Friday, 12 October 2018

Thinking of getting a motorcycle. Currently drive a scooter. Have some questions.


Skip down to below if you don't to read the back story.So I currently have a motorcycle endorsement and I drive a Piaggio BV 350. So I'm comfortable driving a PTW. However, this is a scooter (and an Italian one at that). The main reason I'm considering getting a motorcycle is more for reliability reasons and to have more options for service. Right now, there is only a single place I can take my scooter to be worked on. They are always super backed up (takes a a week minimum before they even get a chance to look at it) and if it's anything major they aren't sure how to deal with (most of the scooters they work on are small 50cc scooters for college kids) they have to call their Piaggio rep in CA and I'm in FL. So there's a 3 hour time difference. When my guys are going to lunch, the people in CA are just barely starting their day.I use this vehicle mainly for commuting to and from work. I put about 20 miles a day on it. I don't care about riding for fun at all. The only reason I got a scooter is the parking situation at work. I do not feel comfortable on a motorcycle that would require me to shift gears. I don't care that I could learn it and it would eventually become second nature. I want to be able to just twist and go. I want to be able to focus 100% on the road and the cars around me.So... I am looking at some of the motorcycles from Honda that have a DCT because I think this may fit what I'm looking for. I feel like I could take it to any mechanic I wanted to, instead of a specific dealer. It might not necessarily be more reliable, but I could get it looked at sooner and repaired quicker if I needed to. If a motorcycle with DCT turns out to be not for me, I may look at the Honda Forza 300 instead, which is another scooter.With that said, I have some questions.From what I understand, you don't want to downshift while turning for the same reason you don't want to brake while turning. Does anyone know how the DCT handles this? Will it try to downshift when I turn? Is this as not as big a concern as the instructor in my motorcycle safety class made it seem?On my scooter, when I let off the throttle, it engine brakes pretty hard thanks to the CVT belt/clutch system. I actually really like this. It wouldn't be a deal breaker if it was different though. I'm just curious; What does a motorcycle do (I guess specifically with a DCT) when you let off the throttle? Coast or engine brake?To do any kind of work on my scooter it requires taking off lots of plastic body parts and sometimes requires taking a lot of things off. How is working on a motorcycle? I would think maintenance would be easier to do.What is the maintenance like? My BV 350 is every 6,000 miles and every other service is a major one (so 12k, 24k, etc) that involves replacing the roller weights in the CVT and the CVT belt. I know this will vary per brand/model but I'm just wondering about an in general type thing.Any other considerations I should take into account that you can think of? via /r/motorcycles https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/9nntat/thinking_of_getting_a_motorcycle_currently_drive/?utm_source=ifttt

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