SV650

The past few weeks have been motorcycle fever at the old homestead. For a few years now I've wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle. I've also been putting it off, mostly because of time and money. Those concerns have ebbed and waned, but I've always put the motorcycle off. I literally woke up 3-4 weeks ago and the first thing I thought of coming out of my sleep induced stupor was...

"Today's the day. I'm going to sign up for the MSF...".

That as they say, was that. Signed up for the earliest one I could find ( which was last week). The class in general went well, I did better on somethings than others. In the end I passed the course, and was able to get my skills test waiver. The friday previously I went to the DMV and got my motorcycles permit.

Fast forward to Monday and I found a decently priced motorcycle on craigslist. It was the model I liked, looked to be in generally good shape, and for the price range. A friend from work was free to come with me to take a look ( he's been riding for ages). The bike was rough, but the seller assured me that a carb cleaning was all it needed to get it running in tip-top shape. ( More on that later). Negotiated a decent deal, taking into account the future work needed for the bike.

My coworker was gracious enough to ride the bike home for me. The ride improved on the way back, but it was still rough. Still it looked awesome sitting in my parking spot.

2002 SV650N - new to me

Update: Tried riding it the next morning after I got it. Went ok. Its running pretty rough, so I stalled out quite a bit. I was uncomfortable revving the engine because it was early in the morning. I was uncomfortable going down the slope on it, so I ended up walking it. I had issues riding it up the incline. I stalled out and was having trouble getting going. I eventually just gave it more gas than I wanted to and that did the trick. Unfortunately on the next lap I decided to go the other way. I was going slow, went over a speed bump and the bike started to lean. It went farther than I could save and it dropped. I got it down very gently, but I couldn't save it. Getting it back over again took quite a bit of effort, but I was able to do it. It was quite embarrassing.

Update 2: Originally I thought my back took the brunt of the drop. I was wrong. It is in fact my wrist that took most of the hit. I decided to take the rest of Thursday off from riding, help me recenter, and shake off the drop.

Update 3: Called a shop and its going to cost $500 to get the carbs cleaned. Another $500 for the tune-up. That's crazy. I haven't decided what to do, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to do SOMETHING. I want the bike in tip-top shape, mainly to ease my riding and to help with safety. I really wanted to go to THIS shop because it got really good reviews on yelp, and also its very close by to me. Riding on the streets seems a much more attainable goal than riding on the freeway.

Update 4: Had a decent outing on the bike. Finally got on the street ( woohoo ) even if it was just a small side street next to my place. Still it had plenty of hills, stop signs and even had to start on a hill, and make a left. That took a few tries and a few stalls, but I got it done. It was nice to build some confidence in the bike. Still really need to work on my smooth stops, but its coming along.