Motorcycle advice.......

[urq]

... not an awful choice IMO ... this bike is a shaft drive though, right? 
My last bike was an '85 Honda Nighthawk S ... purchased brand new ... first 
shaft drive bike I'd owned.  On the Nighthawk the shaft seems to be made of 
rubber (of course it is not, it is just not very rigid) ... it is nearly 
impossible to putt around in parking lots without feathering the clutch. 
There's also the torque effect you get under hard decel ... nasty especially 
in turns.  That said, one of my buddies at work got one of them, or maybe it 
was a Shadow ... for commuting.  He was pretty satisfied ... although I 
remember that he had some really odd and expensive issues with his 
alternator.  The more I think about my old Nighthawk the more I remember ... 
issues with starters ... oil leaks ... I was very disapponted when the thing 
was basically falling apart at 7 years and 40K miles.

For a first bike I'd recommend getting either a chain or belt drive bike ... 
and I might get familiar with Suzuki models ... not that I've ever owned 
one!  My current steed is a BMW ... a 1992 k1, which I bought as a demo back 
in '92 and which now has 123000 miles.  This bike also has shaft drive, but 
it is a rigid shaft which doesn't wind up and down like a spring, and has a 
much muted torque effect.  I find this bike to be perfect for my needs ... 
but probably a bit much for a learner bike.  I'm struggling with whether I 
want to take my bike down for a full rebuild or just go out and buy a used 
K1200RS or GT.

HTH!
Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)
>
> Oh, BTW, I think I've found my learners bike, a 1983 Honda V45 Magna. The
> pics the owner sent with me show it to be in darn near perfect condition 
> and
> he says it runs like a new bike. For $1,200 (asking price), seems pretty
> good to me. Anyone care to agree or disagree?