help the noob?

Hey all,

Passed CBT and Theory, going for DAS, no bike now cos someone decided
to cut across me for a turn. Then changed his mind and stopped in the
middle of the road. @rsehole. So, a few q's:

1. Does everyone carry a pair of shoes in their tank bags when they
head out to meet mates, or can you really manage w/boots?

2. GS500 looks like a nice starter bike. But doesn't look cool. Are
there any semi-recent (upto 3 yr old) 400cc "sports bikes" which have
a slightly more easy Gixxer like riding position?

3. Would riding a 400cc sports bike still be considered "worse" than a
GS500?

4. Can't u get metal bars or something that protect the fairings when
it does get dropped? (like on the sides - maybe remove them after a
while)

5. How do you pick up ur dropped bike? I'm 5'6, scrawny, and if the
SR125 I had was anything to go by (barely managed to get that up),
then a 400/500 is gonna stay down.

Cheers!

 

FFS. Boots.

I'd say so. Girl's bikes.

Crash bars. Lots of experienced riders fit them.

Practice and technique.

Oh, and can the txtspk, eh? You have a fullsize keyboard, use it.

 

Well done and welcome to the Dark Side.

No and it depends on the boot. Some of them most definitely are not
made for walking.

You really don't want a starter bike that "looks cool". You want one
which can gather battle scars and still work.

100cc less!! I couldn't think of anything worse, other than 200cc less.
"There is no substitute for cubes," as the merkins are want to say.

My Bloo GS has/had a tatty fairing which would not accommodate crash
bars. The tatty fairing has since been removed and crash bars are in the
process of being fitted. I know which I would rather have.

I believe there is a mention of this in the ukrm ffaq, which you are
well advised to read. In brief though:- you back into it and use your
legs. Although I just picked mine up when it fell off the side stand
last week and I am neither fit nor strong but I am incredibly handsome.

 

There are many styles of boots. I've got some huge Diadora ones at
the moment which one doesn't want to walk for any length of time in,
but I used to have some Nitro boots that lasted for about a year of
abuse then died. The Nitro boots were quite good because they would
fut underneath jeans and could be walked in.

On my travels to work and back I wear DM's as they're a good
compromise, IMHO. Others may suggest decent motorcycle boots for any
riding. You need to decide what you're happy with.

Seeing as you're going to throw it down the road soon after purchasing
it I can't think of a bike more ideal than a Suzuki GS500/Kawasaki
ER-5/Honda CB500. They're cheap to fix, spares are plentiful and they
crash very well. I'd stay away from anything that's covered in very
expensive plastic for a year or two if I were you.

Not if one is a laydee.

Crash bars is what they're called. More likely to be marketed as
Engine Bars.

<http://www.revsperformance.com/images/renntec/enginebars/GSF1200eng2lge.jpg>

I've had engine bars on both of the bikes I've owned and they are
worth every penny. When the bike comes to a rest after falling over
or whatever the machine generally rests on one of the engine bars and
the end of a handlebar which potentially reduced some of the the
damage to the machine. Normally just killing off a mirror or an
indicator.

If you get a bike covered in plastic then you're probably looking for
Crash Bungs (sometimes called Mushrooms)

Hit the kill switch bend down and kill arms and what's left of your
back.

OR: <http://www.ibmwr.org/otech/pickup.html> A lady shows how to do it
here.

 

Lift some weights and eggs raw eggs like Rocky

 

hmmm I have a dodgy ooking cousing looking for a handsome biker ... or
anyone with a pulse ... you'll do. She will e-mail you

 

I have a pulse.

It goes, boom boody boom boody boom boody boom boom boom.

 

If you forget to pack shoes then you can dance all night in Sidi black
rains and a floaty skirt. The skirt is optional. Mind you, this is
UKRM...

It's a bike, it has automatic cool value. Having said that starter
bikes aren't meant to look cool. They are there to be dropped.

And who cares what anyone else thinks anyway?

No idea.

Absolutely not.

Crash bars or crash mushrooms. really should have fitted some of those
myself.

GAMI.

 

Technique. We have some tiny girls at work who can quite successfully
right a fully kitted Pan or R1150RT all on their lonesome. (No, I don't
mean by standing there and looking all gurly, although that's been known to
work!) Then again, one does seem to spend week one of the bike course
falling over a lot and learning how to pick the damn things up.

 

I represent that.

They can still many a sportsbike rider a bit of a scare in the twisties.

 

Good man

Boots are cool, I got kneesliders on mine.

SV650, job done.

No, most 400 sportsbike are far more powerful than a GS500.

I'm 5'2" probably more scrawny than you and I can`pick up most bikes, it's
down to technique.

 

Goodness gracious me!

 

Dodgy cooking or looking? One I can put up with, but the other...

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Grimly Curmudgeon

Neither, she's an orang-utan.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer as featured in
Performance Bikes and Fast Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (Falling apart) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

One would expect an orang-utan to be quite good at the ooking.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Grimly Curmudgeon

Ah well, now[1].

Maybe that's the problem? She's be able to get hooked-up with some hairy
orange stud[2] if only she could manage a decent ook.

It's tragic really.


[1] If you're going to do de Oirish, Oi'm after joinin' yez.
[2] If only we knew someone...
--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer as featured in
Performance Bikes and Fast Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (Falling apart) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

Thanks for all the answers/info!!
Will report back after my 1st post-DAS crash

Thanks again,
Raj

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, abd08

Just be aware that typing with a stick attached to your head will not
excuse you from using the shift key.

NP.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer as featured in
Performance Bikes and Fast Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (Falling apart) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

Champ says...

Funny that, all the accidents I've had where I've been badly hurt[1]
have happened within 20 miles of home.

[1] With the exception of my Bandit incident in Norfolk.

--
Lozzo
Triumph Daytona 955i SE (Black with added black bits)
Suzuki Bandit 600S (Green with added shit bits)
Yamaha SR250 Delusion (It's "Special")
I ride way too fast to worry about cholestorol.

 

Not strictly true. I bought a brand new ZXR400 in 2001. Biketrader turns
up plenty of L9s with reasonable milage. Sure, they're over three years
old, but they're more fun than a GS500 I'm sure.