Thread: Street bikes

It came ultra-cheap considering the time of the year, the age, the condition and the way these keep their value. The seller really maintained it well, so it should be ready to ride, right off the bat. Since it's an older model it doesn't have the same kick as a brand new 600cc street bike, so it shouldn't be too difficult to learn on. Older 500cc models went for even higher asking prices, so this was an opportunity I couldn't miss out on.

Ilija,

Your pen is in the mail if you haven't signed the Bill of Sale yet. All it needs is to be inked up and it's ready to go. It was posted on Monday, don't know how long airmail to Canada takes.

PS-I didn't put it in a display box like other pens I've made recently, but I think you'll like what it came with a little better.


Sorry for the hijack, you can go back to talking bikes now.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

It came ultra-cheap considering the time of the year, the age, the condition and the way these keep their value. The seller really maintained it well, so it should be ready to ride, right off the bat. Since it's an older model it doesn't have the same kick as a brand new 600cc street bike, so it shouldn't be too difficult to learn on. Older 500cc models went for even higher asking prices, so this was an opportunity I couldn't miss out on.

This is NOT a beginner's bike.

Even though its older, its still nothing more than a street legal race bike. Even though new 600cc bikes are faster, the FZR is a very sharp bike that will put you on your ass if you're not careful.

I've been riding for several years (currently bikeless as I didn't have enough time to ride and keep my skills up to where I felt they should be).

I had a Honda Hurricane 600cc (of the same vintage back in the day), it was less race-oriented than the FZR you bought, but still a very hot bike (just more comfortable - don't plan on doing any touring on your FZR unless you're relatively short or under 30, as the cockpit is very tight and the seat is basically a padded brick - this is why lots of these bikes have very low milage for their year).

To get to the point, I sold my Hurricane to a new rider, who promptly turned a $4k bike into $750 worth of parts and broke and arm and ankle in the process (not to mention extensive road rash!). How did this happen you might ask - he simply didn't have the experience to properly modulate the throttle and gave the bike too much gas coming out of the corner, which caused the rear wheel to loose traction and send him and the machine sliding across the pavement.

I've had the GS, which is a great starter bike and easy to maintain (air-cooled vertical twin), there are lots of cheap upgrades and parts cost less and is more comfotable. The downside to the GS is that its not overly fast (but can cruise comfortably at 120km/h

I'm not trying to rain on your parade (you got a beautiful bike at a great price), but this is not a forgiving bike and is expensive to maintain (liquid-cooled 4 cylinder, bigger tires, etc) and is hard to do your own maintenance on (you have to remvove body panels to do anything, and the engine is complicated). I also hope you've looked into insurance - sport bikes are much more expensive to insure - regardless of age.

All I'm saying is to take it easy until you get a sense of how the bike works, handles, before you decide to let it out - anyone can ride fast in a straight line, it takes skill to corner and brake properly. Remember, this bike is WAY better than you are at this point.

Most important - wear proper gear - even in the summer. I've wiped out twice and was saved from serious injury because I was wearing denim/leather - had I been riding in shorts and a T-shirt, I would have large patches of scars. You don't think it will happen to you, but the odds are you will taste the pavement at some point - the longer the ride, the more likely this is to happen.

Anyhow, advice/diatribe over - most important have fun. Riding is a blast, just be careful and watch out for soccer moms in SUVs!

Thanks for the tips. I'm not planning on taking it out before I do the safety course and I'll be extra careful in any case. Wasn't planning on wearing anything but full gear because even if I'm riding perfectly, I'm well aware that our roads are full of idiots. Soccer mom's don't scare me nearly as much as the 65+ crowd. Bad eye-sight, slow reflexes, sense of entitlement, big old cars
I have plenty of space and have done tight quarter work on cars, so the bike shouldn't be too much of an issue.
It looks like I'm the right age for the bike. 27.. Old enough to know better, young enough to take the pounding of a street bike. It also has a more comfortable aftermarket seat (the previous owner's in his 40s) and he also raised the bars 3/4".
I'm good with tires because the front one is practically brand new, the rear one has some life in it and a brand spankin' new rear Metzler "spare" comes with the ride.
Insurance is the real kicker. I came across a broker who'll do it for $900 or so. That's for up to 600cc regardless of the type. Go over and it's 1200. That's with my M1, regardless of whether I take the course (which I will before I ride this puppy).
The following orders of biz are:
1) Get it insured, safetied and plated
2) Get the gear (you wouldn't happen to have a helmet I can start with that you don't need? ) I'll buy a new one eventually, but I'd like to start cheap and work my way up through all the gear over the season.
3) Take the safety course and get my M2
4) Start riding (baby steps, Ilija, baby steps )

Originally Posted by suzuki

Most important - wear proper gear - even in the summer.

I hate to preach, but I second this advice, based on experience with my own and friends' crashes.

I hope it's redundant for me to say that you should wear a (full-face) helmet. If you can swing the expense, get a set of full (two-piece) leathers with good protection of major bones/joints. Breaking bones and losing skin really sucks and modern leathers are the best protection against both. If you get textile gear, make sure it fits closely enough that the armor would stay in place in a fall. Oh, by the way, jeans provide very poor protection in a crash.

Ilja - I might have a helmet (HJC CL12) that I could make you a decent deal on.

Its basically brand new (worn about a dozen times) - send me a PM if you're interested.

A great little shop for gear and accessories (I'm pretty sure you live near Toronto) is Motorcycle Superstore on River St. just off of Queen St. East.

Its dumpy and the owner can be cranky, but they have very good prices on gear, do good repair work at reasonable prices and have good prices on parts. I bought all my gear there and had my bikes serviced there for years without any issues - never felt they were trying to sell repairs/parts that weren't necessary (this is the sort of shop that says that part X is good for the season, but will likely need to be replaced next year instead of just telling you that it needs to be replaced, etc.).

I'm not sure where River St. is.. I'm clueless about the East End if it's south of St. Clair, west of Jarvis or east of Pape. I mostly stick to the west end -- Etobicoke/Sauga area.

Well Ilja, since everyone is giving you advice, I may as well chip in , lol. I've ridden for 40+ years now... including a goodly share of "crotch rockets" of the day. But my trusty beemer has been my bike of choice for most of my riding life. (You can't wear an old BMW out, so you never have to replace them, LOL.)

Here's some tips I feel can make a difference in your longevity and riding enjoyment...

Defensive Driving -- The best advice I ever had was given to me by an old biker when I first started to ride... he said "to survive, you have to ride with the assumption that other drivers don't see you... you have to assume each and every one of them will pull out/turn in front of you, stop short, run into you from behind, etc. Thus, your job is to always have a "plan" to deal with that as you ride. So, when you see a car pulling up to a cross intersection ahead of you, assume they don't see you and that they will pull out in front of you... what are you going to do about that? How are you going to avoid hitting them? Regardless of who's right/wrong, you are the one who will be launched skyward or thrown to the pavement... not the person in the car. You are the one that's vulnerable... you're the only one that can protect you." From him and others I learned that my contingency planning required me to make myself visible and noticed by every other driver on the road. I use a variety of means... bright colored/reflective clothing, turn and hand signals, pulsing headlights, riding in a manner which defines "my space" on the roadway (by weaving, changing speed, riding staggered if there's several bikes riding together, etc.)... this is key to having the room you need to avoid crazy actions by others... so when you need to swerve, or hit the brakes, or accelerate, or whatever else it takes to avoid the stupidity of others, you'll have the space to do it without getting hit. And finally, I accepted that there are people who just hate MC'ers... so I need a plan for them, too. I've had a number of instances in my life where I've made eye contact and seen the expression on the other driver's face change to one of recognition that a bike is coming, and then watched them pull out directly in front of me... on purpose... with a smurk on their face indicating they knew that they were purposefully "fucking the biker". So you've always got to have a plan for all the possible things others can do... it's up to you to avoid them... or die.

Clothing -- The advice about wearing leathers is a good one. And yes, they are expensive... so you have to make choices and know the consequences. Denim isn't nearly as good... but it's a lot better than polyester or bare skin. Boots are better than sneakers. Long sleeves are better than short, gloves better than bare fingers, etc. If you think wearing all that stuff is uncomfortable in the summer when it's hot, you're right. But NOT wearing it can make you "dead right", if you know what I mean. I don't ride when it's above 100F... I'm just too hot to enjoy it and passing out from heatstroke isn't my idea of a good thing to do at 50mph. I also won't ride when the temp is much below 39F... I can keep my body warm below that with insulation/wind proofing, but air still has to flow though the helmet to keep from fogging the face shield... my eyes don't like it that cold, my sinuses start to hurt, etc. Your threshold will vary... but probably not by a whole lot.

Helmets -- here in Arizona they actually got the mandatory helmet law repealed as an infringement on rights... and so most everyone just wears sunglasses. I have always worn a helmet and will continue to do so... anything else is just crazy in my opinion. Even if you never crash, you need to wear a helmet!! Let me give you some examples to help you understand why... imagine you're not wearing a helmet and a good sized bumblebee is flying along and you hit it doing, say, 70mph... lets assume the impact is right in the middle of your forehead. You'll probably see stars. Worse, imagine the bumblebee is a stone kicked up by the car in front of you... it's like getting shot. (BTW, I've actually had a bumblebee hit my adams apple just beneath the helmet at about 80mph on a freeway... the bumblebee died instantly and I felt like I had been punched in the throat.)

Road Conditions -- the bain of all bikers is sand, gravel, wet pavement, wet leaves, and having a flat tire at 75mph. Almost every biker I know has hit the pavement due to one of these... again, you have to assume it will be there and be prepared. You need to know when and how to abandon the bike if you need to... and how to take the fall and slide to minimize bodily harm. I watched a rider hit the wall coming out of the turn into the straightaway at the Louden, NH racetrack back in the 70's... he tumbled down the straightway like a rag doll for at least 100 yds, his helmet popping off early in the slide. He lay there motionless and was picked up by the ambulance and driven off the course... the ambulance parked near the exit... everyone in the stands knew he was probably dead. But a half hour later I saw him sitting up in the ambulance drinking a cup of coffee... pretty banged up, but alive thanks to luck, his clothing, knowing when to get off the bike, and how to take the fall to minimize his injuries.

Passengers -- we have all ridden with passengers. But keep in mind... they experience all the same dangers you do, and most passengers will NOT react the way you need them to in an emergency... and so they'll screw up your ability to control the bike. And there's no question they'll impede your ability to abandon the bike if that becomes necessary (as will anything else you strap on the seat behind you... eg, packages, bed rolls, tents, rain gear, etc.). Fortunately, I've never had to tell a passenger they were going to have to jump off a speeding bike because we were going to crash... but I've thought about it for an instant once or twice.

So now that I've gotten you properly wondering what possible fun could it be to ride if you have to be focused on and worry about all these scary things, just remember your brain can multi-task all these what-ifs and provide solutions just fine... provided you have the right attitude about it all. What you can't do is assume the hazards don't exist, or ride faster than you can control all this, or not discipline yourself to be constantly planning for the "what if" accidents even though they (hopefully) never materialize. You have to know your limits, your bike's limits, and have the knowledge and guts to abandon it when a crash is imminent.

Happy and safe riding!!

Thanks for all the useful tips gentlemen. Here in Ontario we have mandatory helmet laws and I don't want junk flying into my eyes anyways, so it's a win-win. Glasses don't always work. I had a paint chip injure my eye as it somehow got in there between my forehead and the safety glasses. Fortunately it was minor and didn't last long.
There are about 7 more weeks before I'll be able to ride on the highways, so I have time to get a jacket and probably pants. Until then, plain leather will do. Initially I'm planning on getting a helmet, boots and gloves.
Since I drive a small Japanese car, I already use some principles of safe riding.. I use a blocking position in the lane, avoid the middle lanes, always signal before making a turn or a lane change, make sure that I'm aware of everyone on the road (b/c if it's rolling, chances are it's bigger than my MX3), tap the brakes well before stopping, assume that everyone will act like an idiot and always look for outs.
My goal is to stay alive, while enjoying my new ride.

Update.. It's been insured, certified and plated. I will need to put on the new rubber immediately, but Ted @ Rosey Toes does it for $30, so I'm good on that count. Will be hitting Parker Brothers in about half an hour to get a new lid and a jacket. Signing up for the course next week, hopefully for next weekend.