Looking for my first VFR

Hey all! Near middle aged first time rider looking for a VFR. It will mostly be a commuter until I get more comfortable.

I currently work as a flight medic (of sorts) and grew up on a dirt bike, but havent ridden in years or on the road. I am hoping my keen eye from driving an ambulance helps me on the road.

I got the VFR bug on a test ride of my buddies 00 Interceptor. Currently am considering a 92 (i have a post about it in the 3/4 gen forum)

Hopefully I find one soon!

 

Where ya located? I put my '84 700 on the battery tender tonight.
Going to ride Sunday.

Will give a VFRW member a very good deal.

 

I hate to be a buzz kill and I will probably get a lot of flak but If I were you, having only limited riding experience in your distant past and little street riding experience, I would advise you to start with a lighter bike. A Ninja 250 or Honda CBR250 an be a lot of fun and are a whole lot more forgiving. You can buy em pretty right and if you take care of them sell them with little or no loss.

The biggest difference between driving an ambulance and riding a motorcycle is the ambulance has flashing lights and a siren. Everyone sees the ambulance and no one sees the motorcycle.

 

I agree with Big_Jim, but:

Here is what I think is a good deal in my area: http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/mcy/5842322837.html

 

I sure wish I could hand out advice like that to somebody I have never seen, talked to or have no knowledge of,about what motorcycle he or she should buy or ride. I just don't have that gift. The OP might be 6'6" and would look really strange atop a 250 streetbike. There is an upside that if this were to be the case, it would save a few pesos on training wheels.

Maybe better to guide the OP to his or her nearest MSF place and do a mano a mano with bikes included.

Then again, the OP may be one of those WWW Smackdown Midget Wrestlers and a 125 might be a better first bike..

 

I can only base my assessment on the information the OP posted and respond in kind. I had a buddy that started riding in his 50s with a KZ1300 and he didn't die. I am just saying that a smaller bike is easier to control for a beginner. I guess it's not possible to have an opinion and express it without someone second guessing your motivation.

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I am 6' and 200. I want a bike that I don't have to sell in 6 months. I already took MSF.

And no, no one sees or hears an ambulance, anymore than they do a bike.

 

I don't know why anybody would want a 24 year old fixer-upper/project for their first bike. That alone would turn me off of motorcycling.

A 750 is a lot of motorcycle to start on, I don't care how big you are.

A KTM 390 is physically the biggest of the starter bikes. That's what I'd suggest. Get a used one, ride it for a year or 2. Sell it and still get most of your money back.

 

I hear ya. I had a buddy that ambulance and he told me horror stories of the things drivers did. it was like they freak out or something.

The advice for getting a smaller bike was just my 2 cents. I have been riding since I was 15 and I still think I suck at it.

 

Speaking from personal experience and hving no fear of getting second guessed maybe mattrrt should start with a tricycle. I did. I think I was aboot two. Worked my way up to my current avuncular state including a unicycle and more than one DIY skateboards.

Now if ya want to get down to the nitty-gritty, loading up a perfectly good bike with a bunch of fucking farkles that really do little more that make the bike handle like a pig or strap on a shitload of attention getting devices disguised as needed items that in reality take away from the experience and joy of riding and in realty draw one's attention in a direction that might put them face first into the ass of a semi or worse then we can exchange salient information germane to the who should do what an when to what.

 

Do ambulance guys have credentials signifying that is what they do? I bet with a little moxie if someone had the creds, could equip a VFR with some of those red and blue lights and a siren.

 

I'm with BJ, or better yet--
Get a dirt bike and get some experience before you try to survive the mean streets.


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this is where the dying class of 600s used to come into play. of course the few 600s still left make as much power as old 750s used to, if not more. The EX500 was a great starter bike since you didn't out grow it as fast as a 250. But at 6 ft tall, you'd look just as silly and be just as cramped on the old 500.

having said that, relative to whats available, an older VFR wouldn't be a bad choice. A bit heavy but with his height and weight, it'd be less menacing. And of course, carbs are more forgiving than a snatchy fuel injected bike for beginner throttle control issues. Not all old carb'd bikes are fixer upper project bikes.

I personally think a VFR wouldn't be a bad starting point given choices currently available. just expect the plastic to be in need of help by the time you go to sell it.

 

we all still suck at it. you're just able to freely admit it.

 

I know how much I don't know. I know how much I want to know. I want the skills that only practice and money can provide. Yes, I freely admit that I am the least skilled in my own eyes.

 

that's probably the biggest hurdle for most of us. We can only improve if we can admit or realize we need it. I still get the urge to read through my Proficient Motorcycling book every once in a while.

 

We are constantly learning about everything ... life is constantly teaching.

 

Its always difficult to give personal advice, you will buy what you think is best. Its true the 750 is a great bike you will not outgrow. Whatever you do, have fun, ride safe. And kudo's to Matt for being the first middle aged beginner not buying a 2000 lb harley.

 

Amen to that!

 

I found this on one of those kind of under the radar bike sites. This is purported to be the new 2017 Harley-Davidson "Really Fat Boy" coming in withoot farkles at 1998 American pounds.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/...zZq6vdwF-liudpmIn85Hyxy7NVtyNa3F0uE-9nAoX6Rgl