Hi Kyle, and everyone - thanks for the quick responses! I'm glad to see that this is an active group, that definitely helps. As ridiculous as this sounds, I was about to make a rookie mistake and ask what "NH" stood for... that would have been pretty hilarious, huh? When I see NH, I think New Hampshire; I'll definitely have to re-wire my brain!
As for what makes me nervous, with the Metropolitan, though I did ride it many, many miles - about 4,500 miles in a year and a half - I kept to roads where the speed limits were 35/40 mph at the most - they're just 50cc, and I hadn't done anything silly like de-restrict mine or anything. I have friends who have them and they fiddled with their scooters so that they could go much faster, but if you've ever ridden a Metropolitan, the construction of it, it's nice, but it doesn't feel solid enough to be going about 40mph. I bought the Metro from a guy who rides a Harley (don't ask me why he had this scooter - he was a big guy, and the Metros are great for short folks), so having never rode anything on two wheels aside from a bike, he told me his best piece of advice was to ride where I could keep up with traffic so that I could hold the road. He warned me that if I didn't cars would try to pass, they wouldn't provide me with adequate space, etc, etc. That said, I've kept to roads where I could ride in the center of the lane, not giving up my section of lane, but this means that I've never really been in lots of heavy traffic. With the motorcycle, having just taken my maiden voyage yesterday, I took it on busier roads; the speed limit is 45, so folks are anywhere from 45 up to 60mph, and I have to say, the speed of the other vehicles made me feel much more vulnerable. Although I've only been on the motorcycle for two days now, I'm completely awestruck and the terrible, terrible driving that takes place. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir on this one, but wow. When my instructor told me to "ride like you're invisible," he wasn't joking. The bike is easier to handle, but I'm still getting used to shifting, specifically shifting smoothly, and I'm also just getting used to how the bike handles. The scooter didn't feel as stable, but it also topped out at about 40mph, and there was no shifting, the brakes are both on the handle... the risk was still great, but there's just a lot more to think about on the bike; just my perception. But again, I think it's primarily the fact that I'm driving in heavy traffic. On May 4, 9:06 am, Kyle Munz <[email protected]> wrote: > Welcome to the group Max. I'm glad to hear you took the BRC but may I ask > what it is that makes you nervous on your Nighthawk as compared to on your > scooter? I've always found motorcycles to be far more comfortable and > controllable than scooters. The different for me in the wheel size. The tiny > wheel diameters on scooters is fine for low speeds but up around 50+ mph > they start to skitter around too much. Add that to the high center of > gravity and "barstool" seating position and they just seem less stable to > me. > > -Kyle > > On Wed, May 4, 2011 at 7:57 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 > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
