DanOh

Thanks. I did stumble across that on my search. Unfortunately I really need market share type info of different bikes in the big touring category. I'll see if a dealer can point me at the data I need. Cheers

Hey all, hoping someone can help. Everyone in management where I work is now required to take a series of college classes, one of which is in marketing and I didn't pick that one up when I was in school over 20 years ago. Thought it would be interesting to choose the Venture as the product for my big class paper. Unfortunately some of the research required is turning out to be more difficult than I thought. What I really need is sales\market share data for the touring bike category. The only place I've been able to scare that up looks to be from Motorcycle Industry Council, but they charge $250 for non-members to see their data. Anyone know where I could get my hands on this type of data? Doesn't even have to be 2012, anything within the last few years should be good enough for my needs. Help\suggestions is very much appreciated. Cheers, Dan. PS I'm too old to be back in school!

+1. Great advice.. Riding with a passenger requires experience. Also, when you take someone along on your ride be sure to educate your passenger. Riding with an experienced passenger makes a big difference as well.

I did... Traded in my 02 with 100k on it for a 2012 at a great price last fall. Gonna try to get 140k miles out of my new 5 year warranty

My 2012 came with Star branded IPod touch. Not real impressed with the interface, but it works. You need to pick your play list or put in on Random before plugging it in. The only control over the IPod from stock is to switch between it and radio etc. I can also hit the up and down buttons to skip to the next or previous song in the playlist.

+1 on the vented Clearview XL. My wife is 5'9, bad wind buffeting for her with stock shield. Upgraded to the Clearview XL and she is happy. So the first day after trading in my 2002 RSV for a 2012 I ordered the same shield. Both times I purchased one of their discounted shields with a blemish. Each time saved a bunch and couldn't see the defects they were talking about. Good luck.

+1 on the Volusia/C50 as an option to check out. 805cc which means she won't outgrow it quickly, but still low enough center of gravity to be easy to learn on. They also go for ever. I put over 70k on mine without any work other than regular maintenance type things.

Tease!

Wife named my old 2002 RSV "The Zoom", then when I traded it in for a 2012 RSV she called it "New Zoom"

This doesn't make any sense to me. I think you should call GEICO back to ask about MSF Instructor discounts. Check out http://www.geico.com/information/discounts/motorcycle-insurance-discounts/ As for your premiums, all companies come up with their own methods to identify and price different risks. One company may be less expensive for a particular person, but much more expensive for other folks. My bet is that most folks find GEICO's rates very competitive. Disclaimer: Although I'm not in sales and am only voicing my personal opinion, I do work for GEICO in IT. The folks on the phone should be able to help you out.

Was just mentioning to the wife that we may have an internet addicted family when she told me it is much worse than I thought. Apparently I missed a bunch of things (like hand held Nintendo WiFi enabled units) and our total is really 30 devices. Think I need to go the library and check out an old fashioned book.

With online TV, it isn't about the channels you watch. It is more about what shows you want to watch. You don't watch whatever happens to be on at that time like traditional channels. Instead you choose the show you want to watch, when you want to watch. Online services like Netflix don't have commercials, others like Hulu has few shorter commercials.

FIOS does not have monthly usage cap. We eliminated cable years ago and get all our TV content from online. With 7 of us in the house, we use a heck of a lot of bandwidth per month. In total, we have 18 internet connected devices. Often times there will be several people streaming TV\Movies at the same time. You can stream 2 different shows on different devices from Netflix at the same time. For me, I spend most of my TV time in front of our 60" TV streaming from Netflix on a blue ray player that has WiFi. A lot of Netflix content can be streamed in HD. The kids usually watch stuff on their bedroom computers or tablets streaming Netflix or recent TV shows on sites such as project free TV. Though the kids spend more time playing online Xbox, Wii or computer games or Facebook chatting with their friends than watching traditional shows. Cheers, Dan

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z5KuMrlCwKY/T6rjD-tBBFI/AAAAAAAAzGg/ix9q4_S1EMo/s1600/img_0810.jpg

As others have said, the Suzuki volusia\boulevard (switched the name in 2005) is a great middle weight cruiser. 805 CC, just over 500 lbs. Put 60,000 miles on mine before moving to the RSV. Most of that was riding 2up. There is a reason that bike was chosen as best in it's class a bunch of years in a row by several motorcycle mags. There are a ton of them on the road. You shouldn't have any trouble picking up one that will last in your price range. Good luck and hope you are on 2 wheels soon.