So what do you ride or have you had fun on? I'm strongly considering a Kawasaki kls 230 dual sport bike. I'm going to the dealership tomorrow to sit on the bike and see how I feel about it. I'm considering new and paying in cash even though it will hurt my bank account, I'll have the bike a lot longer than I'll have the cash. The 230 weighs ended under 300 lb weight. I want something small and nimble that can still go at highway speeds if need be. I want it to be able to fit in the back of my handicap van, possibly for transporting or simply secure storage. @SiNNiK do you have any thoughts on that model?
I don't know much about them so I YT'd some videos, looks super fun! Seems a lot of folks consider it a great beginner bike, question is though is it gonna still be powerful enough for you when you get your skill set up. If so, then pull the trigger
It's going to hurt though. They want 600 above MSRP... Which after asking around at several dealerships is normal nowadays. Ready for the damage if I pay cash? $6,700 out the door. If I do get it I'm going to make them throw in it if not free helmet at least greatly reduced and some other gear. The only thing that gives me pause is I'm not exactly a small guy at 6'1 and 215 lb. But most of my riding will be around town and some light trail riding I won't exactly be tearing it up off road. Some dirt roads around here and stuff. I don't need to seriously haul ass, but I'd like to go faster than the top speed of 27 on this machine... It was only a gateway drug. Lol I may use it once in a blue moon to take a hundred mile trip one way to visit family on back roads.
Damn dude, that's a LOT of cheese. The used market here in Tx is hot, I think you'd definitely be better off buying off FB's market place. That's where I picked up the 1900, for $4,500.
Yeah, it is. If I do find something used I'd like to keep it within a 70 mile drive One direction. Used has it's advantages, but so does new. A lot of the used bikes I'm seeing are 70 plus miles away from me and they're either very high mileage or they're wanting about 70% of retail anyways. I hate to get stuck with one that needed some major repairs after spending a significant amount of money on it to begin with. I'm going to go sit on the bike tomorrow and see how I feel about it, I'm sure the salesman will want me to buy it but I'm not certain yet. I have to see what else they may have available and if they have anything used and if their mechanics have gone over it good and if used carries any sort of warranty.
And if I buy it new I'm going to go ahead and pay cash up front and not finance it.... I want to own it out right. I don't have an endorsement yet but I do have a neighborhood that's dirt roads it's a few blocks for me that's a couple of miles of dirt roads that's private property and I don't need to have a license plate to ride there so I can get a little experience before I actually went to take the test. Getting an endorsement here is a 3-day process which requires you drive to the county south of us and probably pay $200 to $300 and take the written test and then take the driving test. Another reason I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on a brand new one is this inflation, my money sitting in the bank is depreciating in value every single day just sitting there. I'll have the bike a lot longer than I'll have the money
@SiNNiK Perhaps it wasn't the wisest move but I bought new. I also spent a few hundred extra and get a total of 3 years warranty. I was very much considering a Royal Enfield Himalaya.... But the closest dealer was 80 miles away and from my brief and cursory research.... In addition to having to drive that far for regular warranty work the part seems somewhat difficult to come by and some of the royal enfields in recent years had issues. So I went with the Kawasaki KLX 230.... This one was a bit more as it had upgraded suspension, sitting a bit higher than the cheaper model. And I found this one with the plastics that we're not the stupid Kawasaki lime green that hurts your eyes. I get the whole visibility aspect but that thing was just offensive to the eyes. It fits comfortably in my van with a good inch to spare on the length. My van also has tie downs inside because it was designed to transport electric wheelchairs. It wasn't cheap, but I own it now 100% free and clear.
Dude that thing is slick! Congrats bro. Looking forward to reading more about it as you grow into it. Rubber side down, how exciting!
Rode all kinds of bicycles and mopeds all my life, but a real bike where you shift is new to me. Learning to ride and break in a new machine at the same time, with a few pointers from friends. Stalled it a few times going into first but once I get going, it's easy. Rode a couple miles today, more tomorrow on the local dirt roads
Kick ass, and don't fret about stalling. It happens sometimes, I did it the other day on the "new-to-me" bike. Careful you be, my friend.
What really pissed me off today is this.... I went to my bank and cashed my paycheck today and I informed them I was going to spend a large amount on a bike today. I could have easily pulled out the cash as I cash my paycheck. But I just assumed I would be able to use my debit card...... After all it's my money and I told you I plan to spend it and I was in the bank and you know it's me. I did not want to travel 40 or so miles south carrying that kind of money and possibly get robbed or pulled over by a cop and being accused of being a drug dealer. So we get ready to seal the deal.... And my card declines and I know I have more than enough money. Being a Saturday afternoon naturally not much is open. But I am able to get customer service on the telephone. Despite having personally informed my bank in person that I'm going to spend a significant amount of money on this bike today... I get there and my card declines. So customer service tells me I have a $5,000 limit. So my girlfriend attempts to put the balance on her card. Surprise surprise.... It declines as well. So the dealership took her personal check. And I went away with the bike. Now I owe my girlfriend a significant amount of cash and I owe my bank an ass chewing. It is my money and I told you I wanted to spend it today. You a****** should have made that available because I told you it was me and I told you I was going to spend it. I have half a mind to just take what I have left in my bank in my savings and put it in a fricking mayonnaise jar and bury it in my yard. I understand fraud protection.... But when I personally went to my bank about 2 hours before the transaction and told you that I'm going to make this transaction you should have made that right... So what should have been a quick one or two hour thing turned into a three or four hour thing. If I ever make another transaction like this in my life I would just get straight cash and take it with me. Never mind the fact that I could get robbed by a thug where I could get pulled over by a cop who is also a thug and tell me that I'm a drug dealer and confiscate all my money. I've never been through something so frustrating in my life to spend my own damn money
All that frustration will simply melt away tomorrow morning as I ride around the roads... But I still think I should make my bank, pay for all the damn bs. But I did get this helmet for half price. I was tempted to get a half shell but.... As important as your head is to save from being cracked on the pavement... So is your eyes and your nose and your face and your jaw.
And for all of you green weenies it can run your stupid ethanol gas and has an O2 sensor and a catalytic converter .
I should have told them instead of being worrying about what kind of money I spend after I go to my own damn bank and tell them I'm going to spend it.... They should investigate what sort of a**wipe is causing inflation so rampant that my money is sitting in the bank and depreciating. Of course they wouldn't have a damn thing to say about that
I'm going to take 90% of my money out of the rest of my checkings and my savings and do whatever I will with it. I'm going to keep the bare minimal amount to have a bank account. But I shall no longer keep the Lion's share of my money in a bank.... Never again shall I go to spend my money and have a bank tell me that I cannot do it
After all... With inflation and a lack of interest what reason do I have to keep my money in a bank anymore? Screw you people... I can keep my money more secure than you can I will just keep a minimal amount in my checking's in my savings so I can go and cash my paycheck money and withdraw it.
I can put the ramp up with about an inch to spare, width and height has plenty of room. Yesterday at the dealership several people looked at the van they're like there's no way that bike is going to fit in there. Ha ha! Don't judge a van by its cover. The back of the frame has been cut and the entire floorboard inside is lowered. And to think I was going to get rid of this van because it's pushing 300,000. I'm going to hang on to it even if it means dropping a new motor or transmission in it someday. It's an 07 so aside from the high mileage it's in pretty good shape. It was given to me used as a medical taxi. I don't have the maintenance records but the wiring harness looks to have been replaced so I think the motor may have already been replaced at some point. People knock on Chrysler products but it's been pretty good to me. What's not to like? I can stuff a kayak in there, my very long wheelbase recumbent bicycle and obviously a motorcycle. Just had both control arms and tie rod ends replaced. And one wheel hub. Part of my employee benefits as I get parts at cost and if I don't feel like doing the work myself I only pay half on mechanics labor. It has four different ratcheting tie-downs inside with seat belt style webbing and steel hooks. The tie downs themselves are bolted to the van but they swivel. I'm just parking the van for the night and the bike, I just rolled the bike up in there. But if I need to drive it somewhere I'll tie it down. I do have the steel shed you see in the background, but in addition to being more theft resistant I think it's also more weather resistant parked in the van
My stable. In addition to my Kawasaki KLX 230, my 79 cc 4 stroke motorized bicycle. Other side of that is recumbent bike. Got allotta steel hosses in there forgive the plastic bag on my license plate. Everyone doesn't need to know my plate
Once, not many real trails here. Front fork is kinda el cheapo Walmart level....maybe 2 inch travel on a hard tail. Thought about a triple tree air fork but put it on the back burner due to spending so much on the Kawasaki. Maybe in a few months.
My experience biker friend helped me figure out the stalling issue.... I was not wanting to give it any gas and I would hold the clutch in and easily let it out to about 60% but then I was just letting it go..... It seems like a clutch is worse than a woman is very sensitive?!! Lol. I better make sure my girlfriend doesn't read this or the clutch will wear my ass out!
You see my dog there to the bottom left of the picture right? Well I went to my friend's that lives out in the woods not far from here those dirt roads, I had earlier spoken of. I stepped out of his pool to go and urinate in the bushes... I had my dog on a long leash about 12 ft to an anchor point. I heard dogs fighting so I went to look and was like what the hell's going on? His dog was wrapped tightly around the neck and twisted several times. He was already dying when I noticed this. Long story short..... His dog is separated from my dog by about one foot... Now his other two dogs are you know being aggressive to my dog.... So after I smack their asses out of the way.... I see his dog has my dog's least wrapped around his neck and is twisted several times.... The good Lord must have had a hand in it because if I was 5 minutes late that dog would have been dead. Well you know how dogs are ... when a dog seem to be disabled or hurt the other ones attacked.. So I had to give them a good couple of firm kicks to get them the hell off. Well anyhow I was glad I saved his dog's life, I know it would not have been my fault but I would have felt like s*** forever. So the end of this story is fun was had by all and no one died that day!
I was cruising down these fairly rough dirt roads at 27 mile an hour and aside from hitting the bigger potholes I was just sitting on the seat and it felt like you were riding straight down the paved road. I did hit 38 miles an hour at one point but I backed off after that. Even at nearly 40 miles an hour cruising down this dirt road was like nothing. And as dirt roads go this one was fairly poorly maintained. With a well maintained dirt road 50 or 55 would be no problem
