I went to the Triumph shop during my lunch break and saw the RE Meteor 350 I was eyeing online, but decided against it as (i) it's underpowered, maybe good for learning on and putt-putting but not adequate for after I get out of my beginner stage and (ii) it is a cruiser style, which I don't think I want right now. With the big rounded gas tank it felt too wide and bulky, and the feet forward didn't feel right for right now. It still seems like a lovely bike, but I can kinda see why this one has been sitting around unsold for 2 years - it doesn't really fit anyone's niche.

I sat on the Scrambler 400 X that I thought I wanted initially, but decided that it's too tall for me right now. It seems like if I were more confident with holding on one side at a stop it would be totally fine, as I could just get the balls of my feet to touch the ground, but about 1-1.5 inches from having both feet planted. And despite what Triumph Shop guy says, I think I really want to be able to have both feet planted at least at the beginning here.

So then that left the Speed 400, which did feel quite good, but this is all considering that the only bike I've ever been on is a Suzuki Van Van 200, which is quite small and narrow indeed. The price is a little bit more than I want to pay for a first bike that will probably get a bit beat up as I practice and find its limits and my limits. ($5k sticker price, maybe around $7k out the door after adding crash bars). Logically I should buy used... meh.

I'm gonna go another shop where there are three more bikes I want to check out, with two serious contenders...

• 2017 KTM 390 Duke, under 1000 miles used (but I think taller than I'd like and ... not my style.)
• VITPILEN 401, new 2024 for $5k or new 2023 for $4k (plus dealer fees). (Cafe racer / forward riding position, while I think I want standard; And aesthetically... not great. Also maybe taller than I'd like.)
• SVITPILEN 401, new 2024 for $5k (plus dealer fees). (Scrambler style, when I think I just want normal after all.)
• 2022 BMW G310R, 2000 miles used for $4k (plus dealer fees). (Maybe logical as a first bike, but it's not actually that much cheaper in the end compared to buying a new model of what I actually want. And it kinda just looks like ... a boring ass motorcycle.)

It's just like, a used bike seems to only be 1-2$k less compared to just buying a new one, of the style (standard, right engine size, felt good to sit on, not too high like the scrambler, not too low like the bobber, not too wide like the comet. Small enough to practice on and be nimble, with probably enough power to let me zip around in traffic once I'm comfortable for that.) Is supposedly less thumpy than your average thumper. And getting like, known equipment status (new) and warranty.

I'm not really an upgrade-the-car kinda guy. I'll have my little hyundai til it dies. I might want more, specialized bikes in the future, but I could also see myself just keeping this thing around forever.

So, I think I've kind of talked myself into just getting the Speed 400. But. I'll sit on the contenders, see how they feel. Still have to wait ~a week for my skills test waiver form thingy that I can take to DMV but in the meantime, I need gear. And I need glasses that won't shatter and send a bunch of shards into my eye. (But I need a new prescription... {And I need to shave my yak first}) Oh and I need insurance ...

I finished MSF today! That was again, very fun. I found out I'm really terrible at slow speed maneuvers - like the cone weave... at high speed (with a linear cone layout), is actually very easy by just setting eyes on the target and countersteering as the cone is in peripheral vision... brain just kinda handles it.

But low speed offset cones... jeez. If I could keep the back wheel input constant, at least I could focus on pushing/leaning appropriately to go through the cones, if very slowly... but with my wrist not having the careful 'feathering' that my ankle can do in the car as second nature, the bike is jerking and lurching as I try to keep it steady and play in the friction zone. But, the test in California, especially with my particular instructors is very lenient. (They gave a ton of great individual feedback all throughout and I think did a great job, really appreciate them, but, they literally said themselves "you can be a terrible rider and still pass this test so - don't worry, you're all gonna do fine".)

A couple moments I did manage to find that magic spot where a little bit of... I'm not even really sure what combination of inputs just stabilizes the bike, and I'm sitting there at the back of the line waiting for my turn to go on the exercise and for a second I don't even have to put my foot down, and the bike is barely / not moving... But only for a second :)

So I watched a bunch of motorcyclist youtubers yesterday, and read a bunch of articles, and overloaded my brain 'academically' . As one does. Watched a few 'new bike first ride home' videos and felt like... shit... I don't know about that. But after today, especially after our last (post-test) exercise was like a 4 way intersection where you had to stop and use your blinkers and merge and all of us were just driving around at the same time... I feel like I could just go get my new bike, which is pretty smol, but that's what I want, and just like... cruise around backstreets making my way home for a little while. I can handle that.

I would absolutely not go on the freeways, or even many of the feeder streets around here - people are fkn crazy dude.

I did first day of MSF range course today - literally the first time that I have ever ridden any motorized two wheel vehicle, and that was super fun. There were a few points where I felt like, you know, I'm moving and my brain is kind of stalling on what we're supposed to do next and falling behind the bike and the controls but didn't really fuck anything up. Only had a couple like awkward, jerky moments of surging forward - I definitely need to build wrist strength and dexterity to get smooth on the controls because I'm currently terrible at it. Stalled the bike lots but didn't drop it so consider that a success.

It's very much reinforced my desire to buy one... although I am recognizing just how awkward I am even with one of those training bikes in a mostly empty parking lot. Although it's not like you have all the time on the world to be awkward - like there's a dude in front of you and there's a dude behind you waiting for you to get your shit figured out so that he can go next, so some ... extremely light traffic pressure situations.

But like the gap between ... I can kind of ride through those cones on the other side if I am the only person around (for test time) and I can focus on it completely versus how am I going to get a bike home if I go buy one. I'm going to need to fucking like, I don't know, either do it in the middle of the night and like go 15 miles an hour at the entire time or rent a trailer and bring it home.

What do we want to buy?

• 2023 ROYAL ENFIELD METEOR 350 SUPERNOVA RED
  Looks fabulous, is $4k, right size...
• Also looking at potentially a Huskvarna # Svartpilen 401

Gear we need

Well I have some helmets from my dad I can probably use for now. I got some gloves, although they feel tight. If absolutely necessary, I could wear the boots from my brother to start with, but would like to move on to something less bulky soon.

So what we absolutely need...

• Jacket
• Riding pants
• Shatterproof glasses