My current ride is a '97 Aprilia RS250. Its putting out somewhere between 60 and 70 hp and weight ~300lbs.

Take a look at the bike here:

http://www.aprilia-usa.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?display&101&

If you decide to get a bike, please keep a few things in mind:

1)Know what you are getting into. You can get killed. You might be riding with someone who gets killed right right in front of you. You might get paralyzed. There are risks associated w/ riding motorcycles.

2)Minimize your risks: wear protective gear. If you spend less than $2000 in gear, you haven't spent enough.

3)Get training. MSF is just the beginning. Take a track school or three. Well worth the $.

4)Ride w/ a good group. There are a lot of squids (E.M.T. slang for 'squished kid') out there and they go down all the time. Some don't get back up. If some guys invite you to ride with them and any of them are wearing jeans or no gloves, walk away. You might have just saved your life. And no matter who you ride with, always ride at your own pace.

5)The others already said it, but pay attention. 100% attention, 100% of the time. Sound tiring? impossible? YES and YES. Deal with it. No cage driver cares how vulnerable you are. You are the only person that is going to look out for you.

All that said, once you ride even a 'slow' motorcycle, you'll wonder what the big deal is about 0-60 in 5.0 seconds. Almost every bike is far quicker than almost every car. The acceleration is incredible and on some bikes, its just plain scary. You can cover some ground quick on a bike and have a blast doing it.

Choose wisely.
JoeHH
'00 M coupe

I was just curious if anyone on this board drives motorcycles. I am somewhat interested in picking one up sometime down the road, but the major thing holding me back has to do with trusting myself with a machine with such an amazing hp/weight ratio. They are really dangerous, and everything in my mind tells me to stay away, but at the same time, like a little boy who wants to stick a fork in an electrical outlet to see what will happen, I want to do what I've been told not to.

-Ben