Just ask on a sunny Saturday I'm sure ill be happy to make the ride. You could also come look at bikes in denver, its only an hour away.Originally Posted by MissBratt
Just ask on a sunny Saturday I'm sure ill be happy to make the ride. You could also come look at bikes in denver, its only an hour away.
A good long ride can clear your mind, restore your faith and use up a lot of fuel.
A good rider has balance, judgment, and good timing. So does a good lover.
I am paying cash for the bike. I moved from Idaho so most my stuff is there in my storage. I have a helmet,gloves,boots and jacket. I did want to get a different helmet mine is to big and some riding pants. I went with textile. I will be doing ALOT of long distance rides. Our friends in Idaho do 2 every summer so I will be going on a few. I just want comfort! So monday I plan on sitting on ALOT of bikes mainly SV650 and FZ6. Any other gear I should be thinking of as well while on the topic?
"You have to earn respect, it's not handed out"
rfranks-
Yes I will next weekend go to Denver if weather permits! Thats very nice thank you!! Also no I will NOT buy from Tri City... not very friendly always in a rush and kind of force ya to what they want,Maybe because I'm female and went alone I dont know.
"You have to earn respect, it's not handed out"
Looks like you have the basics covered. Sometime you can talk dealer into a new helmet with purchase.
MRA Racer No.427
Found this buyer's guide too. http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html
for paying cash for the bike! And another +1 for already having most of your gear. There's a few of us here that are into long distance riding and touring.
JKOL always calls my bike a girl's bike anyways
"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
Thanks Clovis! Well I have been riding with "On back" Of friends and bf's bikes since 2009. So I am around them I just never had my own, Now I have taken safety courses and got my endorcement I am ready!! Yeah I will never finance a bike! Good deal I love long rides and seeing new places.. How different is it from bein on back to actually riding yourself long distance? Thanks snow and drano you guys are helpful!!!
"You have to earn respect, it's not handed out"
First you wanna sniff the bikes butt and see if it's one you'll want to get aquanted with. Then you want to have the owner take it to IMI with you and see how many times you can drop it before something major breaks. If something does say no thanks I'm not interested. If nothing does say no thanks I'm not interested and look for another bike with a sticker that says Honda. Hope this helps
Just fyi--All dealerships are closed by law on Sundays, and most are closed by tradition on Mondays. So, if you're shopping on a weekend, Saturday is the only day possible unless you're looking at private sales.
Gear--Helmet, boots, gloves, jacket, pants, back protector (optional, but I won't ride without one), tank and/or saddle bags if you plan to ride long distance, various Under Armor (or equivalent) for both warm/hot and cool/cold weather riding. Textile jackets are typically the most suited to changing conditions as most have various vents and/or removable linings. Ultimately, if you're riding a lot and a lot of the year you may eventually get "winter" and "summer" gear.
Seats--you can get custom, or aftermarket, gel or foam, all depends on preference and cost. Shaving a seat has no measurable impact on how the bike will handle, just be aware that an improperly shaved seat, or one shaved too much will let you feel the subframe bars underneath. Gel seats or gel inserts are probably the most comfortable for long-distance riding, however if you leave them in the sun they can get nuclear hot.
Lowering--if done properly, it's not likely to upset the handling of the bike, just be sure that if you're lowering it significantly that you also trim the kickstand or the bike will typically be too upright and easier to blow over in a strong wind.
Bike--Sit on them all, but my recommendation is still the SV650/SV650S, you can even find some with ABS (though that ups the price). Clovis likes his Yamaha, but it's heavier and larger than the SV.
Dealers--Not a lot in FoCo, might be worth a Saturday to come down to Denver and visit as many dealers as you can. If you head to Fay Myers ask for Ed, he's a personal friend of mine from when I worked there, and he'll treat you well and without pressure. Saturdays are busy though, so he may have appointments, if you just drop in and he's busy just give him a bit of time to juggle his customers.
Helmet--the only time a dealer will "throw in" a helmet is if there's profit in the deal enough to cover the cost of the helmet. It's better to work the bike deal as best you can and not worry about including the helmet until/unless you're as far down on the bike price as you can go.
Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.
~Hunter S. Thompson
I can't hardly imagine riding around town as a passenger on a sport bike, let alone long distance.
You have a lot more room as the rider versus the passenger so it's going to be more comfortable. On a supersport I feel like I'm done after 200-300 miles but I've done 600 mile days on a R1, all though after about 400 miles you're practically fantasizing about that hotel room.
Set on several bikes to get a feel for them. I would go to a dealership for this and then look on Craigslist for the one you want to actually buy, since you'll get it cheaper.
"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
Ghost!! Thats freakin amazing info thank you so very much!!! stupid question... back protector is a plastic thing right? Now is there bike painters in FOCO? Yes clovis It sucked but was awesome to be on the ride!
"You have to earn respect, it's not handed out"
Don't buy an Icon "back protector". I would avoid most of Icon's gear in general. They have good leather jackets but that's about it.
"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
Is it bad gear? or just not comfortable?
"You have to earn respect, it's not handed out"
Icon gear is made more for fashion then for actual protection and functionality. Icon markets their gear "for the street" which means for the stunters.
"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
Ok... lol what's the other good brands.. that have lots of pink.. and black.. lol
"You have to earn respect, it's not handed out"
female motorcycle gear is kind of limited fashion wise. I don't know about Pink but you can get red. Most gear is limited to Black, Blue, Red, White or Green (for those strange Kawi guys).
For top protection, Alpinestars, Teknic and Dainese.
For Alpinestar's the female gear is called "Stella".
Sportbiketrackgear.com and motorcyclesuperstore.com are both reputable online vendors with reviews (and video reviews in the case of sportbiketrackgear).
"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
FIXORED!
Awesome thanks so much!
"You have to earn respect, it's not handed out"
LOL it's so cool it doesn't even need coolant!
FIXORED!
"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
In all seriousness, I do agree with Clovis that the Ninja 250 is a great beginner's bike. You'll likely outgrow it within one season, but then you can keep it as a track bike.
My icon winter gloves kick ass. You can find good girl gear fairly easy. My wife has a scorpion exo 400? And joe rocket jacket and both are black with pink butterflys and she just found matching pants. When you come down to denver performance has a womens section and lots of female employees. A starts, icon, scorpion, joe rocket, and sidi all have a womens line. Also when it comes to gear comfort is big if your focused on gear your not focused on the road.
Last edited by rfranks303; Sat Dec 17th, 2011 at 10:06 PM.
A good long ride can clear your mind, restore your faith and use up a lot of fuel.
A good rider has balance, judgment, and good timing. So does a good lover.
Awesome! I will for sure look!
"You have to earn respect, it's not handed out"
Icon does make some good gear, I still use my Icon motorhead leather jacket for cold weather riding. They don't make an adequate boot and most of their gloves are thinner leather and only go to the wrist. It looks like they've started offering leather pants instead of just riding jeans and textile. I haven't touched my icon helmet since I bought a Shoei a few years ago, same with the gloves.
I almost forgot about Joe Rocket, my wife's jacket is a JR.
Anyhow, I would strongly consider a Ninja 250. They're the universal learning bike and if you can find a used one on craigslist, you can learn on it and (depending on how much you ride) out grow it the same season. Because they're such great learning bikes the demand is always high so its perfectly reasonable to sell it for what you bought it for, maybe $200 less if you sell it the next season and it's a year older.
But do as I say, not as I do. I learned how to ride on a R1 and it felt fine for me. I never even got a single ticket on it... the FZ on the other hand...
"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
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