Absolute Newbie

"JOJO" <dfkatz123.DeleteThis@aol.com> wrote in message
>> I am 6'0 and about 230 pounds. I am starting to very seriously
consider my first bike. I have gotten as far as enrolling in a saftey
course. Any advice from the group would be greatly appreciated. <<

My first advice seems to have already been made.... MSF course. For other
very useful info, see Timberwoof's excellent MC information website. It's
chock full of good info for beginners. Try the "Choosing" link:

http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle/faq.shtml


>> I have heard that 250's make excellent starter bikes, but it feels very
>> small. <<

At your size, a 250 may indeed be too small.


>> Is a 750 to large to start off with? <<

Absolutely not. I'm a motorcycle "retread", having given it up when I went
off to college. I started back up 8 or 9 years ago with a 750 Nighthawk
after an almost 35 year absence. Back when I first rode, a 750 would have
been considered a very LARGE bike. As a matter of fact, the most common
large bike back then was a 650.


>> I am also concerned about depreciation and having to take a big lose
if I decide to sell. Not sure I want to invest 17K on a first bike.<<

I've owned, 13 bikes, 7 of them in the last 8 years. The last (and only)
bike I bought brand new was in 1964 (a Honda 305 Superhawk). I buy used
bikes for the very reason you mention. You'll find that as a general rule,
motorcycle owners take better care of their bikes than they do of their cars
and put way fewer miles on them. As a result, you can find mechanically
excellent used bikes fairly easy. When you sell them you don't loose near
as much as you would if you had bought them new. If you bid your time and
wait for the right deal to come along, you can even get away with selling a
bike at no loss. It just takes getting a feel for the market. You can do
this by tracking specific models in places like cycletrader.com.

Here are my current bikes, both of which I bought used:

http://www.hal-pc.org/~mmcham/mtrcycle.html


>> my thought is to ease into this very, very slowly. <<

I completely agree. It's exactly what I did. Even though I had ridden as a
teenager, it took a while to get my "motorcycle legs" back. Just take it one
step at a time. Before you know it, you'll be taking trips across the US.
Here's how much fun it can be:

http://www.hal-pc.org/~mmcham/wes02.html

Good luck.
__________________________
Mick McHam Houston, TX
'01 ST1100 ABS, STOC# 1134
'00 VFR800FI
http://www.hal-pc.org/~mmcham
 >> Stay informed about: Absolute Newbie 

JOJO wrote:

> I am also concerned about depreciation and having to take a big lose
> if I decide to sell. Not sure I want to invest 17K on a first bike.

From a practical perspective, that would be a huge mistake. You could
probably buy a running Nitehawk 750 (or somesuch) for what it would cost
to repair the damage from dropping that 17K bike once.

If you're worried about depreciation, get a nice running used bike. Buy
it 5 years old and sell it at 7, and you're practically riding for free.

If you're buying into this as an image thing and have been sold on the
Harley image, then somebody is going to make a lot of money off you.
 >> Stay informed about: Absolute Newbie 

"JOJO" <dfkatz123.DeleteThis@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1182607490.394571.25030@w5g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>I am 6'0 and about 230 pounds. I am starting to very seriously
> consider my first bike. I have gotten as far as enrolling in a saftey
> course. Any advice from the group would be greatly appreciated.

What would you like advice about?

Thumper
 >> Stay informed about: Absolute Newbie 

"Sean" <no.spam.TakeThisOut@no.spam> wrote in message
news:oNifi.58266$1i1.51423@pd7urf3no...
> JOJO wrote:
>
>> I am 6'0 and about 230 pounds. I am starting to very seriously
>> consider my first bike. I have gotten as far as enrolling in a saftey
>> course. Any advice from the group would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Harley Davidson Electra Glide

He didn't say how old he was.

Thumper
 >> Stay informed about: Absolute Newbie