June 23, 2008
Bought a Motorcycle - Honda CB450E - 1983
Update: Photo added and Driver's license obtained.
With the rising prices of gas - and because I hang out with John King and John Merlin-Williams a lot - and because I have a credit for some riding gear at www.ridersdiscount.com - I decided to get a motorcycle.
I took driver's training Saturday at Alpha Training (http://www.alphatrainingcenter.com/) and got a perfect on the driving test and perfect on the written test. Jerry taught the class and he was *excellent* I rented a Suzuki GZ 250 from them since I do not own a bike - I loved the bike and it probably would get 70 miles per gallon.
So right after training I went to full Throttle Motorsports (http://www.fullthrottlemotorsports.com/) and they had a GZ 250 *in stock* - it lists for $3200 but all included would be over $4000 - and with a windshield, bags, etc - I figured it would take 400 trips to work and back to make it worth my while. So I did not have a "buy" case in hand.
I looked on Ebay and all over for online used bikes for sale - generally I found nothing - kind of because I did not know what I was looking for. So in desperation I grabbed the Sunday paper and read through the classified ads - I found a bike for $1300 and called - turns out the guy lives about two miles from my house.
So I went over and took a test drive - this is an older bike but it is a Honda and Michael (the owner) was meticulous about its maintenance. After a test drive I liked it a lot. It is a Honda 450 twin so it can handle freeway driving in bits - unlike a 250 single cylinder. Also it already had a windshield and box for my gear driving to work. It was all figured out and debugged. It has a lot of miles on it - that is my only worry.
Now my payback is 120 trips to and from work - and when I want to buy that new bike - I can probably sell this for almost what I paid for it as long as I keep it in good shape.
So I now own a bike - this morning I will get my insurance and cycle permit. For the first time in my life I will be legally riding a road bike - it is a good feeling. I might be off line for an hour or so just to get the feel of the open road.
This is *not* even close to a crotch-rocket - it looks like a grandpa bike - with a windshield and bags - its cool factor is about zero. And when you see my bright-yellow jacket - the cool factor continues to drop down. But its comfort factor and safety factor should be pretty good - a tradeoff I am willing to make.
Insurance was pretty cheap - AAA did it for $220 per year - the bike was below the 750CC limit where they need a picture to prove it is not a crotch-rocket before they will insure it. Being old-school has its atvantages sometimes.
I went to the Secretary of State - passed their written - with two wrong - one was a dumb question and the other had two equally correct answers. I sprung for the extra $35.00 and got the vanity license plate "csev".
Too bad I don't have to go down to Ann Arbor until Thursday!
Now I need to buy all my protective gear - no need to get scratched up in an accident - off to John Merlin Williams for some advice.
Initially it will cost me gas money because I will be looking for any excuse to drive around. I put 20 miles on it just for yucks - some back road driving and some highway driving - it is amazing how much the training helps me to think properly on the bike. Oh yeah and even though I have not been on a street bike in close to 30 years - fellow bikers still wave to each other as they pass by. Some things should never change.
Posted by csev at June 23, 2008 09:06 AM