getting new bike, GOT NEW BIKE

[Dupo]

Wow, very nice choice Danny. Thats one hell of a good lookin bike. The color scheme is very retro looking. Love it!!

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by alantf

Wish we had the choices (especially second hand), on this small island, that you guys have in that great big US of A!

what kind of bikes can you get there, i take it the selection is extremely limited. :sad:

[alantf]

Originally Posted by dannylightning

what kind of bikes can you get there, i take it the selection is extremely limited. :sad:

As a generalisation, it mostly falls into 2 camps - Lots of 50cc scooters (that you don't need to take a driving test for) & lots of big sports bikes for the wannabee boy racers. (who wear the colour coded leathers & helmets even for washing their bikes :whistle: ) There aren't many cruisers to pick from. The dealer couldn't find a GZ, so he had to get mine shipped from another Island (Gran Canaria). The Japs stopped making the European version of the bike I wanted to upgrade to (Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD) in 2008. The used bikes are very expensive - for example - My new GZ cost €3000. A 10 year old one would have cost me €2500, so it wasn't worth buying it used. Mostly it's a case of the bike shop guy phoning round the dealers to find out what they can let him have, or waiting for around 3 to 6 months to get something shipped over from mainland Spain. Even then the choice is limited. The only brand with a bigger choice of cruisers is Harley. A coupla months ago I went to an open day at a Harley dealer's place, around 30 miles away. Wasn't really impressed by the bikes - too much "Hey, look at me, I'm a Harley", & the prices were out of this world, & totally out of keeping with reality.

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by alantf

As a generalisation, it mostly falls into 2 camps - Lots of 50cc scooters (that you don't need to take a driving test for) & lots of big sports bikes for the wannabee boy racers. (who wear the colour coded leathers & helmets even for washing their bikes :whistle: ) There aren't many cruisers to pick from. The dealer couldn't find a GZ, so he had to get mine shipped from another Island (Gran Canaria). The Japs stopped making the European version of the bike I wanted to upgrade to (Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD) in 2008. The used bikes are very expensive - for example - My new GZ cost €3000. A 10 year old one would have cost me €2500, so it wasn't worth buying it used. Mostly it's a case of the bike shop guy phoning round the dealers to find out what they can let him have, or waiting for around 3 to 6 months to get something shipped over from mainland Spain. Even then the choice is limited. The only brand with a bigger choice of cruisers is Harley. A coupla months ago I went to an open day at a Harley dealer's place, around 30 miles away. Wasn't really impressed by the bikes - too much "Hey, look at me, I'm a Harley", & the prices were out of this world, & totally out of keeping with reality.

sorry to hear about the small selection of motorbikes there. that would really bumb me out. but harley is making killer bikes these days from what i under stand, they dont have many problems like they used to.. but im with you on the price. they are expensive, and the ones that are not just normal looking say the night train or the cross bones cost a fortune. lots of people say once you ride a harley youll never want to jump on any thing else. so never test drive a harley unless you got the money to buy it.

I cant quite figure out why people say that, i did ride a 883 sportster and it was cool and all but not any thing terribly impressive, but than again it is the bottom of the barrel bike that Harley makes. maybe if i got on a different model harley i would understand but probably not. a bike is a bike to me. each one is a little different but you get a nice one i cant see the harley being that much better.

check the craigslist website if you have not already done so. i see some darn good deals on used stuff on that site all the time.

[dhgeyer]

Originally Posted by dannylightning

lots of people say once you ride a harley youll never want to jump on any thing else. so never test drive a harley unless you got the money to buy it.

Back in 2004 we did a big vacation on the West Coast. Did lots of stuff. We were out there for a couple of weeks. One thing I did was to rent a Harley Road King for 3 days from a (dreadful) place in Oakland, and rode down the Pacific Coast Highway to Big Sur and back. I owned a Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Classic FI (fuel injected) at the time. I didn't see a lot of difference. The Harley was a little better in some respects, and the Vulcan was a little better in others. The two bikes were about the same size, displacement, power, and weight. The Road King came all set up with hard bags and a big windshield. I had to set up the Vulcan with those things myself, but still saved a fortune, and the bags I bought were better. The only big difference I remember clearly is that the clutch on the Harley wasn't too good, but it was a rental bike and may have had some hard use.

People buy Harley's mainly for the name, I think, and then have to justify the money. I agree that the severe QC problems they had during the "Bowling Ball" years are behind them, but I don't think they're any better than other bikes out there. I must say that if you're into motorcycling as a social thing, the Harley offers some real advantages. You've got HOG, and there are just a lot of Harley riders around who prefer to ride with other Harley riders.

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

People buy Harley's mainly for the name, I think, and then have to justify the money.

i agree with that but there are a few harleys out there i would spend the money on if i had it.. nothing to do with the name just bad ass bikes. the 883 sportster iron is killer, the night train is killr and the cross bones is killer. dont really thing i would even consider buying any other model of harley. i cant see paying a lot for the name. paying a lot for a killer bike in the other hand i could inderstand. i see a lot of Harley going down the road and i don think they look any where near as good as the bike i picked up.

[dhgeyer]

Originally Posted by dannylightning

there are a few harleys out there i would spend the money on if i had it.. nothing to do with the name just bad ass bikes. the 883 sportster iron is killer, the night train is killr and the cross bones is killer.

People buy motorcycles for different reasons, and there's nothing wrong with that. I couldn't care less what a bike looks like. I care how comfortable it is over long distances. This obviously involves the saddle, but also the riding position, the vibration level and frequency, and the noise level (wind, engine, tires, and other sources). I care how easy it is to maintain, how reliable it is, how environmentally responsible it is, how safe it is, and how it handles. I care how much storage space it has, and how much of that is lockable and conveniently removable with handles for those motel nights. I wouldn't give the bikes you mention a second thought, but wouldn't think less of you for wanting them or riding them if that's what makes you happy.

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

People buy motorcycles for different reasons, and there's nothing wrong with that. I couldn't care less what a bike looks like. I care how comfortable it is over long distances. This obviously involves the saddle, but also the riding position, the vibration level and frequency, and the noise level (wind, engine, tires, and other sources). I care how easy it is to maintain, how reliable it is, how environmentally responsible it is, how safe it is, and how it handles. I care how much storage space it has, and how much of that is lockable and conveniently removable with handles for those motel nights. I wouldn't give the bikes you mention a second thought, but wouldn't think less of you for wanting them or riding them if that's what makes you happy.

people already think i have a harley for some reason, i never thought it looked like a harley, knock off of a Indian yes but not a harley, a few people have told me it looked like a indian, and about 10 or more people have asked what kind of harley it is..

what is this about wind noise haha. any bike i have ever been on all you can hear is wind noise after you get up to 40 or 45. i think the only thign that will fix that is a helmet that covers your ears or a wind sheild.

i do care what it looks like, that's why i dont want a bike with any storage on it. i hate the way it looks, but it sure would be nice to have some, but i dont want to take away from the looks of my bike, i don't see any long trips on a bike any ways. most of the stuff you mentioned i do care about also, i found the bike with the looks the comfort and reliability.

one major complaint about my bike i did not look up what kind of gas milage the bike got. i did find a review stating it only got 32-35 mpg and damn sure when i filled up my tank 32mpg was all i got. but besides that i have no complaints.

[dhgeyer]

Originally Posted by dannylightning

what is this about wind noise haha. any bike i have ever been on all you can hear is wind noise after you get up to 40 or 45. i think the only thign that will fix that is a helmet that covers your ears or a wind shield.

I want to be able to ride long distances, and do so fairly often. I have owned and worn extensively Arai, Shoei, and HJC helmets in 3/4 and full face style. None of them cut noise down to the point where it will not cause permanent hearing damage with prolonged exposure (about 100 decibels) at highway speeds as far as I could tell. If you have temporary hearing loss after riding, but it comes back after a while, you are doing permanent damage which can never be recovered. It's a very slow process. You don't know it's happening until you've lost a significant portion of your hearing, particularly higher pitched tones.

Aside from the danger of permanent damage to hearing, excess noise for long rides is fatiguing, which shortens the time/distance I can safely ride, and lessens my enjoyment of the ride.

A large windshield will cut noise to a safe level. So will decent earplugs, permanent or throw away types. So, I have 2 configurations: big windshield, helmet, no earplugs, and shorter windshield, helmet, earplugs.

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

I want to be able to ride long distances, and do so fairly often. I have owned and worn extensively Arai, Shoei, and HJC helmets in 3/4 and full face style. None of them cut noise down to the point where it will not cause permanent hearing damage with prolonged exposure (about 100 decibels) at highway speeds as far as I could tell. If you have temporary hearing loss after riding, but it comes back after a while, you are doing permanent damage which can never be recovered. It's a very slow process. You don't know it's happening until you've lost a significant portion of your hearing, particularly higher pitched tones.

Aside from the danger of permanent damage to hearing, excess noise for long rides is fatiguing, which shortens the time/distance I can safely ride, and lessens my enjoyment of the ride.

A large windshield will cut noise to a safe level. So will decent earplugs, permanent or throw away types. So, I have 2 configurations: big windshield, helmet, no earplugs, and shorter windshield, helmet, earplugs.

you really thing wind noise is loud enough to cause hearing damage, im usually riding about 55-65 mph on the highway, dosent seem that bad to me just a little annoying. loud noise no longer makes my ears ring, years of playing in bands and being in a small bar room with the p.a. cranked up to 10 when a band is playing amazingly when my work gives me a hearing test. i usually get 0's and 1's on the test and 0 is good, first time they said i got a bunch of 0's and ones i thought that was bad till they explained how the nubers work, they say my hearing is still excellent. i guess im lucky.

i always thought about wearing some plugs to cut back on the wind noise but im too lazy haha, i have some nice ones too. i should really dig them up riding might be a little more enjoyable that way.