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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!dartvax!davidk
From: davidk@dartvax.UUCP (David C. Kovar)
Newsgroups: net.cycle
Subject: Re: What to start out on (80 lines)
Message-ID: <3220@dartvax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 6-Jun-85 12:51:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: dartvax.3220
Posted: Thu Jun  6 12:51:48 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 9-Jun-85 04:01:51 EDT
References: <346@osiris.UUCP> <179@fear.UUCP> <10043@rochester.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 47

> .
> .
> .
> 
> 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.

For my money, this man know's what he's talking about. I started off with
a Honda V45 Sabre which 750cc (748, actually, I think) cycle. Far more than
I could ever practically use, particularly for a beginner. It had enough 
power to get me into nasty situations before I had the experience to get
out of them. (This is also partly due to driver stupidity.) I had to sell
it a year and a half after I bought it because I needed the money, just about
at the time when I was really comfortable with using all the power it had,
and even then, it was probably illegal/dangerous in some cases. Now that I
am looking for a new cycle, I'm considering something more around the 500's.
Plenty of power and less insurance costs. The only reason I would consider
getting a larger cycle would be for touring, larger sport cycles belong
on the track and that is not where I want to be.

-- 
David C. Kovar    
	    USNET:      {linus|decvax|cornell|astrovax}!dartvax!davidk%amber
	    ARPA:	davidk%amber%dartmouth@csnet-relay
	    CSNET:	davidk%amber@dartmouth

"I felt like a punk who'd gone out for a switchblade and come back
 with a tactical nuke.

 'Shit', I thought. 'Screwed again. What good's a tactical nuke in a
  street fight?'"
			"Burning Chrome" by William Gibson