A lot of things could potentially go wrong if I had a fall. I guess I’ll put some sort of padding in there though.
Andrew
try getting a honda night rebel. $3100.
suzuki gz250. $3200(execellent reviews)
dont get anything powerfull. Chance are you will lay down your bike as a begginer. 
Dont invest too much. Good Luck
I’m selling my suzuki TS50ERKX.
thing is, nobody wants it!
umm yeah be bought his bike like 8 monthes ago…??
Chase
I have a question for the US motorcyclists here and those from any other country that drives on the wrong side of the road. 
-
Do motorcyclists in your country nod to each other? (As in when you see another motorcyclist on the other side of the road and you say hi to them)
-
If so, which way do you dip your head?
I know it’s an odd question. 
The thing is most of us do it here and what generally happens is you sort of twist your chin down and to the left, dipping your forehead towards the rider. Since you’re riding on the right hand side of the road, do you dip your head to the left? I don’t think I could ever get used to that!
Andrew
if you want a bike that will run for awhile and is realy reliable then get a 4-stroke, 2-strokes are screemers but you have to change the top end(piston & rings & get cylender honed out for newparts)in them after while of riding if you want in to keep rippen. This repair can be done at home easily or if you want you can bring your biek to a shop.
A four stroke however doesn’t need as much maintenance. you dont have to repack you pipe, chang tranny fluid, and adjust chain as much, all you have to do is chang oil every now and then, and clean your air filter. These bikes have alot of power down low (unless you get a moto cross bike then theres power everywhere).
A DR 200 is good for just running around and stuff, and any bike is fun.
i have a little 2004 CR85 expert (2-stroke) and she ripps but is a little small for my comfort. if you are like 5’6" or up get at least a bike with a 35" seat hight, if you are tall you can get a bike with 38" and up.
If you plan to go on paved roads and a little trail riding then get an enduro, if you plan on ging on just paved roads then pretty much anything will do as long as she runs good. if you plan on jsut screem’n down the muddy trails then get a motox bike, or “offroad bike”.
You can go to traderonline.com and see some used bikes under motorcycles. and there is always ebay.com to look at bike and fourwheelers and what not.
Whats your price range? I could list some bikes for you
You can suprisingly find some good deals out there
Thanks for the tips, but the advice on buying a bike part of this thread expired a year ago when I bought my bike. I gues I should have posted this most recent question of mine in a separate thread.
On a side note, I’ve decided that the second I can afford it I’m going to buy myself a Ducati Monster, most likely the 620. They’re absolutely perfect! The ideal bike for me.
Andrew
yea i see that you bought your bike years before i posted … lol
Andy,
I used to ride a motorcycle during my military days in Virginia. I remember a quick wave or a point to other motorcyclists I passed and it seems that it’s still the same today. Usually, I’ve seen sort of a one-quick low wave of the hand, in this case it would be the left hand as vehicles pass on the left of each other here in the U.S.
During my high school years, when friends passed each other, they would give a quick blink of their left turn signal as a greeting.
So now I’ve taken the concept to a whole new level. Much to my family’s dismay, I’ve developed individual signals for other drivers in similiar vehicles to what we happen to be driving. For instance, when we’re in the minivan, I have a wave for other minivans we pass. I shoot my right hand up over my head, wiggle my fingers and make a funny face. I think it’s hilarious. My family thinks it’s embarrassing. When we’re in the Avalanche, I take a snap of the old Happy Days TV show and do a Fonzie “Aaaayyyy” with my thumbs, “A” for Avalanche you know. I’m sure the other drivers immediately catch on to what I’m doing, but perhaps they are in a bad mood or something because I have yet to have another driver respond back with my newly created signals. Some though seem to have developed alternative signals for me that I don’t quite understand yet. I’m hoping my signals will catch on as a national frenzy before this signal from other drivers signal does, even though their signals already seem to be quite popular.
Hope that helps. Thanks for your tip. Now if I’m ever in Australia on a motorcycle, I’ll know to nod my head instead of wave.
Bruce
This should be a new thread …
We have a wonderful road system in South Africa. That and our FM radio network are apparently the two things we can thank the Apartheid regime for, toll-roads are relatively new in SA. Despite this, we do still have a lot of routes that are served by two lane roads. Most of them with nice broad yellow-lined shoulders, but only one lane in either direction.
When a faster car approaches, it is considered good form, when safe, to pull over into this shoulder and allow the faster car to go past.
This is especially relevant to the massive amount of trucks we have transporting goods on our roads. (Why the rail system is so hideously under-utilised is an entirely different debate which touches on why we have NO self-service filling stations in this country and why we have minibus-taxis ferrying people to and from our labour intensive economy. Like I said, an entirely separate discussion.) The traditional way of saying thanx to the car/truck that pulled over would be to ‘blink’ your hazard lights a couple of times. (Quite illegally as it is illegal to operate hazard lights on a moving vehicle - yet another separate road-safety discussion.) The passee then flashes their headlight in a ‘Pleasure’ gesture. This intricate automotive conversation may be the reason why we have one of the highest death tolls on our roads but it may also be the reason why it isn’t higher. It gives you something to do, something to keep you awake.
As part of my revolt against the way we are being alienated from other people by the intrusion of machines, I stopped using my hazards. Instead I would wind down my window, stick my arm straight up in the air and with a slightly menacing twist of the wrist extend my thumb.
The eagle-eyed would recognize this move from the movie.
Irony is a hobby of mine.
Another way of saying thanx that I’ve used is to wait until they’ve pulled back into the lane behind me (to make sure they can see me) and then to do an exaggerated salute with my left hand. Remember, we drive on the right side of the road, it’s you people on the right side that are on the wrong side, so that left-handed salute would take place in the middle of the car, between me and the passenger where it would be most visible.
People seem to enjoy that.
I used to drive an 1967 Volkswagen Kombi.
Only mine was all white and was a panel van. It was in similar state of repair and was called Janis. At one point the mechanism on the steering wheel stalk that operated the hi- and low beams of the headlights packed it in and I was told that do dismantle that whole set-up to try n fix what might be quite unfixable would be a waste of time. Instead they fitted a foot operated high beam/low beam switch. This was wonderful and I continued with my habit of flashing my headlights at other similar vintage Veedubs, I just enjoyed the stomping on the floor-switch more.
Interesting posts, thanks guys.
Here we also have the double flash of the hazard lights to say thanks for letting a person pass…although it’s becoming a little outdated. There’s also the one where if a truck driver wants to tell you it’s safe to pass him/her they’ll flash their right indicator. That one’s confusing if you don’t know what it means.
On the bike I just stick one arm up as a thankyou wave.
Andrew
Here as they are switching off their left indicators after pulling back in in front of a lorry or whatever, the overtaking driver will sometimes flash their right indicator once as a thankyou.