Josh1234

I'm in for wrench days. The more the merrier, right?

welcome, gorgeous bike. I've looked at a lot of f4is. Get some frame sliders on that puppy

Well this thread got funny Um, no.... I just filled out the inquiry form on their website, and I got an e-mail yesyerday morning... And that's it My current deal I'm working on in an '03 ninja 500 in supposedly mint condition for under $1500. He might be able to deliver it on Thursday, so I'm hoping someone closer to him doesn't show up with the $$ in hand. If that falls through, there's a ZZR 600 on Pittsburgh Craigslist I'll look at... and I still have another ninja 500 on the hook, but he wants 2K.

HOW do they work? as in, the physics of it all?

I had a Makita like that one. Served me well, LOL.

"Guess what's gonna happen next?"

were we supposed to recognize the "song?"

Well, I sent an e-mail to J and J motors, but the '04 FZ6 has been sold already. And not to me

Almost in my price range!

Interesting. So you think someone dumped it and then went & did a euro conversion and put the stock bars back on? Hrm. Sure would be funny to re-unite that bike with the tank & tail bags from your picture I've still got 'em both

Hi guys! Am posting from hospital! Stupid Busa was too much for me to handle.... gotcha. Ya got me. Ah, so that's LITERALLY your old bike. Um, WTF!?! Is that a FZ6N? The European naked/streetfighter kind? (Wikipedia tells me they had no fairing, no center stand, and straighter handlebars). The front cowl sure as hell isn't what I saw when I looked at other FZ6's, with a big ugly half fairing. It's beautiful! And why is it only $2016? Think that's due to high mileage? I'm at a lake house this weekend (with my wife & our two dogs) or I'd be taking a look at that tomorrow(First thing in the morning!), with the intention of buying it. Maybe if Kristina is feeling generous I can talk her into it, but it's doubtful. And they're closed Sunday, and of COURSE I have volleyball monday, softball tuesday, and the window guy is coming to measure on wednesday. That's an insanely cheap price on a great bike that happens to look beautiful. Pauly, thanks for the info and background on it.

Batbike.

Hey guys, my wife decided to contribute a little more of our shared money to my cause and so that raised my budget a little! I found a great deal on a Suzuki Hayabusa. It was cheap enough to buy because it had a salvage title! Lots of mods, too! Anyway, I bought it and can't wait to go tear up the freeways! Thanks for all the advice, everyone! Am looking forward to trying out my new GSX-1300R!!!!! Headed out riding to enjoy this fine day! Take care everyone.

Yellow. Purple and yellow (and 20 years old). Yellow. Sheesh, did you go looking for all the yellow bikes? Good deals, but most hated color I want a bike that makes me happy when I walk up to it, not just when I ride on it. This means I probably won't ride a yellow bike, and I'll likely give preference to fully-faired bikes. Some might think it's shallow, but for me, it's just an intangible joy of riding. It's like when I had my very first Dodge Stealth, which was a 92 R/T. LOOOOVED to drive it, since it was fun as hell, but also liked walking up to it and admiring it, as well as glancing over my shoulder while walking away. (by the way... it was NOT a yellow car! ) I like GS500F's. If I could find one cheap, I'd pick it up for sure. But they don't make them any more, and most seller's don't seem to realize that 2 years after they stopped making them, you could STILL get a dealer leftover for 4,000 out the door. most 500F's, sellers seem to want at least 3K for them, or 2500 for beat up ones. They're just not that much BIKE, though. Like someone said earlier... fully-faired bike command a premium, though, and for obvious reasons I'd consider one, but I think an EX-500 seems to be more available and for cheaper, too. That's okay, I like shifting. I even own a manual transmission car. For me, shifting is part of the fun of riding, too, so I don't mind needing to downshift to pass. I don't need a liter bike, and don't want one. They're heavy, more expensive to purchase, more expensive to maintain, and more expensive to operate (gas). Also, they're harder to ride, and I'd really prefer to develop my skills first. And I'm a cheap bastard who doesn't want to spend a lot of money on this bike! I'll save it for the next

Good post. Yeah, I'm looking for cheap until I find out just how much I CAN ride. I wish I still had my YZF-600, since it'd be a great commuter bike (And yes, I'm keeping my eyes open for good deals on another.) Parma, huh? I wonder how close you are to this: http://cleveland.craigslist.org/mcy/4514028458.html I'm considering that, but might end up on a ninja 500 instead. Just not sure yet.

They might be posted for that, but they won't sell. Sort of like http://www.incomeclips.com/

I'm comfortable with that scenario, though... I can sell it for what I paid for it, and I'll be reassured that I actually do want to ride and get a chance. Biggest downside of a starter bike is that I want to use it to commute, and it's faster to take the highway But I DON'T want to be dependent on the goodwill of other drivers, in order to pass, like jschaf said

Is it listed somewhere? I wouldn't pay that much for a gs500 but I'd certainly look at the ad and admire it

LOL, Busted. I'm not gonna lie, I care about how me & my bike look when I ride, since I know everyone is lookin' And I like some colors a whoooole lot more than others. First choice: blue. And you'll never see me on a yellow bike, either. (Okay, well, once during a 15-minute swap. Never say never!)

Man, for someone who already has multiple personality disorder when it comes to bikes, you guys aren't helping! (j/k, you are helpiung greatly, and I def appreciate all the time spent on your parts). That Fz6 is a leeeedle more then I want to spend just yet. And he does say he's firm on the price RedKow, have you ridden both an EX500 and a GS500? and you recommend the ninja over the gs500? With those two quick responses about a gs500 being a little underpowered, it's making me second-guess myself. Darn shame, since the gs500 for 1800 is the cheapest 500 I've found so far. I wish I wasn't so schizophrenic about deciding on a bike to buy.

Good thread. FWIW, JackFlash, my situation is somewhat similar to yours... I learned on a Buell Blast and then moved up to a YZF-600. The Buell blast was a great bike on which to learn. Easy to handle, enough torque to get me around, etc. It was fine on the highway, although it didn't have great acceleration once there. It topped out at about 90-ish since I'm a pretty big guy, although I'm sure I probably got it to 95 on a windy day moving downhill. It felt like a scooter in all the good ways. It was easy to hop on and go and not have to worry about much. The YZF-600 I had next was a bit of a different story. And I'm SUPER glad I did't have it as a first bike. The amount of "go" in the YZF-600 was a world apart from the Blast. I got 'er up over 120 WITH EASE, and chickened out about going faster after that. Here's how I noticed some other differences, and maybe with some extrapolation, you can apply it to what happens in your rides. Acceleration. The Blast would accelerate like a motorcycle, since like I said, it had enough power to get me around. I would describe it as smooth, firm, and powerful. It didn't hesitate, but it wasn't going to win me any races, know what I mean? Matter of fact, it was smooth & firm enough not to make me WANT to enter any races, since I knew I wouldn't be winning any If I was trying to accelerate quickly on the YZF-600, everything was different. Instead of smooth and firm, that thing put me back in my seat and made me HOLD ON. Now, I'm not going to say it "ran like a raped ape" since that would be silly in comparison to the much faster bikes ridden by people here, but when I twisted the throttle, it could/would jump forward with some real purpose. Passing on the highway, maybe going 60 mph and needing to get to 70mph? Not gonna happen on the blast. Unless you have about 20-30 seconds to wait to crawl up to 70. And then you're fine, it just takes a hot minute to gain that extra 10 mph when you're already "at speed." On the YZF-600? Ha. No need to downshift if you don't want to. Twist & go. Very meaningful acceleration even if you're just cruising in high gear. If you DO downshift, and then gun it (oh yeah, blipping the throttle is a thing on anything approaching a real sportbike, we'll get there later) then you're off & GONE. Downright aggressive acceleration. Keep in mind that this was a YZF-600, which is a great sport-touring bike. Mine was a 2004. I liked to read that it made more torque and less HP than an R6, but it was also heavier & more comfortable. Anything current & not ten years old... and a sport/supersport bike... demands respect. Right, so like I mentioned earlier, blipping the throttle. If you're on a smaller bike, you may not have had to do that, or as much, but on a bike that happily revs to 13,000 rpm, then sooner or later you'll find yourself cruising in the highway and want to downshift so you can scoot out in front of someone, or scoot out of someone's way, or just plain have some fun. That can be downright dangerous if you're not ready & prepared or you do it wrong. The same can be said for braking quickly. I was on the highway once and someone cut me off. Changed lanes right in front of me. Well, I must have stomped on my rear brake, because all i remember is the back end of my bike fishtailing (wildly) 4-6 times. It didn't get quite sideways, but it was significant and pronounced. It was all reflexes, so I was not consciously controlling when I came OFF that brake, either... I got extremely lucky I didn't highside (on the highway, at probably 60mph). My point is just that the brakes on larger bikes have enough power to cause trouble. Heaven forbid you get talked into a liter bike by one of these guys and stomp on a brake. Heaven forbid it be the FRONT brake and you grab instead of gently squeeze. Now, some of this is just motorcycle riding 101, but some of it is just intended to point out the differences between smaller bikes, sportbikes, and 1,000cc beasts that really are worlds apart from "starter bikes." They have engines and brakes that are not forgiving to many mistakes and will cause serious repercussions if not handled perfectly or at least competently. Obviously, I have a healthy respect for motorcycles, eh? What you will decide is obviously up to you, and you'll hear 20 different things from asking 15 different members here, but just remember that while being an adult & exercising caution & respect is fine, I also know myself enough to know that there's times when I WILL throw caution to the wind, or forget myself, or talk myself into having a little bit of fun. p.s Before I bought each motorcycle I've had, I made myself watch YouTube videos of motorcycle crashes just to have something to think about when I ride to discourage doing StupidShit. Anyone else do that? The ones that come to mind when people try and talk you into a liter bike are all the ones where the bike just jumps away from the rider, and it's completely out of their control, because it has way more power/torque than they were expecting. Oh, and the one where a supersport is at the track and the rider grabs the front brake, and literally just goes up & over the handlebars. Some things just stick with ya, know what I mean?

It was a pretty new, lot of bike, for a reasonable amount... we had to know it wouldn't last long. But it's true about the race-brethren... SuperSport/flashier bikes do tend to sell faster. There are a lot of good deals to be had on Craigslist, if you're willing to depart from mainstream squidliness. Even more if you know enough about bikes to work on them yourself.

Found this on CL: http://cleveland.craigslist.org/mcy/4514028458.html (2001 GS500) Asked if they'd take 1500 instead of the requested 2000, and got a TXT back that the lowest they could do is 1800. I said I was interested, gave e-mail for more pics. Got a couple and it's a nice-looking bike. Googled the sender's name (Lisa) and found her twitter account. Her twitter avatar has her sitting on the bike, leaning on her helmet, with her helmet sitting RIGHT ON THE TANK. Sigh.

My Buell Blast was fun, but i would like to try another bike. The guy with the 500 that Tpoppa posted has texted me back, and says the bike is still available. He sent some pictures, and it looks VERY clean. It's listed for 2300, and if I could get it for 2K, I'll be all over it. A 500 would be a nice improvement over a 250, and they're listed at the same price... I know the 250 won't take less than 2300, and this 500 guy might take 2,000 since it says 2300 OBO, and it's been for sale for a month. Only downside is color, but i'll probably buy that 500 if I can snag it for 2K. I'd probably buy it for 2300 also, for that matter. Have to see it in person & ride it. Wish I didn't have to wait until next week or next weekend before having time to look at a bike

txted the guy about the 500, Tpoppa, thanks. It's from a month ago, but who knows. Find me a blue or silver SV650 fully faired and I'm all over it Bad, the 250 I'm looking at is an '08, so it's the newer model. And supposedly in like-new condition. Even if I ask 3 and they argue me down, it'd still be pretty easy to turn a profit at 2300 purchase price. I'd be all over that ninja 500 TPoppa posted if I could... it's not the brighter blue, which I like more, but I could live with the darker, and would probably be really happy with a EX-500. Thanks guys, keep 'em comin'!