Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site rochester.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!mcnc!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!rochester!stuart From: stuart@rochester.UUCP (Stuart Friedberg) Newsgroups: net.cycle Subject: What to start out on (80 lines) Message-ID: <10043@rochester.UUCP> Date: Tue, 4-Jun-85 13:03:48 EDT Article-I.D.: rocheste.10043 Posted: Tue Jun 4 13:03:48 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 6-Jun-85 06:41:42 EDT References: <346@osiris.UUCP> <179@fear.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: U. of Rochester, CS Dept. Lines: 75 After seeing a couple of articles recommending large bikes for beginners I think I should present an alternative view. The one article reporting a liter bike as a first bike in particular really irked me. First some background. (People may remember my comments along these lines from a year or two ago) I consider a motorcycle real, practical, transportation. I don't own a car. I have never owned a car. My first drivers license was for motorcycles *only* (Maryland). I have something over 30,000 motorcycle miles and probably less than 1,000 auto miles in six years of "adult" driving (ie, licensed). I routinely make trips of 400 - 800 miles (limited to about 500 miles in a day by common sense and endurance). I do *not* live in a all-year sunny state: Indiana, New York and Maryland are the three I have been in over the last 5 years. In Rochester, New York, I can only get in about 8 months (9 at best) of riding because of the snow. The cold can be dressed for, but I won't attempt the snow. Now then, my first bike was a 1975 Honda CL360. It required constant maintenance and I learned a lot about small engine care from it. I also put about 11,000 miles on it in a year and a half before an unidentified electrical problem left me stranded 475 miles from home. With a Plexifairing on the front, that $450 (very used) motorcycle was MORE than ample for highway travel. It didn't accelerate in a very exciting way, but it would cruise for eight or nine hours at 70 mph on the superslab. No bullshit, we're talking history. Now this was NOT a powerful bike. People with more experience tell me that its predecessor (CB/CL350) had more umph. But it had enough to do REAL work. By the way, at 5' 5" I am not the largest rider around, but at 175 lbs in wet weather gear I am not the lightest either, and I traveled with a couple of small (carry on size) suitcases stacked on the luggage rack in the rear. I now have a 1981 Yamaha 550 Seca (XJ550RH). I am happy with this bike. I have Krauser racks on it, so I can carry more, more easily. I also am using only the stock "bikini" fairing, which *adds* turbulence and doesn't make long rides any easier. Overall, though, I find this MORE than enough bike for my needs. I use hard compound tires (for mileage rather than race tracks) and am about to put on my third set. I have gotten accustomed to using a fair amount of throttle (increases adrenalin flow as well as gas flow) and even Conti SuperTwins won't take that forever. I have *already* put the bike's third chain on. (By the way, Tsubaki "normal" chain lasted longer than RK O-ring chain for me, and the Tsubaki was half the price!) Ok, so what do you want from a bike? If you want to set the county quarter mile record, you don't want my Seca. But you've got no business at the race track on your first bike. This "stuff" about outgrowing a bike in a "hurry" and "wanting more" doesn't make sense to me. I've got a half-liter bike that can get me into toe-curling situations faster than I can think myself out of them. Excitement? Endurance? Practicality? Cruising? Touring (yes, REALLY)? You can do it all on a 500 - 550. I would say on a smaller bike, but no one would take me seriously. My personal recommendation is to get the best bargain in the 450 - 650 class you can find that looks nice to you and doesn't leak. Unless you are a large person, bikes of this class (or classes) will provide more than enough of what you want unless you just *have* to have raw horsepower or room for two bodies, a jacuzzi and a wet bar. It's too bad Harley doesn't make anything in this class, but the Japanese have some H-D clones in the right range if you like boulevard cruisers. Stu Friedberg {seismo, allegra}!rochester!stuart stuart@rochester PS: I *do* plan to get a larger bike. In a couple of years I should be able to afford a BMW K100RS and they should have some of the glitches worked out by then. As you might have gathered, I think sport touring is a large part of where it's at... Oh yeah, I don't get along with two strokes (although I DID like a friend's 750 Water Buffalo) and an SR500 I borrowed for a couple of months was a sheer uninterruped delight!