Question for you folks who have a better grasp of EBAY.  How in the world do you get info out to people that you do various kinds of custom work.  I sell  a huge amount of shirts, hats, decals, huggers and so on locally.  How do I get this info out to the public on this medium?

Thanks

Biker Ragz

bikerragz@hotmail.com

Forgive my simple mindedness.  I'm just a little happy to finally get the Biker Ragz logo to pop up as a picture.  Now to try to clean it up and make it look good. 

Now you have decided to buy that bike.  Hopefully you have already been trained on the basics of riding a bike and can safely handle one.  Now what size and do you want new or used?

Most of us prefer new anything to used.  What is wrong with new?  Nothing.  Just like a car, as soon as you buy it, you are eating a whole lot of depreciation.  Ahh.  But you aren't buying someone elses problems.  That is true.  Right now there seems to be an over abundance of used bikes on the market.  Like all "Fun" things.  When money gets tight, the "Fun" things must go.  What does that mean for you?  If you are a careful shopper, you can pretty much find a bike to fit you and your budget.

When buying a first bike, there seems to be two different types of shoppers.  The first group are the folks that have had a dream bike all along and they are out to get that bike.  Even if they feel the bike is too big for them, they figure they will grow into it (confidence growth.)  This isn't a poor way of purchasing.  Once the bike is motoring a highway speeds, they all react pretty much the same. 

The other type of shopper is the group that wants to start out with a slightly smaller bike that they can more easily build their confidence on.  This isn't a bad plan either.  The only problem is, most people feel they out grow this bike fairly quick.  Quick is a term that means different things to different folks.  For some, it can be as fast as a few months (or less depending on the driver.)  For others, it can be a few years.  This is especially true for those who will not or can not ride very much.

For either group, buying a used bike is a viable option.  The second group is the one who actually is much better off with a used bike.  If you can buy a used bike for $2500 that gets you on the road to your comfort level and still be able to get that better fitting bike later. 

Speaking of fit, there is one point I want to make about buying a bike.  You want that bike to feel good and balanced under you.  You want both feet to reach that pavement with some bend in your knees.  Holding up a bike on your tip toes is not a lot of fun.  Most bikes can have lowering kits added to them to make them more comfortable for height challenged individuals.  You also don't want to be crammed onto a bike.  To save your back, butt and legs some pain, add an engine gaurd and freeway pegs to your bike.  That can help turn any distance ride into a much more pleasurable trip. 

It's your money and your bike.  Enjoy it and take care of it.  It will take care of you too!

Biker Ragz

 

So you want to buy a bike and ride like the wind.  What do you do first?  Hey.  I have an idea.  Why not learn to ride BEFORE you buy a bike.  How do you do that?  There are classes available through most Harley dealers or through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (www.msf-usa.org). 

You would be surprised how many people buy a bike and have no clue how to drive them.  If you take a course, you will figure out for yourself whether or not this is something you really want to do and you will only have the cost of the class.  A big plus for this is while you are learning the basics, if you drop the bike you are riding, it isn't your bike!  The classes let you drive their bikes.  Now isn't that just too dang cool? 

What do they teach?

It starts with the basics like pre ride check.  It moves quickly on to mounting a bike to actually riding the bike.  The progresses to the point where you are taught how to handle a bike in most common situations that arise.  This includes low speed driving, highway manuvers and even accident avoidance.  The instructors want you to succeed but also want to be safe on the highway. 

How do they teach?

There is quite a bit of class room instruction but there is also multiple days of actual riding a bike with the instructors watching and giving you corrections.

Some experienced riders will take this course with a significant other who is learning to ride.  They will find that even they learn quite a bit that they either did not know or were doing wrong. 

Riding is a lot of fun and this course is actually quite fun itself.  If you pass the class, most insurance companies will give you a discount on your rates.  Some dealerships offer a discount to folks for having taken the class.  Some states like Florida will not make you take the state test to add a motorcycle endorsement to your license. 

More later on the actual first bike...

Biker Ragz

You know you are really sick when you go to bed Saturday afternoon and don't become semi-coherent again until Tuesday morning.  I don't know what the crud is that is going around but it sure as heck is brutal.  Hopefully the fuzzy headed feeling will be gone soon!

Biker Ragz