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Motorcycle Views Newsletter for 07/05/2015

By Walter F. Kern

 Motorcycle Views Newsletter

Vol. 9, No. 15, July 5, 2015

Articles of Interest on Motorcycle Views:

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Motorcycle One-Stop Page:

You should be able to find almost anything about motorcycles by looking at the Home Page on the Motorcycle Views Website.

However, there are some motorcycle items that keep being requested over and over. Those items will be found on this One-Stop motorcycles page. Here are all the sections covered with a few examples for each. See the actual page for all the items.

Motorcycle Beginners:

Motorcycle Books:

Motorcycle Makes and Models:

Websites of Motorcycle Manufacturers

Individual Motorcycle Models

Motorcycle Reviews:

Motorcycle Prices:

Motorcycle Training:

Motorcycle Rights:

Motorcycle Rallies:

Motorcycle How-Tos:

Motorcycle Maintenance/Repair:

Motorcycle Pictures:

See the complete One-Stop Page

Honda Gold Wing Picture Gallery:

In 1975, Honda introduced the Gold Wing. It has continued in production ever since. We present here a look at Honda Gold Wing models from the first model in 1975 to the present as provided in pictures submitted by Motorcycle Views visitors.

A picture gallery called "29 Years of Honda Gold Wing" is provided that gives a picture and description for each model year from 1975 to 2003.Honda Gold Wing motorcycle picture

One of the biggest features on the Motorcycle Views site is Moto Pics, where visitors to the site can display and describe their motorcycles. There are many Honda Gold Wings in Moto Pics. I have extracted my favorite Gold Wing pictures from Moto Pics and from the old site.

We Need Your Help

Currently, every year between 1975 and 2003 has a picture. These are pictures from the old site and they were published in a small size. I'd like to update these pictures with new pictures from Motorcycle Views visitors and newsletter subscribers and I will be using larger pictures. That's where you come in. We want you to help us redo this Gold Wing gallery by submitting a picture and description of your own Gold Wing. These pictures will also become part of Moto Pics. There will only be one picture for each year placed in the "29 Years of Honda Gold Wing" gallery. Since I am continually reviewing the best picture for each year, new submissions for a year already listed may bump the current picture.

Note that the gallery is being expanded to bring the Gold Wing models to the current year. There will be no change in the name of the gallery at this time.

Check out the complete gallery of Gold Wings. If you own a Gold Wing and want it displayed here, send me a picture and description.

Basic Beginner Motorcycles:

The following article discusses motorcycles for beginners. It also contains a list, with pictures, of all the motorcycles that both my wife and I have owned.

Beginners often agonize over what motorcycle they should buy as their first bike. Some new riders want to buy a new motorcycle but want a bigger bike that they won't outgrow. Others opt for a used bike for the first year or so to minimize the repair cost when they inevitably drop the bike while learning.

Getting that first bike

Perhaps you've known someone who decided to learn to ride a motorcycle and the first thing they did was buy a big heavyweight machine. Now, it is possible that some people who have natural athletic abilities and mechanical aptitudes may be able to pull this off. The vast majority, however, will not be able to do it. They will end up damaging the bike numerous times and most likely injuring themselves in the bargain.

You want to start off with a simple, cheap, standard motorcycle and be prepared to see it fall over a few times while you get used to riding it. I personally dropped my starter bike at least three times while it was in my garage. I started off with a 1981 Honda CM400T bike that I bought from a friend for $600. This bike was also used by my wife as she learned how to ride.

Just be sure that the bike runs well, has good tires and brakes, and is insured. After you've taken the MSF course, you'll need to get lots of practice. Some of that practice may involve simple spills that may cause some damage to the bike. That's why you don't want to spend $20,000 for a new bike as a starter bike.

If you're lucky, you'll get through your practice sessions successfully without damage of any kind. You may suddenly feel that the bike you bought and thought was so huge at the time, now appears tiny and you want something bigger. It happens to everyone. Probably you will be able to sell your starter bike for what you paid for it. I did. If you gather 100 motorcyclists together and ask them what bike you should get for a beginner motorcycle, you will first be asked a lot of questions. The experts will want to know how old you are, how tall you are, how much you weigh, whether you are male or female, where you live, your experience, whether you've taken the MSF course, etc.

Then you will get 100 different answers recommending a bike for you. How do I know? I read the messages in various motorcycle beginner forums. Every newcomer asks the same questions and depending on which forum members choose to answer, the bike recommendations vary all over the place.

There are some common denominators, however. Almost everyone agrees that a beginner should first take the MSF training course. This course will teach you what you need to know to safely ride a motorcycle. It won't make you an expert but you will learn things about motorcycles and riding that many untrained riders of over 30 years don't know.

Next, you should buy a cheap bike with as little plastic on it as possible and which contains some engine guards to protect the bike, and you, should you have a spill.

Many experts recommend bikes such as the Suzuki GS500, the Kawasaki EX500, the Honda 250 and 450 Rebels, the Honda Shadow VLX600, the Honda Nighthawk 250 or 750, the Suzuki Bandit 600, and the Yamaha Seca 600. These would all be used bikes you may be able to buy under $2000, maybe as low as $600 in some cases. As I said earlier, my first bike was a 1981 Honda CM400T. It was eight years old at the time. There are still some of these running around too.

It hasn't been that long since I was a beginner and I vividly remember all the questions I had about beginner motorcycles and bikes that came after that. Here is my history. Yours may end up being similar:

  • My first bike was a 1981 Honda CM400T. I bought it from a friend for $600. It had a windshield, crashbars, and ran well. Both my wife and I used it as a starter bike and both took our motorcycle driver test on it.

  • My second bike was a 1991 Honda Nighthawk CB750. This was a new bike purchased from my local dealer. I rode the CM400T for maybe a year before I got the Nighthawk. The CM400T was eventually sold for $600, the same amount I paid for it.

  • My third bike was a 1990 Honda Pacific Coast (PC800). It was an 800cc machine with a shaftdrive and rear enclosed liftup trunk, a unique motorcycle useful for any distance.

  • My fourth bike was a 1994 Harley-Davidson Sportster XLH1200. I was getting my itch to break the Honda habit and bought this from a friend. It vibrated a lot and made exhaust noise I didn't like. I sold it after a couple of years and went back to my Honda habit.

  • My fifth bike was a 1998 Honda Gold Wing. Notice the progression in size. When I was a beginner, I never thought I would be able to handle a Gold Wing but time and experience made the transition easy. I sold the PC to a friend in our motorcycle club.

  • My sixth bike was a 2000 Honda Gold Wing. No, I didn't crash the 1998 Wing. I converted it to a trike for my wife.

  • My seventh bike was the conversion of the 2000 Gold Wing into a trike using a Motor Trike kit installed by a dealer in PA.

See pictures of my seven motorcycles.

Here is the bike history for my wife, Jane, who started in motorcycling at the exact same time I did:

  • Her first bike was a 1981 Honda CM400T. This is the same bike mentioned above.

  • Her second bike was a 1989 Honda Shadow VLX600 cruiser. This was a new bike purchased from our local dealer. She got the first new bike while I continued to ride the CM400T for maybe a year.

  • Her third bike was a 1990 Honda Pacific Coast (PC800). I sold my Nighthawk and continued to ride her VLX600 until she was sure she liked the PC. Then I traded the VLX600 in on a second PC for myself. I bought and installed a CB on both PCs so my wife and I could communicate.

  • Her fourth bike was a 1998 Honda Gold Wing trike. This is the trike I converted from my 1998 Gold Wing. Eventually, she sold the PC to a friend in our motorcycle club.

See pictures of Jane's four motorcycles.

Choosing a beginner motorcycle is not an exact science. It depends on many interrelated factors. It is one of the rites of passage that every motorcyclist goes through to begin his or her adventures in motorcycling.

All our Motorcycle Views Forum members have traveled the same road you are starting down. Their experiences can help you to avoid costly mistakes. Take some time to become familiar with the forum and post your questions. Deciding to be an active forum reader and contributor may turn out to be the best decision you ever make in motorcycling.

Today's Motorcycle Views Poll:

I am running one new Motorcycle Views Poll in the newsletter for each issue.

Here's Poll No. 17: What's Your Favorite Motorcycle Magazine?

The latest Motorcycle Views Poll also appears on the front page of the Motorcycle Views website.

ALL Motorcycle Views Polls

Today's How-To:

I will be featuring one of my How-Tos for each issue.

How to Pack a Motorcycle for a Trip

ALL Motorcycle How-Tos

Motorcycle Picture of the Month:

Motorcycle Picture of the Month - July, 2015 - 2000 Honda Gold Wing SE 1500 w/Motortrike Conversion:
See the July, 2015 Picture of the Month and previous pictures. This is my trike. (I never got a chance to put it in the Trike Gallery before I sold it last year. Better late than never.) If you'd like to be considered for Picture of the Month, send me a picture and description of your bike. Submit Picture.

My Book, 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales, is also available as an Audiobook (Audible) Edition on Amazon, iTunes, and Audible:

My new audiobook makes a great gift for those who want to listen instead of read.

I mentioned in previous Motorcycle Views newsletters that I would soon have an audiobook edition of my book, 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales. On April 14, 2015, that became a reality. The audiobook is available on Amazon, iTunes, and Audible.

If you click the book cover (or click here), you can listen to a 5-minute sample of the audiobook and hear all three narrators, including one female voice and me.

Should you decide to buy and download the audiobook, I'd welcome any Amazon online reviews you might want to write after you have listened to the audiobook.

Remember, this new audiobook edition is also available for download on iTunes. That means you can access it on all your Apple devices including your iPhone and iPad.

Here are the Five Most Popular articles on the Motorcycle Views Site. Take a look:

My Motorcycle Books:

I hope you will take a look at my three motorcycle books, available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.com. These books make great, inexpensive gifts. In fact, you can purchase all three for less than $25 total. As I mentioned above, you will also be able to download each of the three color Kindle books FREE, IF you buy the corresponding paperback first.

My first book, Getting Started Riding a Motorcycle, was first published in 2011 but only as a Kindle edition. It was revised in 2014 and also made available in a paperback edition. Click the book cover to learn more about the book and how to buy it on Amazon.com.

My second book, 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales, contains a collection of stories that originally were only available on my website. Fifty of these stories were selected, intensively edited, and compiled into the book. I wrote five of the stories. The book is available in both paperback, Kindle, and audiobook (Audible) editions. Click the book cover to learn more about the book and how to buy it on Amazon.com. The Audible edition is also available for immediate download on iTunes and Audible.

My third book, Motorcycle Haiku Poetry, also available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle editions, contains haiku poems about motorcycles.

A surprising number of visitors to my site quickly caught on and enjoyed haiku poetry that had been submitted to me over the years from motorcyclists. Haiku is a simple poem of three lines with five syllables in the first and last lines and seven in the second line. Here's a sample haiku poem that's the latest user submission and may go in the next haiku book:

Biker Lightning

Dark Texas highway
Lightning cracks, my thunder rolls
Ozone and exhaust

—Bear Graves

They are easy to write, and most riders like to read them. I coupled each haiku poem with a motorcycle picture and description that tied into the poem itself. I wrote seven of the haiku poems. Click the book cover to learn more about the book and how to buy it on Amazon.com.

I have reduced the price of my three Kindle editions to $0.0 (FREE) IF you also first purchase the corresponding paperback edition. That way you can always have the book with you if you have a tablet or smartphone with you. None of the paperbacks has color pictures in them owing to the high price of producing a book with color. However, every Kindle edition has color pictures, so the Getting Started Riding a Motorcycle and Motorcycle Haiku Poetry Kindle books are in full color.

Help Grow Motorcycle Views:

The Motorcycle Views Website is here for you. We encourage you to submit a story, picture, poem, salvage yard recommendation, user review of your own bike, tattoo, YouTube video you made of your bike, motorcycle tip, etc. These will be evaluated for inclusion into one of our major features. Send us a submission today and share part of your motorcycling experience with our many readers. Read how to make a submission.

Send In Your Pictures:

We love pictures of your motorcycles. Even better is a picture of you with your bike. We also like descriptions of bikes so tell us all about your bike. What accessories do you have? What special paint job do you have? How long have you been riding? Tell us more. Women riders are especially requested to send their pictures in. Submit a Picture.

Social Media:

See me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube.

My Website:

My website, forum, and blog are all available on your PC or MAC and your smartphone or tablet (in a new format).

Be sure to check out the Home Page on Motorcycle Views. It keeps changing daily, now containing links to hundreds of my original articles and features including Makes and Models, Picture Galleries, Motorcycle FAQ, Motorcycle Tips, Motorcycle How-Tos, Rallies, Videos and Movies, and User Reviews.

Walter F. Kern's Author Page on AmazonThanks again for coming along for the ride in this new edition of the Motorcycle Views Newsletter. -- Walter.

For New Subscribers:

Expect newsletters on Sunday afternoon every other week.

Please understand that the Motorcycle Views Newsletter is NOT the Motorcycle Views website. The newsletter provides a few links to content on the Motorcycle Views website. Once you click a link in the newsletter, you'll be getting access to content on the Motorcycle Views site.

If you'd like to view some recent newsletters, just go to the newsletter sign-up page and look below where my three motorcycle books are described for links.

Thanks for signing up for the Motorcycle Views Newsletter. Using this Newsletter, I'll keep you up-to-date with what's going on in the Motorcycle Views Blog, the Motorcycle Views Website, and the Motorcycle Views Forum. The forum has a new look as of February 13, 2015. Take a look. Not sure what a blog is? It's like a daily readout of what I'm thinking about, similar to a diary at times. Most often, I'm using mine right now to tell my visitors what has been added to the Motorcycle Views site.

See me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube.

My website, forum, and blog are all available on your PC or MAC and your smartphone or tablet (in a new format).

END OF NEWSLETTER

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