A change of bike

[The Roadstergal]

The beemer is quite a nifty bike. But I've been finding that a high-center-of-gravity 500-lb bike is a bear to haul around; my feet don't reach the ground unless the bike is tipped, and I've been afraid of hitting a wet or greasy spot coming to a stop and dumping it. I took it into Ride West to see if I could trade it for something smaller. They did their trade-in inspection, and told me that the steering bearings were utterly shot, and demonstrated what they should do (on another 650) versus what mine were doing. They expressed surprise that I was able to ride the thing as it was. So I traded it in on a younger, smaller bike that they had inspected and declared copacetic. I had to put money in, which sucks, but it's my fault for buying a bike while knowing so little about them. :( The Ride West guys were terrific to work with, especially Ellen.

The difference is night and day. I can touch the ground without tipping, it's over 100lbs lighter, it handles better, it has a 11K redline... muy fun.

[LMC]

11K rpm! :D

it has a 11K redline... muy fun.

[swchang]

I'm beginning to suspect that my goal in life is to be you. I want a Miata and a sportbike. :yumyum:

Congrats on the acquisition! Remember to keep it copacetic.

[Raffi]

Congrats! :thumbup:

[The Roadstergal]

I'm beginning to suspect that my goal in life is to be you. I want a Miata and a sportbike.

You'd be better off just getting the Miata and sportbike and skipping being me. Being a broke short chick is not a step up in the world. :eeps:


It was way too bright at Edmonds. Better pic, and one for scale:

[JonM]

So no seat rebuild after all?? Congrats on the "right" bike.

In general - at least at Ride West - women who walk into motorcycle dealers get treated really well. You are the growth market for them after all.

[The Roadstergal]

So no seat rebuild after all?? Congrats on the "right" bike.

In general - at least at Ride West - women who walk into motorcycle dealers get treated really well. You are the growth market for them after all.

Ja, thanks for the offer, and I appreciate muchly the advice you gave on the seat! But this just happened this weekend...

Yeah, that's understandable. I'm going to be buying a lot more bikes down the line. And the Ride West guys have treated me very decently, for a dealership; I remember when I went in first looking for bikes, they're the only dealership who didn't try to sell me a bike from the floor. Ellen tossed me on all of the ones she had at that time and then wouldn't sell me any of 'em, because I didn't fit.

[racerdave]

Looks great!

Refresh my memory... what bike did you trade in?

[The Roadstergal]

'99 F650.

[Mr. E]

Congrats, RG! Your bike reminds me of my old Suzuki Bandit 600. What a great bike that was. I'm sure you're going to have a blast! :thumbup: