I bought the M50.First ride in 26 years

S

sbosse16

New member
I pulled the trigger on the 08 M50 in grey and yellow.
I thought that 5995.00 tax/plates/registration included was a helluva deal.

Paid for it yesterday morning and was nervous as a whore in church all day as I had to wait till after work to pick up.
Dealer went thru the usual and I threw a leg over it and fired her up.
Nice.Very nice.I like the stock pipes.Low growl.
I don't like the obnoxiously loud pipes I hear on so many uhhhh Harleys?

And off I went.
Just a little wide on the first right hand turn out of the dealers parking lot and headed for the 3 mile trip home.
As the miles rolled by I felt the old confidence coming back.
By the end of the day,and 50 miles later,it was like I had never left my old 77 Snortster that I sold in 1983.
What I had left was the excessive vibration.
This rides much much smoother than my Snortster.

Might be looking at a new saddle as my bony ass seems to be balking at the stock one.
A windshield makes sens and perhaps new handlebars to bring the grips back a bit.
All of this is i the future as for now I just want to get the miles in and get
a good feel for the bike.
Take care
SaB
 
Take a look at the Mustang seats. I have the Corbin, and its pretty good, but guys that have had the Corbin and switched to the Mustang say the Mustang is more comfortable. Actually I wish I had enough money to try it out. As for the handlebars there was a guy in the hideaway forum that built some custom risers for the M50 specifically to bring the stock bars back. He only did a limited run, but as people mod and sell their bikes, the risers appear for sale again on this site. You might want to try and track down a pair of those, they'll be much cheaper than new bars. Sorry I can't help with the windshield as I don't have one, but search this forum and the hideaway and you'll find plenty of posts. Welcome and safe riding!
 
Congrats... and if you ride nice and easy you can always soften up the suspension to help your butt until you get a new seat. Bike should have come with a suspeinsion adjustment tool.
 
I put a Mustang seat on my 08 M50 and havent regretted spending the cash once yet! Girlfriend appreciates not having to sit on that pathetic excuse for a pillion seat that came with too. It is literally worlds better than the stock setup for both rider and passenger. Money well spent, probably the best Ive spent on anything on my M so far.
 
Congrats on the new bike. Sounds like a good deal. Definitely recommend the Mustang Touring Seat & maybe the Memphis Shades Pop-Top or Big-Shot depending on how big of a fairing you want.

We used to have a cabin in Luther just a short walk from the Little Manistee when I was a kid. Lots memories of good summer fishing and winter snowmobiling up in that area. I always wanted to do the ride from Frankfurt to Harbor Springs on 22 & 31 on a bike. Never got the chance. If you ever do that on your bike you'll have to post some pics. for us.

I hope you enjoy it!
 
Good luck with the bike. I took a 20 year break myself and the last 3 years have been a blast. I just installed my risers and w/o much of a ride I can't comment on their effect. I have the loud Cobra pipes on mine and they can be a bit loud but on a good cruise they sound nice.
 
I purchased a 2007 Harley Nightster back in April and it had only 21 miles on it.
That Evo engine shook so bad it made me ill to ride it.

I had to sell it. Bought a 2008 yellow and black M50 that same day.
I had purchased a 2007 M50 back in 2006 when no one seemed to have them.
It was after getting this 08 model that I needed riser blocks and found a fellow on here had made them but he was no longer doing so.
I bought him out and began making the blocks for our M50's.

Also, I'm working on a special chin spoiler design just for the M50.

Enjoy your M, it's smooth, powerful and a blast to ride.

Best,

Ken

[email protected]
 
Welcome. Be aware that returning riders are a high-risk group. Consider taking the MSF training course in your area. You may even discover some bad habits left over from the old days.
 
I took the MSF course after a few years of riding just because it is free to Pennsylvania residents. There was an old timer in my group. Old Harley guy. He had the leather and bandana and everything from back in his day. It had been something like 30 years since he's had a bike and he had just bought ordered a brand new Harley. He just needed to take the class as a refresher. He even acted like he already knew everything didn't really need to be there.

Anyways, he had a very very very difficult time manuevering those little Honda and Suzuki 250cc bikes. Couldn't do the figure 8. Had trouble staying between the lines for the S curves. He was very frustrated. For the figure 8, he was just crawling - when he got to make the first U-turn, he just went left and kept going in that direction all shakey-like... it was kinda sad, really. Needless to say, he failed the "test" at the end of the class, but he said it's ok, he kept his license up to date so he's still good. Kinda scary for the general public though!
 
Yep! Scary doesn't even describe it. I had a man & wife couple in my class only in their 50's but they scared the heck out of me. The guy was still crab walking his bike on the last day and the instructors had to verbally "force" him to shift into 2nd gear. What I don't understand is that they passed both of them.

Anybody can ride a 800lb cruiser in a straight line down the interstate. The bike basically ride themselves in that situation. But manuevering at slow speeds in confined spaces is a completely different deal. Most bikes are dropped in parking lots and at stop lights............and some by 65 year old, bandana wearing, ponytail having so called "Harley Guys" that are convinced they know everything about riding. :mrgreen:

Feel free to substitute "Harley Guys" for Zuki Guys, Kawi Guys, Yama Guys, Honda Guys, Victory Guys etc. I'm an equal opportunity offender.
 
Sounds just like the guy I had in my class. During the actual "Classroom" first day he kept saying how he didn't ride in the rain. But when the course time came it happened to be pouring outside. He kept dropping the bike over and over again. He finally left the start of the second day and had opted to come back and take a personal lesson on a better day.

I think it was actually a good experience learning in the rain. Although I am a bit more hesitant on U turns on my M50 than on those 250's for some reason.
 
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