You're in the Weston area right? Greater Boston, Cycles 128 and others are NOTORIOUS for being hard sell, clueless, buy the most expensive types. Riverside is a lot better, and if you know what brands you like there are a couple of dealers up in NH that are excellent, even letting you do a test ride!
i looked at that. i had to move mountains to free up two days for the basic MSF course 20 miles from home. the closest code gig seems to be in PA and the next classes are when i'm taking my MSF classes - then they're done there until 2006. no way i can get that to work in my schedule. it sure sounds like his courses aren't for complete beginners - i'm sure he's happy to take the money, but it seems like a few thousand miles of basic experience getting the basic stuff down would be prudent. but WTF do i know! doody.
i'll have to get somerville (riverside) into my travel schedule. quite inconvenient for me, but since i'm writing off the boneheads, it'd be nice to have some options still left! grazie, doody.
Dood: you might want to call Bruce at BCM ducati in Laconia, N.H. Very serious shop, all they do is Ducati, principally racing stuff, but very knowledgeable, competitive on pricing of bikes and gear, and first class service- they put together a package for me for my first bike, and delivered it to my house in NY hundreds of miles away. BTW, the S2R might be an interesting choice: http://www.ducati.com/bikes/my2005/ducatiModel.jhtml?family=monster&modelName=MS2R-05 And, one review of same:http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=908&fArticleId=2499057
So the doody bike odyssey moves on; Doody if you want cool check this out and follow the links, You don't even have to drive it just take some pics in your leathers; http://motorcyclistonline.com/features/122_0504_wraith/ http://www.confederate.com/ ps: don't forget to remove the stand! Image Unavailable, Please Login
I chased a series 1 Hellcat for a while (in other words, i was trying to buy one), but gave up given the teething problems associated with the bike, the fact that its maker went bankrupt (only to reemerge with the Hellcat 2 and this bike, the Wraith- remember, Matt Chambers actually believes the Confederate flag will fly again in the south, so rising from the dust is part of his karma) and basically turned his back on the bikes and owners and distributors out there. I've spoken to Chambers- he is out there. The new Hellcat is machismo extreme, but for 60k dollars, you'd think he'd use better quality carbon fibre, considering that it's everywhere on the bike, including the tank, and the one I sat on had a weave that looked like a cheap suit. The Wraith is insane, though, i will grant you.
hey - i just wanted to thank everybody here for their thoughts, opinions, and advice on the world of motorcycles. i bought my first bike today - an '05 Yamaha FZ6. they're prepping it now and will deliver it on thursday afternoon. now i just have to learn to ride it . i'm really looking forward to it. thanks again, folks! doody.
I started out last november on my first bike a new O4 GSXR 1000. Love it! Great bike with more than enough power. However in my opinion if you want a good starter bike to learn skills on go with an SV650. With a bike like the SV650 you will develop skills to actually help you be a better rider. If you plan to ever do track days or such they also have special events at many places for the SV riders. Just be careful and wear all the safety gear you can!
Congrats on the first ride!!!! Keep the sticky side down and have fun, and DueceRooster, just curious how your last year has gone? Thats almost superhuman to pull that off unless you rode dirtbikes as a kid or something
Well in my first year of riding. I've covered almost 5k miles and only had one meeting with the tarmac. I was riding through a parking lot at around 15mph and a car shot out in front of me. When I applied the brakes the rear tire just locked up and I lost control of the bike and hit a curb. No injuries to me and only VERY minor damage to the bike (about $75 worth) so I was indeed lucky. However what I did notice was that after about 6 months of riding (around 2.5k miles) I thought I really had the hang of it and started doing wheelies, hi speed runs, etc. After a few close encounters I realized I was not at all a "good" rider and I havn't even touched 1% of knowing how to ride or how to control my bike. Fact is it takes thousands of miles and misc obstacles to even start to know what a bike can do. I have now realized I am not superhuman and that one mistake by me or someone else around me could end my life. Luckily I realized this before it was to late and now I just enjoy the ride and listen to the awesome exhaust note. Yes I do ocassionaly still hit 80mph or so but very seldom, my bike is to beautiful to ride around wrecked and I like having all of my body parts still attached. I never did much dirt bike riding when I was younger. I had maybe two probably did cover a combined 500 miles on them. This was the first bike I EVER rode on the Street, for the first 1000 miles it felt really weird then I started to relax and limber up and things went much better. Basically if you get a bike don't ever think you are "good" cause you're not and you never will be good enough. Just pay attention to your all cars around you cause they are not intimidated by bikes and they will pull out in front of you or cut you off. Be careful! Here is a pic I snapped of my bike about 2 months ago. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Wow, sounds like you were smart enought to figure it out early. Congrats, and you have an awesome bike!!!!!
Congrats to the both of you on the bikes... i'll be taking my MSF course tomorrow and I can't wait! Wow DeuceRooster nice bike, and a powerful one... i've been practicing on my friends YZF-600r and even it's still too powerful for me! But it looks like you know what you're doing so have fun out there.
So, doody, inquiring minds want to know - which brand of Motorcycle helmet did you buy? vty, --Dennis
Who doesn't? dude-man - yes, which helmet did you get? article aside, curious about the gear you picked up. --Dan
very good question! i haven't bought anything yet. i'm going to use the Bieffe Predator i already have until the spring, and then i'll buy something. that'll give me plenty of time to try out lots of helmets. thus far i've been able to try on Shoei and HJC. The Predator doesn't have very good ventilation, but it should be acceptable during the upcoming cooler months (we'll see!). doody.
If you are going to wear street clothes, like going to work, Aerostich Roadcrafter is the best armored suit going. it's difficult to wear regular clothes under leathers and they are not waterproof. The aerostich is pretty much the standard of the industry. they will custom make a suit or off the rack. They also repair crash damage. http://www.aerostich.com/home.php?cat=249
