And, this is probably obvious advice, but work on staying out of people's blind spots. Unless it's extremely crowded, you should be able to position yourself such that either the car is far enough ahead of you to avoid hitting you, or you're far enough in front of the car that you're easily visible to the driver. Always be aware of the cars to the side of you and their positioning relative to yours.
Yeah, I try to keep track of where everyone else is when I ride (and drive), and I try to stay out of people's blind spots. When that close call happened, I was in the left lane and the BMW was in the right lane well behind me. They actually sped up, passed me, then cut me off.
All cars thats are parallel parked want to kill you by not checking over their shoulder before they pull out or opening their doors.
BTW I don't know how readily available or well-known this is, but I just came across a summary of conclusions from the Hurt Report. All the important stuff distilled into about 50 bullet points—useful.
Looking for a relatively cheap, which means well used, 50cc dirt bike (not for a kid; for me to fuck around on). I've been watching craigslist but it's been real slow and the ones I have seen have been just way overpriced or requiring major repair. Does anyone know any motorcycle forums or places like that I should be going? Also, I'm trying to get a 50cc for under $400, preferably in the $250 range (which is where a relative found his), doesn't matter how old it is as long as it runs. Does this sound reasonable? Y'all know more about bikes than I do.
What exactly do you want to do with it? You say just mess around on it, but unless you get a tricked out pit bike, a 50cc bike simply won't have enough power to do much of anything. Plus the suspension will not handle a full size adult. I guess there are the older scooters with the fat tires and small engines that you could find, but I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for or not.
Light off-roading. We built a mini "track" on our property and it's fun as hell to take those things tearing through the woods. My relative's holds me just fine (though being 6 foot on a bike half my size kind of sucks). No jumping. No riding it too hard. No tearing up or down rocky areas. Just being idiots, going too fast around cedar trees, sliding out and flipping trying to pull wheelies, racing each other once I find one. You know, that kind of outdoor redneck fun shit.
I have an offer to trade my RX7 convertible for a 2003 CBR 954 RR. Is that thing going to kill me? Drama free: Anyone have any experience with those? From what I've seen online, it's a fantastic track bike. Would it be comfortable enough for me to commute on when the weather is nice?
A CBR954RR is a very nice reliable bike for an experienced rider. If you have no previous experience with a bike, it will kill you.
I'm thinking about getting a bike. I've never had a road license for a bike and I've really not spent much time riding on private property or dirt trails. I'm a big guy and my primary motivators are comfort and price. I'm planning to go and get my learners permit in January and then have to spend a few months waiting to get an actual grown up licenses here - so plenty of time for research and finding the right bike. I'm also not completely incompetent with tools - but I'm not that far off either - something reliable and low maintenance is probably best. Any suggestions for where I should start looking?
A 954RR is a hell of a bike, but it is not a good commuter bike. The riding position is leaned over too far, the seat is very hard, and the foot pegs are too high. As Puffman said, it is definitely not a beginner bike. With a professional rider, it will do the 1/4 mile in the high 9 second range. If it's your first bike, you will constantly work at trying to control the bike, trying to keep the front wheel on the ground and the rear tire planted on the pavement. If you're really interested in riding, do it the right way and start out small. If you're just trying to unload your car, pass on the bike.
I'm thinking of trading for the bike, then taking the bike to our local Kawasaki dealer and downsizing it. It's hard to sell 2 seat convertibles right now, which is why I'm looking at trade offers.
If you can downsize to a 250 Ninja that would be a good bike to learn on. If you have never ridden a street motorcycle take the MSF safety course one weekend. You can wear their helmets, ride their bikes and come out of it with the riding portion of the motorcycle test covered. A bonus is you can see if you even like riding the damn things before doing a trade. It is a tough time to sell or trade a bike right now.
No, I've ridden before. Used to have a Ninja 600 about 12 years ago. I just have a healthy level of fear and respect for the bigger bikes.
That changes things a lot in my mind. If you already know what you're doing and you want a bike anyway, you might be better off keeping it, as long as your commute is not too long. Just take some time to get used to the throttle because it will be more responsive than your old bike. I have room in my garage if you need free storage over the winter. Just be sure to leave the key in case I need to move it.
I've seen some 954's going for pretty cheap lately, but as long as it's roughly the same value as your car, I'd say do it. 954 is a damn good bike. May not stack up against some more current liter bikes, but I'd say it can hold it's own, and it still looks good. What Kawi are you looking at? If it were me, I'd consider just keeping the 954.
I agree with the above posters. If you have had previous experience with a 600 Ninja, just stay off the gas and putt around on the 954 till you get used to the weight. They really are nice bikes and with a bit of maintenance will run forever. Of course a refresher Motorcycle safety Foundation course probably would not hurt. It has been 12 years afterall.
Yeah, I have to take that course to get my RI motorcycle license. With the weather getting ready to turn to shit, the bike won't be going anywhere for 3 or 4 months anyway.
Doesn't Australia have a graduated license system? That makes small bikes cheap and plentiful if so. What kind of bike are you looking for? If you're looking at sport bikes there are probably Ninja 250's and 500's, and I always recommend the Ninja 650 if it's available to you. I don't know what other manufacturers offer there. In the U.S. there are few small bikes for people to learn on, and lots of crashed 600's. I wouldn't worry about size - I know of a guy in Australia who rode his 250 to 160 kph with his wife on the back. If you're looking at cruisers I'd recommend something under 1000cc. You want to start with a light bike because it's so much easier to recover from mistakes. Once a heavy bike starts to go over there's nothing you can do to stop it.
What kind of bike are you considering? Cruiser? Touring? Dual-sport? I learned on a sportbike, but I'd love to have a dual-sport too. If you haven't checked any out, give them a look.