Author Topic: Nothing Beats A Long Trip For.... (Read 3768 times)

jbrough7 · « **on:** April 29, 2006, 08:23:29 PM »

making you a better rider....I just got back from a three day run and then noticed all the day-to-day stuff on the Bandit was way easier and I was a way smoother...guess that's the sign I have lots to learn...

Jim

PS - I broke the clutch lever off so it's only about three fingers long and i can shift way better! Go figure.

McFly · « **Reply #1 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:04:54 PM »

I'm completely in the same boat as you. I've only had my bike (first one ever) for 5 weeks exactly. After 1 week, I took it down to Lexington, KY for a 4-hour ride there and back. That got me to learn to be smart REAL quick. Ever since, riding around town is SOOO much easier. I've put over 1500 miles on it in these past 5 weeks, and only maybe 100 of them are around town. Mostly highway/interstate miles.

Keep ridin' and keep the shiny side up!

Desolation Angel · « **Reply #2 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:13:38 PM »

Jim, what did the wife and kids have to say about an old guy like you getting a moped? Just curious how much grief you caught.

jbrough7 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 13, 2006, 11:22:20 PM »

I dunno about you but around here, even with both of us working, we're getting ready to send the kids off to uni and its gonna take a freakin' fortune! (Thank God for lines of credit!)

In the middle of all this, my buddy's wife has a bike for sale and I think maybe I should give it a try. I really believe the only reason I was able to get into it was that the initial outlay -$800 - was cheap and then to certify it was just a few hundred more. Then I start to ride it and the savings in gas really is a ton so that looked good on the family finances. Plus I was having a ball.

Then, the ol' suzuki ran well but every once in a while would let me down. I could bumpstart the thing on good dry pavement if I started on tdc and pushed really hard but it's a killer on a sunny day!

Also it was WAY too small but not once did I complain! Then my wife starts to say, "Jeez...you really should get a bigger bike if you're going to ride so much." So I quote some used prices and she says something about another used bike and just more problems. So I says this one dealer in Toronto is selling Bandits $2000 below list and maybe I could wangle a bill for the ol' Suzuki. That's exactly what happened and still is a very happy story to this day.

Meanwhile I keep adding to the wardrobe so any money saved in fuel is gone real fast on new boots and pants, etc.

The kids are fine with the bike and I take them for rides and pick my daughter up every day after school on it. Their friends think the bandit is very cool so that's neat.

I'm lucky cuz my wife's family is big into bikes going back 70 years or so in England. Her dad bought his first bike when he was 11...it was in boxes in his friends garage...he rented a dolly for a tuppence or something and got the boxes home and put everything together and rode bikes after that for the next fifty years. He raced a lot and did some sidecar racing too.My wife doesn't like to drive the things, but she's getting to like going on behind me.

I think the only downside for her is she has to listen to me ramble on about them all the time. That's why I like you guys so much!!!

jim

Desolation Angel · « **Reply #4 on:** May 13, 2006, 11:42:22 PM »

My wife was dead set against another bike for me the first 23 years of our marriage, although one of her favorite memories of me was when we first met and I'd come wheeling into the drive-thru of the bank she worked at on my gloss black Lowrider with my hair all blown back and in my tight Britannia jeans, black Harley t-shirt, pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve, rattlesnake belt and boots, dark shades, and just dripping C-o-o-l!

Bet she misses that guy!

Fast forward 23 years. Major heart attack at 46, three jump starts, and in so much pain I told her I wanted to "check out". Fast forward 30 days. Floating in the spa with her. Told her I think I'm running out of time to do some of the things I always wanted to do...or do again. Told her I think I'm gonna buy a motorcycle, baby, while I'm young and healthy enough to still ride one. She just nodded along with my rambling and never said a word. Went with me shopping for one and I know she wasn't glad about it, but nary a word.

Guess I got her with the whole pitiful routine, eh?

I haven't decided what to use for a Miata, yet!

jbrough7 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 15, 2006, 07:00:19 AM »

Wow! At 46? I'm 46 now ...heavy smoker (sounds like you were?) Great! Just what I need. I like to think exercise a lot as I've always got something to do around the homestead but it's not as aerobic as i would like to think. Did you have any warning? Tightness in the chest? Annoying Canadians on BBS?

I would love a Miata and wife would too but the top of the windshield is just about right in my line of sight. Maybe a Solstice instead? Who knows...we have a mazda tribute leased and it's just about up so we might have to go back to the mazda dealer to get the best deal. 150000 km. and not one speck of trouble...only trouble is the lease was for 80000 km.!!!70000 over at .08 per is about $5600!! But they are wheeling and dealing and really want my business...

The hot tub thing is cool but I can't stand it. Get in with my better half and then our legs happen to touch or arms touch and boom! I'm all excited but that's NOT a good thing...I have to stay clear of them for my sanity...maybe once I hit 50, I'll have it lopped off so I won't have to worry about it anymore!

jim

WabashMX5 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 31, 2006, 02:08:07 PM »

I just got my '03 B12S yesterday, but put about 100 miles on during the same evening. I'm already finding that it's easier to be smooth and feel confident on a better-designed, bigger bike than on the '85 Kaw 450 (which was a wedding gift last year from our rider best man, and will now be my wife's learner).

As for the Miata, I swear by them, and have refused to trade mine through several other vehicle purchases. It's as close to motorcycle riding as you get on your wheels (positive and negative -- I feel almost as "invisible" in it as I do on a cycle). Mine's 12 years old, 107K on the clock, and its only Achilles heel is that off-season storage seems to be letting the original wheel bearings wear out. Absolutely dead-nuts reliable. I put about 70K on my used '91 before it got totalled by storm damage, and I've put aonther 70K on my current one, and they're bulletproof.

So to answer the question, "What to do about a Miata," my simple answer is, "Buy one."

As long as it's got good service records and is in good shape, my experiences give me no reason to be scared of mileage on a used one.

Sorry for the non-MC threadjack, but I can't help but comment on Miatas when given a chance!

jbrough7 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 31, 2006, 02:25:19 PM »

I like Miatas and my wife loves 'em and we have always wanted one but I'm too darn tall! The top of the windshield goes right across my sightline. How tall are you?

WabashMX5 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 31, 2006, 02:37:58 PM »

I'm 6'1", but fairly leggy. I still duck to see under the windshield header at some stoplights to see them overhead. You can always pull the sunvisors and put blank plates over the mounting locations to get you a little extra sightline clearance.

Still, I sit pretty upright and don't have the seat quite all the way back (make sure that it's not a reach for my clutch leg to push clear to the floor)....