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My first bike was an SV650, too. The only reason I got rid of it was because it was stolen, so I didn't have much say in the matter. I would say an SV would be the highest performance bike that would be reasonable to start with. The best bikes to start on, imho, are small to medium sized dual sport bikes like the Suzuki DR series. They are cheap, tough, reliable, economical, easy to work on, and more forgiving of ham-fisted inputs to the controls.



Nice Strom, Warhammer. Is it the 650 or 1000? If I get back into riding the 650 would be pretty high on my list.

gigag04 wrote:Have you taken the rider's safety course?

If not, I would. Maybe sign your wife up to. It is required to get a class M license in Texas. It's also good training, and builds a good foundation for safe aware riding.

Is that a new requirement? When I started riding about 9 years ago it was not, if so this is news to me.

+1 on what everyone said about the MSF courses, you'll come away much higher on the learning curve of proper motorcycling and do so in a safe environment, it is fun (you get to ride bikes around the parking lot), and many insurance companies will give a bit of a discount if you have passed the course.


I commuted year round for about 6 years, but luckily only had a few close calls with other moving objects, a pretty even split between dumb cars and overly excited critters. Most of my nervous incidents were weather related, and in retrospect I was probably more brazen about riding through it than I should have been (some were not easily avoidable), but live and learn. (hail and dust storms are pretty interesting...)

I sold it a while back since I now live in a busy suburbia (traffic sucks even if it wasn't dangerous), without what I would consider quality fun roads (not in a practical distance anyways), and I live too close to work to make commuting practical (bicycle is the fastest way for me to go). So, I can't say that I have become less of a risk taker, it just doesn't fit into my life anymore; after the bike sat for almost a year without riding I figured it was time to let it go. If my life became more riding friendly a new bike would be pretty high on the list.


FYI, http://www.newenough.com/ and http://www.motoliberty.com/ are two of the best places to get riding gear and other accessories, and they just happen to be in Texas (Lubbock and DFW, respectively). http://www.aerostich.com/ also is a great resource.