I Got a brand new 2008 GSX SUZUKI 650 bike tuesday night. The Bike is NICE. Blue and white. When we picked it up it had no miles on it. Last Friday I rode it it school. This is the second time I rode it. By the way I am only 17 and had to buy this myself. On the way home I must have hit some gravel from the one drive way and the drive way is on a turn and when I hit the gravel it kinda through me and I couldn't get the bike stopped in time and I went into the Grass/mud. Thank goodnees for the mud because if it weren't for the mud the bike would be much worse than it was. There were only minor scratches and a cracked faring. I was Angry. Even more so because I couldn't get any traction in the mud to get the bike up or out of the mud. Thank goodness for friends to help get ya unstuck. Well the new plastic came for the bike today and that was a pretty penny for the plastic for the bike ($430). On top of the price for the bike ($7000). now I really got to work my butt off this summer to pay for it all. That is after I get back from my trip to Europe this summer.

 

Son....what color is the sky in your world? Here on Earth..it's blue..we have 1 sun that we revolve around..and it's FEBRUARY! It's 28degs. in my world..on Wednesday it was 6deg.!!! Ice is hanging off the trees and even walking fast in this kind'a weather would freeze snot-sickles that hang down to yer knees! Chrissakes riding a bike in this weather ye'd look like a walrus after 20ft.!! It's so cold I tried to do a tune-up on my truck last week (302 V-8) and got exactly 1 spark-plug pulled before I called it quits till springtime! The roads is covered in ice/snow or salt&cinders! I've got a waterline to my toilet froze up harder then a woodpeckers lips and 3 cats is froze solid to the front porch railing! The door to the garage is stuck tight as Tom Thumbs **** to the ground and I cain't even git it open to git to the deep-freezer down yonder to git some deer steaks out! Had a case of beer freeze up and explode in the van a few weeks ago and there's still 30 plumes of froth standing upright like yeller ostrich feathers..just waiting for spring so's they can melt and soil my carpeting! The Penn-Dot crew went by t'other day and plowed a slurry of snow/ice/salt&cinders agin' my mailbox...which froze up tighter'n a frogs butt so now I cain't even get my mail! And you're riding a new motorcycle in this ++++! Son..we need to talk. (more to come).... Audie..the Oldfart.

 

Edit: After reading Oldfart's post...you're nuts. And I feel bad for that bike. Rock salt & new bikes just don't mix.

On a side note, it is a nice bike & I'd quit taking it out in this weather unless you want it to be a heap of rust in a few years.

 

Part 2. Now son...I wasn't always this old..I got here by pure luck. At 17 I thought I was immortal as well..found out they was some flaws in my thinking! An yup...I love to ride! Why... yer post reminded me of the time..way back when....1970???..I had a Norton 750 Commando. It was Jan. 19th...my birthday.. and I lived at home up in Curwensville, Pa. (at my folks home.) It was bitter cold and snow was on the ground. But I was young&dumb then. All I had was that Norton to get around on..and I loved it! I shoveled out the driveway enough to hit the blacktop..which was reasonable clear for that time of year in Clearfield County. And I figgered to ride to Dubois, Pa. regardless of the cold. AND..I did so! But I payed a high price. Frost-bit hands, face and feet. I arrived at the P.T. Mall in Dubois chilled to the marrow. Parked the bike and watched it fall to the ground as I was too cold to put the kickstand down at that point in time. Went inside to some resturant whos name I forget, and ordered up a steaming bowl of chili and soon found out my hands and arms wouldn't work well enough to feed myself. I went face down in that bowl of steaming meat&beans and ate as best I could...like an animal. Not a purty sight..eh? Later on things got worse. Hypothermia makes ya do some weird things. Like shaking so bad you couldn't hit a urinal if you was standing in it. Short-term black-outs while standing in front of said urinals. Waking to find paramedics looking down at you shaking their heads and trying to stick a needle in your arm..which they couldn't do on account of the flesh was still half-frozen an hour later. And the uncontrolable shaking and my teeth chattering so bad I couldn't tell them my name. My jaws hurt for weeks afterwards from the violent seizures. Son...I was lucky...just lucky....I survived. Temper your youthful desires with commonsense which only your elders may provide. Ride often and enjoy it..but be aware of the consequences. And listen to the advice of us oldfarts. We been there..done that. Audie...the Oldfart..

 

That Friday was about 40+ degrees outside and the roads were clear because of the rain that washed the cinders and salt off the road. THe roads were even dry and it was a beautiful day out so I had too

 

You can get an operator's license for a MC at 17?

 

Khadma, laws vary from state to state but when I lived in Texas (1970/71) I could get a provisional license at age 14 that allowed me to drive a motorcycle under 10hp. to drive back and forth to work. The Honda 100 and many others applied. In Pa. at age 16 you can aquire a drivers license for any car, most trucks and of course any motorcycle. Simple and easy. So far Pa, has not seen fit to restrict new riders/operators to certain horsepower restrictions for motorcycles..such as Texas does. And I applaud that decision! Horsepower has nothing to do with common sense and more folks gits killed on under-powered-over-weight-gut-less-chrome-plated-"cruisers" than any other motorcycle. (an I never mentioned Harleys anywhere in that text!) Some folks think it's the young and dumb on "crotch-rockets"..aka "sport-bikes" racking up the splatters on the highway. Bull-hocky! Check out the real statistics. 90% of the motorcycle accidents are cruisers..usually alcohol related of course. Hmmmm? Why? The sport-bikes have 3 times the horsepower..go 10 times faster and yet have less acidents. Go figger? I'm workin' on drawing a conclusion here but I'm unsure just yet. Audie..the Oldfart..

 

Khadma, PA actually has some pretty cool laws on motorcycle operation. Namely, get your driver's permit at 16, get your license 6 months later, get your MC permit, take the MSF class for free & get your MC license. Anybody under 18 has the 6 month waiting period to allow for "skill building", basically to give them the chance to get some real on-road experience, but you could get away with never actually getting the MC endorsement. The permit lets you ride any bike, any time the sun is up, but you have to wear a helmet & can only have a passenger if they have their MC license. The fees from permit applications & license renewals go toward funding the MSF class, so it's free to PA residents & at the end of the class if you pass the test, you get your license. Some insurance companies will even give you a discount for taking the course.

 

<link rel=\"\&quot;File-List\&quot;\" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CG%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1 %5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <wontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> I have a 04 GSX-R750 and they do charge a ton for OEM plastic. I am not sure if you have the R600 or a Katana but the R plastic comes with all the stickers for about 400.00.
All the would be stunt riders drive up the plastics price because they always dump there bikes.
On the other side of that I have seen some guys do things I can't even dream of doing and they made it look easy.

I am too old to stunt but I can still drag some knees I love my R it’s by far the best bike I ever owned.

 

Hi guys, new to the forum here...I'm a lifelong biker too so this caught my attention ('91 Heritage Softail chopped and dropped, 1991 Suzuki DR650 Dualsport, 1984 Honda V65 Magna-previously owned by SATAN). The story I got from CNN or somewhere that reported it recently was the cruiser crashes are partly due to guys starting in their mid to late 30s jumping on a Hog or similar for the first time. Alcohol is also a factor. Personally I'm 38 but never really quit riding from when I was a kid. A lot of guys are giving in to adult overcompensation and riding for the first time in their lives at 40 (insert erectile dysfunction joke HERE_____).

As for the sportbikers, well, with all due respect, God watches out for idiots and children. I'd say at 17 you're still a child, I'd have to talk to a 17 year-old more at length to determine the former.

Regardless of age we all think we are the best, safest drivers in the world no matter what's under our butt. Sadly, if you don't drive a bike like everyone out there is trying to kill you-they will. Just my $.02.

ehmbee

PS-oh and congratulations on your R-at 17 I'd have loved to have been able to afford a new one...of course, back then they had only been out for a year and weighed about 200 lbs more I think....God I'm old.

 

Welcome to the chapter ehmbee, while your here go to the sign up thread and become an official member of the Pennsylvania Chapter, it's free, it's fun and just an over all great bunch to hang out with. You won't be alone with your love of riding, other than our trucks and significant others, many of us like bikes also. When I go through an X-Ray machine the new body parts correspond to what bike I owned, the new hip is from an old Goldwing I had. 77 Goldwing with Vetter accessories is not a sport bike and does not like to do wheelies. My cousin now has that bike and it has over 250,000 miles on it with one engine rebuild, I sold it to him with about 130,000 on it. He doesn't drive it much any more but he won't sell it back to me. They where tanks, like the old Timex's, take a licking and keep on ticking.