Confused Noob -- Wadda I do?? - Motorcycle-Journal Forums

tkn4u432 · 12-14-2004, 10:52 PM

I did something silly about 6 months ago. The tranny on my Ponitac Grand AM was taking a dump and all I used it for was go to the train station and back. Plus, I hate the living cra*p out of owning a car, I figured I'd get smart and buy a little Vespa type scooter. Before that my whole biking experiance was on a home build mini bike when I was about 11, a honda 50 and 90 that my friends owned, and getting my butt kicked on the back end of a fully chopped Harley with solid (no) shocks, that I went about 10 miles on and paid the price with a fully bruised darrier.

What I didn't figure, is how much I'd enjoy riding. I get up early just to take side trips before I hit the train. My weekends are taken up going everywhere I can and I'm wearing out my little bike in the process.

The little guy I'm riding is only 50cc and all it is, is a point and shoot, auto tran, 80+ miles to the gallon and can carry my 11 year old on the back (who swore she'd never ride with me, now all she wants to do is go!!) I'm all of 54 years old next week, (happy birthday to me) and a whopping 5'8" and 145lbs male.

So now I'm this dumb &#$% who wants to move up into a decent used machine that will last me for a while, and will allow me to do a bit of touring, take a trip from the SF Bay Area to LA or even the Grand Canyon with my daughter. I don't have a ton of money to spend, so I'm looking for the biggest bang for the buck, yet not get something I'm gonna kill myself with.

To put things in persective of my fear level, I used to do a lot of sailboat racing, was even going to do the single hand transpac from SF to Hawaii till tendonitest in my elbow put my sailing days behind me. If you know nothign of sailing, it is like this, hours of pure bordom marked by moments of sheer terror. I like the adrenaline rush of being one with the elements, but I am nowhere near being stupid about it....safety is my first concern. When I ride my scooter, its with a bucket and a leather jacket, jeans with long undewear underneath even on hot days, and boots....over kill, but I don't wanna die any sooner then my maker is going to take me.

Well, I've been scouring the want ads, Ebay, Craigs List, walking into every damned bike shop from SF to San Jose and finally ran into a nice machine that I think may do the trick. Now, being new at this forum, I'm finding, if I buy it, I just maybe biting off more then I can chew.

Its a 86 Suzuki Intruder, 700cc, asking price is less then $2k with 10K actual miles on it, being sold by a dealer. It runs great, starts up immediatly, cosmetically as perfect as a bike of that age can be. I'm sure it was garaged and all the papers are in order, including maintence that the former owner had done. No, I have not ridden it as of yet, yes I told the dealer what my experiance is and he thinks I'll do just fine.

If I get this thing, will I be short a few light bulbs?

If I get this thing, will I be, like major league stupid??

If I'm gonna kill myself with this thing, am I doing it is style?

But most important, am I gonna enjoy the shi** out of this bike, or is it gonna enjoy scaring the living shi** out of me?