There's a classic video clip of Mario Andretti going to some shop somewhere, and there's a Ducati 998 parked in front of the shop. I wish I could find it. Mario looks at the tire wear, and looks behind him and says something to his friend behind him, chuckling. The video taker goes, "Mario, what did you say? Poser, was it?" "No, I said pussy, but same thing." He has basically laughing at a guy who had a phenomenal bike but never leaned it over at all, as the lack of wear away from the tire centre line showed. Don't be one of those guys.
Yea, i always wanted a 600cc crotch rocket. But i started out in a XT225, so i could learn how to ride properly. I dont regret it one bit, only thing i regret is selling it to buy a new bike, ended up signing paper for my house the same day, so no new bike for me. This is going to be my 2nd summer without a bike, and i am going crazy. I really wish i still had the bike, there are a few mountain roads are here were you can have fun. It topped out at around 110kph wound out, it could do 95kph not bad. I think i got around 3.5L/100km for gas millage. If i wanted i could drag my knees in the corner on the street with my 50/50 tires(50percent street/50percent off road). I rode with all sorts of bike, mostly crotch rockets. If you obeyed speed limits in town under 50kph i had no trouble keeping up with them if not beating them just cause the thing cornered like a dream. Of course if they crack the throttle i was like a tiny dot in there mirrors, but i still had fun. We have so old cannery roads that are not really upkept, they are still easily ridable in any bike, but they are so up and down, i was more then keeping up with them on those rides. Dam all this talk about bike really makes me want a dam bike again.
If you can exhibit a bit of self control, the SV 650 is a fantastic bike. Not as much power as an inline 4 sportbike, but enough. It's also one of the best track bikes you can buy. You can pick up a decent used one for a few grand.
So after doing the course, motorcycles have me hooked. All day I'm thinking about the stupid fun of just twisting the throttle and zooming forward, and doing it all over again in second gear. And that was only on a 150 cc Honda Titan. I might not get to use it a lot, and insurance might cost an arm and a leg, but I think I need to have one this summer. I'm thinking of getting a Yamaha WR250X. It seems up my alley: fuel injected, primarily a streetbike with the capacity to be a decent trail / off-roading bike, and judging by reviews it's capable of keeping up with highway traffic (80 mph). I'd be looking at $6,000 for ones that are a few (2008 and newer) years old, based on kijiji. Thoughts? And when buying a used bike, should I insist on being able to give it a test ride? As for gear, GTE's post has made me think twice about textile jackets. I know a lot of what gear to buy comes down to how much risk I'm willing to tolerate and how much money I'm willing to spend, but I'm not sure what's reasonable. I should be able to get a padded / armoured leather jacket for a reasonable price but if anyone has any opinions or articles to read on textile v. leather, back protectors, etc., I'm all ears. Also, how are kevlar-reinforced jeans for abrasion resistance?
$6000 seems (to me, at least) like a lot to spend on your first bike. There are plenty of fantastic used bikes out there that can be had for half of that (my SV cost me $2200 in fall of last year). I'm not sure if that applies to dual sports as well, but it still seems like a lot to me. As for engine size, I guess if you're looking at a dual sport or trail bike, a 250 is on the money. But you will probably want more if you find yourself doing a lot of highway riding, because even though the bike may be able to do 80, doesn't mean you'll be comfortable doing 80 on it. If that doesn't make any sense, I'll just give an example: the 250 Nighthawk I rode in MSF was great for riding around a parking lot. But I'll take my 650 over it any day for the freeway. And as for gear, I think most people will tell you to look for a good quality helmet first, and to look at your gear as an investment. My Arai helmet cost a lot, but I love that helmet and I have a lot of confidence in it. I think the quality of some of the cheaper helmets, like Scorpion, are still pretty good though. I literally just got a new leather jacket too (the new Alpinestars GP-R), because I wasn't loving my cheapass closeout Scorpion textile jacket I got last season. I would really recommend leather too, it feels more substantial. I also put the back protector in it and don't notice it at all, so I'd recommend that. Get perforated leather and it really does flow air though it when you get moving. I think you're on the money though: the gear you get is a result of you weighing how much you're willing to spend versus the quality of your protection. That said, shop smart and read reviews, watch videos, etc., and you can definitely find some affordable gear that has quality as well. I'd also like to just plug http://www.sportbiketrackgear.com for gear. I don't really know about other sites' service, but STG has a lot of review videos for their stuff, the staff is pretty nice, and if you call them, they will almost always take about 15% off your price. They are pretty much the cheapest I've seen when it comes to gear.
You're right about the price. The bike would be $8500 new, but considering that a BMW G650 doesn't go for much more than that (or hell, even a Ducati M696), the WR sure doesn't look very economical. Bear in mind these are Canadian dollars; automotive things cost more up here, partly as a relic of when the exchange rate used to be bad, and partly because it's a small market. But a lot of dual sport type bikes that sell for less than the WR are carburetted. I'd rather a fuel injected bike. Obviously bikes will vary, but the carburetted bike from this weekend would stall on idle when first started, and was prone to stalling before getting warmed up. I'm not sure I want to deal with that. Part of the thing about a 250 is that I'd rather avoid the highway while I'm still a noob. A few reviews indicate that the WR can handle highway cruising comfortably enough, which suits my purposes fine. And I'm not married to a dual sport: I like the upright seated position, and could go for a smaller displacement standard bike for the time being if the price were right. The other advantage to a 250 is that it would save me an assload on insurance. A single 22 year old with a brand new license riding a 600cc bike would just trip too many insurance company buttons. Thanks for the response, though. And I've been really impressed at the number of members sending me PMs and reps, and the general enthusiasm of riders for welcoming new people like me to the sport.
I put my FZ6 up for sale today. Over the last few months, I've found that I simply don't have time to ride. My wife and I are both keeping our gear in hopes of having another bike sometime. For now, though, I'll be on four wheels. Sucks.
An acquaintance of mine is selling a 1985 Suzuki GS400 for <$2000. The pics show it's in great shape, and it has less than 20K kilometres on it. Apparently it spent most of its life in a basement and was fixed up two years ago by her brother and dad, who are mechanics, and she got a new bike as a gift this year, otherwise she'd still be riding it. The price is right, I was looking for a standard type bike anyways, and it should be reliable and cheap enough on insurance to get me through a few riding seasons until I turn 25. Would I be crazy to buy a 26 year old motorcycle?
I'm a supermoto or dual sport guy for sure. But I'd highly recommend the wr250x. It's a sweet ride. I've seen plenty of 2008's hovering around the $4k mark with only 1000-3000 miles. They're definitely a niche bike, as a supermoto and also as a 250. Lots of guys want much bigger motors, so the resale doesn't seem to be that fantastic on them. 250's are still a ton of fun though, especially as a first bike. Everything I've read about the wr250x seems like it does excellent on the highway up to 85 or so, with little vibration, and its pretty capable offroad. A decent amount of guys even put knobbies on the 17" rims and do some substantial offroading on em. Alternatively, the drz400sm can be found for cheaper, which is also a nice beginner bike. Older tech though, carb, older suspension etc. People actually say the wr250x handles better on the freeway (less vibrations, 6th gear instead of only 5), but the drz can be found for quite a bit cheaper. I was also considering a naked sv650, theres lots of good deals to be had on those, very popular proven bike. For me though, there's nothing more fun than ripping around on a super agile supermoto, with the ability to hit some trails if I want.
It took me less than a week to sell it. A guy who already has a FZ1 came today and bought my FZ6 for his son. Today is a sad day for me.
So Kawasaki has been doing their tour across the country, doing demo days in a bunch of cities. I got to ride a ZX6R today, with the only two bikes I've ever ridden before being a 250 Nighthawk and my SV650. And I had two words when I got off the Ninja: holy shit. I loved almost everything about it: how it felt, how it went, how it turned, it was all what I expected a 600 supersport to be. Now I want one (not necessarily a Kawi, since I'm sure all of the Japanese 600s feel similar to the one I rode). Few problems with this: 1. I can't afford one. 2. I will get in trouble/dead. When we got out onto the open empty highway on our demo ride, I twisted the throttle a bit, and as I shifted into 3rd (didn't even redline it), I looked at the speedo and saw 93. Cool thing was, pretty much everyone in our group did the same thing, including the employees who were escorting us. But damn, the sensation of speed on one of those bikes is so disorienting. Even down low on the 25 and 35 mph roads, I thought I was going slow, only to see 45 mph. I can't have one of these bikes. The chief problem is #1. I'm sure I could ride one without being a total knucklehead, but damn, I had fun on it today. Sorry if this post doesn't really add anything to this thread, but I had to put down my reaction to the 600. Makes my SV650 seem like a moped.
That "tour" is a scary thing... and one of the most devious marketing schemes ever created. I remember the first time I participated was with a friend of mine that convinced me to go with her for shits and giggles. It was the year the Valkyrie was introduced, and I ended up being the "lucky" guy to get to ride it. HOLY. FUCK. I've never been on a bike that has been that outright scary. I've had an RZ-350R, a VMax, various GSXR's, and even got to borrow a 998 for a summer, and that Valkyrie was by far the most scary bike among the group. It didn't matter what gear you were in, you crank on the throttle, and it GOES. It was one huge power-band, in all gears. Insane torque. It still scares me.
I'm still waiting for a nice day and a bit of time to get out and ride it, but I wound up buying that old Suzuki I asked about. Here's a pic.
A huge majority of websites and forums I've checked out, you guys included, recommend the SV650 as a good starter bike. Except, of course, the majority of reviews and recommendations are for men. Do any of you ride with women often? Is there anything different I need to consider when it comes to shopping for/riding a bike? I'm all of 5'6" and 140, it seems like most bikes I see, I'd have to be stretch Armstrong to reach the handlebars. Got any tips for a chick?
Look for a starter bike that you can sit on and have both feet flat on the ground. If the bike you like is not perfect in this regard there are some adjustments you can make to lower it about an inch. You should probably not want to have to lean to far forward to grasp the handlebars when you are just starting out. The best thing is to take a beginning motorcycle class. They will go over all that stuff with you and probably have a nice selection of starter bikes for you to try out.
As it turns out, a sort of running joke with the SV650 (see svrider.com) is that it's a girl's bike. This might be because some people think SVs are wannabe sportbikes. But honestly, they are pretty good bikes to learn on as long as it fits you. I'm not sure how comfortable you would be on an SV, but you sound like a pretty average size. If the SV appeals to you, check it out.
As a female who used to ride, I started with a hand-me-down Honda Shadow 500. I loved it, BUT I couldn't flat foot it - I am 5'3" & it was just s bit too high for me. Otherwise, it was a great starter bike. And I definitely recommend the bike course, it was a really fun weekend and I was the only female in my group and while the guys sorta thought of me as a mascot, I got the highest grade in the classroom portion of the course. And did several accidental wheelies during the class, which we all enjoyed. Good times.