Motorcycles

dmclone

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Oct 20, 2006
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I'm not big into the whole "good bike for the beginner". If you ride responsible, a CBR1000 is a better beginners bike than any cruiser regardless of displacement. The CBR will accelerate, handle, and brake better than any cruiser. The problem is that a lot of beginners are young and cocky and ride beyond their limits and on sports bikes those limits can come fast.
 

dmclone

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Oct 20, 2006
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Is getting your license a *****? Im not a great test taker. There is a community college here that serves up a class for cheap. I thought about taking that. Apparently if you pass the class, you get your license automatically.

Speaking of automatic...are these types of bikes out of the question?

Aprilla (dealership in Grimes/Johnston) makes an automatic bike that is pretty nice but I'd recommend learning to shift otherwise buy a moped.
aprilia-mana-8501.jpg


The driving part of the class is pretty tough on a big bike but I passed it when I was 17 so it couldn't have been too hard.
 

herbicide

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Mar 23, 2006
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I'm not big into the whole "good bike for the beginner". If you ride responsible, a CBR1000 is a better beginners bike than any cruiser regardless of displacement. The CBR will accelerate, handle, and brake better than any cruiser. The problem is that a lot of beginners are young and cocky and ride beyond their limits and on sports bikes those limits can come fast.

Me too.

I would stick to the 750 and above advice, there is nothing worse than buying something that you will want to upgrade from within a week or two of riding.

Although if you are talking about a rocket, a 600 has more than enough power for a beginner, or an expert!
 

Cyclones_R_GR8

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You could always get a car.

Seriously, the typical American male doesn't "need" the ton of iron they ride. They justify just about anything to replace their perceived insufficiencies.

But everyone has their choices. And my choice is to point out the weakness in the I "need" a 1300 cc + bike.

Of course, some of the riders out there need a semi-truck to haul their body weight.

Gotta disagree. There is nothing better than riding down the open road on a bike. I rode my Electra Glide over 800 miles in one day this spring. A 4 day trip of 2300 miles total through The Grand Tetons/ Yellowstone and Big Horn mountains. You can't ride like that on smaller bikes.

In regards to the original poster. Look for a used Honda in the 600-750 cc range. There are lots of them out there and you should be able to get one for a good price. They are easy to handle and easy to learn on. Last summer we took a guy out over lunch time to an empty parking lot and I taught him how to ride a Suzuki (600 or 650 it wasn't mine). He was riding around pretty good within 30 minutes.
 

NIowaClone

Member
Sep 1, 2006
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Dallas, Texas
So, I was leaning towards a VTX, probably 1300, but with much discussion, down the road I'll probably get a 750 but unsure the make and model. I'm really liking the Shadows, but a couple Yamahas have peaked my interest.
 

huntt26

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Apr 10, 2006
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I bought this Honda VTX 1300-C over the summer and LOVE it. Great price and great ride. Put custom pipes on a couple of weeks ago and it really purrs now!
 

tube1

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Oct 19, 2006
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Since we are on the topic, I have a Honda Magna v65. Haven't rode it much this year. It starts up fine and idles fine, but kills whenever I give it gas. Could this be a fuel filter issue or bad gas (didn't treat the gas over the winter. My bad). Any idears?
 

Cyclonesrule91

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Apr 10, 2006
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Since we are on the topic, I have a Honda Magna v65. Haven't rode it much this year. It starts up fine and idles fine, but kills whenever I give it gas. Could this be a fuel filter issue or bad gas (didn't treat the gas over the winter. My bad). Any idears?

If you don't treat your gas or it has sat in there for quite a while, I would venture to say your carbs are gunked up. It could also be the fuel filter though. Take off one of the spark plugs and tell me what it looks like. It should be dry and light tannish color if it is firing correctly. I had a V45 and it acted like that when my fuel pump was getting weak too though.
 

herbicide

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Mar 23, 2006
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Since we are on the topic, I have a Honda Magna v65. Haven't rode it much this year. It starts up fine and idles fine, but kills whenever I give it gas. Could this be a fuel filter issue or bad gas (didn't treat the gas over the winter. My bad). Any idears?

You will probably have to tear the carbs apart and have them cleaned by someone who knows what they are doing, but you can try this first:

Get a can of "Seafoam," and dump it into your gas tank. Run your bike for several minutes to let the stuff do its magic. You might get lucky and it will work its way into the gunk, and over some time (30+ minutes of running) clear everything out.

After a few minutes, try to give it some gas a little at a time. I give this about a 20% chance to work, but IMO its worth a shot.
 

motorCYcle

Active Member
Jun 18, 2008
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Ames, Iowa
I started with a 1992 Yamaha XT225 which was complete junk.
I am currently riding a 1984 Honda CB650SC Nighthawk. It's not very big but I am not either so it is perfect for me right now.

EDIT- This is it.
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