New to the group but been browsing for a while.. | GTAMotorcycle.com

New to the group but been browsing for a while..

H

HeadPoncho

Member
Hey guys/girls.

Finally picked up my M1 last month. Not sure why I waited so long, think loved ones always talked me out of it in the past.
Signed up for the m1 exit course with RTI near the end of July. Really looking forward to it! Been trying daily online to see if anyone cancels, no luck yet lol.

Tough time to pick up the sport with covid restrictions in stores and such. Id like to be able to try on helmets and get one in the next week.

Any recommendations on what store would be best for that, selection wise? Toronto/GTA
Figure ill wear a comfy pair of work boots and pick up a good jean jacket for the course.

Spoke with Rider Plus today, got some pretty good prices i think on lower CC rides.
Rebel 300/500
Yamaha r3

With bikes like these, there's roughly a 500$ price difference between full coverage and just having liability. I'm sure it depends on what your bike is worth, but do most ppl just go liability and take the savings?
Curious to get some opinions. I dont mind spending the extra $.. i am looking at newer models 2018-2020

Well my apologies for the long winded introduction/questions. I have been reading lots of good info on here for a couple weeks now.

Luke
 
HeadPoncho said:
...

With bikes like these, there's roughly a 500$ price difference between full coverage and just having liability. I'm sure it depends on what your bike is worth, but do most ppl just go liability and take the savings?
...
Click to expand...
If you are not buying the motorcycle outright, you won't have a choice on insurance options,
any creditor is going to want their investment fully covered against anything and everything.

(y) ride safe, learn fast.
 
Welcome to the forum and to the 2-wheel life.

Nothing wrong with a used bike. Even 5 years old or older.
Better to spend the money of proper gear and a slightly more used bike than blow the budget on a new bike and have nothing left for proper gear.
At which point you become a squid.
But its your money and you know how much of it you have.
I'm sure you will hear similar advise from some other members on there. Especially the veterans.

As for the boots.
I don't think you can wear work boots (steel toe) for the course.
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Required course gear

The gear you need to ride with us
ridertraining.ca ridertraining.ca



Make sure you look into this ahead of time.
I would hate to go to the class portion on Thursday and be left with only a Friday to gather up the proper riding gear.

Anyways, welcome and see you on the road.
 
Welcome indeed!
Very difficult time to start getting into anything new that involves big purchases or fitment (especially helmet trying, most important IMO) that's for sure.
GP Bikes out in Whitby (neighbour store to Royal) is a great place for gear, definitely recommend their associates as they are usually pretty peppy and helpful, always feel like they WANT to help you and not just sell you expensive stuff. Regear out in Shwa is also an option if you're ok with used and don't want to deal with Kijiji (which is always the cheapest, but I would avoid the helmet purchases second hand) and if they're open. Haven't checked their site or anything since Covid.
Good luck on your RTI stuff, it's a mucho fun hobby for sure, my main means of transportation when living in TO. Definitely check RTI minimum gear requirements, gloves are also something they look into, expect to be sweating ALL DAY.

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk
 
Yes forgot to mention.
GP Bikes will allow you to try helmets on now even during this C-19 stuff.
You just need to ask for assistance as they need to sanitize before and after.

I would stay away from buying a used helmet. But the rest of the gear is perfectly fine being used. (unless it was abused).

Especially if you can pick something up cheap and use it for the season and resell it next year.

I think ReGear is also opened, but their hours are very limited. Make sure to call ahead.
 
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Yeah I guess when I hear work boots I assumed they meant composite or steel toe work boots... I wear 8" boots all day at work so they're like running shoes to me, but I will confirm with them tomorrow.

Really impressed with GP bikes online store. I wil go by there this Thursday since they are open til 8, promising to hear they've got great customer service!

As for getting an older bike, I dont mind that one bit. I just figured I would hang on to a newer one for longer. I've noticed, at least with the bikes I've been looking at, ppl are asking not much less than the price of a new bike for their 2-3 year old bike. They don't depreciate that much from what I see. Guess it just seems that way in comparison to car prices after a few years. I appreciate the replies! Really looking forward to this hobby/lifestyle
 
There is one issue with work boots, in most cases, they are pretty "fat" and sole is thick. As far as I remember, smaller bikes like Rebel 300/500 and Yamaha R3 have not so much space between e.g. foot peg and gear shifter. On your own bike, it can be adjusted but you wouldn't be able to change it during the course.

I remember that one guy in my group on the course a few years ago was struggling because it was a very tight fit for his work boots.

+1 for GP bikes, their associates are good (most if not all of them ride too) and helpful. Also, you can buy basically everything there. Don't forget that they match e.g. fortnine prices.

Like other forum members before, I would recommend you to buy good gear first and maybe be a little bit older bike than a new shiny bike and no gear. For me, helmet, good gloves (don't buy cheap ones, also pay attention to features like if touch enabled or not), boots, jacket are crucial. If you don't want to wear e.g. good mesh jacket because it is too hot then there are options like Icon field armor shirt. Not as good as a jacket but MUCH better than being a squid.

Btw, there are nice options for riding jeans in GP bikes as well..
 
If you think the GPBikes site is great you should take a look at the Fortnine site. Or even RevZilla site

Fortnine is a Canadian online retail with great selection and good prices. But they are not the "support local"
RevZilla is based out of USA. Even better with many items having video reviews by some staff members. More like item highlights videos instead of reviews.

GPBikes site has recently improved and changed. I still think it needs some work. Sometimes slow and the choice of filters is really poor I don't think you can even filter jackets by gender.
 
oioioi said:
Yes forgot to mention.
GP Bikes will allow you to try helmets on now even during this C-19 stuff.
You just need to ask for assistance as they need to sanitize before and after.
Click to expand...
!!!! When i was there i overheard someone being told they weren't allowing it, oh that's great news!
 
oioioi said:
GPBikes site has recently improved and changed. I still think it needs some work. Sometimes slow and the choice of filters is really poor I don't think you can even filter jackets by gender.
Click to expand...
they have REALLY improved it, no clue when that happened. I gave up waiting on pages to load before, good work GP!
 
Evoex said:
!!!! When i was there i overheard someone being told they weren't allowing it, oh that's great news!
Click to expand...

Last I was there was June 10. I believe I saw people trying lids on. Sitting on bikes as well. They would disinfect the handlebars once you got off.

Evoex said:
they have REALLY improved it, no clue when that happened. I gave up waiting on pages to load before, good work GP!
Click to expand...

They changed it during the C-19 lockdown. Maybe 1-1.5 months ago.
It is better than what it was for sure. Still needs lots of work. I think it's the same or similar platform as RevZilla but at a much lower scale.
 
Yeah that fortnine site is awesome. I just need to try on helmets to know what size to get. But seeing as GP hopefully let's me try them on, ill give them my business. Fortnine had some great discounts on helmets though. I know Snow city site says they're not allowing ppl to try helmets on. I did call cycle world and they said yes, she was kind of hesitant though from the sounds of it lol.
Great point on the thickness of the workbooks, that will likely be a problem. They do have tactical workboots on the boot truck that security wears that I think would be perfect. Ill have a look again. Fortunately I have a couple weeks, but I'd like to be well set for course in advance. Shes gonna be a real hot one though
 
I went to Riders Choice today to get some first time rider gear, They let you try stuff on, Staff was very helpful and easy going. Good times all around. Highly recommended. You need a mask but that's all
 
was @ GP 2 weeks ago
hand sanitizer on the way in and social distancing was the covid routine
they are probably doing the mask routine now as well (had my own with me)
was able to try on boots without any issues
first pair were cleaned before going back to the store room
second pair came home with me

agree with the comment about work boots
too clumsy around the toe area for riding boots
and a pretty bad option for someone learning to ride
 
oioioi said:
If you think the GPBikes site is great you should take a look at the Fortnine site. Or even RevZilla site

Fortnine is a Canadian online retail with great selection and good prices. But they are not the "support local"
RevZilla is based out of USA. Even better with many items having video reviews by some staff members. More like item highlights videos instead of reviews.

GPBikes site has recently improved and changed. I still think it needs some work. Sometimes slow and the choice of filters is really poor I don't think you can even filter jackets by gender.
Click to expand...
 
JDooley said:
I went to Riders Choice today to get some first time rider gear, They let you try stuff on, Staff was very helpful and easy going. Good times all around. Highly recommended. You need a mask but that's all
Click to expand...

I was passing by the area today and stopped in as well.
I was quite impressed with the selection of gear etc. Last time I was in there was about 12 years ago, so hard to compare inventory levels.
Mind you a lot of it is higher priced stuff. Klim, Dainese, Revi'it, Aslipnestars

I tried on and liked a jacket but than I saw the price and disliked it. :( Not paying close to $500 for a mesh jacket with liner.
 
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I hav a slightly different opinion on steel toe work boots for doing the course and early stages of riding. While I would not recommend them for all the reasons mentioned, many students show up with them do just fine with them. It will absolutely affect your tactile feel of the shifter and they do feel clumsy when you are first learning to feel where the shift points are and moving your foot from a neutral position on the peg to getting the toe under the shifter to upshift. But you might be just fine and RTI has about 4-5 different styles of bikes to choose from if one style doesn't feel right. The TW200's will be just fine as will the TU250's.

Over my first 5 years of riding I used my high cut, steel toe boots only - on a 1982 Nighthawk, then a 1100 Virago, a VFR750 and a Ninja 1000. Some bikes it was easier and others it was a bit more clumsy, but I rarely fumbled a shift.

As others have said - buy the best gear you can afford and buy motorcycle specific gear when you can afford. As with anything, there are consequences to every decision, so understand the pro's and cons of each. It's okay if you get something for the course that meets the minimum requirement and then get something different for your long term moto life.
 
I originally was thinking work boots because I wear them every day and my footing is great in them as I have a very physical job. Guess someone that is not use to them, would feel very different and heavy/clumsy. I'm thinking ill wear my leather clarks though. Good ankle coverage, but no steel toe, so should give me a better feeling of shifter.
Appreciate all the input. I know you guys have answered all these questions many many times!

So those of you that own your bikes outright, do you go liability only or full coverage? I feel like a 5000$ bike isn't worth the extra 500 a year for insurance..
Let me know what you think and thanks for the replies!
 
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