Maintaining and paying to maintain a bike.

[LuciferMutt]

Small displacement bikes nearly always cost less to run and maintain than larger displacement bikes. They use less oil, the tires are (way) cheaper, many parts cost less including chains (skinnier and lighter duty) brakes (smaller pads, fewer pads sometimes), get better fuel efficiency, etc.

I have a 250 and a 750. The 750 costs about twice per year to run/maintain than the 250 and they see fairly equal miles.

[kraven]

Who the hell in marketing says a Monster, 696, 796 or otherwise was a beginner bike? It should be a goddamn law that everyone gets 250cc or less regardless of weight.

I'm glad there's no idiotic cc limit in the US. We already have a million laws that don't keep people safe.
At least motorcycles demand that the people riding them show some modicum of introspection and self control in order to continue with the ability to breed.

If you're 16 and think your first bike should be a 'busa, and you go wfo everywhere, we probably don't need your genes in the gene pool anyway.


Regarding maintenance, it varies from rider to rider as well. If you puttputt around and take er' easy, you can get more miles out of tires. If you're the kind of guy who actually maintains things like your chain and fork seals and whatnot, or you like to fit doodads like a Scott oiler, then you can make it farther on the same gear another guy would ruin in short order on the same machine.

[Taelan28]

Fork seals chain wax valves timing belts and other things. I learn there somethong new i need to care about and pay for every time im here. Its clear that i dont have the knowledge or finances to pay for my lack of knowledge. I have a lot to research. Knowing how to fix half of these things is a good idea. Ill find some monster forums and listen closely.

For cc limits thats just my opinion. A lot of people manage fine on a 600cc bike and i met a bmw sales guy who rode an r1200r as his first bike.

Over apl i want a bike i can tear around on and use without worrying too much about treating it right. For example. I dont know how bad it is that i leave my current bike in the rain or improperly store it in the winter but it works fine. When something goes wrong ill pay for it and learn how to properly care for it better. Since a ducatiand other bikes are of much higher quality than a low cc daelim i would assume that i could be as equally abusive ajd not have the bike being a mess.

[Wobbleside]

Belts and valves are the two major things that need to be taken car of on a Monster (outside of normal wear items like chain/sprocket, fork seals, oil and such). They are both easy to do and there are lots of guides.

[JerryH]

I have owned 41 bikes in my life, and still own 6 of them. I have always done all my own maintenance (It helps that I am a professional auto mechanic, and into mechanical things as my main hobby) I like working on bikes almost as much as riding them. I like to get to know my bikes, and know that things are done right. Most of the cost of motorcycle maintenance and repair is labor, if you have it done. Labor rates here are $100 an hour, with a half hour minimum. If it takes 35 minutes, you pay for 1 hour. I have never done valves on a Ducati, but I have on everything else. If I could not work on my own bikes, I would not have them. Same goes for a place to keep them. All of my bikes are stored indoors, locked up. I lived in a mobile home back in 1980, when I bought my first brand new bike, and kept in on the patio, under an awning, and under a cover. I have seen fairly new bikes that looked 100 years old, because they were left to sit out in the weather. The only 2 bikes I ever had that I treated that way were a well worn Suzuki GS450, and a Honda Rebel 250, which I used as work transportation. They were in bad cosmetic condition when I got them, but I still kept them properly maintained. Even my dual sport bike is kept inside out of the weather. It may be dirty and scratched up, but it is not rusted or sun rotted.

I would not buy a new or nice bike until you get really good at riding, especially a street bike and even more especially a sport bike. I started riding at age 8 on dirt bikes, and got all my crashing/dropping bikes done with before I got my first street bike at age 16. I have never dropped a street bike. Nowhere is it written that it is inevitable that you will drop your bike. But if you think you might, you need more practice. I too have had a lot of close calls, but got out of every one of them without a scratch on me or the bike. If you are resolved to the fact that you will drop your bike, you will.

[doxiedog]

Step one (1)
Buy a manual for every bike you own!
READ it! this stuff is not hard to do.
If you have room to sit down,next to your bike,
and a socket set.


You have room to work on it! :)

[Kommando]

Originally Posted by doxiedog

Step one (1)
Buy a manual for every bike you own!
READ it! this stuff is not hard to do.
If you have room to sit down,next to your bike,
and a socket set.


You have room to work on it! :)

TROOF!

I once installed a 1" bodylift on a Jeep Wrangler...using a Hi-Lift jack, some 2x4s, and basic handtools...in the street in front of my apartment. Working on most bikes is much easier.

I don't like parking nice bikes outside/on the street long-term though, especially in bad weather like a salt-ridden Chicago winter. I leave that kind of abuse to well-worn bikes.