Hello from Kansas!

[go_go_gadget88]

How's everyone doing? New user from central KS here.  Just picked up a new (to me) bike this weekend, after 8+ years of not owning one.

 

Little history of my experience- I have grown up around all things motorized. We rode a lot of ATV's back in the day, and I had quite a few friends with dirtbikes.  My first intro to streetbikes was riding out on dirt country roads with my friend on his dad's 80's yamaha/honda streetbikes.  In my younger days, I owned a couple of different 600cc 4-cyl bikes.  Living in a city they were fun. Now that I live in rural KS, they aren't really the most idea, as most speed limits can be broken in first gear. I was looking at getting something just for lite commuting, but also just for fun. While I have a toy car I like to tinker with/take to shows at times to...I greatly missed being out on 2 wheels. There's just nothing like it.

 

I spent some time looking at smaller bikes, like the ninja 400, as that was in my ballpark price-wise for purchasing.  I knew I didn't need anything blistering quick like my past bikes, but I was still a little worried I would get "bored" with one. After some discussion with my wife, she decided to allow me to get a bike, provided it wasn't a "crotchrocket", as I "am an adult with kids now, not some college kid". So, the search began. I am not a big harley fan (which the wife approves of), so I didn't really know what I wanted.

 

Then I came across this FZ.  One of the closest dealers to me, coincidentally, had this in his showroom.  It had 1 sub-par pic on the listing, really dark and grainy looking. I remember seeing it a few times on my previous searches, and it never caught my eye. I went ahead and plugged that model into google just to see some more shots of it, and OH MY LORT! They are gorgeous! Right away, I knew this could be the bike for me.  Having never ridden one, I convinced my wife we should go look at it this past weekend. Not being a bright colored sport bike...she shrugged in as much agreement as I'd get from her. 

 

Got to the dealership, and looked great. Salesman fired it right up, and walked it over to the shop side to check tires before letting me take it out.  I get a bit away and onto the highway, get ready to open it up aaaaand....gutless.  Wth? Why can't I speed up? I know I'm 6' and 240lbs...but dang, what's up? It's acting like a loaded up 2 stroke. Well, quickly I realize the bike is not even running on both cylinders. Instant bummer.  I remember the salesman saying it had sat a while, so I wonder about fuel and plugs? They agree, and one takes it back to start working.  At this point, my wife is not amused .

 

Fast forward an hour, and he rolls out the side of the building and takes off. Sounds much better! Brings it back to me for a real test ride.  Same process as before, only this time I open it up and WHEEEEEEE!! This baby scoots! So much more usable power than the "faster" bikes I was used to.  I literally got a mile before I knew this was my bike.  Took it back, and worked out a deal. Got him down quite a bit, I think they felt bad for my waiting around.

 

 

Anyhow, here she is! 2015 model, and I rolled 2,400 miles on the test ride. This thing is in amazing shape overall! Super happy to have a bike in the garage again!  Quite a few ideas for it as well. First one being a small windscreen, as I had to ride this 70 miles into a 35mph wind to get it home...that was an experience!

[DewMan]

Congrats! welcome to the club. You'll need an ugly large screen to be of any use. There are numerous threads on the subject if you look. 

8 minutes ago, go_go_gadget88 said:

I am not a big harley fan (which the wife approves of), so I didn't really know what I wanted.

Some clarification please? Does she approve of you not being a big HD fan or she approves of HD? 

[go_go_gadget88]

8 minutes ago, DewMan said:

Congrats! welcome to the club. You'll need an ugly large screen to be of any use. There are numerous threads on the subject if you look. 

Some clarification please? Does she approve of you not being a big HD fan or she approves of HD? 

Yeah, that was the conclusion I came too after a short search. Already have one ordered (the puig sport, not touring), mostly because free returns if I don't like it   But I find it visually acceptable so wanting to start there. Probably not going on super long rides, so I'll keep it naked or short screen before one of those big ones.  If I wanted no wind I wouldn't have gotten a bike. But I AM wide torso'd, so once I wound it up to 70 I felt like a parachute dragging it down!

 

 

As for the HD, sorry, I didn't phrase that well. My wife is a big Harley fan. I am generally not, save for a few.  If I wanted to ride something loud and heavy, I'd have stayed with my ex! 

[bornagainbiker]

Congrats and welcome to the forum.