Bike Night

[laduck]

Here in Slidell, La. there is a restaurant named the "Southside Cafe". It is a very good place to eat and every Wednesday night is "bike night". Well, I was over there last night and after eating went outside and checked out all of the good looking bikes. Now, I have never had one and never really thought about getting one. My question is... How many of you own a bike, what kind, how long, want to have one, etc. I guess I have been watching American Chopper too long.

[Chuckle12]

I have owned and ridden motocross bikes all my life and I had a "crotch rocket" (CBR600RR) back in high school. I sold my motoX bike a few weeks ago and was seriously thinking about getting another street bike, cruising bike not another crotch rocket (my life expectancy drops way down when I'm on one of those) but decided not to for various reassons. If it is gonna be your first bike, I would not get a big, heavy, powerful bike right off the bat. Don't go out and buy a $15,000 Harley or Texas Chopper the first go round, you want something to learn on and not be heart-broken if you happen to lay it over in the driveway. I would get a Honda Shadow VLX600 or something like that. The VLX is a good looking bike that rides better than most Harleys and has plenty of power, plus you can pick a used one up for around $2500 to $3000 and still be able to customize it for fairly cheap.

[FnW man]

Got my 1st bike last summer, and I love it. It's a Honda 1100 Shadow Sabre. You really don't need a Harley or Ironhorse chopper to be happy. I wouldn't trade mine in for either one of those. And a Honda you can afford. Good luck with everything. Just remember 1 important thing. When you become a bike owner, it's not IF you lay it down, but WHEN and HOW BAD the damage is. I layed my down for the 1st time last week, in the parking lot, but fortunally I put crash bars on mine, and I had NO damage. It just kinda fell over on the bars. The bike didn't actually touch anything. Lucky, I guess.

[redwine]

I own a Honda 750 ace and I have had it for two years. It is very helpful right now because it gets 54mpg.

[judge jb]

started out with a 750 Honda and moved on to a retired Memphis police Harley.... got the need for speed and built a Kawasaki drag bike{ which i made some cash on @ lakeland drag strip } next came a Triumph Trident.. as you can tell this was several years ago....haha.... got my eyes on a Victory Kingpin.....but my wife wants a killer dinnette set.....

judge jb

[Chuckle12]

You also don't need a big motor unless you are a fairly big 'ole boy. The bigger the motor, the heavier (and wider) the bike which makes it harder to handle. A 600 or 750 will do fine for anyone wanting to just cruise around town or do a little highway riding. I have ridden the Natchez Trace from Jackson to Natchez many times on a VLX600 and even rode it to the coast with no problem at all. Anything bigger seems to become a pain in the rear for a fairly new rider.

[RIP EM]

Good one Judge !!!

HARLEY,......DINNETTE SET,......HARLEY,....... DINNETTE SET......




.................... WENT WITH THE DINNETTE SET !


Rip Em !

[chapper]

I always had a bike when I was a kid, got married, had kids, got rid of the bike; typical story. 25 years later I bought a Harley--Dyna Wide Glide. It is one of the few things that I have overpaid for and looked back and said, "that was worth it" It now has 73,000 miles on it, just overhauled the motor and it is as good as brand new. I obviously ride it a lot, average over 13,000 miles per year, ride 12 months a year (the south is a wonderful place) and never get tired of doing so. I had craved a Halrey for 10 years before I bought and I would not trade it for any other type of bike.

All that being said, the Jap bikes are a much better value and if you are unsure about how entususatic you will be, i'd recommend going with a yamaha or Honda--lots of used ones out there for a reasonable price. Don't worry too much about the miles, they build them to last these days. But do look at the tires--there over $100 each and typically last less than 12,000 miles. I beleive the bigger the motor the better. unless it's a crotch rocket, a 600 cc motor is plenty. I would not settle for anything less than 1100 cc on a V-twin type cruiser however,. My 2 cents.