[kraft.wagen]

Originally Posted by bhardwhu

How do I see the chain sprocket life remaining?

At high level, you can check the indicator for chain/sprocket wear.

Source

Originally Posted by ApriliaNut

C14 is shaft driven not chain. Check the shaft maintenance schedule from the user manual or forums, like at how many miles to be serviced or replaced.

Generally, shaft driven bikes are maintenance free with very long service intervals and do not give any trouble (unless your bad luck is really bad ). Almost all of BMW touring bikes are shaft driven.

Thanks AN I didn't know that.

[no_sweat]

I have rented an Harley from Eagle rider and a trip from Miami to Newyork.
Also local Harleys have a Rental program which allows you to rent based upon Indian license as well and additionally for a 4 hour slot too. That's called a Demo Ride. (Done that too)

Additionally, budget a $1000 or so for good quality leather gear. There are plenty of people who don't look out for motorcycles.

Get the MSF course done - this reduces the Insurance.
Insurance comes are a couple of levels here -
1) Liability - (pays for damage you do to others) (Minimum needed)
2) Comprehensive (Pays of damage happened to the bike / Theft while the bike is standing)
3) Collision (Pays for damage due to an accident while running)
You can take the minimum if you buy cash or if you take a loan, go for complete.

Also, although you might have use the motorcycle as your only thing in India, you might want to reconsider that decision. By all means get a tourer but remember that here the country is vast and the weather is merciless during winter. for a 5 minute milk run, you don't want to wear all the gear and remove it. (wearing Helmet, Riding Jacket, hopefully riding pants and everything)

Also, think of motorcycling in terms of a expensive hobby now. Ohio is not California in terms of good riding weather all the year. There is a reason that people use cars everywhere. Specially in midwest where the population density isn't that much.

For the buying a tourer part, refer to used motorcycle buying guides on the internet and you'll know how to judge a motorcycle. That tourer looks good and a well maintained tourer with 50K miles is a good bet - These engines are designed to go a lot more. Just think in terms of maintenance costs. You can do all yourself if you have a garage or pay someone about $50 an hour to work on your bike.

I brought a used R6 last year and was quoted $200 to just tell you what might be wrong with the motorcycle in terms of preventive maintenance.

[bhardwhu]

Thanks to expert advice here, i am now a proud owner of Boulevard C50. Thanks especially to ApriliaNut, kraft.wagen, and Prasadee.

The gear is slowly trickling in.

Regards

Himanshu

[kraft.wagen]

Originally Posted by bhardwhu

Thanks to expert advice here, i am now a proud owner of Boulevard C50. Thanks especially to ApriliaNut, kraft.wagen, and Prasadee.

The gear is slowly trickling in.

Regards

Himanshu

Awesome Himanshu. Congrats. Ride safe
Do share some pics.

PS: we still need to catch up.. lol

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by bhardwhu

Thanks to expert advice here, i am now a proud owner of Boulevard C50.
The gear is slowly trickling in.

Regards

Himanshu

Congratulations, Pictures & Details(year, price, mileage etc) please

[bhardwhu]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Congratulations, Pictures & Details(year, price, mileage etc) please

I am contemplating starting an ownership thread. The pictures are all above 1 MB. What do you say?

Regards

Himanshu

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by bhardwhu

I am contemplating starting an ownership thread. The pictures are all above 1 MB. What do you say?

Regards

Himanshu

Sounds good

You will need to resize the images to be less than 1 MB though.

Check out This Post to find out how to resize images

[stallindinakara]

Originally Posted by bhardwhu

Thanks to expert advice here, i am now a proud owner of Boulevard C50. Thanks especially to ApriliaNut, kraft.wagen, and Prasadee.

The gear is slowly trickling in.

Regards

Himanshu

I have been searching for a place to start somewhere and looks like here it is.

Congratulations on getting a motorcyle here in US and I am glad that you are a motorcycle enthusiast as well.

This will motivate me in putting my words together on my experiences in buying my motorcycle.

All the best and ride safe.

[bhardwhu]

Originally Posted by stallindinakara

I have been searching for a place to start somewhere and looks like here it is.
All the best and ride safe.

Thanks.

It has been a pleasure looking for a pre-owned motorcycle in this country. My experience has been very pleasant so far.

The owners I have dealt with so far were pleasure riders. The one I took this C50 from happened to be a novice and yet proudly showed me his possession by saying that even though this bike doesn't have a locking mechanism, it has always been safe outside. He didn't know if the tires were tubeless and also brought out with elation that had changed the oil 6 times in 4k miles so far!

Before leaving the bike with me here, I showed him how can one lock the bike and he was astounded!

Another surprise and feel good factor - he messaged me last night stating that he intends to pay for a duplicate key since he had not given me one. I was happy to know that I took it from a gentleman!

Details of the ownership would follow. I am busy with semester end exams. Just to enlighten you all - my younger MS peers are enthused to contemplate the first mobility solution to be a motorcycle!

Regards

[nd4$pd]

Congratulations!
I wish I had seen this thread earlier. I started out very much like you. I have bought and sold several bikes (all pre-owned) in the US.

I would have recommended an SV-650 but the C50 is also great.
As some one has already mentioned, please complete the MSF course if you have not already.

If your interests move from touring to tracking, I would recommend joining NESBA and doing a couple of track days. It's a great way to hone your skills.

[stallindinakara]

Did you check the bike history before finalizing the deal?

I remember checking nada guides and cycle report before I got mine.

Also, one thing to note is there are a lot of scams on buying bikes here where the owners involve in stealing the bikes after selling them. Though they sound nice, it's better to watch out. Ignore these if you already considered these points.

And how is the weather treating you? I will need your inputs in making my short trips to really long ones.

[naveenroy]

And Team-BHP never disappoints! We have a thread for buying a motorcycle in the USA too!

Well, it has been a journey for me here in Murica - I have got my drivers license recently. I've always been a biker at heart so I bought my riding gear months ago - some of them used and the helmet, boots and gloves brand new. I've ridden around 80k kms back in India but I know that biking is so different here in the US. My wife is terrified of motorcycles but she bravely tells me to go ahead and get a bike as soon as possible and start riding.

So in preparation for the motorcycle, I've just signed up for the Basic Riders course at the MSF. Lousy weather this week so they had to cancel the classes - mine has been moved to next week. I cannot wait to get it done with - but learn more in the process. I know that after having ridden a motorcycle all my adult life, I might think I know it all but I am resisting that thought - there is something new to learn every day! Especially with the completely different flow of traffic in this country compared to India.

I am new to this country so I am guessing I will have to pay higher premiums for a motorcycle - both for insurance and the motorcycle loan. Hopefully some of your motorcycle enthusiasts here in the USofA will notice this thread and will be able to help me with my queries on loans, insurance etc, riding routes etc.

[rajushank84]

Nice, I was going to start this thread at some point. Ever since I moved here I have been buying, riding and selling bikes - just because I can! This place is a haven for pre-owned buying and selling. Horsepower is so cheap on two wheels, I have almost lost interest in cars and focus on bikes exclusively now.

Commuting 50 miles a day on my bike now, I don't see any other way to survive CA Bay Area traffic.

I join weekend group rides occasionally, a couple of weeks back did a few East Bay twisties (Hayward, Palomares, Sunol).

Training wise I have done MSF Intermediate and I've also signed up for Superbike-coach's cornering school.

Hope to meet bhp-ians who ride, in this side of the country!

[Bhatman510]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

Nice, I was going to start this thread at some point. Ever since I moved here I have been buying, riding and selling bikes - just because I can! This place is a haven for pre-owned buying and selling.

Commuting 50 miles a day on my bike now, I don't see any other way to survive CA Bay Area traffic.

I join weekend group rides occasionally, a couple of weeks back did a few East Bay twisties (Hayward, Palomares, Sunol).

Training wise I have done MSF Intermediate and I've also signed up for Superbike-coach's cornering school.

Hope to meet bhp-ians who ride, in my side of this country!

I hear you on that one. Used to do CA17 every day now commute to SF on 280 (Clear in morning, splitting in the afternoon).

Hayward,Sunol are my old stomping grounds as a kid...now its way to crowded...

+1 to the MSF course and adv training, highly recommend some dirt riding too since it teaches you more control in sticky situations.

[bhardwhu]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

I am new to this country so I am guessing I will have to pay higher premiums for a motorcycle - both for insurance and the motorcycle loan. Hopefully some of your motorcycle enthusiasts here in the USofA will notice this thread and will be able to help me with my queries on loans, insurance etc, riding routes etc.

I can relate to what you wrote. I will share my experience. I came here after riding puny 350cc enfield for more than 100k kilometers and mainly doing long highway runs in India. I picked up a motorcycle the first thing when I came here because that was what I wanted. I got a barely used 800cc C50, done only 3000 miles for 3500. I rode it to my work and did not get car for few months. It was very easy to ride, cheap to do oil changes and insurance was much cheaper as well at 350 for an year. It gave me 45 mpg consistently and topped out at 60mpg. I moved up to a 1600 Kawasaki vulcan nomad recently and I have been riding 700 miles a day easily now. In short my experience has been great owning motorcycles here in last four years and I find them cheaper to own, run and insure. In case of any question, please feel free to ask. Hope to see you riding soon.