Thinking about getting myself a motorcycle.

[bodyhard]

Not sure if I ever mentioned this, but my boy Dennis keeps his bike in my back yard, he has been begging me to get a bike so I can go riding with him. I don't know how to ride a motorcycle, he wants to teach me and I am sure I can easily learn the same way I learned how to drive a stick.

Patty of course is 100% against me getting a bike, we have had several friends die riding bikes so she doesn't like bike.

But, I am seriously considering getting one, just don't know anything about them, which one to get, what kind etc etc.

Any recommendations from anybody here who rides?

[MrNismo]

I've been on 2 wheels since I was 4 years old but my first street bike was a Suzuki SV1000S and it scared the $hit out of me for at least the first year I had it haha! Most people will says start with something a bit smaller, both in weight and power until you have a year or so of riding time in. I had my bike for 7 years and never once layed it down though I came damn close several times. No doubt though this had a lot to do with having so much time on dirtbikes and other people's street bikes growing up.

My recommendation (assuming you dont have any dirt or street bike experience):

1. Take the MSF course: https://www.msf-usa.org/

2. Find and buy something fairly cheap and small as a first bike. Typically you can resell after a year and lose very little money.

3. Learn to look around constantly! Everyone wants to kill you when you are on a bike


This is my old bike:

[bodyhard]

I've been on 2 wheels since I was 4 years old but my first street bike was a Suzuki SV1000S and it scared the $hit out of me for at least the first year I had it haha! Most people will says start with something a bit smaller, both in weight and power until you have a year or so of riding time in. I had my bike for 7 years and never once layed it down though I came damn close several times. No doubt though this had a lot to do with having so much time on dirtbikes and other people's street bikes growing up.

My recommendation (assuming you dont have any dirt or street bike experience):

1. Take the MSF course: https://www.msf-usa.org/

2. Find and buy something fairly cheap and small as a first bike. Typically you can resell after a year and lose very little money.

3. Learn to look around constantly! Everyone wants to kill you when you are on a bike


This is my old bike:

Thanks for the input/recommendation man! That bike looks sweet man, I would like something like that.

[poundXpound]

[Brackneyc]

I've been on two wheels for 46 years. I currently have a Harley and a sport bike. Love both. As said above, take the safety course. By a cheap spot after bike and see if you even like riding. Get safe and comfortable, then buy a better bike.

[bodyhard]

lol thats hot but nah not for me.

I've been on two wheels for 46 years. I currently have a Harley and a sport bike. Love both. As said above, take the safety course. By a cheap spot after bike and see if you even like riding. Get safe and comfortable, then buy a better bike.

kool, I will check this route out.

[paolo59]

LOL I'm not your mother. With that said...Don't! Ha! Dallas is full of absolute idiot drivers. It's bad enough driving around this madhouse in a car, surrounded by steel. I can only imagine what New York City would be like. If you do get a bike, take heed to what one of the posters above mentioned; "Everybody on the road wants to kill you!"


I agree with your wife!

[Clinos]

As Brack mentioned do the MSF course, see those bikes they have the 250s? You'll want to get one to screw around on for the first year. Then move up to a bigger bike. You could also move up immediately to the bike you want but it's like that first car, first, love, first anything, odds are very high that you'll break or wreck it. Best to start on something you don't mind dropping rather than a brand new something you are making payments on.

Invest in gear, wear it.
Invest in your training, do it.
Invest in your time, practice on open lots, with patient friends, etc....

Consider what you want to ride, distance, and lifestyle. Really give it some thought so you don't buy a cruiser when you wanted a tourer, or a super sport when you wanted a bar hopper.

All that out of the way, get one and join the club, there are lots of us who enjoy the open road and the freedom a bike gives.

[CaptChip40]

This is my current ride, just picked it up in July it fits our style of riding, mostly long distance.

Deb and I took a ride to NY last January to the Jarvis center for the International Motorcycle Show. Driving around NY in her car I commented how I would not ride my bike in this fuken city. And i've ridden pretty much all over the US as far west as Wyoming.
I'm sure you can pick up a good used bike of craigslist for cheap money. Hell maybe a scooter.

[Corbi]

I have been riding since I was 15 so coming up on 40 yrs now, with that being said I agree with your wife and wouldn't do it. Most of the good riders I know all started at a young age, the ones who started later in life have had more accidents as well as a number of deaths. I find myself riding less and less the older I get, this yr I literally took the bike out once for about an 80 mile ride, parked it & it has sat since.

[Fishman15]

I don't even ride bicycles any more. 4 wheels or 2 feet thank you kindly...

[SP1966]

Make sure you get a starter bike like this one for your first bike!



Not even a Harley sounds that good!

[TnTNZ]

Been on two wheels since 15, first vehicle was a bike.

First piece of advice. Listen to your wife.

Now that you're probably not going to do that. Take a safety course, get something small to start.

Then the most valuable motorcycle advice given to me by my dear old Dad. "When you're riding, you are invisible and everyone, and i mean everyone is actively trying to kill you'... still alive today because of that advice.

[so-tex]

I thought about getting one as well, but I could never find a way to hold my beer and drive at the same time.
Srs though, I think Corbi makes a good point.

[crupiea]

I have been riding my whole life. just got back from a trip to laughlin nevada, about 350 miles each way through the dersert highways. just cant beat the freedom of it. i have a cruiser, yamaha vstar. not the greatest thing in the world byt reliable and affordable.

This one has you written all over it.

[CaptChip40]

Nothing like picking up your motorcycle at the dealership and riding away on it.

[CaptChip40]

I have been riding my whole life. just got back from a trip to laughlin nevada, about 350 miles each way through the dersert highways. just cant beat the freedom of it. i have a cruiser, yamaha vstar. not the greatest thing in the world byt reliable and affordable.

This one has you written all over it.

Buddy of mine had a Boss, fast as hell, only two gears. Everyone always looking at it, it would pass anything except a gas station.

[Karl_Hungus]

I have been riding since I was 15 so coming up on 40 yrs now, with that being said I agree with your wife and wouldn't do it. Most of the good riders I know all started at a young age, the ones who started later in life have had more accidents as well as a number of deaths. I find myself riding less and less the older I get, this yr I literally took the bike out once for about an 80 mile ride, parked it & it has sat since.

Rode a dirt bike as a teenager and thought about getting a bike to take on the road. I have since realized that with my luck, it wouldn't be such a great idea. I have been in three car crashes in the last 5 years, none of which were my fault (idiots blasting through red lights and stop signs). I escaped with minor injuries in all of them. On a bike? I would have been dead or seriously injured. They are fun as hell to ride, but I am a magnet for idiots on the road.

[CaptChip40]

You have to decide what kind go bike you want, strictly street bike like a cruiser or tourer, that would be your Harley, big honda's, yamaha etc. Sport tourers are fun, light weight and durable.
Saw some good deals on NY craigslist.
These bikes get good reviews from some friends who have them, reliable and can do a lot. Easy to handle and very responsive. ALso has ABS brakes which is good for anyone but especially a novice.
https://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/mcy/5812991799.html

[taizer007]

Get one but expect to crash just hope you don't die in that inevitable crash. It will happen.

I've been on 2 wheels since high school
Well more often 1 wheel if you know what I mean

[wesleysh21]

Rode a dirt bike as a teenager and thought about getting a bike to take on the road. I have since realized that with my luck, it wouldn't be such a great idea. I have been in three car crashes in the last 5 years, none of which were my fault (idiots blasting through red lights and stop signs). I escaped with minor injuries in all of them. On a bike? I would have been dead or seriously injured. They are fun as hell to ride, but I am a magnet for idiots on the road.

Yep, I've been a dirt bike guy since I could first get on one. When I was young I wanted to be the next Damon Bradshaw. LOL. I've never even been tempted to get a street bike because of the other people on the road texting and crap.

[Brackneyc]

John, I don't want to freak you out. I lost two good friends and riding partners about a month ago. They were riding home, and a driver crossed the center line and killed them both instantly. They were both on their own bikes.

It was heartbreaking to say the least, and I think about it a lot. Sadly, it is a risk each of us takes when we get on the road.

I am sad that we have so many fcking idiot, ass hole drivers out there, and it is getting worse. Between cellphones, alcohol and just plane idiocy, us riders are probably at the highest risk we have ever been at as it relates to getting hurt out there.

I still ride, and I plan to as long as I can. I actually fear hitting a deer more than getting hit by another driver.

[bodyhard]

Some really good advice on here and I thanks you guys for that. I know I have to respect the power on the bike as well as the road as I know how dangerous this can be. I have been thinking about it a lot and seriously considering it.

However, I never rode a motorcycle and I am not sure if it is the thrill of not knowing and possibly change my mind once I learn, but I wont know till I learn.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your input, seriously noted and taken into consideration.

[mtpockets]

You are going to see some crazy ass stuff from cars on your bike, so regardless of bike choice, always wear a helmet{with a camera on it, you are going to be kicking some serious car rage ass and we don't want to miss a thing}

Seriously tho, good for you!

[EdwardTheGreat]

I have been down twice so far...never know when the next one will come.

Both times had nothing to do with me, I was struck by a car while at speed. The second one, the driver of the car drove right into the back of my bike while I was going about 40 mph. I woke up in a ditch.

The point is, no matter how careful you are, it takes one stupid error on someone else's driver to end your life. At the very least, always wear full gear. It is that moment right as you are about to make contact with the cement that you think "Ah fukk...why didn't I put my jacket on today..."

Pic of my current ride attached. Sorry, don't know how to embed.

[le0p]

{with a camera on it, you are going to be kicking some serious car rage ass and we don't want to miss a thing}

This! You will know rage like no other when idiots on cellphones almost kill you 10x a day.

I say go for it man, you only live once. I've been riding about 10 years now and had a little previous experience with dirt bikes but not that much. I bought a old honda cruiser (light and cheap) when I first got my license and rode it all summer to get comfortable, sold it in the fall and got a new bike (Triumph). There's a few models of bikes out there that people recycle for this reason, you can generally buy and sell them at the same cost, I actually made a profit on mine.

I don't think it's necessary to reiterate any more how dangerous it is. Everything is dangerous. You just gotta stay sharp, which I'm sure you know how to do.

[Plateauplower]

I got my first dirtbike at about 6 years old. Have had dirt bikes, street bikes (Harley, no sport bikes) and Dual sport bikes. My last was a 2008 Honda XR650 which is a dirt bike/ desert race bike that is street legal that I bought new. It was modded and fast and powerful. I sold that when my wife was pregnant with our first. I still have a 200cc mini bike I use to pull deer out of teh woods but no street bikes for me until I'm not needed as much by my kids. They are fun. They are dangerous on the roads with idiot drivers. If I lived in an area with a lot of 2 lane highways and less traffic I might consider riding on the roads sooner, but bike vs car crashes rarely have a good outcome for the biker.
sooo...

YOLO - but it can get a lot shorter.

[dazlittle]

Passed my bike and car test at 17, had a bike until children came along and couldn't afford it any more. Hit my late 30's and got back into it.

Currently have a Gixxer 750 and its awesome, Protective clothing all the time, ride within your personal limits not the limits of who you are riding with, and as others have said be aware that everyone else on the road is trying to kill you!!

Here is a photo of my two mistresses

[x-trainer ben]

Has road rash or skin graft technology improved in the last 20 years? That was always my concern after seeing a couple of buddies who ride.

[JediRN]

I loved riding a bike when I was young. I lost my taste for it when I was changing the diaper on a 22 y/o quad on a vent.

Trauma nurses refer to them as Donor Cycles.

I still might get one someday though. Just make sure that I have my DNR braclet on when i ride. I'm not afraid to die in a wreck. I'm afraid I won't die and end up like one of the patients at my second job.