Weigh in here. Street ride for me.

OK, Don't cheat and say you've quit after a few days. I think it takes about
5 months before you stop counting the months and days it has been. I started
again after 9 months because I thought I had it beat and could have one once
in a while. It took me another year to quit. You can never have another.

Now for my opinion on a bike.
Consider what you want in a bike. Ideally, these are the things one would
like in any bike but you can't get them in every bike so you have to decide
what you want the most and what you want to do with the bike.


1) good soft comfortable adjustable suspension. Most bikes have adjustable
suspensions but the adjustments make zero difference because there is too
little travel in the it. To tour for hours each day for a few weeks, you
must have comfort.

2) loud pipes to attract people to look at your bike and admire the chrome
and the stud driving it. Although this may sound nice on a short city trip,
this becomes annoying on a long trip.

3) lots of chrome. OK so everyone likes that. But, if you go to a show and
shine, you see lots of chrome and they all look alike.

4) comfortable seating. I found that if you have a sport bike you are
basically sitting on your privates and that isn't too comfortable for me but
it does help distribute your weight off your butt and onto your arms.
Depending on your body, this may develop sore shoulders, elbows and wrists.
Also you are sitting in such a way that your neck is always arched up to
hold your head in a position to see where you are going.
If you are on a cruiser with your feet way out in front, every time you hit
a bump your back gets the full brunt of it and the suspension on those
things is usually no hell.
The touring bike is upright with feet below your seat so you can stiffen
your knees for any bumps. Usually big plush seats.

5) wind, rain, stone and bug protection. The sport bikes are pretty good for
all of these if they have a bit of a fairing because you are right down low
and really close to the windshield.
The cruisers are for tough guys and have no windshield, that's for sissies
If you try and add one, the windshield protects you from bugs and
stones but the wind buffets your head pretty badly.
The touring bike's fairing will actually keep you dry at highway speeds in
the rain and the wind buffeting isn't as bad as the cruiser because the
presence of the windshield is built into the design of the bike.

6) cargo space is a must even if you just want to go to the grocery store or
carry an extra helmet. Most bikes can have it but the cruisers often have
the leather ones which aren't lockable and they often leak in the rain and
won't carry a helmet.

7) do you want to take a passenger? They need some comfort too.

I started back into biking about 5 years ago and went from a sport to a
cruiser to a touring trying to find what I wanted. I settled on a touring
bike because I want to travel most of all but I also want a bike that looks
nice and is a bit different than all the others. I ended up with an old
Yamaha Venture.

Wayne Jones
86 Venture

--
It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you
the questions




"Steve and Sarah" <sandskrieger.RemoveThis@NOSPAM.sasktel.net> wrote in message
news:12kn69vt19ea99a@corp.supernews.com...
> Let's see this is an experiment. I need a new motorcycle. I made the
> deal with myself when I quit smoking I could have one. Now I've quit and
> I want all the opinions I can get all the angles covered. What do you
> suggest I buy? And what are your reasons?
>
> Steve
>
>