On Buying A Motorcycle
I've read many threads on here from folks bitten by the riding bug, and they are unsure how to go about it or think they are unable to. Some folks have the money, and just want to know how to go about it; others have tight finances or no credit or bad credit; and are unsure how to proceed.
Like everybody else, I agonized over my first "real" motorcycle purchase. The first bike I bought was a 1969 Yamaha twin two-stroke trail bike basket case...literally, the engine was in pieces in a bushel basket. My buddies brother was sick of trying to make it run right, so I got it for $50 bucks and worked on it in his garage so my folks wouldn't find out. It was a junker, so it wasn't a "real" motorcycle in my mind. Nevermind the fact that it got me hooked, and 35 years and twenty-something bikes later I'm still riding.
Everybodies' circumstances are different; if your of the "I want to buy another toy" set, skip this thread; I'm talkin' to the workin' folks who have to pinch pennies and figure out if they can afford this way of life.
Growing up, I came from, uhm, what my folks would call "difficult circumstances"; we didn't have a lot of money, and we lived in a very economically depressed area. On top of that, my father was an alcoholic, and he spent most of the money that came in on what HE wanted to spend it on. More than once, we were "escorted" from our apartment with all our belongings by the Sherriff. Needless to say, trying to attain some financial security has been important in my life. I have never been one to run after wealth, but I've learned the value of money.
After modest success in the business world, in my later thirties, I lost nearly everything. No job, no money; had to sell ALL the toys: boats, motorcycles, even my car, just to keep a roof over our head. We managed to climb back out of that hole, but the recovery was (and is) slow; I was saddled with ongoing debt and damaged credit; but at least our income was growing and we had some breathing room. To this day, I make much less than I did back in the late eighties, yet we LIVE much better than we did.
As You Read This; Remember My Background, Because It Colors How I View The Whole Process: IT MAY NOT BE FOR YOU.
These are the things I have learned:
Consumer Debt is "BAD DEBT".
Investment Debt is "GOOD DEBT".
Motorcycles make Lousy Investments. Even Harleys.
Most people lie about how much they paid.
It ALWAYS costs more than you think.
When you bought something to increase your enjoyment in life and it's causing more problems than joy; it's time to sell it.
Don't believe the Salesman (or the "Business Manager", another name for the F and I guy) they are there to get the money out of your pocket. Read EVERYTHING BEFORE you sign.
Just because you can't TODAY, doesn't mean you can't TOMORROW.
You appreciate something you had to sweat for more than something you were given.
I'd rather have a motorcycle than not, but not having one won't kill me if it means having a place to live and food on the table for my family (but it still hurts having to give up what I love).
Insurance is a major expense. But don't go without it...it's even more expensive.
A one year old lightly used bike goes just as fast as a brand-spanky new one, and if you shop right , costs 25-50% less (true...I once bought a 955i from a young man who was about to lose his freedom for repeated DWI's....I bought that pristine year-old bike for half of the list price).
Where there is a will there is a way.
If I can do it, I'd rather ride than not.
Soooo...what have you learned. This is not a "rant" thread but a personal lesson thread about the "hard won wisdom" of buying a bike.
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Learners' Bikes
I understand that everyone wants the BEST they can afford, and that between the marketing hype and pressure from "buddies"; everybody thinks they "need" that 160 hp roadburner as a first bike just to keep up.
Many, many on this board like RaeRR, Marko, Dlit, Backmarker, Chuck, Pippi, Jeeps (I could and should go on and on) have repeatedly made the point that hardware is the LAST factor in making a good ride..... that skills and experience come before horsepower and handling.
Perhaps what the new folks need is some "perspective". This is where you yawn and say "there he goes again!"
After riding in the dirt for a couple years, I took the plunge and got my M endorsement in '73; my first roadbike was a 28 Hp Suzuki T20....the fastest 250 available at that time.
http://www.t20suzuki.com/ Stock, it weighed about 290 lbs with a half tank of gas with top speed of about 85-90 mph with the wind at your back.
As a contrast, today's "bottom end" starter bike would probably be the Ninja 500 (380 lbs dry, 62 Hp stock....top speed somewhere in the 110-120mph range.)
At the time I started riding, the true HP king was the 900cc Kawasaki Z-1: A gawd-awful 85 hp, and 564 lbs with a half tank of gas. In experienced hands, it would run low twelves. It was considered an animal, for
expert hands only.
Today's average 600's produce somewhere in the vacinity of 130 Hp, with a wet weight in the neighborhood of 400 lbs ('06 R-6: 131 hp, 354 lb DRY wt.) top speeds in excess of 150 mph.
For most new riders egos, this is considered the FLOOR of where they would like to start. Many folks that hop on this board and wonder if they should just skip over the 600's and jump right on that 180 hp, 1000cc roadburner, with the 189 mph top speed and save themselves time and money.
Make certain your collision, health and life policies are all paid up.
In 1974, I turned my 250 into a race bike, and bought a new 380 Suzuki triple (36hp, 360 lbs). Over the next two years, that bike took me over 26,000 miles, through half of the 50 states and a couple of Canadian Provinces. I NEVER "NEEDED" more power (I could have used some better brakes than the single piston, single disk and drum rear provided). That bike got used as a commuter, a touring bike, my weekend backroad strafer, and made several excursions to the track in the box-stock class. It smoked bigger bikes on the track and on the back roads regularly, and turned times within 1.5 seconds of the open class bikes on the track.
Last fall, I was invited to ride with a group of riders from West Virginia; we went up from Seneca Rocks to Snowshoe for the bikefest. A fellow a little younger (40's) and his wife were mounted on an '05 GS500 with tankbag and soft luggage; he was a fellow about my size (about 6', 200 lbs, wife about 5'4", 120 lbs) the rest of us on Gixxer 750's, 1000's and myself on a 955i Triumph.
He left the parking lot first, and as I pulled out into line behind the rest of the group, I thought "GREAT, now we've gotta follow this Slo Mo Joe through some of the best roads around". Within a mile or so, I found myself railing through the countryside to keep up....that bugger on the 500 (with his wife on the back) WAS LEADING THE GROUP......most of us could maintain the pace, but only one guy on a Gixxer 1K got around him.
I remember that, every time I think I NEED that newest 180hp monstrosity.