Did anyone see the recent Top Gear episode where the boys went from the southern tip of South Vietnam to the north of North Vietnam on two-wheeled conveyances? Jeremy, not knowing any better, bought a Vespa. He crabbed the whole time, because he hadn’t had any experience on a bike. I don’t remember what kind of bike James May had. The Hamster, who’s an avid rider, bought an old but (relatively) powerful Russian military bike.
Truly great episode.
Can I get a recommendation on jackets and helmets, preferably ones that are accessible via craigslist or Ebay?
H.
Maybe not on eBay:
http://www.webbikeworld.com is a good site for reviews of stuff.
For jackets I’ve owned and liked ones made by Firstgear, Joe Rocket and Tourmaster.
Helmets I go for Shoei, Arai and Scorpion. Most important thing with a helmet though is to try on one to make sure it fits properly.
I’ve got a tourmaster jacket that I really like; only drawback is that it’s rather bulky. Going into a restaraunt or having to brush through a crowd in it is a little more of a pain than I’d like.
I’ve also got a Shoei helmet - expensive! Mainly because cheaper helmets don’t seem to fit my giant cranium.
www.newenough.com
Always has awesome closeout sales. If you’re not in a rush, watch them regularly.
www.motorcyclesuperstore.com
Another good store, same or better prices than at dealerships.
Of course, I would always go to a good dealership and try on various jackets for sizing, and then try to find an internet deal.
You want your jacket to be very snug with the removable liner IN the jacket.
I have a Tourmaster Intake Air 2 mesh jacket. Has very stiff CE armor for elbows/forearm and shoulders and provides a lot of breeze throughout the jacket when riding in warm temps. Also comes with a comfort liner and a rainproof liner, although I prefer wearing a rainproof windbreaker over my whole jacket since it will keep the jacket from getting soaked, unlike the liner.
Did you ever decide on a bike?
Buell’s aren’t very good. H-D simply does not have the experience or design qualifications that the Japanese have been perfecting for decades.
Depending on your budget, consider buying two bikes? You can find a cheap Honda Shadow for $2000 easy, if not less. Won’t be perfect condition but I think owning a motorcycle requires you to start getting greasy.
Budget sportbikes that are also comfortable for commuting or touring are:
Kawasaki Ninja 500R (ex500 is the official model name)
Suzuki GS500 (500 Ninja’s commuter competition)
Honda VFR (Interceptor, their sport touring line, known for very reliable V4 engines)
I’m not a cruiser guy so you’re on your own there.
Wow I actually just bought my first bike. It is a 94 Suzuki Katana 650 with 20k Miles on it. It needs a new battery and new front tire but for 800 bucks I couldn’t pass it up. It doesn’t look in the best shape but it runs good. I’ve never ridden before so I’ll be using this as my training bike and getting in to a MC safety class in the next month or so.
I’m looking forward to learning to ride this thing. Also take a look at craigslist for bikes. I found all the bikes I could ever want for 1500 on there.
At 20k miles you might want to make sure more than just the battery and tire need servicing :)
So, I got a wild hair, this was the result…
That’s my exact bike, color and all, it’s some stock photo, but the bike looks exactly the same. It’s a 2002 Yamaha Vstar Classic 1100, handles like a dream, and the stock pipes actually sound ok, although I would like a little more noise, with the valve noise that Yamaha is famous for, sometimes it sounds a bit like a sewing machine. I get alot of people asking if it’s a HD for some reason. Anyhoo, the bike weighs a ton, but it’s amazingly nimble, and has so much torque that you can get up to second gear without opening the throttle at all, just feathering the clutch. The clutch is another thing, it’s so easy to pull in it’s insane, my clutch hand never aches after a long ride. The throttle is very comfortable too, I could likely ride a long time without needing a throttle lock, though I may get one just for shits and giggles. The bike gets around 150 miles a tank oddly, but that may be because I’m goofing around with the throttle too much because it’s new.
Beautiful bike. However, I have many friends doing a similar thing with bike purchases lately and that one part of what you said struck me. As a neighbor to someone with a loud, nearly straight piped bike, why must everyone with these things need or want them to be so loud as to be annoying?
I know a true straight pipe gives performance, but why just the need for more sound? Is this something I have to figure out before “over 40 with my first motorcycle” biker initiation that my friends keep trying to drag me through?
Loud pipes just make everyone hate us. I know you may like it, but it’s rude and lame and it makes life difficult for all of your fellow motorcyclists.
Yes, please. I want to shoot loud motorcyclists in the head. Grow up.
H.
Please don’t take me wrong, the pipes I was eyeing were about 5% deeper sounding than my stock pipes, they barely make anything more than just a deep rumble without the air noises that my pipes make. The baffles they come with will be replaced with ones that provide more back pressure and even less noise.
I’m not one of those guys running around with a sherman tank all hopped up on crack, I just appreciate a nice low rumble without all that crackling mess that Harleys do.
A low rumble sounds good, it’s the idiots that sit in the street at stoplights by restaurants and rev their midlife crises that piss me off.
H.
I should probably expand upon my neighbors noise as well. It’s a high reving, screaming crotch rocket that he feels compelled to rev about 20 times each time he fires the bike up.
A low rumble would probably be okay, however the relative decibel level of the rumble is important. I could swear I’ve heard my buddies specifically mention they LIKE the loud sound though. I don’t want to get shot by neighbors if I ever purchase a bike.
Hahaha, yeah, the sport bikes remind me of weed-wackers on meth sometimes. One of my old bikes, a Virago 1100 cruiser had obnoxious pipes on it, it actually had my ears ringing after a long ride, ant that was with a full face style helmet on too. Never again, I just kind of wanted that whole bub-bub-bub-bub-bub-bub kind of deal, I like my neighbors, and I’d rather not anger them, they have a cool dog that my daughters love playing with. :)
My parents took an anniversary “cruise” across New Mexico and Arizona on their Vstars. They said they handled fine and had a good time.
Oh, on the jacket front, I just picked up a really great summer jacket, it’s by Fieldshear, I have the black with blue accent one.
http://www.revzilla.com/product/fieldsheer-mag-jacket
It breathes really well, zero flapping in the wind, fits great, and has great armor that you can take out. The place I linked to has them on closeout for like 64 bucks or something, it’s a great price, thay are usually about 85 or so.
I’m sure, the bikes are very nimble for a larger bike, very low slung, and handle really well. My only complaint is that they could use an extra gear for cruising, they feel a little wound up around 70, it tachs about 4 grand at 70, 4.5 at 85, so it feels a tad revvy for a cruiser.