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!)