Make sense to buy a motorcycle?

[kawboyCAFE]

Originally Posted by bikepilot

chain/sprocket combos cost almost $300, but last 40k miles. Tires last 15-20k miles and cost $350. Brake pads last 20k and cost $100.

you must buy the most expensive parts you can find. a chain and sprocket set will cost about $100-$125, tires from $85-$120 each, and brake pads are about $20 a set. buying the most expensive parts doesnt do anything but waste more money. sorry, but its true.

[kawboyCAFE]

Originally Posted by bikepilot

cables every year or two, new riding jacket, boots, pants, gloves and helmet every few years,....

cables every year or two?

new riding gear and helmet every few years?

you do like wasting money dont you.

[bikepilot]

Originally Posted by kawboyCAFE

you must buy the most expensive parts you can find. a chain and sprocket set will cost about $100-$125, tires from $85-$120 each, and brake pads are about $20 a set. buying the most expensive parts doesnt do anything but waste more money. sorry, but its true.

A $100 chain and sprocket set wouldn't hold up on my 100+ hp bikes. Brake pads are $100 (twin six piston calipers up front). There's a world of difference between components on a ninja 250 and a liter class sport bike.

You can't buy safe ZR rated 190/50/17 for a hundred bucks either. Your prices are probably realistic for your 250, they simply aren't for my liter + bikes.

Also, I find that for some things like chains and sprockets buying the high end stuff is well worth it. An economy o-ring chain lasts 10k on my TL, a high end X ring lasts 40k and doesn't cost 4x as much.

[roosterk0031]

One of my nephews had a SV1000 for a while I really liked that bike(detuned TL), has a zx10r now, amazing piece of machine,but don't think I could use it as a commuter, but great fun, 100 mph in 1st gear is just crazy.

His younger brother has a Ninja 250 that I might try to get a deal from him on. Radiator hose came off while running at interstate speeds and overheated it pretty good, hasn't got it running since.

[bikepilot]

I'm partial to twins and like the TL and SV quite a lot. The I4 superbikes are awesome machines, but lack a certain visceral feel of the twins (as well as the low-rpm power that's so handy on the street). Incredible track bikes though.

The ninja 250 is a solid bike and quite durable. Overheating is rough on a motor, but there's a decent chance that it didn't suffer too much damage. If you are really lucky a new hose and coolant and it might be ok. If not, it'll probably just need a head gasket and the head surfaced, though more sever damage is possible if it was ridden till it simply wouldn't go anymore.

FYI helmets are supposed to be replaced at least every 5yrs as the styrofoam inside breaks down and they loose some of their protection. I spent $250k filling my head with info, a $500 lid every 5yrs isn't a big deal. I often replace my lid more often as I tend to ride a lot of miles. 30k a year isn't unusual for me. I also keep a few sets of gear in different place so I can fly in and ride without having to check luggage - I've got a set in Colorado and FL and here with me in VA right now and will send a set and spare bike to SoCal soon (going through the bike now - raced it in Vegas to Reno last year).

This is the bike I'm fixing up to send to SoCal - ~40-50mpg of moderately spirited dirt riding. ~30ish mpg at desert race pace.


This one lives in Co full time (wish I did!). About 15-20mpg at race pace and maybe 30mpg at a moderate closed-course pace.




My dad keeps this 919 in FL for me to ride when I visit (and I've been known to tour on it a bit - buzzed to Colorado, the black hills, deals gap and back a couple years ago). This pic got me on the front page of killboy. Got a low of 32mpg going rather fast into a stiff headwind while heavily loaded, but normally see around 42mpg riding normally at sea level and can approach 50mpg at colorado altitude


The bandit 1250 I only owned for a month, but put 9k miles on it in that time. It did around 45-47mpg at sea level, but really liked altitude and never did worse than 50mpg in colorado and usually was near 60mpg.




Well that's most of my recent rides - I don't have pics hosted of my TL right now (it was on a different server that died recently).

[kawboyCAFE]

Originally Posted by bikepilot

FYI helmets are supposed to be replaced at least every 5yrs as the styrofoam inside breaks down and they loose some of their protection. I spent $250k filling my head with info, a $500 lid every 5yrs isn't a big deal. I often replace my lid more often as I tend to ride a lot of miles. 30k a year isn't unusual for me. I also keep a few sets of gear in different place so I can fly in and ride without having to check luggage - I've got a set in Colorado and FL and here with me in VA right now and will send a set and spare bike to SoCal soon (going through the bike now - raced it in Vegas to Reno last year).

ahh, now i get it. your a rich guy, so i guess my logic doesnt really apply to you huh.

$500 for a helmet?

and the foam in helmets doesnt break down every few years (unless you leave your helmet outside in the weather all the time, which smart people dont do). thats a gimmick put out there to get people to buy more helmets. sorry, but true. helmets are built alot better than they were 25 years ago, but peoples thinking on the subject hasnt advanced with the times. not trying to make you mad by saying this, but alot of things are built alot better than they use to be. if you want to buy new helmets all the time, thats completely up to you. buy you really dont have to.

[bikepilot]

Rich? Hardly, I finished school last May and have only been working since October. I just ride a lot more than most folks, though certainly not as much as some. I think I've covered about 120k miles (street) and have ridden off road since I was 11 years old. In that time I've owned about a score of bikes so I don't come at this as a noob.

The 5yr thing isn't old (for that matter neither am I - 25yrs ago I was in diapers) and I doubt its a gimmick. In any event, I'm sure that after being exposed to all sorts of weather and pulled on and off thousands of times my lids are pretty well trashed before 5yrs are up anyway - they certainly tend to look a bit worse for the wear. I'm sure you could go a lot more than 5yrs if you take good care of your lid, store it properly and don't ride a lot. Ride every day of the year in the north east or mid Atlantic and things take a beating. Without really solid empirical testing I'm not risking my head over what amounts to about $100 a year. If you wanna take the risk its your choice, but do it knowingly, not by making deluding yourself into thinking there's no risk.

My dirt lids rarely make it 5yrs as I crash too much.

If you are looking for a lid I really like the new Bell Stars - ultra light, cool and comfy. If you aren't picky about the paintjob you can find them for less than half of retail.

You wanna buy some old (non-crashed) helmets? I've still got an Arai or two laying around that I didn't wear more than once or twice...

[alvaro84]

I don't think you need to be rich to replace a 5 year old helmet. Mine looks awful after only 3.5 years of all-weather use, I think it won't last too long for me. (spending $250k on education is a different matter, if I did so I'd better hang a rock on my neck and jump off a bridge as I'd never be able to pay back the debt - ok, it's a different part of the world...)

[bikepilot]

Its a big education debt, but should be gone in 3yrs. There aren't a lot of schools that would make sense at that price, but there are some and I was fortunate to go to one.

[roosterk0031]

I love the big xr's, had a xr600r I did a few local harescambles and enduros, but nothing like Reno to Vegas, that would be a cool ride some year, notice I didn't say race. I thought I'd do more racing so sold the xr and got a KDx200 but other stuff got in the way, haven't been able to adjust to 2 stroke sound, lack of low end power & smoke, ease of starting and weight are a plus over the 600. My 2 xr I have now are 70 & 80cc.