Mark,
Welcome aboard!
Before Paul beats me to it - we love pictures of bikes - feel
free to send some along.
In general when buying a new bike you want to go over everything
that is a consumable / replaceable and consider replacing it. Look at
your fuses - verify they all work, verify that you have spares
available should they be required.
If you haven't done the oil - do so.
Air filter inspection is a good idea, it may not be necessary to
replace it, unless it is in poor condition.
Look for any sort of weather cracks on your tires - check the
tread as well - bikes that Sit are often worse than those that are
run.
Be sure to check your brakes - not only that they work but that
there is sufficient fluid etc.
You've done yourself a service by getting into the MSF course
before riding - do yourself a favor and never be completely
comfortable on the bike - if you're too relaxed, you aren't looking
for enough danger.
Again welcome!
-Joey
On Wed, May 4, 2011 at 8:57 AM, Max <[email protected]> wrote:
> Good morning,
>
> My name is Max, and I'll confess to being new to my 1995 Nighthawk
> 250, as well as motorcycles in general. For the past 2 years I've
> lived a mile away from work and I drove a Honda Metropolitan 50cc
> scooter - it was great, if not a little small, but with only a mile to
> go and getting over 100 mpg, I was content. That said, I just bought
> a house about a month ago, and now I'm nearly 14 miles away from
> work. I drove the scooter back and forth for a week or so, but I
> could quickly tell that I was just sort of going to run the scooter
> into the ground; the commute was many back roads, making the trip
> about 17 miles long and the roads were just awful.
>
> Having always wanted to learn to ride, I sold the scooter, did some
> research to help me decide what kind of beginner bike I should
> purchase. I found a 1995 Nighthawk 250 on Criagslist; this guy had
> bought it from one of the schools that does the Motorcycle Safety
> Courses. I had it checked out; it had definitely been dropped, has a
> few dents in the tank, but the shop said it was just fine, so $1300.00
> later, it's mine. I took the course over the weekend, and then came
> home to practice for a bit. Yesterday afternoon I went on my first
> real ride, and it was so, so nervous making. I rode again this
> morning, 13 miles to work, and while it is nerve wracking, I have to
> admit that it feels good to be on two wheels again.
>
> After looking at this site for a while, I've found out where I can buy
> my owner's manual, and so I've just done as much, and I also ordered
> some riding gear, too. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions, and if
> there's anything that you think I should know, any advice you have for
> a brand new rider, definitely bring it on.
>
> Having no service records for the bike, would it be your suggestion to
> just do everything like it's a new bike - change the oil, etc? Since
> I don't know what's been done, other than changing the oil, is there
> anything you can recommend that I should check - maybe the air filter,
> and fluids?
>
> Very glad this list exists - there's an entire forum for the
> Metropolitan scooter, and I used it pretty often. Look forward to
> communicating with all of you.
>
> -Max
>
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>
--
-Joey Kelley
JoeyKelley.com - My Life Online
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