That's like a euphemism right?

Novice: "A person new to a field or activity; a beginner"



The mileage on the bike you're looking at is some crazy mileage. Good on the original owner to ride that much. Not so good for the buyer.

Old geezers riding motorcycles for the first time scare me just about as much as pimply skinned 17 year olds and they give the rest of us just as bad a name. Listen - you've gotten some pretty good advice here. Whether you choose to accept it is up to you. It's no skin off my back - but it just might be off of yours. Be safe - don't assume anything. Work your way up. That's my opinion and you're entitled to it.

 

I am 6'3", 205 lbs. I started riding in 2004, when I was 48. I took the MSF Basic Rider Course. Then my friend lent me a Virago 250, which I rode for 70 miles. Then he lent me a '99 Electraglide Standard. I took that for a 500 mile trip. That was really stupid in hindsight. I wasn't ready to take tight entrance ramps onto the Interstate or pass cars on the 2 lane at 80 mph. I did both because I wanted to keep up with my friends. Thank God I didn't have to do any emergency maneuvers, cause I would have been screwed.

I bought a 2004 Vulcan 750 because it was cheap. I am so glad that I hit my first wet road paint, gravel, oily spot on that bike and not my 2003 FLHTCUI.
I bought my FLHTCUI last year after 7 years, 20k on the Vulcan. Like Bronson says, your first panic stop on a 950 lb dresser,it is easy to lock up and skid out the rear. I did it twice, and it is scary.

So you can follow your heart, or use your head. If you want a Harley get a Dyna before moving up to a FL.

First bike, 500 lbs.


Current bike, have 17k miles in 2 seasons, and took the Skilled Rider Course on it. 950 lbs, handles great, but still a handful at low speeds, on gravel.

 

It isn't a good price.

It isn't a good bike for a beginner - hence the other suggestions.

 

Lots of good advice here. Not going to tell you what to do. You're entitled to make all the bad decisions you want.

1. Take a MSF course
2. Make sure your insurance is good
3. Read the sticky with the video of how to pick up a Harley.
4. Wrap the bottoms of your engine guards and bag guards with rubber hose (Garden hose will work)
5. Keep friends around who will help you pick up your bike
6. Stay out of heavy traffic areas until you are used to the bike
7. Enter highway corners slower than you think you should
8. Don't try to keep up with people if you have to get out of your comfort zone

 

Its interesting an read. I started riding at age 47 and my first bike was a 02 RKC that you can see at the top of the page. I call it my beater bike because I used it to learn how to ride again. When I first got it, I spent the next 10 hours doing parking lot manuvers like getting to full lock turns and emergency braking. I probably rode at least one hour of parking lot practice for every 3 hours on the road for the first three months. I rode the streets when they were quiet and got used to highways riding on early Sundays. As I got more experienced, I rode in more traffic. I put about 15000 miles on that bike in three years before I traded for the SG.

I never felt like the bike was too much for me, but I did drop the bike a few times with the engine guard getting a few scratches. The bike is heavy just sitting there, but light as a feather once you get moving.

If you do a lot of parking lot practice, then the bike itself will be no big deal on the road. In fact I think the bigger bike is easier to ride on the road. But the key to getting used to the size and weight is the very slow riding in a parking lot.

Beary

 

I agree with those who say buy a inexpensive metric bike (750 - 1300cc) and ride the heck out of it. Learn to really ride, not just stay upright and go in a straight line. Most novice riders have issues judging turns, cornering at speed, reading road conditions, riding in rain, traffic, interstates, local roads and the list goes on and on. Experience is the only way to learn. Don't give into peer pressure to buy a certain MOCO bike. Get what you want, test ride lots of bikes. But please, please, I beg you to get that experience of riding so that every move you make with the bike is natural and done without thinking. The bike and you should be "one". You'll know the feeling. I resisted for years by answering anyone who hassled me about my metric bikes, "Hey, I'm still learning to ride, cut me some slack, I wanna become a better rider before I move up in bikes". Good Luck and Ride Safe!

 

I think what you did is great. IMO it's more important to learn to ride the bike you choose than the size of the bike. This assumes the bike is set up for the rider. (Seat height, handlebar position, etc.)
I practiced the following on the street with mine shortly after getting it (I still do practice these and plan to continue doing so):
- Cornering until I was at the point I could scrape the floorboards on purpose
- Braking in the corners so I knew how the bike would react (The worst time to learn cornering is when you find yourself coming in too hot)
- Stopping by picking a spot to stop at each intersection
- U turns
- Riding in formation
- quick stops with both brakes (Threshhold braking)
- acceleration (When to shift down for more power and how fast it could accelerate away when needed)
- quick swerves (counter steering)
- road position based on traffic
- etc. (Basically I try to think up every street maneuever I might need fast and then practice it so it will be natural if I ever need to use it)

I also spent around 8 hours broken up over four days practicing parking lot skills using skills test diagrams found on the Internet. I cut the tops off water bottles to use for cones to set these up.
These included:
- cone weave
- quick stops
- swerving
- u-turns
- and curves based on the new test procedure in this state (Washington is the first and only state so far to adopt the new MSF curve test)

The parking lot practice and practicing in corners on the street were the two things that I feel did the most to put me in synch with the bike. The practice earned me compliments by other riders (all with smaller bikes) and by the instructors when I did take the skills test using my Heritage (Had to do so since I never transferred my endorsement after I got out of the service).

After the above I now feel like I understand the bike and it understands me. I will still practice though and plan to take the Experienced Rider Course next spring when it is available. (I plan to ride as much as possible between now and then unless there is ice or snow on the road) I'll be encouraging any of my family members that decide to get bikes after taking the novice class to take the experienced class at about 6 months of experience riding too. (The advanced rider class too if it looks like they need it first)

 

Sure are a lot of "mother hens" clucking! Price on RGU is just OK, everybody on here likes to ride, but hates high mile bikes? I think I've read a hundred or so ?s on how's this price & usually a dozen different guys that seem to get incredible deals, guess I'm always in the wrong place wrong time. Get what you want & don't worry about all the clucking.

 

Not really. Mine had a few thousand more miles on it than that when I got it and I'm looking to turn it over 50k within a few weeks. It's also a 1993 though and the trade I made for it wasn't anywhere near 20K (More like $8.5K but the trade saved me hundreds in taxes I would have paid on top of that). When I can buy a brand new one for 23k or 24k though which is what I was quoted by the dealer for these then there is no way I will pay 20k for one with close to 38k miles on it. I might pay that if someone bought it and got home and decided they didn't want it. I.E. Just enough miles to get it home and then I might pay 20k for it. But for one that is a 2011 that already has 38k on it there isn't a chance. Personally with those miles I wouldn't even give it a second look until the price was down to 12k.

 

You will love being a RG owner I am sure. But I agree with the price comments. That does seem high. Add a few more bucks and get a new one and have the pleasure of breaking it in yourself!