Motorcycle Advice

So, I'm looking at getting myself a motorbike soon.
The one I'm looking at is the new Royal Enfield C5. I like the look of it, it's fairly simple, and the price isn't all that obnoxious.
I have good driving history and decent insurance.

Over all, I'm looking at it 'cause I'm planning on going back to school, and the school I need to go to is in Pensacola, quite a drive from little ole' Milton.

Looking for some advice, either on the bike or just biking in general that'll be useful.

reply to post by RuneSpider


I note you mention YOUR driving history..

Sadly, its the lack of driving history of those around Bike riders that matters most.

I hope one day to NEVER say RIP for you..

BTW, I'd get a triumph.. An old haggard one with dents and scratches... I love those things..

I just found a road test of the ROYAL ENFIELD C5 that you may like.
They also have other articles on Royal Enfields as well, so i think it's worth a look.

btw the article is called my enfield ride and it is the third article down.
Happy Biking

Looks like a good solid starter motorcycle. The thing that you should be looking at soon after you get your bike and license is more training in how to handle your bike in certain situations. I have taken the beginner and advanced training from MSF. Just a thought.
online2.msf-usa.org...

Do you have any experience riding a motorcycle? A good driving record, for a car, is a good thing. However, the safety procedures for driving a motorcycle are almost completely opposite. I suggest you take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Course in your area. Link

Also, I wouldn't suggest a cruiser to a beginning rider, even if it is only 500cc engine. I would suggest a street bike that would give you more control and balance while you are learning. Something like a Suzuki SV650. Link

What is the price range?

Anyway, I am telling you what I would like as a classic motorcycle:

Triumph Bonneville
Moto Guzzi V7

If you want something more modern Triumph Tiger 800:

www.youtube.com...

It depends on your choice if you want the on-road or the off-road model.

I'll personally go for the Tiger 800 off-road.

Hi i own a royal enfiled military AVL and helpout at a friends RE dealership
Do you have any experience riding?What kind of riding will you be doing?( hiway%/ "surface streets"%)?
Around town my AVL is great. For vacations the wife and I load up our Honda GL 1800 for a 3 week 5,000 mil;e trips every year.
Ive ridden a c-5 demo bike: the C5 is smoother and faster than my AVL ( both are 500cc singles).

To Quote editor Don Williams in the June'10 issue of Ultimate motorcycling( magazine):"Turn to page 40 for another ultimtae: the Royal Enfield bullet c-5.Unquestonably it falls short in everyobjective quality one might use to when rendering judgement on a ,motorcycle. Fortunately motorcycles are not an amalgamation of statistics and measurements .They are about the riding experience, and the Royal Enfield delivers something to the motorcycling community that is truly unique. The bullet is not for everyone, But is a diamond in a coal mine for the right person."

please fee free to browse our websites' Royal Enfield pages.The green "military bike in the pictures is my personal bike. click the dealer sign to be taken to the c-5 "showroom" stuff.
www.s-kservice.com...
Also feel free to private message me with direct questions I'll do my best to answer them.

I would find a low mileage Yamaha YZF600R. I actually have one for sale, mine has a lot of miles on it though, I would try and get one that has less than 15,000 miles. It is pretty comfy compared to other sportbikes, and also very reliable, and gets 50-55mpg.

Here is why. You seem like a reasonable person that isn't going to do anything stupid. Riding on the street is extremely dangerous. You need a bike that has extremely good brakes. You also need a bike that turns like lightning.

Crotch rockets are the safest, and most dangerous motorcycles. They are the safest because they turn, and stop faster than any other kind of street bike. They are the most dangerous, because they are ungodly fast. If you are wanting to get a thrill going fast, please go to the race track. If you pull any monkey business on the street, you will get injured or killed. Obey the speed limit, and pay attention, situational awareness is key to your survival.

I got my bike (04' YZF600R) in dec of 2007, it was used with 13,000 miles on it. I had never ridden on the street, so it was my first street bike. I had fairly extensive dirt bike racing experience, and was not a beginner when it came to motorcycles. I have put 35,000 more miles on my bike since I got it, 99% of which is riding around town for work. I have a carwash business and we have 3 locations, so all I do is ride around town all day.

The most dangerous part about street riding is when you are going down a street that has streets intersecting it, that have stop signs. People are complete idiot drivers, and you have to pretend that you are completely invisible, so that when they pull out directly in front of you, you are not surprised, you anticipated it, and took action to not die.

The second most dangerous thing, is junk laying in the road. This is why street biking at night is not a good idea. Especially on the highway, as you can't see bad things laying in the road, until it is too late. If you must ride at night, stick to city streets, and ease up a little on the speed.

reply to post by RuneSpider

I rode motorbikes for many years, and it's definitely something I enjoyed most of the time. What I didn't enjoy was aggressive motorists who would try to run me off the road -- just because they either had a pathological dislike of bikers, or because it made them feel superior. But even worse than that, what I disliked the most was motorists who literally do not see bikes. We just don't seem to exist to them. They're the ones who will suddenly slam on the brakes then pull a U-turn right in front of you as you're coming from the other way, or simply drive straight out of a parking lot into the lane you're using...

Providing you treat every motorist as a completely idiotic, half-blind, murdering psychopath who's high on various substances and who has lost his/her job, had a huge row with someone and is suffering the mother of all hangovers, you ought to be okay.

However, having said that, make sure you spend good money to buy the best possible protective clothing, boots, gloves and helmet that you can possibly afford. As a friend of mine said years ago, "If you've got a ten-dollar head, then buy a ten-dollar helmet. But if your head's worth a bit more to you than that, well..."

Now, I could well be preaching to the converted here, but please bear with me as there may be other members who the following might apply to.

One of the scariest things I see on warm days is people cruising along on their motorcycles (or even motor scooters) wearing an open-faced helmet with the chin strap flapping in the breeze, no gloves at all, sneakers on their feet (or even flip flops!), shorts and a T-shirt. Because they feel hot and uncomfortable wearing all that protective clothing stuff. Or perhaps they just don't think they really "need" it.

They need it. And so do you.

You know those angle grinders that welders and other metal workers use to grind away metal? Well, if you come off a bike at even fairly low speeds even just through hitting a slick white line, the moment you hit the road it's pretty much like taking to your hands, arms, elbows, knees, feet and face with an angle grinder. If you don't wear the right gear, what would otherwise be maybe just a few bruises and possibly a fracture or two will become a mass of pain, shock and burned, shredded skin or even bone. If you survive all that then it can mean months in hospital for the skin grafts.

I've seen the results of poorly-outfitted riders coming off and it's never pretty. The fact of the matter is, that if you do a fair amount of riding you'll probably find yourself going "down the road" sooner or later. It doesn't matter if it wasn't your fault. What matters is giving yourself the best chance of minimzing potential injury.

Here's a real event from my own experience...

One bright sunny morning I had to drop my 750 Yamaha at around 55 kph (35 mph or so) to avoid rear-ending a delivery van that pulled straight out in front of me from a parking space into my lane -- and then stopped! I was wearing a bright orange one-piece rainproof riding suit made of "tear-proof" material over my leather jacket and heavy denim jeans, as well as long boots, cow-hide leather gloves and an Arai full-face helmet, visor down to stop bugs hitting me in the face and eyes (always a danger by the way).

I finished up lying on the road under back of that delivery van. A couple of seconds later the driver floored it and took off. (This is not unusual it seems.) Well, at least that saved me the job of crawling out from under his darned van... Lucky I wasn't hooked up on anything there, though.

After going over and standing my bike up and wheeling it off the road I did a checkover. Of me. I felt more-or-less okay. Adrenaline is helpful in that respect.

Here's a list of the damage:

-- My "tear-proof" suit had holes at the elbows and was ripped across the back and both knees. There were even black scuffs of bitumen on that material. In addition, the chromed pop buttons down the front of it had most of the chrome scraped off down to the brass underneath.
-- Both my cow-hide gloves had their palms deeply slashed and they were also badly scraped on the backs as well.
-- My boots had deep gouges over where my ankles were, along with one toe where the leather was ripped clean off and the steel toecap was gleaming with the sctratches on it.
-- My helmet's visor was so badly scratched it was hard to see though most of it. And the back of the helmet looked like Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street had used it for slashing practice.

All that -- at not even 40 mph. The problem is that at lower speeds, we don't tend to skip and bounce across the tarmac as we might at higher speeds. I once came off during a road race (at a track) at over 120 mph and walked away with less harm that that. At low speeds, we basically slide, flip, flop, roll and tumble all the way.

As for me, I got a ton of bruises, one small scratch on one knee, and a mildly sprained wrist. That's all. If I'd not been wearing all my "good gear" on that warm, sunny day, I don't think I would have been going home to my wife and daughter a couple of hours later. They would have been visiting me in hospital.

Best regards and stay safe,

Mike

reply to post by JustMike


You nailed it. Star for common sense, and living to ride again. Excellent post.

Providing you treat every motorist as a completely idiotic, half-blind, murdering psychopath who's high on various substances and who has lost his/her job, had a huge row with someone and is suffering the mother of all hangovers, you ought to be okay.

I already drive that way, the drivers around here are retarded, it's easily the main hesitation I have towards getting a bike.
I rarely ever got into even near wrecks until I was stuck n a car for a few weeks when my first truck was totaled (not my fault, the construction of the truck was to blame, actually.)

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You know those angle grinders that welders and other metal workers use to grind away metal? Well, if you come off a bike at even fairly low speeds even just through hitting a slick white line, the moment you hit the road it's pretty much like taking to your hands, arms, elbows, knees, feet and face with an angle grinder.

Oh yeah, I've hit the pavement going 25- 30 on my regular bicycle before.
It was more than enough to give me and idea of what i would be looking forward to.
I'm taking the course at the Harley Davidson center, and I'll be purchasing my bike there as they give you a 270 dollar credit back if you do, which will be added to what I'll have for buying gear.


As far as experience riding, at the moment I'm limited to scooters, and the top speed I've been on it is 45.
I'll be taking courses on bike safety offered in the area to get up to speed, and practicing with some of the faster scooters to get a feel for speed and a general idea of handling, though I know with bike's it'll be a fair bit different.

reply to post by downtown436

Thanks for that. I appreciate it. Sadly, I lost several friends and "comrade riders" over the years, and only one who died was at fault in his crash. He was doing around 160 kmh (100 mph) on his Ducati 750 SS down a freeway one night -- in a 110 kmh (70 mph) zone -- and didn't allow for the fact that in the places where the road went through deep cuttings in the hills there were sometimes springs of water running across an otherwise dry road. He hit one going through a sweeping bend and slid off into the armco barriers.

He was our "out front and crazy" rider. Many clubs have a few guys like this. When we arrived a couple of minutes later it was a very, very bad scene.

All of the others (four I can recall right now) were lost due to the actions of other road users, who apparently in every case claimed "I didn't see him".

I'd like to explain the "I didn't see him" mentality with a simple analogy. Picture yourself going into a supermarket to do a little shopping. You've got baked beans on your list. So you go up and down the rows of shelves, looking for those tinz of beanz. You find them and get your cans then go on with your shopping. Five minutes later another shopper stops you and asks if you know where the Pringles are. "Sorry, I don't know," you answer, because you don't recall even seeing any Pringles, let alone where they are.

Shortly afterwards on the way to the checkout, you're heading down the ailse where you got the beans, and suddenly you notice that the Pringles are not even two feet away from your beans, on the very next shelf!

You looked at those Pringles, but you didn't realy see them, because they were not something you were interested in seeing. Pringles were not even in your mental list of things to look for. You looked at them, but as they were not of interest to you, they simply didn't register.

That's the way it is with many car drivers. They literally do not see motorcyles or bicycles. I had it happen many times that a car driver waiting at a stop sign on a side road would look straight at me and then pull out right in front of me. Fortunately, the guy who taught me to ride had explained the "beans" mentality to me, so I was expecting this sort of thing to happen and was ready to react.

Some might argue: "But they always seem to see police motorcycles". Well, yes, they usually do (but not always). "Police" are a different subset. Most drivers learned very early that they need to be aware of police, simply for the possible financial penalties if nothing else. So, when they look and see "police", it registers on their permanent "shopping list" of things they have to really see and react to.

Anyone who wants to ride a motorcycle or bicycle on public roads must accept that to a percentage of drivers, they are literally invisible. Failing to accept that can be fatal.

On the positive side, I found that most professional drivers are pretty good at seeing everything. I almost never had a problem with truckies who "didn't see" me. As for that delivery van that could have killed me, it was a rental vehicle, so it's likely the driver wasn't a professional.

Well, he left me lying on the road and took off. 'Nuff said.

A note for the OP: whatever bike you wind up getting, one of the first things you'll have to do is make sure you know the right way to stop under difficult conditions, and also how to avoid collisions if you possibly can. You'll also need to learn how to "read the road", and adjust your whole mental approach to travelling on public roads so that you are simply much more aware of everything going on around you.

For these reasons I agree with other members who have suggested you get some expert instruction. The guy who taught me to ride safely, spent of great deal of time educating me in the correct "bike rider thinking" before he even let me take a motorbike on the road. I'm very grateful to him for what he taught me. I also did an advanced course later at a special school and the extra tips were invaluable.

The value of good teaching can't be emphasised enough.

Best regards,

Mike

No offense to anybody :I see a "plethora of replies"have been added. Sorry: I find the yzf600 to be inappropriate for a firstime rider( from scooter to real motorcycle). if he makes a mistake with the throttle he's on his butt.

I agree the brakes on a sport bike are outstanding...

Around town

reply to post by RuneSpider

Hi again OP,

I was writing while you were posting...

Great to see that you're going to do a course. One day you will thank your teachers for it -- and yourself for taking it. I guarantee it. It's also good to get some experience on scooters. Most scooters are frankly so poorly designed in the handling department that riding a "real" bike afterwards will seem like heaven. But they're great for learning how to read the road. You no doubt know, for example, how dangerous it is when there's been no rain for a few days and then there's just a light shower. Those white lines are like wet ice and hitting one on a scooter is diabolical. The smaller wheels on most scooters also make them much more twitchy.

You'll really enjoy riding a real bike...

Looks like your should do well. You've got the right attitude and you'll doubtless wear the right gear (all the time), so you're already ahead of many.

Stay safe and enjoy your riding!

Mike

reply to post by 46ACE

This is what I meant about "throttle control":
perfect example courtesy of you tube :Things happen very quickly on a high horsepower motorcycle
cheers.


I can do 'dis all day:

"Goose the throttle" ; the bike lunges forward the new rider is caught off guardand off balance pushed backward; right arm twists throttle; application of even more power sends the bike and rider even further out of control to the inevitable meeting of expensive plastic; bone and flesh ;with tarmac .

I have been riding bikes now for 39 years. I started when I was nine years old. If it all possible learn to ride on a dirt bike first so you know how a bike feels and how you react in a crash.

I also recommend starting out in a mid size performance machine that is nimble. You can then maneuver and not be on something that cannot get out of the way of anything.

Oh and don't do this...

I like the suzuki Vstrom 650 is good and if you chose to go for a long trip that is the bike