Quick Norge Test, Plus a ’08 or ’07 Guzzi — Zero Down, Zero Payments and Zero Interest for a full Year?

This isn’t some kind of paid advertisement.  I just got a new job that will have me commuting 160mi round-trip, and I just happened to start looking at a newer bike to get me there and back.  I immediately went to the Guzzi site and saw the zero-zero-zero deal, and wondered why in the heck I hadn’t heard about it before!

I’m working to get to the bottom of this deal, it just sounds too good to be real.  You go down to your local Moto Guzzi Dealer, pick out a Norge or a Griso, either a brand-spanking new ’08 or an ’07, then make your best deal.  One note — the 0 down, 0 payments and 0 interest Guzzi Deal ends on April 30, 2008 so it’s worth making a trip soon!

You have a year to begin making payments, provided that you qualify, and in the mean time you can beg, borrow or steal all your friends’ money and just pay it off in one fell swoop with no penalties.  I spoke with a Guzzi dealer in San Diego about this with respect to a Norge:

“On the  promotion you have 365 days of no payments and no interest, there is NO pre payment penalty. If you were to pay off the bike before the 365 days you would only owe the amount financed.”

I’ve got a call into my Moto Guzzi factory friends for further information and details, which I’ll post as soon as I can.  Sounds like if you were a good kid and kept your credit up, a new Goose may be in your future.

Commuting for the New Biker

When I first decided to get my bike, I expected to take it to work only occasionally. I figured it would be a month or so before the first commute trip, preferring to work the local streets and ease into the 42 mile-each-way commute that I face five days a week. I further deduced that as I eased onto the freeways, I might at first avoid some of the more congested points by taking the available back streets I had reconnoitered.

“The Guzzi Guy”

It seems like whenever a group of motorcycle journalists congregate to create a magazine, newsletter or blog, general agreement exists about the supremacy of the more ubiquitous (and very deserving) marques, especially Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha, BMW, Triumph and Ducati. The lesser-known brands have their fans, more often than not enthusiastic but not too terribly rabid. A prominent outlying example seems to be Moto Guzzi. It invokes strong feelings from a very small but rabidly-loyal group of riders, and every publishing venture always seems to have a “Guzzi Guy”.

Riding in the Elements

Going on the assumption that it isn’t sunny every day of the year, there are a few things you should take into account before taking on the elements. The very first thing you need to do is be prepared: have the gear you need to ride in any weather. A heavier waterproof jacket would be nice for those rainy winter days, and some insulated waterproof gloves to go with it. You might be set with your riding pants already; just make sure they’re thick enough to keep out the cold—some riding pants come with an inner layer. As far as the cold, you might want to invest in a balaclava (which covers your head, face, and neck) which is priceless for cold weather, and to protect against the wind. Let’s get into some tips for riding in specific types of weather:

Getting Schooled at the MSF

Getting back on a bike and getting schooled.

I signed up for a Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) course soon after I decided to get back into riding. I was going to do this part by the numbers so I could get properly licensed and have basic skills to build on.  You’ll hear a lot of authors, pundits and the like say that MSF training gives you the skills to operate a small bike in an empty parking lot at 25mph. This is overly simplified and inaccurate. What the school does is give you the tools that will allow you to become, with practice, a safe rider. You can’t leave the course with a lot of experience – you only have 10 hours of riding time — but you can ask questions about how to progress from the parking lot to city streets and beyond.  What you do with your education is up to you.

Buying a Helmet

I just returned to riding after an hiatus of nearly 16 years. Back in the “old days”, I purchased a Bell Helmet and went riding. Period. A helmet is a helmet. There were closed-face, and open face, and if you rode in the dirt, you could get one of those neat brims that would snap onto the helmet.

When I decided to return to riding, I put a lot of thought into helmets because I have a wife and child and would like to stress safety in my purchases. I also live in California, which has a redundant-to-me Helmet Law. So I started looking on the internet at helmets and helmet reviews.

OK, times have changed. Gone are the snaps on the front that hold visors, brims and all the paraphernalia. Gone are the old helmets that get kinda stinky inside after awhile. Gone are cheap helmets, at least for the most part. Nowadays the new rider is offered an ever increasing matrix of decisions to ponder before making a purchase. Not all of these choices are obvious; there are so many options past “just a basic helmet please”, that it is really worth spending some time deciding upon what you really want.

Announcement: nuBiker is out of BETA

As promised, we’re finally out of Beta.  The site is fully functioning, and although there are articles & resources that are still in development, the design is complete, so we’re moving forward with the launch.  Enjoy!

How to get back to riding after a fall

This article comes from nuBiker psychiatrist Bacjii (yes, we got one;), who’s been riding for some time now; fell a few times, and got back on it to ride more ;)  Perhaps these tips are more about HOW NOT TO FALL, but read on to find out for yourself.

They say there are two types of bikers, ones that have fallen, and ones that will fall.  Are you gonna get hurt? That matters if you fall going seventy or two, and that’s all on you. That being said, you can’t ride scared—but you can ride with respect for the machine under you and what it’s capable of. So what does that mean? Learn to ride before you ride stupid. We’re all gonna ride stupid because that’s why we got bikes—we want to go fast, and we wanna have fun doing it.

10 Things You Should Not Do While Riding

We all do stupid things from time to time, I know I do.  New riders make mistakes, so I put together this handy list of my top 10 things you shouldn’t do while riding a motorcycle.  Enjoy!

01.  Operate your cell phone while riding (I once did this)

02.  Do a wheelie with your girlfriend on the back (see video HERE)

03.  Hold the throttle bar with your left hand

Buying Your First Motorcycle

This article will walk you through the steps of buying your first motorcycle.  Everything you need to know from choosing the “right” bike for you to bringing it home!  Also, check out this article, where I explain different types of motorcycles.

Buy Smart

Most of the riders will tell you that your first bike should not be a new bike and that it should not have a lot of horsepower.  A blogger from the Old Guy’s Place states:

Chances are the bike you really want should not be your first bike. It will be too large and/or too powerful for a beginning rider. Keep in mind that this is your first bike, not your ultimate bike. If you buy an inappropriate bike it may well be your last bike.