first bike recommendation

[dankatz]

SV or Ninja 650 is he doesn't like the EX500. I had an EX500 and it was a terrific starter bike (Kawasaki green) with a new life above 7k rpm. You like your brother and want him to stay alive - don't get anything more powerful than an SV

[crowspeed07]

just have him follow this guys advice.


http://www.stuntlife.com/forums/post...88-post12.html

[underhillbu]

Get a Ninja 650R. Thats what I currently have and it's my 1st street bike. Fun bike and looks real nice.

[BluGixxer]

If you like him , sugest a nija250,,and let him learn..
If your not that concerned and want to get a good deal on a bike that needs plasticsand maybe some other parts I strongly sugest a litre bike with as many upgrades , options , and aftermarket parts your brother can afford or finance..even the resposible ones will what to see what power their new bike has...and they usually like it...

[nt650hawk]

Ryan has a HAWK GT 650 V twin. Before SV's were SV's.
http://www.hobbsautomotive.net/catal...ml?catId=60616

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Man, that is a sharp bike ^^^

As an aside, if I had a buddy looking for a first bike (which I do) I'd be sending her (or him, in your case) to Argo Cycles. Most if not all of their stuff is salvage title, but you can get a bike in any condition from needing quite a bit of work all the way to pretty and ready to ride. My friend wants pretty and ready to ride, personally I'd lean toward something with plastic/paint damage that's mechanically sound. That way it costs way less, and you care way less if/when you drop it.

Of course, if my buddy was not a light, 5'3" chick I'd probably be linking her to that Hawk right about now...

[banzairx7]

My friend bought a salvage bike at argo. I would not recommend any one else do the same after the nightmare he had. Nothing against argo at all. The problem was with the state of Mass. Getting it to pass inspection took three tries. They were just stupid on the reasons why it wouldnt pass. The best was when they failed him because he painted the bike army green. They said it had to be painted the factory color.

[catch2otwo]

good tips and nothing i haven't heard or read before. i showed him a few different examples of the sv. i think he is just looking at the asthetics of the bike at this point. he was thrilled riding the ex so he said its got enough power for fun. he doesnt want a liter bike or nothing stupid, hes heard me preach that enough times. would you guys go with the carbed or fi'ed sv? i dont mind tuning carbs or the little extra that goes into a carbed bike, but mechanically motor wise which would be better for reliability?

[OreoGaborio]

they're both fine.... have him throw a leg over each.

["Dangerous" Dan K]

My friend bought a salvage bike at argo. I would not recommend any one else do the same after the nightmare he had. Nothing against argo at all. The problem was with the state of Mass. Getting it to pass inspection took three tries. They were just stupid on the reasons why it wouldnt pass. The best was when they failed him because he painted the bike army green. They said it had to be painted the factory color.

Holy shit! They actually gave him shit about the COLOR of the bike? I'm rarely sure about anything, but I'm pretty damn sure you can paint your vehicle any color you like. :wallbang:

I was not thinking inspection at all, I live in NH and inspections are cakewalks. My friend, however, does live in MA. Any chance you can fill us in on what else they gave him crap about? I bought a salvage car from them years back and registered it in MA no problem, so I'd be really curious to hear exactly what issues he ran into (besides the color thing, which is retarded and I assume could be handled, even if it involved printing some laws on your own and asking for supervisors one after the other for half the day).

Anyone in hear work in a shop that does inspections able to give us a heads up as to what kind of stuff could create an issue trying to get a salvage bike inspected in MA?

Thanks.

[BCT748]

Holy shit! They actually gave him shit about the COLOR of the bike? I'm rarely sure about anything, but I'm pretty damn sure you can paint your vehicle any color you like. :wallbang:

I was not thinking inspection at all, I live in NH and inspections are cakewalks. My friend, however, does live in MA. Any chance you can fill us in on what else they gave him crap about? I bought a salvage car from them years back and registered it in MA no problem, so I'd be really curious to hear exactly what issues he ran into (besides the color thing, which is retarded and I assume could be handled, even if it involved printing some laws on your own and asking for supervisors one after the other for half the day).

Anyone in hear work in a shop that does inspections able to give us a heads up as to what kind of stuff could create an issue trying to get a salvage bike inspected in MA?

Thanks.

Pretty sure I can answer this seeing how I know most of the guys that work at Argos and have talked to them about NH and MA inspections before. At their old place they would have the guy come down once a week to inspect customers bikes and as long as everything was fixed and the parts weren't stolen you were good to go. Now that they moved they have a new inspector to deal with that they don't have a relationship with so they have to make an appointment with him to get the inspections done. Not really a big deal but they aren't going to call him for one bike if they don't know you so it might take a little longer. The MA inspections are a whole other story. Apparently every part on the insurance inspection must be replaced with dealer parts and you have to have the receipts to back them up. So you can't just go on e-bay and by some take off plastics to save some cash. Honestly, if I lived in MA I wouldn't bother buying a salvage bike unless I had someone in NH that could put it in their name to get the inspection and then sign it over to me.

[OreoGaborio]

Oh Jesus, Dan.... Carla will fuckin hate you forever if you let her buy a salvage bike & try to get it roadworthy in MA....

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Oh Jesus, Dan.... Carla will fuckin hate you forever if you let her buy a salvage bike & try to get it roadworthy in MA....

Haha... duly noted. I've already told her about this, and to scratch anything with a salvage title (from NH). Too bad, they had a couple bikes she liked.

She wouldn't hate me though, it would take a whole lot more than that. I'm actually fairly sure it's not possible at this point. All the same, I'd never hear the end of it, and there's enough shit I'll never hear the end of as it is

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Pretty sure I can answer this seeing how I know most of the guys that work at Argos and have talked to them about NH and MA inspections before. At their old place they would have the guy come down once a week to inspect customers bikes and as long as everything was fixed and the parts weren't stolen you were good to go. Now that they moved they have a new inspector to deal with that they don't have a relationship with so they have to make an appointment with him to get the inspections done. Not really a big deal but they aren't going to call him for one bike if they don't know you so it might take a little longer. The MA inspections are a whole other story. Apparently every part on the insurance inspection must be replaced with dealer parts and you have to have the receipts to back them up. So you can't just go on e-bay and by some take off plastics to save some cash. Honestly, if I lived in MA I wouldn't bother buying a salvage bike unless I had someone in NH that could put it in their name to get the inspection and then sign it over to me.

Thanks. Salvage is off her list.

[BCT748]

Honestly, if I lived in MA I wouldn't bother buying a salvage bike unless I had someone in NH that could put it in their name to get the inspection and then sign it over to me.

Thanks. Salvage is off her list.

You live in NH, right? Once you get it inspected and a title in your name you could just sign it over to her. Once it has been inspected in NH with a title you can register it in MA without having it reinspected.

["Dangerous" Dan K]

You live in NH, right? Once you get it inspected and a title in your name you could just sign it over to her. Once it has been inspected in NH with a title you can register it in MA without having it reinspected.

Huh... didn't even think of that. Are you sure that my previous registration/title/bill of sale is all she'd need? I'd register and have it inspected for her, and sell it to her at a very reasonable fee Playing of course, I wouldn't make a dollar off her.

[OreoGaborio]

I bet she's made a dollar or two off of you! OSNAP!

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Last we talked she was liking this one... 959 miles, $2700. Nothing to suggest it's a salvage title besides being from Argo. Her main complaint was too flashy, and would attract attention during her learning stage.


They've got another that's indentical with 2750 miles, call for price. Likely less than that one, looks like the exact same bike with higher miles. Same flashy problem.

Then there's this one. 368 Miles, same bike, blue rather than red. Might qualify as less flashy, and it's my favorite color, which should be the most important thing in her bike, right?

["Dangerous" Dan K]

I bet she's made a dollar or two off of you! OSNAP!

I was thinking as I was typing that "no way I'd accurately keep track of all the recepits and shit as I did that for her, I'd probably end up losing a few bucks in the deal. If it got her riding I wouldn't mind.

[BCT748]

Huh... didn't even think of that. Are you sure that my previous registration/title/bill of sale is all she'd need? I'd register and have it inspected for her, and sell it to her at a very reasonable fee Playing of course, I wouldn't make a dollar off her.

You wouldn't need to register it, unless you plate it for a year in NH to save some cash and sign it over to her next season. Just go down to town hall with the paperwork and apply for the title. After you get the title sign it over to her, might as well give her a bill of sale too because some of the registry workers can be asses about that. Once you have a title you can sell it to anyone in any state without any problems as far as I know. I haven't done it myself but I know a few people that have either transferred from NH to MA or sold to someone in MA from NH with a branded title and it was processed just like anything else.

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Of course I'd have to register it... how else would I ride it? I live downtown, plateless isn't gonna work. Wait... she wants a 250. Nevermind. No need to plate it

["Dangerous" Dan K]

I bought a salvage car from those guys years back and registered/inspected it in MA no problem. I wonder if they changed the laws, or if they're just harder on bikes?

[BCT748]

If you ever buy anything from Argos here's a little tip for you

Bikes: Shawn or Damion

Cars: Erik

Not ready to buy but feel like shooting the shit: Tony

If Guz is around: Run

[BCT748]

I bought a salvage car from those guys years back and registered/inspected it in MA no problem. I wonder if they changed the laws, or if they're just harder on bikes?

Not really sure. In MA you have to get it inspected by a cop, might have to be a Statie? The horror stories I've heard could have just been because the cop was a dick

["Dangerous" Dan K]

If you ever buy anything from Argos here's a little tip for you

Bikes: Shawn or Damion

Cars: Erik

Not ready to buy but feel like shooting the shit: Tony

If Guz is around: Run

<taking notes>

I have no idea who I dealt with buying that car, this was 5+ years ago, but the first time I walked away even though I wanted it because the guy was pissing me off. Freaking car was on coilovers and 17s, had about an eighth of an inch of sidewall, and they didn't understand why I'd want to test drive it. "You've driven a car before, why would you need to drive it? You want it or not?".
yeah... because a car that should have 14" wheels on 17s, lowered, is going to drive and ride just like the GMC Yukon I drove in here, right?
"The price is on the window, don't even bother trying to hassle on it, you can afford it or you can't".

I shopped for another week and didn't find anything else I liked so I went back and talked to someone else. Test drove it, negotiated, got a little bit knocked off and got them to swap out the fart-can amplifier for a reasonable muffler, and left a happy camper. My buddy pointed out to me on the drive home that my test drive might have been a prime example of why some of the guys don't like letting people test drive them. Whoops...

i did notice they had a wicked bad case of the stereotypical used car salesman. "I'm losing my shirt on this", "you can't find a car like this at this price", "whoever priced this thing never should have priced it so low" etc. Whatever... got the car I wanted at a price I was happy with. To hell with everything else, right?