So I'm a completely new rider, having just completed the MSF course and gotten my Class M last weekend. At the moment, I'm looking for a bike to make my mistakes on.
I've read Yermo's blog post, "On Riding Well: So you want to learn how to ride a motorcycle," and am trying to follow his advice as closely as possible. In the post, he recommends the Suzuki GS500, the Honda Rebel 450, the Honda Nighthawk 250, and the Honda CBR250. Of these, the Honda CBR250 appeals to me the most. Ideally, I'd like to get a used bike for around $1500, but that's more a statement of the quality of bike I really need right now than an actual financial constraint. Where do the good deals live? I'm 5'8" and have a 30 inseam on Jeans, so I can't effectively ride particularly tall bikes.
Speaking of Jeans, I'm considering getting the Lycra Bohn Bodyguard pants and the Airtex Shirt so I can wear Jeans and a Hein Gericke jacket and not, like, break my spine if I really balls it up. Has anyone had any experience with it? If not, I'd be happy to report back once I get set up.
Thanks for any wisdom you folks can offer!
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Robert, sorry I was out of cell range and didn't notice this post until I got back. I think the Ninja 500 you picked up is going to be a fine first bike. I'm a bit concerned about the fact that they were willing to sell you a bike with 5 year old tires on it. What was it that they told you when you asked them about the tires?
Jeans do not offer enough abrasion protection. The Bohn armor will likely do a good job of impact protection but I suspect you'll need something more substantial than just jeans over them. Several of us have talked about trying the Bohn armor stuff. I'm very curious to hear about your experiences with it once you have some miles.
There are jeans that have leather liners and/or kevlar re-inforcing to increase protection when sliding. They are not at the level of dedicated motorcycle pants but are definitely better than just normal jeans.
Have you gotten a helmet and gloves?
He said that the tires had a healthy thickness on them when they were inspected and didn't have many miles on them. The bike itself has only 2600 miles on it, and the tires have only been around for a fraction of the bike's life. I think he was thinking that age isn't as important as mileage.
The Bohn armor arrived over the weekend. I still need a helmet and gloves. I was hoping to get them today, but a 4-hour wait at the MVA kind of dashed those hopes. Could we stop by CycleGear (or wherever) before getting the bike on Saturday?
We could look at motorcycle pants that specialize in abrasion protection then? Otherwise yeah, I'll get Kevlar jeans at earliest opportunity.
The Bohn armor arrived over the weekend. I still need a helmet and gloves. I was hoping to get them today, but a 4-hour wait at the MVA kind of dashed those hopes. Could we stop by CycleGear (or wherever) before getting the bike on Saturday?
We could look at motorcycle pants that specialize in abrasion protection then? Otherwise yeah, I'll get Kevlar jeans at earliest opportunity.
There is some debate on what is an acceptable age for motorcycle tires. For many riders who do little riding a tire will need to be replaced due to age rather than wear.
Tires off-gas and harden over time. I've read that even when you buy tires you have to check the date code to make sure you're not getting excessively old new stock. Buying 1 year old tires is ok, but once it gets around 3 you probably don't want to touch them.
I replace tires yearly. It's probably over kill but I really like traction and tend to need it especially for Deal's Gap runs or track days. Once a tire gets to be around 5 years old, it's significantly hardened. Last fall, I went riding with an accomplished rider/racer who was running on 6 year old tires. He knew better but thought he could compensate for the age and lack of traction with skill.
On an on-ramp from Cherry Hill Road to Route 29 at about 25mph he tucked the front and I saw him and his bike sliding across the street in my rear-view. "It was like riding on bowling balls" he said.
His bike was pretty beat up and has been down since.
One year, on a trip to Deal's Gap, I decided to try to run 2 year old tires instead of a fresh set.bruce reported that he could really tell the difference in the traction. The older tires, with about 3000 miles on them, were noticeably less grippy.
As a result, the idea that a dealer would sell a bike with 5 year old tires seems very wrong to me. You got a new PR3 for the front. What was the tire you got for the rear?
We can absolutely stop by Cycle Gear on Saturday if you like on our way to get your bike. No problem. I was in there today and they have improved their selection a bit. If you have Bohn Armor lowers getting some cortech kevlar jeans, which I don't think CycleGear sells, might be a good bet. I prefer dedicated riding leathers or textiles, but YMMV. You may want to consider looking for the matching pants to your V-Pilot. (Yes,
buffalo, he got a used near-new-quality V-Pilot and is doing what we always talked about, getting it armored up using Bohn Armor.)
Cycle Gear has really cheap gloves that seem to work ok. As for Helmets,
AGrip seems to like her HJC which was very inexpensive. If you think you need a medium I would suggest just ordering from Revzilla if you can't find something at CycleGear you like. They absolutely rock.
For helmets I always recommend that people get a helmet that is both DOT and Snell approved. That gives you, based on everything I've read, the maximum protection. The protection of a less expensive helmet is only some small percentage points less than the high end helmets. Once it's DOT/Snell approved you're just paying for less weight and fit/finish.
Tires off-gas and harden over time. I've read that even when you buy tires you have to check the date code to make sure you're not getting excessively old new stock. Buying 1 year old tires is ok, but once it gets around 3 you probably don't want to touch them.
I replace tires yearly. It's probably over kill but I really like traction and tend to need it especially for Deal's Gap runs or track days. Once a tire gets to be around 5 years old, it's significantly hardened. Last fall, I went riding with an accomplished rider/racer who was running on 6 year old tires. He knew better but thought he could compensate for the age and lack of traction with skill.
On an on-ramp from Cherry Hill Road to Route 29 at about 25mph he tucked the front and I saw him and his bike sliding across the street in my rear-view. "It was like riding on bowling balls" he said.
His bike was pretty beat up and has been down since.
One year, on a trip to Deal's Gap, I decided to try to run 2 year old tires instead of a fresh set.
bruce reported that he could really tell the difference in the traction. The older tires, with about 3000 miles on them, were noticeably less grippy. As a result, the idea that a dealer would sell a bike with 5 year old tires seems very wrong to me. You got a new PR3 for the front. What was the tire you got for the rear?
We can absolutely stop by Cycle Gear on Saturday if you like on our way to get your bike. No problem. I was in there today and they have improved their selection a bit. If you have Bohn Armor lowers getting some cortech kevlar jeans, which I don't think CycleGear sells, might be a good bet. I prefer dedicated riding leathers or textiles, but YMMV. You may want to consider looking for the matching pants to your V-Pilot. (Yes,
buffalo, he got a used near-new-quality V-Pilot and is doing what we always talked about, getting it armored up using Bohn Armor.) Cycle Gear has really cheap gloves that seem to work ok. As for Helmets,
AGrip seems to like her HJC which was very inexpensive. If you think you need a medium I would suggest just ordering from Revzilla if you can't find something at CycleGear you like. They absolutely rock. For helmets I always recommend that people get a helmet that is both DOT and Snell approved. That gives you, based on everything I've read, the maximum protection. The protection of a less expensive helmet is only some small percentage points less than the high end helmets. Once it's DOT/Snell approved you're just paying for less weight and fit/finish.