My Motorcycle Class

[obscurus]

Obscurus, I had a collegue in one company who also was an ehtuisast for bikes, and the picture you draw here, is pretty much the same that I learned from him as well. So even though his is enthusiastic about it, he still managed to give me the fear of the price tags and I must say I believed him. He also told me, that he drove without leather often in the beginning, but then he had an accident, where he had it on, and he said, from that day on he would never go without it. If he hadn't had it strapped on that day, he would have a lot of injuries, so I wouldn't really go without it, but that's also quite an expensive part.

 

 

I had a very minor accident where I hit a patch of oil on the road as I was going around a small roundabout at about 15KpH. I was fine, as I lowsided the bike as the front wheel lost tracktion, and I basically landed on my feet running. My bike was another story - cracked fairing, several bits bent out of shape, and a ~$1500 repair bill. My insurance only kicks in when the damage is above $2000, so I had to pay out of my own pocket. I have mates who have had much more spectacular crashes where it would have cost them more to fix the bike than to buy a new one, not to mention the medical cost of spending months in hospital having extensive skin grafts and physiotherapy because they thought they were invincible and didn't need leathers.

 

EDIT: I don't ride so much anymore now that I have a daughter - while motorcycling can be made relatively safe if you ride intelligently, it is still too risky when you have family responsibilities, IMO (read: my wife won't let me ). So I'm taking a long break from bikes until my kid(s) are older.

Edited September 5, 2006 by obscurus

[Komag]

Well, yesterday I bought a little 2002 Yamaha Virago 250, woohoo! I'm just about to run off to my insurance agent (who quoted me $270/year on it) to get that all set, then to the RMV for registration and plates, then back to the dealer to pick it up and ride home!

 

The bike was $2400, with about 3500 miles on it, and it came with a few extras (gas tank "saddle" thingy, luggage rack, back seat-back). I'm excited!

 

I know it's very small and probably not good for the highway, but around here I don't need to go on the highway anyway. Plus, I figure I'll probably sell it in about 18 months (spring '08) when I want to move up to a larger bike, and I believe I'll be able to get most of what I paid for it at that time, probably around $2000.

[Komag]

Okay, I got my insurance, and I opted to do full coverage instead of the basics, with just a $500 deductible, so the new total was $485 for a year. So if I damage it and need $1500 in repairs, I'm only out $500. Same deal if it's stolen, they'll give me the full value minus $500.

 

I then got it registered and paid the "government steals from me because they can" $120 (5%) sales tax (why do I have to pay sales tax on a USED item??? The guy who bought it new paid the sales tax, that should be it, forever.)

 

Now, after my wife gets off work at 2:00pm, we'll go and I can get my bike and ride it home!

[obscurus]

Not a bad choice Komag, the Viragos are a pretty decent first bike. sounds like you got a good deal. And if you aren't riding on the highway much, you will find that smaller bikes are much better for riding in urban traffic.

[Order of the Hammer Bureaucrat]

sorry for revival (reading 4 pages of "new posts" after vacation and a busy year start) but bike discussion got my blood heated up a bit. I always understood that bikes were cheaper in all regards than petrol cars. You can even carry sizeable cargo or passengers in that side-thingy. I mean that was the reason for all those excellent italian and french designs, because the people there wanted a fossil-fuel powered fast vehicle but couldn't afford cars. So they bought motorbikes and scooters. People who are poorer still ride unmotorized bicycles, horse-buggies, or walk.

[Komag]

So far it's been a great gas saver for me. I've clocked it three times and it averages about 75 mpg, very nice compared to our 14 mpg SUV! I ride it all around town instead of using the SUV whenever I can, and in just the past month it's saved me around $50

 

Plus since it's a second vehicle, it's MUCH more convenient for my wife and I, instead of constantly figuring each other's rides to and from work, store, etc. That also saves gas because there are less round trips (when giving a ride to drop someone off you end up doing two round trips instead of just one).

[NeonsStyle]

Another revival lol

 

I used to ride years ago... raced some too... man thats fun... as for bikes being dangerous... fooking oath they are.

 

Back then, there was no armour or back support.

 

I have broken my arm, my leg, my knee, my ankle. I've hit cars (heaps), hit brick walls, poles, gone over cliffs. Except for the cars, they were all my fault; and the ones with cars; were always the car driver not seeing me; even though I had my lights on; and those crashes with cars resulted in all my injuries. I'm actually amazed I came out of it all in one piece with no permanent injuries. Friends have lost legs, ended up with massive damage to their legs.

 

Ejecting from a bike, is a smart move if you get the timing right. I only managed to the get the timing right once, mostly because they happen so fast (even tho it seems slower at the time). I broke my knee trying to eject from the bike. A car did a U turn in front of me; I set myself to jump over the bonnet (hood) of the car just before the bike hit, but my knee got caught on the bars on the way over and slammed me into his bonnet. Then; when I was on the ground, the fat bitch in the car sat on my chest cause I kept wanting to get up and check my bike; and she thought I was hurt. Of course I was fooking hurt, but my bike was more important. lol

 

I've done some mind bogglingly stupid things on motorbikes on the road... my advice to anyone contemplating it? Learn defensive riding... learn defensive riding... learn defensive riding... oh, and make sure you're insured to the hilt for medical.

 

Other than that, nothing beats a bike on a hot summer night. Would I do it again? Never... been there did that... stupid once is ok, stupid twice is just fooking stupid. lol

 

Venus