anybody ride a bike?
 

I've always wanted to ride a motorcycle and seeing how I'm going to have some extra money coming in soon, I figured now would be a good time.

Next week I'm doing the motorcycle safety program to get my license, after that buying some gear and then getting a bike.

I'm looking at getting either a Suzuki GS500F or SV650 to start.

Heres the gear I've been looking at getting, I'm staying all black so I can keep this stuff for a few bikes.

SHOEI RF-1100 in matte black ($420.00)
http://www.shoei-helmets.com/product...atte-Black.jpg

ALPINESTARS B-52 Leather Jacket ($400.00)
http://www.newenough.com/image/path/8440/BLACK.jpg

SCORPION Magnum Leather Gloves ($80.00)
http://www.newenough.com/image/path/13126/black.jpg


Thoughts, comments, opinions? Post up some of your bikes/gear.

I've been riding for 39 years. You might consider lighter colors rather than black for hot weather. Always wear your helmet, boots, gloves. Get some ventilated pants & jacket made of nylon mesh for summer. Leather sucks when it's cold. GREAT choice on starter bikes, I know too many n00bs who start out on too much motorcycle. Ride as if everyone else on the road is out to kill you and cannot see you. Always check the air in your tires. Make sure the chain is always well-lubed. Learn how to change a tire after a blowout, you never know when that could come in handy. Taking a rider course is the smartest thing you could do. If it is MSF, even better. If not, take an MSF course as soon as you can. Have fun. :tiphat:

Nissan 370Z Forum - 370Zsteve's Album: My Other ToyZ

Thanks for the tips, and yeah I'm taking the MSF.

Why does leather suck in the winter? I thought it would keep you cooler.

And you have some awesome bikes!

I like both of those choices for bikes. I wish I could have found a SV650 when I was looking. My Ninja gets the job done though, so I'm happy for now. I agree on the mesh for the summer. I thought I was going to have a heat stroke waiting at red lights when I borrowed my friends jacket. I got my mesh one and its waaaay cooler when stopped.

Make sure the helmet fits your head!! Don't buy a helmet just because it looks nice, and don't skimp out on your helmet. If you are going to drop alot of money on anything, the helmet is your first bet.
I had the rf1000 helmet, and now have the X-11 Helmet. The X-11 is great, runs a little bit smaller compared to the rest of the helmets in Shoei's line up. But it is light weight and the Air flow is noticble at low speeds. Shoei's tend to fit my head the best out of all the helmets I have tried on, although the Aria's (Have a RX-7) have such a plush feeling to the cushions they use.
Go to a local shop and try on different helmets to wear and keep them on your head for a good little while. Some helmets have a good initial fit, but after a while they may start to hurt. So wear the helmet for a good 10-15 min if possible. It is a big investment.

Dont skimp on gloves and your helmet those are the first two things to hit the ground.

And as many seasoned motorcycle riders and racers say:

"its not will you hit the ground but when will you hit the ground"

Being a rider myself I pick up the best products I can get my hands on!

-Shoei helmet is a great start! Also look into Arai...

-Alpinestars are great leathers!

-Gloves you can do better... I know these may seem expensive but after you put them on you wont want anything else!!! That I guarantee these made my alpinestar racing gloves feel cheap!!! http://www.heroicracing.com/default.asp

Badger is right on with the helmet advice your helmet should be snug tight. I have an X-11 and want to get the new X-12... The more expensive helmet's new technology is so far beyond the cheaper helmets!!! remember its your brain spend the money and get the expensive helmet trust me I took a header into an embankment at over 90+mph with my Shoei X-11 and survived not only that but the helmet came out perfectly un-hurt minus a few light scratches!!!

on the helmet fit issue make sure it is snug tight with no way for your head to move. The top cushion should also stop above your eyebrows.

Another thing. Try to go with lighter colors as much as possible and try to match the bike too if you can lol... Also look into boots! Heroic has some good ones along with Alpinestars.

Thanks for all the advice!

Theres a local bike shop near me, I'll go by and check it out to double check I like the helmet and that it will fit right and will be comfortable still.

And bullitt I was concerned about the colors for the fact that I would think people would have trouble seeing me at night, at first I did want colors to match my bike....but I would have to get new gear everytime I got a new bike. I don't plan on having my first bike all that long, maybe 2 seasons max. It really depends on how comfortable I feel and how I progress as a rider.

Well then stick with conservative colors. White, silver, blue, and black ;)

This is my other toy

http://www.the370z.com/members/dougl...1-img-0244.jpg

As the guys said, get the best gear you can, and wear it. I've seen too many riders with skin missing after they dropped the bike. It's not pretty. :eek:

Nice CBR!!! We are seeing a bunch of them show up in the WERA series. Honda has a $35,000 contigency if you podium first place in the superbike class!!! I hear they handle amazing and if you buy one of the new left over 08's you can get them for $7k :tup:

I have an sv1000s I love it.
http://www.the370z.com/members/510z-...22-sv1000s.jpg

Those bikes are amazing. but i hope you removed the afterbirth hanging out the back once you got it home.

haha was going to post the same thing, one of my friends has pretty much the same exact bike and he tore that off as soon as he got it.

still, that's an awesome bike.

great advice here. The only thing I can think to add is having either dedicated riding boots (racing boots) or steel-toed work shoes. I go with the latter. Makes shifting and braking with your toes easier, splits air better around your shoe to keep your feet warmer on cold rides and (most importantly) protects your toes on a tight turn. When I first started riding I leaned into a turn with my foot too even on the peg and the toe of my shoe scraped the ground and since it could flex it caught the rough pavement and almost bent my ankle under me!

Please please please don't be like those idiots I see riding around in shorts and t-shirts. Always gear up properly. If it's too hot, take the car and crank the AC. I generally don't ride if it's hotter than 90F out, since I prefer black riding gear - even with a mesh jacket it's rough.

Like it's been said, it's not if you're going to fall, but when. And most people don't take that generally enough and only apply it to their driving habits and say "oh well I'm not going to go fast or race or anything like that" but they don't realize it'll prob be because some idiot in a car does not see them and WHAM! Also like it's been said - always assume that no other vehicles on the road see you. Especially dangerous scenarios are those like where a person is making a turn into the opposite lane, doesn't see you behind a car and thinks it's all clear once the car passes, pulls out and ends up right in front of you. Happened to me once luckily I saw it coming and swerved and there was no oncoming traffic. So BE AWARE

Dont let your ego control the bike. People tried to tell me i was making a bad choice by getting a 08 ZX6R as my first bike with only the safety course and thats it. Been over a year now and my bike has never been dropped by me...by that i mean my gf smashed our Z into the bike by accident but thats another story. As long as you keep your ego under control and dont act retarded, you will be fine and of course watch out for other drivers.