Well, I finally did it. But not through the MSF...

I was in Asia recently with a few of my friends, and we were on our way to a town up in the mountains. Basically the only way to get there was by motorcycle, since the roads are extremely narrow and muddy and therefore not great for cars. So we all rented bikes...Honda Minsk 125s. I learned how to get going pretty quickly and was soon having the time of my life. By the time we reached the end of the 30-kilometer trip up into the mountains, I was leaning into turns, rev-matching on downshifts, etc.

It was pretty hairy on the way up...uphill all the way, and on roads that were one car-width at most. One one side was a rock wall, on the other side was a drop of several hundred feet. The roads were also covered in mud due to rain, so we ended up stalling quite a few times and having to push the bikes.

Sometimes the best way to learn something is to be thrown right into it. I am certain that I learned much more about motorcycles than I would have in a few hours of parking-lot time circling around cones.

Now my attention will turn to buying a bike. I am a notorious speed demon when I am in my car, so I think I will buy a bike that will not tempt me to do suicidal things. A 250cc or so should be more than enough...anything out there besides the Ninja 250? I'd like to stay within the Honda family.

 

look into a Honda Nighthawk, its a STANDARD, the best IMO for new riders. Also plenty of low mileage used standards available cheap.

 

you know, my uncle had a 1980's Nighthawk that I wanted to buy really badly. It was a 600 or 650 I think...which displacement are you referring to? They have a 6XXcc and a 250cc I think.

I went and looked at used bikes today...they had a bunch of really nice F3s. what exactly do you mean when you say "standard"?

 

a standard bike has the most range for riding. It is like a bicycle or dirt bike in that the rider sits upright without crouching the rider or legs in front.

The honda site makes reference to the term standard WRT the Nighthawk. At least they used to...



[Modified by figment, 5:03 PM 6/3/2002]

 

ok that's what I thought. I looked at the 600 F3 and F4i, which had an extreme enough seating position...then noticed the 954 which is nuts. Extreme sportbikes have their driver's footpegs where a standard has its passenger pegs...


[Modified by Ross, 3:09 PM 6/7/2002]