Ducati Monster Forum

She's 35, single (never been married), bl/red, 5'8", very easy on the eyes.  (Down, Tony.)  She's also a fascinating, intelligent person who could use some cool friends. 

She wants a bike to save gas on her 50-mile daily commute.  I want her to have some fun while she's at it.  Anyone know of a good Monster deal out there?  Needs to be ~$3,500-- doesn't have to be fancy or shiny -- just reliable.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/mcy/668784556.html

This one could be haggled down some:  http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/mcy/674841524.html

And she doesn't need the bike to meet the people, silly! 

Is this her first bike? I wouldn't recommend a bike to any newbie rider for commuting. JMO.

Dude!  Where the hell have you been?

BTW, I respectfully disagree.   :P  I think that commuting is a wonderful way to get lots and lots of saddle time, and that's what gets a person comfortable on a motorcycle. 

he's been around....

and because that worked for you, doesn't mean it'll work for everyone.....everyone has a different learning curve...everyone has a different level of comfort for pushing their limits and learning capacity to coincide with it...it isn't formulaic despite the idea of riding familiar roads being a good one to get comfortable with because there is so much input and the logostics of everything when you are 1st getting aquainted with all things around riding a motorcycle or any 2 wheeled vehicle and the dynamics surrounding it all....so to a degree I have to agree with Mike.....get a beater Japanese bike that is ready to be dropped while learning!...get comfortable for awhile on the weekends on back roads and in parking lots and work the way up to commuting.....because there are way too many cell phone in the ear driving idiots to care about a motorcyclist in their way when they decide to move and it takes a certain level of experience to be able to react with some proficientcy

Wait, it hasn't been said if she already has experience or not, and what commuter she'll be doing. Is this 50 miles each way, or round trip?

I find more surprise moments on back roads on weekend rides than while commuting.  Sure, there are more people on the road during commuting hours, but I have much greater visibility of what's coming at me from all sides (my first commute was down Leesburg Pike and then it was from the Toll Road to the beltway).  It is on those back roads that I find more gravel, sand, birdseed, leaves, and other junk that can make it ... interesting.  I don't ride those back roads every day, so I certainly haven't memorized every pothole, bump, off camber turn, and place where junk collects.  Even at slow speeds, all those things cause me more pucker than any angel of death on a cell phone. 

It's just another opinion, Zooom, not a way of life for everyone. 

And of course I didn't just jump into commuting on my first day.  I took the bike out every night for a week and ended up putting about 200 miles on it before I did my first commute.  I know that wasn't much, but it got the jitters out.  I did all my grocery shopping on it, took it to hang out with friends, etc. 

I think it depends more on what causes your "pucker factor."  For me, I need to spend the time locally on smaller back roads, around neighborhoods and in parking lots until I was comfortable enough with riding to get myself on a "larger" street.  I still don't feel comfortable enough to commute from where I live. 

I know it is above what you posted...but, Donnie (Ducpond) has some rediculous deals on 07 models right now!  I think he actually has an S2R for under $8,900...

If you can tolerate another SV rider in the midst, there are some ridiculous deals floating around for SV's right now.

Like I said, it's just what worked for me.  I'm not saying it's the way it should be done.  200 miles of dorking around on local roads around my house got me comfortable enough to brave the 15 miles down Rt. 7.  I proceeded to put another couple thousand on my bike until the beginning of 2005 when I went overseas.  When I got back in 2006, I put another 8.5k miles on my bike that season between commuting and longer weekend rides.  It all depends on the rider.  I was terrified of my first commute, but then after about a week, I would dread the days it would snow and I had to drive the cage.  I was afraid of it sitting in my townhouse, but once I got my tush in the saddle and just made myself do it, it wasn't so bad, and turned out to be an enormous amount of fun.

Scammer.   [cheeky]

 ;D

Can't imgaine where she would find someone like that.....

Hey Emily.  ;D  I can see where you are coming from. I am just cautious and scared and worried for any new rider (the experienced ones too!). Most of us come to motorcycling with great enthusiasm. But most of us don't realize just how dangerous the act of riding down the road can be. Take Loudbike's incident for instance. I had a room mate who had something similar happen to him. I have a brother who was killed by a left turning truck. He had 30 years riding experience with no accidents. I watched a former girlfriend fail to make right hand bends in the road on 2 different occasions, cross the double yellow and run off the road. Luckily, there wasn't any on coming traffic and she was able to crash in nice soft grass both times. Fooking scary to watch your SO lose control and not be able to do anything about it.

I just needed to throw up a caution signal. Most people that think they want a motorcycle think it is all fun and games. Those of us that remain motorcyclists for very long usually have to learn the hard way just how dangerous and serious riding a bike can be.

Sorry if I sound all bummerfied.  :o  You all know I embrace the risks and generally thow caution to the wind when I swing a leg over one of my bikes.  [evil]  I just worry about everyone else.  [moto]

...and now there are people coming to motorcycles because of the fuel savings....

I would get a scooter, but 50 miles.....

YOU?  You're the most cautious rider out there!   [cheeky]

No, just in all seriousness, I'm aware of my own mortality.  I had my one get off at the track in full gear, suffered no injuries, and now know that I want to avoid doing that again as much as I humanly can.  At lights I never take the bike out of gear, hands off the bars, or eyes out of my mirrors until I see that the car behind me has come to a stop.  I'm always prepared to shoot off to one side or another to avoid making an Emily sandwich.  However, especially with the piss poor choice I made in a first bike, it scared the poop out of me to ride at first.  I just forced myself to do it and forced my vision into that wide angle lens mode.  I had friends telling me that I should do this and shouldn't do that and should think about waiting a few months before I started commuting and such and such.  None of them had ever ridden with me and most had never even ridden a motorcycle.  I figured that the longer I remained a nervous rider, the more of a danger I was to myself and those around me.  I gained my confidence in commuting and rides by myself.  Group rides or riding in pairs made me too nervous at first.  It doesn't take 300+ mile day rides on the weekends to get confidence.  It takes going outside, turning the key, hitting that start button, and throwing that leg over.  It doesn't matter if you're going to the grocery store to get some bread or if you're going to explore a new road.  I found that it just mattered that I made it a daily commitment until I was comfortable.

You meant Tim, right?

I agree. I think you have got to do what you are comfortable with. Your 'in traffic' strategy sounds very well thought out. I could never do the commute thing because I was always afraid I would be taken down by the 5-0 (no self control).  [laugh]  I did spend a few years as an m/c courier on the streets of DC. As far as I could tell, there were no enforcable traffic laws in DC. But parking enforcement? That is a different matter entirely.  [leo]  That's where they get ya.