Any motorcyclists on here?

[Mr Panda]

Just one bit of advice .... a car indicator flashing only really means one thing

THE BULB WORKS !!!!!
Anything else is guess work !

V True - converse being just because the driver thinks THE BULB WORKS doesn't mean the indicator will flash :shock: :shock: :shock:

Regarding danger - a neighbour of mine, good looking girl, fit and healthy, approx 30years of age, a good person, walking home and tripped on a pavement in London the week before Xmas some years back. Banged her head on pavement. Immediate Intensive Care and dead, before the 25th :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

Comes to us all in the end, enjoy it while you're here



Here's one of mine in less bike friendly weather taken from door of tent, Lakes, 2007 (sh!te was it really that long ago )

:idea:

 

[dyna-ti]

I'd love to own a m/bike,had a few runs on mates and love it
Only downsides are the state of the roads and the amount of traffic

 

[velomaniac]

I think advice suggesting a bike over 400cc is a bit shortsighted.
Your only going to rev the balls off your bike if your determined to exceed legal speed limits on every ride and this strategy could lead to 12 points on your licence pretty dam quick.
Bikes can out accelerate and out brake most cars in lower cc form easily enough and cruise on motorways at 70mph without bother plus in these hard economic times mpg is important, you'd be surprised how poor many bikes fuel consumption is compared to a car.
Dont subscribe to the macho more cubes are the only acceptable route unless that is really where you want to be. I'll stick to 250's and I still enjoy every ride.

 

[Mr Panda]

Fully agree the choice MArk is making, to go for the 400cc limit, is best for all newcomers. Letting any new rider loose on a bike capable of 160mph+ and 0-60 times around 3 seconds is legalised euthanasia.
Hell most experienced riders don't even need that sort of performance although I know many would take issue with that.

Velo - know where you are with the 250s, but sometimes one needs just a little more poke, so the Mrs tells me

What I can't fathom is why s/h bikes are so expensive. You can pick up a banger of a car with MOT for well under £500 easily. I rarely see bikes (in safe useable condition) sell for under £1,000 now, regardless of capacity. And then there's the "classic" prices :shock: :shock: :shock:
Basket case (very rusty basket case at that) Norton Commando sold on eblaye a couple of months back for just short of £2,500 :roll:

 

[Kestonian]

Reading this thread with interest.

I am -> <- this close to doing my licence to get a scooter for commuting. I can't see it being any more life-threatening than riding a push bike to work.

Am I missing something?

 

[Cool Mint]

I havent been on an m/cycle for years but I did ride for a long time. I gave it up because it was just too expensive to ensure both a car and motorcycle.

In terms of practicality I have rarely found a motorcycle to better than a car except in busy cities where larger vehicles can become stuck in traffic jams. Generally I would use either a bicycle or a car.

Regardless of anything that anyone else tells you, drill it into your head that riding a motorcycle is dangerous.

A couple of years ago friend of mine got his leg ripped off when a woman driver (you'll understand why I mention "woman" driver in a moment) drove into him as he was about to make a turn; he was riding correctly but the woman pulled out of her driveway at speed and rammed him. He was astonishingly lucky that doctors were able to save his leg but it was also horrifically painful and he will probably never regain full use of his leg.

The woman in question was the wife of a senior police officer and when the case came to court critical evidence proving her guilt was mysteriously "mislaid".


I've never been a fast rider but more than once I've had to hit the brakes; the last time was on a narrow country road where a tractor was coming in the opposite direction; what you might not know is that most tractors are very flat and angular and so absorb light instead of reflecting it which makes them virtually invisible on sun-dappled lanes with trees casting shadows overhead. You have been warned!

 

[Splatter Paint]

Motorcycling is very difficult these days and no, I'm not some old coffin dodger I'm only 30, but have had a bike since the day of my 16th birthday. I live in the southeast and find the roads awful and drivers have bike blindness. The last ride I went on (yesterday) some dozy prat drifted into my lane and tried to crush me into the armco. The previous ride a driver pulled straight out in front of me whilst I was on a roundabout and then not 20 minutes later I witnessed the exact same incident happen to another rider. Whilst on the way home a car driver slammed into the back of my bike at a junction. This despite I'm on a big bike with the lights on and myself and my wife are both dressed like Power Rangers.

If you are going to pursue motorcycling make damn sure you have the best kit available and that you get decent training. Learning to ride a little bike to its limit and then upgrading to a bigger bike is a good idea. If you move up too fast, it'll hurt. I went 50cc (year) 125cc (year) 250cc (2 years) 350 two-stroke (1 year) 600cc sports-tourer (50 bhp 3 years) then a super-sport 600. Despite being on the road for 8 years the Ninja still scared me, mostly because I was travelling everywhere at warp speed. A couple of track-days and a crash later made me slow down a bit. I've been lucky.

After 14 years on the road I'm questioning whether I should continue to ride, everybody I know has been knocked off or come close to being knocked off several times. Motorcyling is a buzz, especially track-days and the like but it IS dangerous and getting more so. The reason I mention the track is that if you have any kind of sports bike the only place you get get to really get to give it the berries is on the track. I narrowly escaped a ban on the 600, as it feels so docile at legal speeds you just have to give it a bit more, officer.

Right, I'm off to Wales on the bike, I may be some time......

 

[stubb]

love the comments on the 400s v bigger,

250s are slow , most decent cars will be on your arse on one of them,

a sensible 600 like a fazer is i would suggest the best place to start , its a good size bike ,,ie comfortable, they have usable grunt, having a bit of power doesnt mean you are going to go doing a race launch every time you get on a bike,

to say a small 400 is sensible, you will ring its neck to get anywhere in a few weeks of ownership , have you sat on one they were jap domestic market for a reason, they can do 130mph and the small vfr was the roundabout knee down bike of choice for lots of people,

get an original shape fazer , decent gear , you have a good looking , good handling comfortable bike in a cheap enough package to buy and insure,

unless you like the race bikes in which case thats a different world and they are purchased for one reason only no matter what anyone trys to tell you,

they go very fast ..

good luck, be sensible and always expect the worst in car driver and you will be for the most part ok,

 

[Grannygrinder]

.

The roads are as safe as you make them, ride like a twat and don't use good observations you are going to get hurt, end of.
Clothing wise i'd plump for Hein Gericke, if you are riding all weathers go for Cordura rather than leather and buy a decent back protector.
Most crucial clothing is gloves and boots, remember when you try everything on that you won't be standing in it you'll be sitting, so sit down in the shop somewhere to check for comfort.
Bike wise i'd definately go for something around the 400cc mark to start with, all the jap import stuff is awesome but i'd go for a UK market ZXR400. If going a bit bigger the Suzuki SV650 is outstanding.
That said my boss passed his test earlier this year and went out and bought a brand new ZZR1400. I like most of my workmates was convinced he was going to get seriously hurt but 10 months later he's still alive
Good luck, you'll never smile so hard as when you're doing 130+mph and everything starts going a bit tunnel vision

 

[stubb]

Re: .

Good luck, you'll never smile so hard as when you're doing 130+mph and everything starts going a bit tunnel vision

you will when you just put the front wheel down at that speed and carry on upto 187 on a gixer thou

no im being silly now,

you still wont convince me that a mini race replica highly strung and tuned 400cc race bike with lights is sensible for a learner,

i was never sensible on my kr1250 or my fzr400rr

i followed learners all day long comfortably on my fazer6 when instructing, .still gave the 750gixer some abuse in the evenings to balance it out though,

the thou i really enjoyed and i really liked the aceleration, thats what bikes are all about , it costs a small fortune to get close to the acceleration of a big bike in a car , thats the addictive bit for me, plus when they made them the same size as 600s and 750,s it was a winner,

people never agree on bike advice its what makes it interesting,

i think the power delivery of the twin 650 is a bit too on .off for learners at times,