Posted by Mike T. on June 5, 2006, 3:45 pm
> Hi Folks,
> Newby here. I"m a 47 year old man who finally convinced his wife to let
> him buy a bike. I was thinking about something like a Yamaha Virago
> 250. Of course the salesman wants to put me on a V star classic 650. I
> sat on both, and the 650 obviously feels a LOT bigger - kind of scary
> for a brand new beginner. I am 5'4" (yeah really short), and weigh 150
> pounds. I do have a bit of motorcycle experience - riding a tiny one in
> college a lot of years ago. I do plan on takin gthe MSF course (or
> equivalent).
> My wife tends to agree about the 250, but is a bit worried that if I do
> take the 250 on the highway at all, it will be significantly less safe
> because of lack of reserve power. She tends to think if I take a 250 on
> the highway, I will die immediately. We live outside of New York City,
> and to get anywhere serious, I would want to go on a highway, if only
> for short trips.
People like to recommend small under-powered bikes for beginners. I
strongly disagree. You should buy the bike according to how you intend to
use it. A 250 for mostly highway is nuts. I've got a 400 which I consider
to be barely adequate for highway use. 650 or so is a comfortable size for
highway use. But watch the weight of the bike. A lighter bike will be
easier for a beginner to handle. But that doesn't mean that you necessarily
need a small engine. For example, the very worst bike I know of for any
rider (especially a beginner) is a Suzuki GZ250. It's heavy, handles like a
barge, and other than that, it's under-powered, also. If you're a beginner
and don't want to live long, take a GZ250 out on the highway, and you'll get
your wish. Don't know about the Virago 250. It would have to handle
SIGNIFICANTLY better than a GZ250 in order to be OK for a newbie. I do know
that you will likely hate it on the highway though, even if it is easy to
handle.
My gut instinct tells me that the V-Star Custom 650 would be a better
beginner bike, and I've never seen one. I'd steer away from the "Classic"
though. Way too heavy. The custom is about 80 pounds lighter. -Dave
Posted by e on June 5, 2006, 4:02 pm
sschwartz@aecom.yu.edu wrote:
>Hi Folks,
>Newby here. I"m a 47 year old man who finally convinced his wife to let
>him buy a bike. I was thinking about something like a Yamaha Virago
>250. Of course the salesman wants to put me on a V star classic 650. I
>sat on both, and the 650 obviously feels a LOT bigger - kind of scary
>for a brand new beginner. I am 5'4" (yeah really short), and weigh 150
>pounds. I do have a bit of motorcycle experience - riding a tiny one in
>college a lot of years ago. I do plan on takin gthe MSF course (or
>equivalent).
>My wife tends to agree about the 250, but is a bit worried that if I do
>take the 250 on the highway at all, it will be significantly less safe
>because of lack of reserve power. She tends to think if I take a 250 on
>the highway, I will die immediately. We live outside of New York City,
>and to get anywhere serious, I would want to go on a highway, if only
>for short trips.
>My gut reaction is to go with the 250. If I love it and feel good, I
>can trade up. This seems to be the advice of blogs on beginning
>motorcycling I have read. So money aside, how much harder would it be
>to learn on the 650? If I could be comfortable with that from the
>start, then obviously I have a much more capable machine. Do I go with
>gut reaction from sitting on them in the shop?
>Thanks for the help.
>Steve
how about a light bike with really good power? one you can
buy cheap and still hiway?i would reccomend an sr500. they
will keep up with 70mph traffic and handle like a dream.
it is a 500cc single cylinder that stock has 30 hp but can
give 40 with cheap mods.
i took the ca riding test with 6 harley guys. the new riders
all failed because the clunky bloaters wouldn't go around a
tight circle. the other guy that passed had a trail 90
honda. we whizzed around and then sat back to watch the
harley guys fail.
Posted by Rayvan on June 5, 2006, 6:22 pm
e wrote:
sschwartz@aecom.yu.edu wrote:
> how about a light bike with really good power? one you can
> buy cheap and still hiway?i would reccomend an sr500. they
> will keep up with 70mph traffic and handle like a dream.
> it is a 500cc single cylinder that stock has 30 hp but can
> give 40 with cheap mods.
> i took the ca riding test with 6 harley guys. the new riders
> all failed because the clunky bloaters wouldn't go around a
> tight circle.
What a BUTT load of crap.
My buddy said the same thing about his '85 SC650 Honda after he failed.
Told me "It's too big." I called "Bullshit" and had him follow my down
to the local DMV after it closed. I showed him that it can easily be
done......Yup! On my bigg assed (tm) Harley Softail.
Says he: "I guess I've got some practicing to do..."
A few days later he passed with no trouble. It's called practice.
--
Rayvan
Posted by e on June 5, 2006, 8:15 pm
>e wrote:
> sschwartz@aecom.yu.edu wrote:
>> how about a light bike with really good power? one you can
>> buy cheap and still hiway?i would reccomend an sr500. they
>> will keep up with 70mph traffic and handle like a dream.
>> it is a 500cc single cylinder that stock has 30 hp but can
>> give 40 with cheap mods.
>> i took the ca riding test with 6 harley guys. the new riders
>> all failed because the clunky bloaters wouldn't go around a
>> tight circle.
>What a BUTT load of crap.
>My buddy said the same thing about his '85 SC650 Honda after he failed.
>Told me "It's too big." I called "Bullshit" and had him follow my down
>to the local DMV after it closed. I showed him that it can easily be
>done......Yup! On my bigg assed (tm) Harley Softail.
>Says he: "I guess I've got some practicing to do..."
>A few days later he passed with no trouble. It's called practice.
apparently the harley guys didn't practice. they were kind
of smug about having to take a test and thought riding
circles was childish.
i didn't practice but i've ridden for 45 years.
Posted by tomorrow on June 5, 2006, 11:14 pm
e wrote:
> how about a light bike with really good power? one you can
> buy cheap and still hiway?i would reccomend an sr500. they
> will keep up with 70mph traffic and handle like a dream.
> it is a 500cc single cylinder that stock has 30 hp but can
> give 40 with cheap mods.
Sold in the U.S. in small numbers from 1978-1981. The newest one out
there is now 25 years old. All were kick start only. Great bikes.
Had a couple of them, and had a couple of its spiritual descendant, the
MZ660.
NOT good beginner bikes for a 47 year old new rider in 2006.
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> Newby here. I"m a 47 year old man who finally convinced his wife to let
> him buy a bike. I was thinking about something like a Yamaha Virago
> 250. Of course the salesman wants to put me on a V star classic 650. I
> sat on both, and the 650 obviously feels a LOT bigger - kind of scary
> for a brand new beginner. I am 5'4" (yeah really short), and weigh 150
> pounds. I do have a bit of motorcycle experience - riding a tiny one in
> college a lot of years ago. I do plan on takin gthe MSF course (or
> equivalent).
> My wife tends to agree about the 250, but is a bit worried that if I do
> take the 250 on the highway at all, it will be significantly less safe
> because of lack of reserve power. She tends to think if I take a 250 on
> the highway, I will die immediately. We live outside of New York City,
> and to get anywhere serious, I would want to go on a highway, if only
> for short trips.