If I Had A Motorcycle It Would Be.....

One with a flag, ribbons and a bell.

nothing super special, I'd settle for a 1098.

I've been pretty satisfied w/ my f650 gs. Particularly now w/ rising gas prices, since it gets 55-90 mpg (55 stop and go, 90 at 55mph).

Ducati 1098 Super.

New Moto Guzzi Griso

Classic Triumph Bonneville


The one motorcycle I can't forgive myself for selling .... Yamaha TDM850

My friend has a Confederate bike. I have never seen any object in my entire life attract so much attention.

I've been thinking about getting a ninja for starters but am worry about the maintenance costs...how steep is the learning curve in terms of initial costs for such a two-wheeler?

You should budget well over $1k for good gear - at least 3-400 for a helmet, 4-500 for a jacket, 200+ for pants/overpants, 100-150 for good gloves, 150+ for boots if you don't have some really solid ones already, and other incidental stuff you'll find you want to have. You can go a lot cheaper if you buy used gear but don't buy anything low quality - it won't do its main job of protecting you and holds little value. I'm not familiar with the Ninja specifically but people always say the Japanese bikes are the cheapest in terms of maintenance. Please take an MSF course before considering a motorcycle purchase any further. Lots of people who buy motos without training beef it early and give up forever (or die), which is stupid and preventable. And the beginner course is fun. I wouldn't have a bike now if my friend hadn't asked me to come along to the course.

I'm a bit confused. Costs for gear? Standard maintenance? Initial learning curve for riding such a machine?

Gear: I fully advocate that everyone spend money on proper gear. I disagree on costs, per j. I got a pair of good leather riding gloves new on sale for $15. Also got a pair of 'sport' kevlar-knuckled gloves for ~$40. Plenty of riders have gone down in serious accidents in $100-150 helmets and they've done more than well. Overpants? I'll admit I'm unfamiliar with pricing on these. Sport boots can be had on special; I caught a sturdy pair of leather boots on sale at $40. A competition moto leather jacket can be had cheap, mine was ~$110 shipped on sale. Gear is like fashionable pieces of clothing: you can get exactly what you want for a premium, or get things that are nice on sale for a fraction of the cost. I probably have less than $300 into all of my gear, and it has survived a good bit of trouble so far. Don't get me wrong, J, if I had the money I'd buy bling gear!

Maintenance: The ninja, both the 250 and 500 (assuming you're talking about these standard bikes) are dirt cheap to work on, and very easy to learn. My best bud has a Ninja 250, and a good girl-friend has a 500. They are great, reliable machines that are very easy to work on and upgrade.

Learning curve: These bikes are easy to learn on, and very forgiving. I always say that a Ninja 250 is the perfect bike to learn on and forces one to learn the fundamentals of riding before advancing. A 250 can embarass bigger bikes in the tighter corners, if the rider knows what he's doing.

You've been lucky, but I wouldn't count on (for example) a pair of $15 gloves holding up if I fall on the highway doing 70. Of anything that people skimp on, gloves would be my last. You really do get what you pay for, for the most part with gear. Imagine having your hands not work for even a week and then consider how much they are really worth. Same thing with helmets - I'm sure you can get a helmet for $100 but there's no chance I'd go out on the road wearing one of them. I got mine for $350 with my bike but it's a $500 retail helmet. I'd say $250 retail is about the minimum for a helmet I'd trust to save my head. The thing of it is that medical bills cost way more than any of these numbers and I'd rather try to prevent that in the first place. I'm not a big fan of pain or disability, for myself anyway. Also, the better (hence more expensive) gear generally can be repaired rather than being destroyed in the event of a crash.

I've been thinking about a Ducati Monster Dark 6xx for a while now. One day...one day...

Oh yeah... If I had a motorcycle it would be very much like this one: But currently with stock exhaust and forks

At the moment, my plan is to take the MSF sometime this year and buy a bike during the off-season. I am currently leaning in the direction of a (probably used) Suzuki V-Strom650 due to its good all around performance, fuel consumption, and dual sport/light dirt road/off road capability In a perfect world though, I'd rock the hell out of an ugly ass Ducati Multistrada, and I'd get free maintenance. And they'd pay me to ride it.

Ariel Leader, the Citroen DS of motorcycles.




Cantona