crashes go I've had one: some guy pulled up next to me as if to pass, looked straight at me and drove me into a ditch. Fortunately for me and the bike it was full of water.

After all the years I worked emergency rooms I certainly advise the wearing of basic body armor and helmets.

I've seen too many bikers who were thrown head first into telephone polls/curbs/cars/etc. whose skull or face became melded with of the point of impact for my taste. Helmet users had a much higher survival rate, if not a great one.

After that some good leathers, knee, thigh and elbow pads and steel shanked high rider boots are the most useful.

Dr. Mordrid