Meet Neutron!

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart) 05/11/2018 at 10:32 • Filed to: Two Wheels Good, unnecessary car shopping without E90M3, unnecessary car shopping with mercedes, unnecessary motorcycle shopping with mercedes

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I broke the curse and bought my first not-a-smart!

I was bored at work and decided to send the Blast owner a random offer, he immediately accepted it.

Aaaaaaand...well...yeah.

Is it smart to buy a bike before the MSF? No idea, but here we are, so I guess I’m about to find out.

Part of what influenced this is the multiple warnings that it’s a slow bike. Slow is probably best for me as I’m starting out so my confidence will have a harder time outrunning my skill. Plus my boyfriend will be more on board with something not fast.

The name “Neutron” is a reference to Jimmy Neutron. After the guy signed over the title, some chat about Top Gear (his wife called me The Stig after noticing the decal on the back of my car), and showed me his ultra-rare (for the Midwest) Fiat 500E, I said “gotta blast!” And yeah, my immediate reaction was “omg that’ll be a perfect name!”

Don’t let nerd girls name stuff.

Note: I let him secure the bike. When I bring it home (after I get a plate for it tomorrow) I know how to better secure it so it’s not leaning on the kickstand after the first bump in the road.

It has some custom upgrades to it! The exhaust is one of those “turbo” car mufflers. It makes it sound like a quiet sport bike. I’m okay with this, that means I can ride at night without making my neighbours hate me.

It also has those lower mirrors, a new carb, gold wheels, a billet petrol cap, new handlebars, a higher seat, LED headlights/brake lights, braided lines, and some other goodies I’m forgetting.

He also gave me a stand, OEM parts, and an oil change kit.

I took it on a short ride around the storage complex and I think it actually won’t be that hard to get accustomed to being two wheels good! I think this will be a fine starter bike! I actually fit better on this than the Ninja 250 I was also considering.

The strap on the seat is for any small items I’d want to carry with me. I think I’ll instead do a backpack like I see some riders do.

Further note: The HDR mode on the Xiaomi Mix 2 can use some improvements...these pics are a liiiiitle blurry. Or maybe it’s a dumb bokeh effect? I’ll have to check the settings.

BeaterGT > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 10:39

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Congrats! Always wanted to check out a Buell.

random001 > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 10:39

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That looks like a...Blast! BWAHAHAHAHA

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 10:42

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Nice! Rode one of those during my safety course, they aren’t bad bikes at all. Probably a little better than a Ninja 250 with more torque to help prevent stalling. My first bike was a Ninja 250 though and that thing was way more fun to throw around corners than the Blast. It just felt much more light and nimble and being able to wring the engine out to 14k? rpms is nice.

CalzoneGolem > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 10:43

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Those gold wheels look really nice next to the black and gray of the rest of the bike.

jimz > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 10:46

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Is it smart to buy a bike before the MSF?

why not? :)

besides, before the Street series was released, Harley dealers used the Blast for their Basic Rider training, so it’s not a bad bike to start out on yourself. Plus, being ~500 cc with 30+ horsepower, it’s not so overpowered you’re going to scare yourself on it*, yet not too underpowered where you’ll want to get rid of it within 6 months.

(* believe me, after riding for two years it still took me a decent amount of time to get used to the twitchiness of the throttle when I added an FZ-09 to the garage.)

PartyPooper2012 > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 10:49

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NICE! My first bike (still have it) is a honda shadow 1100 cc. Bitch is so heavy.

You’re going right with a slow bike... just make sure its light enough you can handle it.

punkgoose17 > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 10:56

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Congratulations! The bike looks like a blast!

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 10:57

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Pretty solid first bike. Riding a slow bike fast is still a ton of fun and a light bike is the way to learn. A friend in college had one of these that was beat to hell but it just kept working.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 10:59

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aaahhhhh oh lord that is not how you tie down a bike. Two ratchet straps. One to each handlebar. Crank them down so the front fork bottoms out and the bike is standing upright and the wheel is shoved against the front of the trailer.

Spanfeller is a twat > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 11:01

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You bought a Buell?

+1000 respect.


Enjoy it!

Takuro Spirit > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 11:17

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“Tow With Any Car!” What if the trailer is bigger than the car? :P

CaptDale - is secretly British > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 11:18

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You bought a Buell Blast! Very very cool!

Mercedes Streeter > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 05/11/2018 at 11:25

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That’s what I was going to do (I watched maybe a dozen videos beforehand) but he recommended against it and did it himself. I think he trusted U-Haul’s wheel chock more than he should have. On the first big bump, the bike shifted onto its kickstand. Thankfully it was maybe a 10 mile tow at the most, so I left it as-is.

Embarrassingly, I almost dropped it after my test ride. I thought I put down the kickstand and started to put it down....and quickly discovered I hadn’t. Well, at least now I know it’s not too heavy to pick up if it ever does actually get dropped. lol

Mercedes Streeter > CalzoneGolem 05/11/2018 at 11:26

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That was also part of what drew it to me! He also gave it slightly smoked turn indicators to compliment the black.

vicali > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 11:40

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Looks like fun, enjoy!

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 11:46

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lol, that’s how I dropped my first bike. Got to oreillys, hopped off... oh where’s the kickstand at?

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 05/11/2018 at 12:08

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You can’t drop the bike if you set it down ever so gently.

Like a $3000 baby.

Mercedes Streeter > Spanfeller is a twat 05/11/2018 at 12:35

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I thought that was funny too because it seems Oppo has an affection for Buells. lol

I think I will! :)

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 12:36

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Congrats! Don’t forget to pick up some riding gear!

Pickup_man > Mercedes Streeter 05/11/2018 at 13:36

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Nice looking bike! Don’t worry about it being slow, just embrace slow bike fast, once you learn to ride that is.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Mercedes Streeter 05/12/2018 at 07:23

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stay safe!

itranthelasttimeiparkedit > Mercedes Streeter 05/13/2018 at 08:37

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I had one of those. It is definitely slow (mine sucked at highway speeds which is what made me eventually upgrade) but great for around town. dead simple and easy to work on too

bob and john > Mercedes Streeter 05/28/2018 at 19:23

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Not strap on the seat is NOT for small items. Its for the passenger to have a grab point.

bob and john > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 05/28/2018 at 19:24

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Not so that they bottom out. Thats a quick way to blow fork seals.

But tightly yes