Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 exptools; site ihlpa.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!ihlpa!animal From: animal@ihlpa.UUCP (D. Starr) Newsgroups: net.cycle Subject: Re: first bike? Message-ID: <851@ihlpa.UUCP> Date: Thu, 31-Oct-85 15:19:07 EST Article-I.D.: ihlpa.851 Posted: Thu Oct 31 15:19:07 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 2-Nov-85 03:57:29 EST References: <2922@sun.uucp> <1221@ihuxn.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 80 > -- > > I'm looking to buy my first cycle. Anyone want to suggest a good first bike > > for someone who's never been on one before? I'm planning mainly to do short > > (~10 mile) commuting and local errand type stuff. How do you recommend > > learning to handle the beast? What other things should I know about? ... > (2) Get a used bike. It's cheaper than new, and already broken-in. > And it will have a few dings and dents, so when you have that > inevitable first fall (your baptism into riding), you won't > feel so bad about it. And you won't be so paranoid about it > happening before hand. But have any used bike checked out > by a good mechanic. Comment: Yes and no...I spent nearly as much getting my first bike running right as I paid for it, and I had taken a mechanic with me when I went shopping. There are a lot of things you can't detect in a five-minute examination. Further, small bikes tend to use flimsier components (for that all-important low sticker price) and tend to be pre-owned by other novices who don't maintain them right. My advice is get a new bike and a warranty. > > My recommendation--the bike I ride (mostly around town, but on > occasional 150 mi. trips) is the 200cc Honda twinstar. Maintenance > is very easy, with valves you can get to without pulling the gas > tank off, and a single set of points (the only other 2-cyl bike > I'm aware of that has only 1 set of points on the crankshaft, so > that the plugs also fire on the exhaust stroke, is the BMW). It's > very smooth running, quiet, and has the most comfortable seat of > any small bike I've been on. But get a 1981 or earlier--with a > kick-starter. The electric starter is fine for occasional stalls, > but it's attached to a pathetically weak 6-volt system. My 1980 > starts on the 1st kick at -15F. Comment: Huh? The TWINSTAR?? Is this the same bike that made Cycle magazine's "Ten worst of the decade" list? That has been described in the press as a "bottom feeder" and "a toy not to be taken seriously"? The bke that requires a special steering technique if the rider's taller than 5'2" (swing your knees way out, so the handlebars don't run into them on turns...)? I have to wonder if Mr. Perlow is recommending this little pile in the hopes of inflicting upon others the same pain the bike has inflicted upon him (those of you who were tuned in last year may recall that he was complaining that the vibration through the handlebars had caused an apparently permanent numbness in his hands...). I rode one of the things a few years back when I took an MSF riding course, and count it among the five worst experiences I've ever had on two wheels. Fortunately, the Twinstar is out of production...sort of. Rather like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, it's evolved into the 250cc Honda Rebel, which was (sound the trumpets) THE LARGEST SELLING MOTORCYCLE IN THE U. S. IN 1985! The improvements consisted of stretching the whole bike out, so that it accomodates fully-grown human beings, punching the motor out to 250cc, going to a 12-volt electrical system (maintenance-free electronic ignition, too, I think) and fitting a new front disk brake that (according to cycle world) gives it the shortest stopping distance of anything they've ever tested (including Ninjas, Interceptors, etc.). As if that ain't enough, they even made it look good; what more could you ask? It also comes with that all-important one-full-year warranty, so that it will be covered during that first winter season when everything seems to go wrong. (ASIDE: you might also be interested to know that Honda's publicly-stated objective in reworking the Twinstar into the Rebel was to create the ideal "first bike." That meant, to them, the optimum combination of low price, ease of riding and maintenance, reliability, and just a dash of style. Judging by the bike and its reception by the press and buying public, they did a good job.) (SECOND ASIDE: but if you really want to have fun, especially for short trips in a hilly area (in a college town, to boot), check out the '86 Honda Reflex. This is described as a 200cc, "soft-core trials bike", the kind that's maneuverable enough to do figure eights in a garage, light enough to pick up and carry upstairs with you, and nimble enough to simply ride up and over those stopped cars at the red light...) Dan Starr "...although tire-biting is seldom harmful unless the motorcycle is in motion." --quote from a Honda factory service manual (HONEST!)