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www.elementsofbalancemt.com
www.facebook.com/misstwisties
"If you don't stand for something you fall for everything."
"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret."
Unofficial self proclaimed official NESR plumber.
"Ah shit son, datz be a Ducati!"-Random kid in Methuen.
Welcome. I'm from Burlington too, just took up riding last year and really like it. Put 5,000 miles on last season, have 5,000 on so far this season. Did one track day, am headed to another in a few weeks.
My first bike was a Ninja 500, great starter bike. I HIGHLY recommend doing the MSF course before trying to ride at all, I tried learning before my MSF course and - picked up some bad habits and dropped my bike a lot. Lost all confidence, too, it made the process so much harder.
Anyway, you can look for a bike now or during the winter and probably get a deal. Gives you some time to find a good one. I got my first bike from Roadside and they were GREAT to work with - I didn't know anything about bikes and they never made me feel stupid and were very patient explaining things to me and making sure the bike I got was a good fit. (Depending on how tall you are you may have to adjust the height of your bike, it's something most of us gals come across when getting bikes.)
I now have an SV650S and love it. Learning to ride is a process. Even people who have been riding many years are still learning. Try to be patient.
Feel free to PM me if you would like.
www.elementsofbalancemt.com
www.facebook.com/misstwisties
"If you don't stand for something you fall for everything."
"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret."
www.elementsofbalancemt.com
www.facebook.com/misstwisties
"If you don't stand for something you fall for everything."
"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret."
Okay... welcome new girl... start wit a 250 (I bought mine for $500, used it for a season, and turned around and sold it...) Went to something bigger (2004 CBR 600f4i)... then went to something better (2005 CBR 600rr), and still have it. I beat the shit out of the first two bikes, learned a lot... it's the smartest way to go, don't want to hurt yourself or anyone else...
Jackie? Harmless?
once again cheese...
If you ain't first......you're last!
Unofficial self proclaimed official NESR plumber.
"Ah shit son, datz be a Ducati!"-Random kid in Methuen.
i am not afraid of dropping it because i know that i am going to have to get use to it and being so short and everything i figure its going to take a little bit to get use to the bike. Ill learn and im not worried about people laughing cause i know most people probably already have
I don't think everyone crashes it...but I'd be willing to bet that damn near everyone drops it at least once.
Some of us learn more slowly than others in that regard...it took dropping my bike in the garage twice before I came to the conclusion that I should just park it nose-in after long rides and turn it around when I'm going out again (and not tired, cold, etc).
I've only dumped it once, and that was attempting to practice emergency stops from 50 MPH and doing a whole lot of things wrong (first, I didn't practice a few at lower speed first and work my way up; second, I was riding on cold tires; third, I locked up at least one wheel...and the list goes on...let's just say in some regards I was being pretty dumb). My smart thought pattern in that process, though, was to be fully geared up at the time (sport boots and leathers); despite getting a foot caught under the bike for part of the slide and continuing to slide for what seemed like a very long ways, I walked away unhurt. Not everyone crashes; some people are bright enough not to make so many mistakes at once (and as they teach in the MSF, most crashes are a confluence of multiple factors).
(As I understand the terms, a drop occurs with virtually no speed, often the result of brain freeze such as hanging a foot up on the backpack strapped to your passenger seat or forgetting to put the sidestand down all the way before walking away from the bike; a dump occurs with speed, such as attempting to occupy the same space as a moose on Rt 100; both of the above can scratch and/or crack plastic, but a drop is unlikely to cause any functional impairments to the bike).
Oh, and to clear things up: I haven't ridden 11 or 12k yet this season; I just turned over 10k tonight. I do, however, attempt to thoroughly flog my 250 on a regular basis, and highly recommend the venerable Ninjette as a great bike to learn on.
Unofficial self proclaimed official NESR plumber.
"Ah shit son, datz be a Ducati!"-Random kid in Methuen.
Yes I did! Knocked em over standing still... dropped the f4i doing u-turns, wide turns, no turns... Dropped it accelerating through a green light (don't know what I did) ... Realized how important it was to have a kick plate... ... it looked like shit when the insurance company totalled it...
If you ain't first......you're last!
A soldering iron works rather well on a cracked Ninjette fairing, especially if you're not terribly concerned about cosmetics. I'm sure somebody who's actually good at soldering-type activities (I'm not) would actually be able to make things look decent.
The peg brackets on a Ninjette are unlikely to break from a drop, methinks--the pegs being hinged should prevent substantial force being applied, mirrors might get scuffed but should be okay...in short, my experience has been that dropping the bike is usually just going to scuff things up, if it does anything noticeable at all. (and yes, I'm going to knock on wood now that I've said that.)
So again, I heartily endorse the Ninjette. It's usually easy to fix and to find parts for, too.
"And I to my motorcycle parked like the soul of the junkyard restored, a bicycle fleshed with power, and tore off up Highway 106 continually drunk on the wind in my mouth, wringing the handlebar for speed, wild to be wreckage forever...." James Dickey
Frame sliders are worth it.
They'll either save your bike from serious damage or total it completely by bending the frame (depending on how they're mounted).
I had the 2005 Ninja 500 and didn't have the same experience. It was almost impossible to find aftermarket parts for the bike. I tried to find no-cut frame sliders but couldn't. I did have to replace a lever or two, easy to get aftermarket stuff at Roadside. I had Washburn's auto body (Williston) fix the plastics (one of my drops put the bike on the curb - bike okay, fairing really scratched). It cost only a fraction of what it would have been to get a new one and was just a great job I couldn't tell where the damage had been. Looked brand new! The replacement sticker wasn't cheap though.