Buying a motorcycle....help!

Here is a 1997 Honda Magna with less than 3000 miles on it with a buy it now price of $3,999.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1997-...QQcmdZViewItem

It would work fine for you and the motor is a very proven design(V4) and the seat height is pretty low.

Actually,

A Sportster is usually considered to NOT be a good beginner bike. The center of gravity on a Sportster is high compared to any other "cruiser" style. This gives the feeling of top heaviness which is very uncomfortable for a beginner.
Especially at low speeds like in a parking lot. Sportsters are made to have fun in the twisties. Softails are have much lower COG's and even though they have 200+ lbs on the Sporty they are much easier to handle in traffic and parking lots etc.

HP is way over rated. Air cooled V-twins are more known for their torque which is a better gauge of real world performance anyways. 100+ HP is great when you are looking to to see if you can outrun the highway patrol but 80 ft lbs of torque produced at 3000 rpms means a lot more in a real world situation of passing that line of cars in front of you.

My Stage 1 883 Sportster would hit the rev limiter still pulling at 90 mph.

My stage 2 Softail Custom does just about the same although it has more on the top end then the 883 did.

Most Japanese water cooled 600cc crotch rockets would beat the air cooled v-twin in a top end race but up to about 90 mph or so the V-twin will hold it's own.

wife has a suzuki burgman 400 - nice scooter - not for highways, but it will move. I have had it to 65 and the ride was comfortable, but you have to stay on top of it, since the wheels are smaller - any potholes make for an exciting ride.
I have a M50 and really like it, right now its just too cool and rainy, but will be riding again shortly. Love the bike and mpg is just under 50, if you don't drive crazy.

I do like what everyone else has said - if you are tired - DONT ride. A few bucks for fuel is definitely not worth a life.

100 highway miles a day means you are going to want a big (750cc +) bike.

I would look for a used Japanese cruiser style (Magna, Shadow, Vulcan). To start with. You can easily find a good bike for well less then your $10000.00 budget.

Ride like you are invisible.

Read the posts
I been on bikes for over thirty years.
Last bike I bought new was a Kawasaski 1500 vucan nomad.
Can you say LEMON. I would not buy from any dealership ever again. They never told me it came with a plastic oil pump gear. Makes a very high pitched squeel when it goes south. Honda does make a good product and there are lots of parts. Buying used : air cooled or water cooled. Drive shaft, belt or chain driven. Spokes or mag type wheels. Ridding is a lot of fun. save fuel. No one has addressed the maintenance with you.
I read what you want to do and you need a good trike. Try finding a VW conversion.
As for rain gear FROG TOGS are the best. You can find them when you search around at sporting good stores or bike shops. Wish you well

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I just got home from taking 3 days of motorcycle safety training course.

TOTALLY AWESOME!!

I enrolled wanting to learn how to ride safely. I really didn't have any interest in riding motorcycles beyond saving money on gas. I gotta get one!! This is more fun than a barrel of drunk monkeys!

DO NOT allow drunk monkeys access to the keys.....

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If you can read this - thank a teacher. If you can read this in English - thank a veteran.

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I brought my Ural Tourist home on Friday.

Having never driven a motorcycle before, I had 2 days of instructions before driving it the 80 miles to get it home.

Still traveling 45 mph until I finish the "break-in" period.

I'm loving it!

http://www.imz-ural.com/tourist/

i own a honda rebel 250cc and its a great motorcycle to learn on but you won't want one this small for the bigger roads. it might get up to 60 mph but the revving sound is so high that i havent topped it out yet on an open stretch.

last year i took basic motorcycle training in austin where they use the regan high school parking lot. manual and movie training for two evenings and on their honda 250cc for two days. they start you from the very beginning -- where all the important parts are, how to start it and at the end you have a riding test. we rode through various driving patterns. by the end of the course i was fairly comfortable (in the parking lot). the parking lot trainers were excellent and the driving patterns made sense. ive put in some hours driving paved county roads and am slowly getting better.

they also have an advanced class that i would like to take.

I'll second the going opinion.... you might get a nice little 400cc thaat will do 70, but it is so light you wont be happy going 40. the heavy bike will ride smoother and resist the road bumps and wind better.

going 40 ona vespa like scooter is just suicide.... if the road isnt glass smooth and the wind isnt dead calm.

people fear heavy bikes but keep in mind, if you lay a light one or a heavy one down, your gonna hurt the same. your gonna fly clear of it and hit the road in most cases and it wont matter, iff its a 250 enduro or a 1500 monster cruiser.

it wont fall on you, once you learn to ballance it. if it does everyone will help you pick it back up.

also small light bikes bounce allover the road and if tyou are not used to riding dirt bikes, you wwont like it and it will tire you out fast on the open road as you will have to fight it all the time.... a large heavy bike will just glide along with you on it, like a horse.

if all you wwill be doing is zipping 5 miles down the roat to the store on it, a nice 100cc or so old enduro will be fine, local roads you cant go over 35-45 anyhow.

if you are going to commute on a hyway, an enduro or scooter is a death ride.

I used to have a nice old kawasaki 100 street& trail it was about a 78 or so, it was a nice 30-40 mph commuter and rode well and easy. super easy to fix as the old ones were just not overdesigned like new ones.

my fav was an older honda 750, heavy and fat.... rode at 70mph as smmioth as slick as snot on a doorknob.

I has a KZ1100 also, it was a nice ride...

pick the bike to suit the job and the average speed LIMIT, not to suit your "I can go really fast and loud" factors.

on rough dirt roads and narrow lil town streets, I'd reccomend an enduro type 100-250cc. they are manuverable and light.

if you have long ways to go with speedlimits over 45, you definitely need a big criusier.

oh I had a 650 savage, they have 1 piston and sound neat.....
we called it a thumper.... lol
rode like a piece of [NO DONT SAY IT] but it was pretty with a low center of gravity [low seat].

keep in mind, fast is good if you need fast..... most roads are limited to 45mph in and around towns. you might not need fast.

donot buy a moped.... you will sell it the next day.

I test rode a honda called a "helix" 250cc, it was COOL! really nice ride for such a weird looking bike.

This is what I took this weekend. We were on little 125cc kawasaki bikes. The instructors were great! They stayed an hour after class with me and we talked about the type of bike I need. They know the type of roads I'll be riding on and we determined that I need at least a 550 cc bike. They went over the things I need to check out on a bike before I buy it. A shopping I will go....a shopping I will go......

Oh, gee! I HOPE that's just because a moped wouldn't fit her situation!

As soon as we get our truck repaired I'm buying a sweet little sage green Moto Fino moped....just for inner city driving, max of 7 miles (one way) EVER, though mostly to run to the store, city park, meet friends for coffee...1-3 miles a trip.

Mon

I missed this thread before, and it's been helpful reading it. I've been looking on e-bay for used Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki 250 cc bikes with the intent of using it to "refamiliarize" myself with bike riding and to get an energy efficient (and fun) way for quick trips into town. It might be better go to go a little bigger.

We want a Suzuki Boulevard C90T SOOOOO bad!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Suzuk...spagenameZWDVW

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I have owned 35 or so motorcycles in my life. There are many very good motorcycles out there right now.
From an economic standpoint, if you're buying a new bike, Harley Davidson makes the best sense. They depreciate the least over the years.
If you're buying used, Harley Davidson is the worst bike to purchase. In fact, many people selling used Harleys believe there used bike with 30000+ miles on it is worth more than what they paid for it new. Harley now produces over 350,000 motorcycles annually, which means the supply is now meeting the demand, and dealerships can no longer gouge an extra $5000 on top of the MSRP.

Riding over 100 miles a day means you want a commuter bike. I suggest nothing less than 750cc.
You can lower ANY motorcycle by purchasing a smaller size set of shock absorbers or having them "cut". You can also lower the front end as well.

There are many used motorcycles out there that are ideal for commuting.
Honda Gold Wing. 1985 to present. These are probably the most reliable, lowest maintenance motorcycles in existence. Stone cold reliable. Water cooled & shaft driven. This actually is a touring bike, and conceivably, a bit heavy. I include it as a commuter bike only because of its high reliability, longevity, and reasonable price.
Honda also made the Pacific Coast. Controversial bikes. People either loved them or hated them. An ideal commuter with its huge storage capacity trunk.
BMW. The K75, produced from 1986 - 1995 is often touted as the best bike BMW ever made. 750 cc, 75 horsepower, 3 cylinder, water cooled and shaft driven. A much smaller bike than the Gold Wing and far easier to handle.
BMW has many bikes that are also ideal commuter bikes.
Kawasaki. The Concours, possibly the zrx are their best commuter bikes. The Concours is loosely copied from the BMW R100RS (81-84), albeit with Kawasaki's 4 cylinder engine. I rode a Concours about 20 miles and thought the bike vibrated too much.
Suzuki Have to admit I'm unfamiliar with what Suzuki has to offer.
Yamaha My least favorite popular brand of motorcycles. Many people tout the old Viragos, but I can't figure out how/where they get the parts. Yamaha is the worst at supplying parts for 15+ year old bikes.
Harley Davidson. Harleys are lots of fun things. Commuting isn't what they excel at. Yes, many people use them for commuting. Given their high cost, high theft rate, and high insurance costs, I don't see it as a decent commuter bike.
If you are going to purchase a Harley, avoid anything built before 1985. These bikes (I owned 3 pre-85 Harleys) were pretty much engineering disasters that sent the company into bankruptcy in 1981. Harley finally figured out people want to RIDE bikes, not work on them.

NOW you have the right reason to buy a motorcycle! They are a blast! Congrats on taking the MSF course, I took mine a year ago and it really boosted my confidence.

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Sweet Penny!

I used to ride an '82 FXSB Low Rider. Tricked it out by exchanging out the standard shocks with dresser shocks, then put a wet clutch on it.

My first real bike (after dirt bikes when I was a kid) was a stock '47 EL Knuckle. Taught me to really pay attention!!

Started a couple of ABATE chapter in IA back in the 80's, taught motorcycle safetry course one summer.

No advice for you about which bike for you to get TX, like Penny said, ride defensively

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Buy used.

A 250 is where a lot of guys start, and consequently, they move on up, or they quit altogether. Most of the time, the little bikes don't have a lot of wear.

I think they make the most sense as a bike to commute short distances within town, or short hops around the house.

One might do you for awhile...

Yeah, that's what I was thinking originally. A 150cc dirt bike seemed big enough when I was in high school, and I'm about the same size as I was then...but maybe it's shifted around a little.

Problem is the nearest town is 60+ miles one way. I commute 40 miles to work each day. And there's a reason my online name is TxGypsy....I got a wanderin foot! Everything out here is at least a 100 mile trip no matter where you go. I am really looking forward to getting a motorcycle because I won't feel so guilty about the expense of road trips. I LOVE to travel. I'm hoping to find a group to ride with and eventually go down through Mexico to Belize Anybody have any experience at camping off of a motorcycle? I had our local motorcycle repair guy recommend a kawasaki ninja 250 to me today. He doesn't even have one for sale...he just loves the bike. He showed me the one he just bought his wife a couple of months ago. He said they both love it. It'll go fast enough that I'm really likely to get a ticket if I'm not careful(we have one state trooper to cover 3 counties out here....why am I on a first name basis with him ) I sat on his wifes bike.....gotta say it was nice. It fit me perfect on the inseam(both feet touched ground firmly) and it's light enough that I could lift it if ever it fell. Anyone have experience with this bike?