Oh, awesome. What do you ride?
Well, I've always been more interested in a cruiser style bike. Because I think the idea of jumping on a bike and just riding a long distance sounds intriguing. However, sport/street bikes are pretty cheap and are good at getting you from point A to point B with little gas consumed. Leaning towards a sport bike right now.
Highly recommend taking the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's basic rider course though. Not sure if it costs you much down in NC, but up in PA it's free for state residents.
hehe. That's another draw to the smaller sport bikes. I'd be nervous with a big hog...Mostly we rode one of the ones my father had - the last one I ride was a Honda CB400, which is a vintage bike. Made me so tense, not wanting to drop it, that I don't think I'll ride it again. lol
Well, there are so many to choose from now - do you have it narrowed down to one or two makers yet?
Funny you mention this. Being in the service it's a requirement that you take this course (and nicely enough, on Uncle Sam's dime) before you can operate a motorcycle. I'm trying to take this course soon. I don't have to have a motorcycle to do it, so I'll probably sign up for it either way whether I decide to buy or not.
You make a good point about the long distance riding, I'd probably zone out and get desensitized too haha. Also, if I'm long distance traveling, I NEED music. Listening to music on a bike isn't really easy to pull off...
(Ha, yeah, holds true for the unmotorized two-wheelers as well)No music. When you're on a bike, you are at the mercy of the people in cars around you, and you can't depend on them be alert to your presence. You're at a serious disadvantage, so you need all of your senses working.
(Ha, yeah, holds true for the unmotorized two-wheelers as well)
Wearing earplugs (w/o music), OTOH, is pretty much mandatory if you're going above 45MPH. It will seriously degrade your hearing if you don't wear them. When I first started riding I tried my daily commute a few times without earplugs, and I had concert-ear for 3 days afterward. You need to make sure the plugs aren't *too* effective (to the point that you can't hear cars coming up from behind) but they need to protect well enough. Around 20dB is ideal for me. 30dB makes me feel like I'm in an isolated bubble but ~10-15dB still hurts after 2 hours worth of riding.
Pink and I both ride. What sort of bike are you looking for?
I just finished fixing up a 1980 Honda CM400T that had been sitting for 4 years. Nice bike, changed the sprocket on it so that it cruises on the highway at a lower RPM (lost a little bit of acceleration, but it's got plenty). I want to get new tires though before I trust it for more than a ride around the block, as rubber degrades over time, and these are 11 years old.