Did somebody paint it like that on purpose, or did it get lost with the parade equipment for St. Patrick's day?
I'm not real fond of the flat black on (part of) the frame, but it's not my bike so it doesn't matter.
I know you've been aching to get something, so good on you for waiting till something rideable came along! Some (all?) of the others you've posted about were real losers! Hopefully this one stays real well for ya! My brother's got a fizzer 600, mid '90s, with the two round headlights. Always liked riding it! 👍
I may be preaching to the choir, but I
am going to preach on this. Bear with me.
Gear. GOOD gear. Including pants. Jeans are useless as protection when pavement surfing, and raw skin that results from sliding on pavement is treated as burns. Painful, slow to heal, maybe requiring grafts, and
very prone to infection.
[Real-life scare story]A local kid died recently from the infections he developed in the burn center after his accident. He had no life-threatening injuries other than skin loss, and probably would have walked away, even gotten back on and ridden away, if he'd been properly geared up.[/Real-life scare story]
Regular shoes or sneakers are less than useless if you get knocked off the bike. If you low-side your foot will get caught under the bike, the shoe will be torn off by the bike or the road, and your foot will be ground down to bone. Besides, nothing is as embarrassing as pulling up to the light and catching your laces on the peg when trying to put your foot down. Foot never reaches the pavement, bike already leaning, BOOM!! In front of everybody there you were hoping would notice the really cool kid on the bike. Also, regular shoes offer no ankle protection, and a good stiff boot with ankle armor may keep your foot bones connected to your leg bones some day.
In the pic you have a full-face, but don't even think about going with an open-face helmet. More than half of head impacts in street motorcycle accidents are facial. Think about it. You low-side, you're going down face-first, front or side of your body hits the ground. You run wide in a turn and hit the aarmco or a tree or a pole. What part of your body is first to get there when the bike suddenly stops but you don't? I'm alive today because of a helmet, and I can still speak clearly and chew my own food because it was a full-face lid.
I've been down twice and have never lost any skin. I've had some bruises and a sprain, but those are easy. Skin is soft, comes off easy, and comes back VERY slowly.
Seriously. Set aside at least 500 bucks for jacket, pants, boots, and gloves. You've already got a helmet. In my neck of the woods (Florida) I wear mesh for the heat, you might get away with fabric or leather. Fabric will be cheaper, but leather with protect
way better.
I hear guys say 500 bucks!!! Geez, that's a lot of gas money!!! Well, it's cheaper than a few weeks in a burn ward!!! LOTS cheaper.
Lastly, everyone says "Well,
I'm not gonna crash. I know what I'm doing."
Well, so did I, right up until I hit that sandy patch in the road while leaned over left.
I just wonder how many of those guys in hospital beds knew they were gonna crash that day, and how many of them
knew they weren't?
Lastly, TRAINING. Take an MSF basic rider course. You WILL learn some things, things that may save your (or someone else's) life. You do NOT know everything there is to know about riding a motorcycle, even if you've been riding dirt bikes since you were 10. MSF is now required in FL for a motorcycle endorsement on your license, I don't know about MN. Also in FL, you CANNOT ride a motorcycle (legally) without the endorsement.