How do you actually pick a bike?

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, skyrider said:

there doesn't seem to be any sound 

 

There is......adjust the YouTube or your speaker volume.

 

It was taken on the mobile so it wasn't right by the bike.

[skyrider]

2 minutes ago, XTreme said:

 

There is......adjust the YouTube or your speaker volume.

 

It was taken on the mobile so it wasn't right by the bike.

right i will have a look

[Steve_M]

1 hour ago, XTreme said:

Budget?

New or used?

What style of bike do you prefer?

What are you going to use it for?

Are you going to take a pillion?

Long distances/Touring?

Do you plan on doing any offroading?

 

The important thing is buying a bike that suits your needs.......and only you know what they are.

My cousin’s lad has just gone through this pain. We went through this process and came up with a short list. He then went and bought a bike that missed at least two of his original criteria. 
 

I will add that he’s a mature, intelligent 37yr old. He saw the bike, and got it new at a good price. Sometimes your heart (wallet?) rules. 
 

[Steve_M]

1 hour ago, XTreme said:

Budget?

New or used?

What style of bike do you prefer?

What are you going to use it for?

Are you going to take a pillion?

Long distances/Touring?

Do you plan on doing any offroading?

 

The important thing is buying a bike that suits your needs.......and only you know what they are.

My cousin’s lad has just gone through this pain. We went through this process and came up with a short list. He then went and bought a bike that missed at least two of his original criteria. 
 

I will add that he’s a mature, intelligent 37yr old. He saw the bike, and got it new at a good price. Sometimes your heart (wallet?) rules. 
 

[Steve_M]

1 hour ago, XTreme said:

Budget?

New or used?

What style of bike do you prefer?

What are you going to use it for?

Are you going to take a pillion?

Long distances/Touring?

Do you plan on doing any offroading?

 

The important thing is buying a bike that suits your needs.......and only you know what they are.

My cousin’s lad has just gone through this pain. We went through this process and came up with a short list. He then went and bought a bike that missed at least two of his original criteria. 
 

I will add that he’s a mature, intelligent 37yr old. He saw the bike, and got it new at a good price. Sometimes your heart (wallet?) rules. 
 

[skyrider]

11 minutes ago, XTreme said:

 

There is......adjust the YouTube or your speaker volume.

 

It was taken on the mobile so it wasn't right by the bike.

 

9 minutes ago, skyrider said:

right i will have a look

just tried that and no joy so i tried a music vid on youtube and perfect 

[Steve_M]

Err. How do I delete triplicate posts (I hit the post button three times in error)

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, skyrider said:

 

just tried that and no joy so i tried a music vid on youtube and perfect 

 

I can hear it!

[skyrider]

Just now, XTreme said:

 

I can hear it!

that's weird 

[Guest]

Just now, skyrider said:

that's weird 

 

I'll do a new one when I get the chance.......and I can show you how low the seat is at the same time.

[skyrider]

1 minute ago, XTreme said:

 

I'll do a new one when I get the chance.......and I can show you how low the seat is at the same time.

it's working now strange 

[Tiggie]

There is sound on the vid when I play it 

[skyrider]

1 minute ago, Tiggie said:

There is sound on the vid when I play it 

here too now

[skyrider]

2 minutes ago, skyrider said:

here too now

but i do have to say that recently when im typing it sometimes it turns blue whats that all about ?

[Tiggie]

1 minute ago, skyrider said:

but i do have to say that recently when im typing it sometimes it turns blue whats that all about ?

 

Not seen anything like that apart from when tagging someone.  @Stu?

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

What Gerontious said. 

Im 5’4” and being able to flat foot (or close to it) just makes everything much easier to start with. I got quite fed up with the number of people that said it didn’t matter, in the beginning there’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t happen automatically and you don’t really need stopping on an uneven camber with an unbalanced bike to be another thing to think about.
 

My other half passed his test last year. For 6 months he was on a Harley and tbh his riding between ok and a bit frightening. Then after some discussion he had look at BMW F800GT and I was staggered by the immediate improvement. I can only assume he’s no longer wrestling with the bike and was able to pay attention to the riding. Now he’s on a completely different level. 
 

Take your time, there’s no rush, eventually a couple of the many bikes you’re looking at will become front runners, you suddenly find your repeatedly looking at the same few bikes again and again. I ended up with a shortlist after a couple of months and even though the dealers officially said no newbies they all just handed over the keys!
 

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Slowlycatchymonkey

[Tiggie]

1 minute ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

I ended up with a shortlist after a couple of months and even though the dealers officially said no newbies they all just handed over the keys!

 

Making a sale can usually change their minds 

[skyrider]

4 minutes ago, Tiggie said:

 

Making a sale can usually change their minds 

salesmen can smell money 

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

5 minutes ago, Tiggie said:

 

Making a sale can usually change their minds 

It did seem to, let’s just hope it wasn’t in the small print of the paperwork you sign before riding off!

[Bender]

F800 would make a great first bike as above.

 

I never considered the sv as being remotely heavy so weight may be a big consideration for you.

 

Don't worry if you get the wrong bike,it's not for life you can change it.

[Silentbob83]

6 minutes ago, Bender said:

F800 would make a great first bike as above.

 

I never considered the sv as being remotely heavy so weight may be a big consideration for you.

 

Don't worry if you get the wrong bike,it's not for life you can change it.

 In reality it probably isn’t heavy....just felt heavier than the 500 I was on the day before. 
 

I suppose this is all part of the process. I’ll see what happens when I can just go into a dealer and look around. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

If your a slighter build the weight distribution can make a difference. I have two bikes the same weight but one feels light and is easy to move and one feels top heavy and I have to get off to move it. l have to treat them quite differently but you get used to it, the muscle memory (and the actual muscle) soon comes! 

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

2 minutes ago, Silentbob83 said:

 In reality it probably isn’t heavy....just felt heavier than the 500 I was on the day before. 
 

I suppose this is all part of the process. I’ll see what happens when I can just go into a dealer and look around. 

 

 

 

 

 

Exciting times, you’ll never forget it, it still tickles me now when I think about those first test rides and buying that first bike post test, happy days. 

[skyrider]

5 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Exciting times, you’ll never forget it, it still tickles me now when I think about those first test rides and buying that first bike post test, happy days. 

they were indeed i remember coming out of the bike shop with my first steed a 1976  yamaha fs1e

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, skyrider said:

they were indeed i remember coming out of the bike shop with my first steed a 1976  yamaha fs1e

 

I remember parting with 22 quid in a private sale for a 62 Lambretta TV175 in 1971........and not having any idea how to ride it home. Couldn't even afford a helmet.

 

Binned it a few times on the way back but I made it. Somehow!

 

So next day I went out and binned it a bit more......just for the hell of it!