First time rider buys an Africa Twin

[Beemerphile]

My dad's first bike was a Gold Wing at age 58. He rode 21 years (all on Gold Wings) with zero accidents and quit when his Alsheimers got too bad. It can be done. But he was cautious and took both MSF courses.

Also he wasn't camera'ed up and doing video blogs. He was concentrating on his riding.

 

[JamesD]

The reason I ask is because on Saturday I passed a couple Harleys at an intersection, I had the right of way and they pulled out behind me. I turned at a side street and was just going slow checking out the neighbourhood, they followed so I but on my blinker and pulled over to let them go by. It was a long sweeping curve and the first of them went by maybe 30 mph, no problem (I mean it was the kind of curve you could and would take at 40 mph) the second went by slower and for some reason was heading for the other side of the road and slowing down and there was a car behind her with the driver probably wondering as I was, WTF? She slowly drifted into the on coming lane out of control (good thing there were no cars coming) then finally she pulled back out of the oncoming lane across her lane, in front of the car which had basically stopped, and pulled onto the shoulder about thirty five yards in front of me. Her riding partner was long gone. The car drove off. I pulled up beside her and asked if she was okay. Dressed in sandels, shorts, armless blouse, no gloves, leather vest and a half helmet she said, "Normally I'm good on those turns. I just want to sit here for a minute." She was visibly shaken. I could see her partner coming back so I left. I was thinking to myself as I drove on... how can a guy put his girl friend/wife on a big bike, in sandles and say follow me. If there would have been a cement truck coming she would have just drove right into it at 15 mph, out of control.
...

I'm guessing a good rider could take that corner and a lot higher speed on a sport bike.
I'm not so sure a Harley could.

Target fixation probably played a part in what happened to that woman.
People panic and lock on to where they don't want to go, and that causes them to go exactly where they don't want to.
Clearly, her clothing indicates she was more interested in how she looked than being safe.

 

[Deckyon]

I lost interest when he said "The NC700 is a nice beginners bike, but there is no room to grow." OK, sorry, but if you have never been on a motorcycle before, you will have NO idea on how a bike will grow and handle as you get more experience. I am 18 months (and 16000 miles) in on my very first motorcycle, which was an NC700, and there is still plenty of room to grow. This bike will lean down in the corners like a demon, and will tear through the chicken strips if you let it. There is still more she can show me. And this isnt just because I own it. It isnt a fanboi reaction. The guy in the video made huge assumptions with absolutely no working knowledge.

And then we come to the gear - "the gear isnt broken in so I dont want to wear it." OK. So you spent a ton of money on stuff you will never wear. Just another squid.

 

[Deckyon]

I'm not a fan of new riders starting on big bikes.
Last year a local poker run had several first time riders on their Harleys. They had days to weeks of experience.
Two of them died and one was injured the same day.

Why am I not surprised? I feel bad for the families. Poker runs are the WORST way to learn to ride ANYTHING. I give them a wide berth if I cannot avoid them all together.

Poker Run: Let's pre-game for the ride to the next bar, where we drink some more, and move on to the next. Lack of gear and too much alcohol make these things a death trap, and not just for those drinking, but for those who are not and just along for the ride.

 

[itlives]

Fousey has a LOT of subscribers! That's he only thing that struck me, well, that and he is a talker.

Glad he got an NC. Even though I don't have mine anymore, I could go back as the performance is enough for me and I loved the loc. The only thing(s) I don't like is the suspension and maybe the height (too low).
It's a great bike and the rpm's at 80 mph (on the speedo) are the same as my Tenere - the Tenere still has a lot more "go" at that speed, though.

 

[SergeantChuck]

This doesn't really surprise me. I can't count the number of times I saw a young soldier go out and by the biggest crock rocket on the market because he had a pocket full of money after returning from a year long rotation overseas. Most of the time they had never ridden a bike or they had only ridden dirt bikes which isn't the same. If I knew about it, I always tried to talk them down to a 600 model but "boys will be boys". For many of us, we often learn the hard way. Nothing new here to see other than a guy who has decided to publicize his unwise choice.

 

[Beemerphile]

So maybe he joins up here and we teach him a thing or two about survivability on a motorcycle before he trades it for an H2 Kawasaki. I mean after you throw it down the street a couple of times, how many YouTube videos can you peddle putzing about on an NC?

 

[Deckyon]

What I hate the most now is his other videos are popping up in my "recommended" feed on youtube...

 

[supertux1]

The NC is my first 'real' road legal motorcycle in 25 years and it is absolutely the best beginner bike for me to battle traffic with.

Had some not legal rat bikes / dirt bikes as a teenager that I only ever rode off road as far as the Internet will know but that was 25 years ago.
I am surprised I am still alive as some of them didn't have front brakes, I rode them on gravel roads and of course no safety gear. (Hey man, that's gas money!)

To pay my penance for being a dumbass all those years ago, I took the MSF course once to get my license and again for practice before buying the NC.

I lost sleep at night trying to figure out how I would ride the NC home alone from the dealer... So nervous about dropping/crashing it.

Five minutes in the parking lot is all it took. I was basing my expectations on the crap bikes MSF had us riding and my previous experience. The ride home was so fun!

 

[mreric]

this youtuber is actually pretty popular.

anyhow. i have seen some his videos. he now got a 2016 NC700X. in the video he said that they are repairing the AT and might or might not sell it...

so he might come over to the forum. who knows... he does not seem like the guy that is true rider.... seem like a just passing by toy to him and we might never see him again.


my first bike was a 125cc scooter and even that took 3000 miles to master. then move to 250cc.. starting with a 1000cc is very stupid move.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrHLdPwwsuw

 

[supertux1]

I'm glad he ended up with the right bike in the end. I didn't catch if he had taken MSF or was fully licensed or not.
I hope he comes to the forum so he can learn about all the farkles available for it that aren't yet here for the AT.

 

[L.B.S.]

I'd be an ultra hypocrite if I tsk tsk'd this guy for doing something that other people warned against doing lol, so I'll keep my big trap shut on that part...

Having said that, I'm not really into the whole blogger vlogger or whatever it is exactly called where people festoon cameras to themselves and ride about endlessly yacking about stuff, but a few things struck me about this dude.

He seems like a pretty happy with life and innocently enthusiastic sort, likes motorcycles, and from the small sample of what I watched, doesn't come across as a thug life wannabe gangster too cool for the rest of us, that is all too prevalent. I'd sure rather have more of his kind of person on the planet, than many, many others I can think of...



A bit naïve sounding on some things motorcycle related maybe? Sure, but I'm almost 53, and still have big knowledge gaps in my favourite thing in the world-motorbikes, let alone a lot of other day to day stuff that most adults take for granted hahaha. Like whatever the heck this guy and apparently all his friends do for a living, to have so much money at such a young age! Jeebs. Totally envious!