# So, how hard is it to learn...



## AndrewZ (Feb 1, 2006)

biglovemp said:


> Keep looking and you will be able to find a 250 for about 1k. Another 300 for the course and another 300-500 on a helmet and gear (online you could find some great deals)
> 
> Bikes require very little maintenance and are very economical.
> 
> Dont give up just yet.:thumbup:


Thanks!


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## E36 Phantom (Apr 3, 2007)

jvr826 said:


> And, just like the road test in a car, it's f'n stupid.


Don't even get me started on the car road test.........I wanted to hurt whoever designed the test after I took it. I can't believe they actually give you a license after that joke of a test. No wonder we have the idiots we have on the roads today! 


LuvThatSam said:


> Having a second car is not an option at this point. I have a reliable car already, but we are getting rid of it. Tough times. I was hoping the motorcycle would be the cheaper alternative. I found a couple of Ninja 250's for about $1200-1500. But with the cost of equipment and traning, it'll add up to too much.


If money says no way, I understand, but don't be afraid to look at older bikes too. FWIW, I picked up an 82 Kawasaki KZ750 w/ 11,000 miles for all of $575 for my first bike. In pretty decent cosmetic shape, started first time every time, never gave me any trouble. For a short commute, don't tell Kris, but I wear jeans and a heavy leather jacket with gloves. You really don't NEED a full suit for a commute - but you do need to be hyper-aware and plan for the worst from every driver. I would like a full suit, but I'd be kidding myself to think that I'd suit up for my short rides anyway.

Anyway, it doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive. You would enjoy the torque on an older, bigger engined bike anyway. :dunno: Just a thought.


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## Ryan... (Dec 16, 2008)

E36 Phantom said:


> If money says no way, I understand, but don't be afraid to look at older bikes too. FWIW, I picked up an 82 Kawasaki KZ750 w/ 11,000 miles for all of $575 for my first bike.


I was browsing Craigslist yesterday and found a 95 Ninja 250 for $400, it needed a new rear tire and the carbs needed cleaning. My brother went to check it out and he'll probably pick it up this week. Sure it has over 40K miles, but for $400?!? You can pick up a brand new tire online for $120, and the carbs are a DIY job if you want to get your hands a little dirty. Now he'll be getting somewhere around 50 mpgs for under $600...


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## JonM (Jan 28, 2002)

Ryans E39 said:


> I was browsing Craigslist yesterday and found a 95 Ninja 250 for $400, it needed a new rear tire and the carbs needed cleaning. My brother went to check it out and he'll probably pick it up this week. Sure it has over 40K miles, but for $400?!? You can pick up a brand new tire online for $120, and the carbs are a DIY job if you want to get your hands a little dirty. Now he'll be getting somewhere around 50 mpgs for under $600...


For $400 + parts and fixes, when he is done with it he can set it on fire and drink a PBR while he watches it burn. The 250 is a great starter bike, but he'll probably get bored of it quickly. [which is fine at that price!!]


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## biglovemp (Sep 26, 2006)

JonM said:


> The 250 is a great starter bike, but he'll probably get bored of it quickly. [which is fine at that price!!]


+100000000000

For $400 i would go for it as a starter bike.

LTS, that is what you should be looking for!:thumbup:


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## Melissa (Aug 9, 2002)

How hard is it?

"If Melissa can do it, I can do it."


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## Ryan... (Dec 16, 2008)

JonM said:


> For $400 + parts and fixes, when he is done with it he can set it on fire and drink a PBR while he watches it burn. The 250 is a great starter bike, but he'll probably get bored of it quickly. [which is fine at that price!!]


He'll use it for traveling to and from his job, he's not big into high speeds so it'll be fine. He's obsessed with saving money so it's the perfect bike for him! I'll probably use it to teach my girlfriend too..


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## KrisL (Dec 22, 2001)

I still vote for a beater car for LTS. With two little ones, it's just not worth the risk, especially riding daily at night. What happens if you break a leg like I did?


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## AndrewZ (Feb 1, 2006)

KrisL said:


> I still vote for a beater car for LTS. With two little ones, it's just not worth the risk, especially riding daily at night. What happens if you break a leg like I did?


Thanks Kris.

Yea, we came to the conclusion of this not being the best time. We're gonna go check this out in the morning. 

At least its a 5 speed 4 banger. This is the one we got rid of this week. Automatic.:thumbdwn:


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## E36 Phantom (Apr 3, 2007)

LuvThatSam said:


> We're gonna go check this out in the morning.





> SERIOUS BUYERS ONLY WITH CASH!!! NO CHECKS, MONEY ORDERS *OR MONOPOLY MONEY!!*


:lmao:

:bustingup


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## 3LOU5 (Jun 14, 2002)

LuvThatSam said:


> how to ride these things? :eeps:
> 
> And why in California is it more expensive to taking biking school after the age 21? 18-21 is like $150, and for 21 and older its 250?


Not that difficult really. If you can ride a bicycle and know the concept of driving a manual car (i.e. using the clutch correctly, being in the right gear at a given speed, etc.), you pretty much have the basics. :thumbup:

However, given your location (L.A., correct?), I would highly discourage you from riding, but that's of course my humble opinion.

(BTW, ditto on the MSF course).


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## #5880 (Feb 11, 2006)

started in 5th grade,

just drive very defensively. Stay away from every car, b1tches on cellphones in SUVs ARE TRYING TO KILL YOU


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## 3beemers (Nov 1, 2008)

KrisL said:


> A beater car is cheaper and safer than a bike, no doubt. You generally get better gas mileage on a bike, but the TCO would take many years to get close to that of a beater car all things considered.


I am not quite sure about that KrisL. Except for my 6 months old Honda Ridgeline, all my cars and Nissan Titan truck were ALL rear-ended. I have been riding bikes for about 40 years and never (knock on wood) been involved in any accident. I use my K1200S in the crazy L.A. traffic splitting lanes cuts my gas and time by half. So far 4 wheelers have been kind to me.


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## KrisL (Dec 22, 2001)

3beemers said:


> I am not quite sure about that KrisL. Except for my 6 months old Honda Ridgeline, all my cars and Nissan Titan truck were ALL rear-ended. I have been riding bikes for about 40 years and never (knock on wood) been involved in any accident. I use my K1200S in the crazy L.A. traffic splitting lanes cuts my gas and time by half. So far 4 wheelers have been kind to me.


Why is that, do you suppose? Perhaps because a) you're more aware on the bike and b) you split lanes in situations where most rear ends occur. I'm not talking about accident avoidance here, I'm talking about safety. I'd rather get rear ended in a car than on a bike.

Also, for what it's worth, I've never been rear ended in my 14 years of driving.


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## 3beemers (Nov 1, 2008)

Ryans E39 said:


> He'll use it for traveling to and from his job, he's not big into high speeds so it'll be fine. He's obsessed with saving money so it's the perfect bike for him! I'll probably use it to teach my girlfriend too..


Just my opinion on this: I do not ride the bike 08 K1200S to save money and time. Saving money and time (pass many 4 wheelers on diamond lane) comes in the form of a bonus on top of the fact that I do not have to wait for the weekend to have fun. I can only pity 4 wheelers sitting in endless L.A. freeway traffic especially Friday afternoons. There were few instances driving my car when the 210 Freeway was closed due to a big accident and I nearly parked my car to walk the last 2 miles. I was thinking I could come back for the car late at night. Safety: the biggest safety factor on motorcycles in California is splitting lanes. To increase that safety factor, I could also use wider streets for slower ride but the biggest plus is that I am always in front of cars at the stop lights. Here's my opinion on people who wanted to start to ride bikes to save money: It takes a lot of experience to really ride safe. I would suggest using streets until the balancing act is perfected. I've seen many 50cc scooters in the area and cars seems to give them the space and respect.


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## 3beemers (Nov 1, 2008)

KrisL said:


> Why is that, do you suppose? Perhaps because a) you're more aware on the bike and b) you split lanes in situations where most rear ends occur. I'm not talking about accident avoidance here, I'm talking about safety. I'd rather get rear ended in a car than on a bike.
> 
> Also, for what it's worth, I've never been rear ended in my 14 years of driving.


When I ride, most of the time like in traffic lights, I always end up in between lanes/cars. There was this Sheriff (motorcycle cop) who was killed not too long ago at a stop light. His mistake (in my opinion and based on my experience) is stopping behind a car. He was killed by a drunk driver. When my Red Nissan titan was rear ended, the driver said he did not notice I stopped at the light (he was on his cell phone). When my 330i was rear ended at a street light, the MBenz driver said he saw the green light but did not see my car behind a pickup truck trying to re-start his engine. When my Nissan Sentra was going to be rear-ended, I saw this guy on an old beat up car coming fast and tried to stop. I moved my car forward to give him more space to stop, still hit my car. In all these instances, I did not have any choice but to brace for the impact. Motorcycles do not have bumpers like cars. The rider and the motorcycle is the BUMPER. So to remedy that I use other vehicles to protect me from being rear ended. I also use other cars as my front bumpers - meaning that: if I am riding two way roads I make sure that there is a car (not a truck) in front of me, because he is my bumper. Why car? Because I can see many things over his car's roof. Same thing on freeways I make sure that I am following a driver who in my opinion would contribute to my safe riding. At stop lights I learned to look left and right even if I have green light - you never know when someone would run the red light and I do not want to be RIGHT, but Dead. There are helmets available that would allow me to listen to music or use cell phone. I definitely would not do such a thing. Riding motorcycles calls for the utmost concentration as compared to a car. In my car or pick up truck, I sometimes turn the radio off to concentrate on driving particularly on high speed open freeways.

I fly single engine planes and one time when I was beginning to learn to fly. The door on my side opened as I was taking off. My immediate reaction is just pull the darn door which I did. My instructor told me to land, check everything then take off again. From then on, safety became my number one concern, that's for me and those around me regardless of what I drive, ride or fly.

I'm glad you've never been rear-ended in your 14 years of driving. I sure hate being rear ended regardless because it is a total waste of my time.

For those who rides or interested in riding, the most important portion of this novel is the "BUMPER" (front and rear).

Regards


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## cwsqbm (Aug 4, 2004)

KrisL said:


> I remember it being a big milestone when I could actually take a mountain road corner marked at 35mph *at* 35mph! I think it took 4-5 weeks to get to that point. It can get frustrating at first.


:rofl: I remember riding up a mountain road on my 1000cc motorcycle, and not being able to get a damn minivan off my tail.

The two times I've been rear-ended while driving my truck were sort of my fault. In both situations I wasn't paying total attention. Since I leave a good following distance, I was able to stop both times without hitting the guy in front. The guys behind me were like the average drones that follow to close, and couldn't stop. When I ride the bike, I'm much more aware, and don't let the guy behind me get too far behind if I have to come to a stop ahead. I'll also play with the brake light or weave if necessary to keep his attention, especially if I'm being tailgated.


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