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some good recommendations there, I knew of the Ninja 650R but figured it was out of my price range. A quick look in all of my nearby craigslist areas confirmed my fears, as they're averaging $4000 or more out here in North GA. The 599 is a great looking bike too, but they're apparently very rare, as I only found 1 anywhere near me, and it was going for almost $5000.
I don't plan to do much, if any, freeway riding, so I don't mind staying small. I think pricing is going to keep me in a small bike anyway.
Kasanagi, the Kawasaki 500 might fit the bill pretty good. I bought mine (2000) for a little over $3k, you should have no problem finding one for less than that in the US. They're good little bikes, they do fine on the highway (unless you're a really big or really tall guy), the engines on them are old and bulletproof (unless someone's tried to get extra HP out of them - then watch out) and the insurance is nice and cheap. The styling is a bit dated, since it hasn't been redesigned since 1994 or so, but it's not that bad really.
Yeah, no matter how much I keep looking elsewhere, my best option seems to keep coming back to the EX500. Everyone I know locally that has one or has had one said it would be perfect for me. I got to sit on one last year, and the stock seat height was perfect for me too. I'm 5'5" and about 120lbs, so it doesn't take much motor to move me around.
As for riding experience, I owned an EX250 for about a year, though I only got to put about 1000 miles on it in that year. Almost all of those miles were back road miles too, since the 250 struggles at freeway speeds. I briefly tried my cousin's '07 GSX-R 600, but quickly decided that it was WAY too much bike for me (or at least, too high strung). Between my experience and my small stature, I figure the biggest bike I'd want to own (at least until I'm a lot older or more experienced) would be a SV650. Only turn off there is the rather tall seat height on it for a guy of my size.
In any case, I'll keep looking at EX500 prices, and yeah I love how cheap insurance is for the EX250/500 (provided you insure it as an EX250/500, and not a "Ninja 500R").
I agree entirely. My only intention was to clarify that I had tried one of the super-sport/race-replica 600's, and found it to be way too high strung for my taste. There's a whole class of those types of bikes, and having tried one of the "smallest" of them (even compared to other 600s) I found that it was way too much bike for me.
It was a phenomenal performing bike in regards to acceleration, braking, and to a lesser extent handling. My cousin lowered it and put an extended swing arm. Yes, I know, I don't like it either, and my family as a whole has done some really stupid things with that bike, but I could do no more than tell them what they're doing wrong. It's his bike to fuck up as he sees fit. In any case, I took it for a test ride, demanding a helmet (they're florida residents), and drove up and down one of the residential neighborhood roads before deciding I would NOT take it out onto busier public roads.
I really hope dealers are warning amateur riders before selling them these super-sport bikes. I imagine that rookie mistakes are the majority of the reason those bikes end up with salvage titles all of the place.
I have an in-law that owns a GSX-R 1000, and I can state with absolute certainty that it is too much bike for me :P
I've also never seen him wearing more gear than a helmet, and am 99% sure that the bike has never spent any time on a race track. Hopefully he'll end up selling it because that is a recipe for disaster.
Barrakketh on
Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
The GSX-R1000 believe it or not is very easy to ride for people of any skill level. That is also what makes it very dangerous because its easy to get in over your head.
Tossing my old k5(2005) GSX-R1000 side to side was cake compared to my 05 CBR1000RR. Plus the double butterfly thorrtlebodies on the Suzuki allow for ultra smooth acceleration which makes it easy for the novice to feel overconfident. You don't have to babysit the throttle like you did on other race reps of its day.
The new liters are just ridiculous in weight and performance. However the scariest bike I have ever ridden was a 2004 kawasaki ZX-10. read some reviews on it as it basically separated the men from the boys out of professional reviewers
I really hope dealers are warning amateur riders before selling them these super-sport bikes.
They really aren't.
I pulled up to a local bike shop recently and this guy and his buddy are like "hey nice bike, how big is that?" I chatted with them for a few like a proud parent would, and pretty quickly realized one of the guys didn't know dick about motorcycles. Later I saw him go in the shop and first sat on a GS500, and was like hey...not a terrible strategy!
Later I saw him sitting on a hyabusa with a big grin "I think this is me!"
The store clerk walked up and said "you look good on that bad boy!"
That's not to say all bike salesman are horrible people, I've met some cool guys who will actually have a conversation, but do your own research.
In my experience, the attitude split seems to be around 50/50. Half of the dealers and salesmen I meet are responsible, caring folks who wouldn't recommend an overpowered bike (or even outright refuse to sell one) to a brand new rider. Traditionally these seem to be the smaller, local bike shops with guys that are really into motorcycles and really care about the sport/hobby as a whole.
The other half are salesmen who either just don't care, or genuinely feel a new rider can handle whatever they want. Usually they're at the bigger dealerships, and usually know a bit less about bikes in general. Every once and a while you meet someone who is really serious about bikes, but just feels that people should be allowed to buy whatever they want, suitability be damned. Thus far I'd say this attitude is a lot more prevalent in the US, coupled with that "give me freedom or give me death" kind of outlook. The attitude seems to be a bit more rare in Canada, in my experiences anyway.
I agree entirely. My only intention was to clarify that I had tried one of the super-sport/race-replica 600's, and found it to be way too high strung for my taste. There's a whole class of those types of bikes, and having tried one of the "smallest" of them (even compared to other 600s) I found that it was way too much bike for me.
It was a phenomenal performing bike in regards to acceleration, braking, and to a lesser extent handling. My cousin lowered it and put an extended swing arm. Yes, I know, I don't like it either, and my family as a whole has done some really stupid things with that bike, but I could do no more than tell them what they're doing wrong. It's his bike to fuck up as he sees fit. In any case, I took it for a test ride, demanding a helmet (they're florida residents), and drove up and down one of the residential neighborhood roads before deciding I would NOT take it out onto busier public roads.
I really hope dealers are warning amateur riders before selling them these super-sport bikes. I imagine that rookie mistakes are the majority of the reason those bikes end up with salvage titles all of the place.
Rookie mistakes are probably cause for 50% of single vehicle crashes. Idiot "stunters" are cause for 40%, and road hazards likely make up the rest.*
Now, in general, I would say that 90% of multi-vehicle crashes are due to people in cars not paying attention. People just don't see motorcycles. I can't count the number of times that people changed lanes right on top of me. That was my main problem with riding. I do miss having a bike though.
My salesman sat down with my stepdad and me (he was cosigning for me) and recommended that I take a motorcycle safety course before I got on the 2005 Kawasaki ZX6R that I just had to have. My parents (and myself) thought it was a great idea. They helped me get the bike, and then kept it at their house in their garage until I finished the course and got my M endorsement. I wish more salesmen would do that. It's so hard to explain to people how fast the damn things are. The first 2 hours I rode it around with my buddies, I was terrified, and would lag far, far behind just trying to get used to the thing. After that, I decided I'd just open it up once to see how it felt. I opened it up in second gear and almost peed myself on the spot. I probably didn't really get past a 1/2-turn for another week.
EDIT: I pulled all of the above statistics out of my ass. That's just my take on it.
After that, I decided I'd just open it up once to see how it felt. I opened it up in second gear and almost peed myself on the spot.
See, that's why I like to use all the gears in a low displacement bike: because I can't throw myself off the bike if I jolt the throttle or pop the clutch in second gear.
Now, in general, I would say that 90% of multi-vehicle crashes are due to people in cars not paying attention. People just don't see motorcycles. I can't count the number of times that people changed lanes right on top of me.
Cagers not paying attention doesn't help, but neither does the fact that a lot people don't wear proper protective gear in colors that catch the eye. A lot of riders I see are wearing black or very dark colors on both their helmet and clothes, and some colors are harder to see at night. Some colors are also a bad idea when you take into account color deficiency/blindness that's not all that uncommon to some degree or another in males. My solid orange helmet isn't "cool" or "stylish", but it's one hell of a lot easier to see than one with patterns made of blue, black, and gray.
Barrakketh on
Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
1) You are huge, Buell's are tiny.
2) Buell is no more, unless you can find one for ball's cheap and have a local harley dealership that will still service them, I suggest you not buy one. Yes I know harley promised to keep servicing them and I myself wondered if I could pick one up for cheap (not a blast though)
3) The blast has never been a very good motorcycle, I think you should keep looking.
1) You are huge, Buell's are tiny.
2) Buell is no more, unless you can find one for ball's cheap and have a local harley dealership that will still service them, I suggest you not buy one. Yes I know harley promised to keep servicing them and I myself wondered if I could pick one up for cheap (not a blast though)
3) The blast has never been a very good motorcycle, I think you should keep looking.
1) You are huge, Buell's are tiny.
2) Buell is no more, unless you can find one for ball's cheap and have a local harley dealership that will still service them, I suggest you not buy one. Yes I know harley promised to keep servicing them and I myself wondered if I could pick one up for cheap (not a blast though)
3) The blast has never been a very good motorcycle, I think you should keep looking.
1) You are huge, Buell's are tiny.
2) Buell is no more, unless you can find one for ball's cheap and have a local harley dealership that will still service them, I suggest you not buy one. Yes I know harley promised to keep servicing them and I myself wondered if I could pick one up for cheap (not a blast though)
3) The blast has never been a very good motorcycle, I think you should keep looking.
It not really a matter of engine size to weight as it is to physical bike size. The Buell would move your well enough but for your size would be very uncomfortable. A Ninja ZX-650 or SV-650 would also be great. Older VFRs are the right price and size too. I am partial the old Fizzers aka Yamaha FZR.
It not really a matter of engine size to weight as it is to physical bike size. The Buell would move your well enough but for your size would be very uncomfortable. A Ninja ZX-650 or SV-650 would also be great. Older VFRs are the right price and size too. I am partial the old Fizzers aka Yamaha FZR.
I was just watching some clip from some travel show with an athlete that's gigantic doing the hosting.
He went to Italy and they put him on a Ducati Monster.
It almost looked like he was riding a pocket bike. It was hilarious.
It not really a matter of engine size to weight as it is to physical bike size. The Buell would move your well enough but for your size would be very uncomfortable. A Ninja ZX-650 or SV-650 would also be great. Older VFRs are the right price and size too. I am partial the old Fizzers aka Yamaha FZR.
Engine size to bike weight can play a role. Smaller displacement cruisers can easily weigh 150+ pounds more than other types of motorcycles and generally won't be terribly happy about going highway speeds (or uphill) with a heavy rider and/or packed luggage.
Barrakketh on
Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
0
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
edited April 2010
Yea I'm 325 and have been recommended not to get anything less than an 800cc when I get a cruiser.
So, I've been thinking about getting a bike for the summer, since i just got a real job for the first time in a year. My question is what should I be looking at? I know next to nothing about bikes, always been more of a car guy. I want a sports bike cause that's what everybody I know with a bike has. Plus I like going fast and looking cool.
I was thinking something like a Ninja 250 except for I'm 6'3" 250 lbs and I'm worried I would look absolutely ridiculous on something that small, but I want to be able to learn on something smaller displacement so I don't die. Thoughts?
El Whito on
Mass Genocide is the most demanding activity one can take part in. Next to soccer. - Loki, Dogma
Ninja 500, it rides almost identically to the 250, is also very newbie friendly, but has more engine to move your bigger body about.
I'm only 5'5" and 120lbs and I found the ninja 250 to be a bit sluggish at times, I couldn't possibly recommend it for someone your size, other than to use as a toy (track bike, practice bike). For daily riding you're going to want more power to get you comfortably positioned in traffic.
1) You are huge, Buell's are tiny.
2) Buell is no more, unless you can find one for ball's cheap and have a local harley dealership that will still service them, I suggest you not buy one. Yes I know harley promised to keep servicing them and I myself wondered if I could pick one up for cheap (not a blast though)
3) The blast has never been a very good motorcycle, I think you should keep looking.
Cool good to know. What size engine is good for someone my weight?
I weigh 230 or so, and the Suzuki 650 V-Twin hauls my ass just fine at any reasonable highway speed.
Are you looking for a cruiser/sport/standard?
I weighed about 315 when I got a V-Strom (650 v-twin) two years ago, and it moved me plenty fine. I'm about 6' even, and was plenty comfortable on it. Getting down to 210 allowed me to reward myself with my FZ1 this year
1) You are huge, Buell's are tiny.
2) Buell is no more, unless you can find one for ball's cheap and have a local harley dealership that will still service them, I suggest you not buy one. Yes I know harley promised to keep servicing them and I myself wondered if I could pick one up for cheap (not a blast though)
3) The blast has never been a very good motorcycle, I think you should keep looking.
Cool good to know. What size engine is good for someone my weight?
I weigh 230 or so, and the Suzuki 650 V-Twin hauls my ass just fine at any reasonable highway speed.
Are you looking for a cruiser/sport/standard?
I weighed about 315 when I got a V-Strom (650 v-twin) two years ago, and it moved me plenty fine. I'm about 6' even, and was plenty comfortable on it. Getting down to 210 allowed me to reward myself with my FZ1 this year
This bike is my reward for going down from 360lbs to 300lbs this year... When I hit 250lbs I get to buy myself a Dodge challenger R/T
I haven't been keeping up with this thread like I want to. I went to the Laughlin River Run this year. This yearly event is where biker in the west show up to Laughlin to ride across the Colorado river to Arizona due to their lack of helmet law. I find that abit silly and didn't bother taking my helmet off. Their are plenty of vendors for what service you can think of. I took some photo to share with y'all.
630 in the morning setting out. Way to early for a off day if you ask me
My Ride Group
Some ultra custom I had the mind to take pic of.
Our faithful steads.
Next year I hope to have a double bubble wind screen install to avoid this. The black spots are gnats and the yellow mark was a butterfly that decided to play chicken with me I won :winky:.
Mega Playboy on
Trying to help out my step dad check out his youtube channel
that last part is crucial for long rides. I've taken a few june bugs to the chest during highway riding and it feels like someone hit you with a paintball.
One time I was going for a quick summer ride in my shorts and a bee flew up into my pants. Panic and frantic yelping while a bee stings your ballsack is something they don't have to cover at the MSF course because they tell you to wear pants.
One time I was going for a quick summer ride in my shorts and a bee flew up into my pants. Panic and frantic yelping while a bee stings your ballsack is something they don't have to cover at the MSF course because they tell you to wear pants.
This is good advice.
LOL, I saw pic of a guy who after smacking a bee in the face doing 60mph the bee manage to survive. The bee then stung him as a final parting gift. To his credit he didn't wreck the bike.
Mega Playboy on
Trying to help out my step dad check out his youtube channel
There's a pretty funny picture on the internet of a guy with a KLR who rigged a full-sized garbage can to each side of the bike. Let me see if I can find it.
Just did a course this past weekend to learn how to ride. Two days worth or riding practice and theory that culminated in a road test where we rode on residential streets, city boulevards, and freeways/highways. Was lots of fun. Our group was the last to hit the road, and we were stuck doing 95 kph on one of the highways into our city in the pouring rain.
My gear is on the way from jafrum.com. Still need to go get my license.
Posts
I don't plan to do much, if any, freeway riding, so I don't mind staying small. I think pricing is going to keep me in a small bike anyway.
As for riding experience, I owned an EX250 for about a year, though I only got to put about 1000 miles on it in that year. Almost all of those miles were back road miles too, since the 250 struggles at freeway speeds. I briefly tried my cousin's '07 GSX-R 600, but quickly decided that it was WAY too much bike for me (or at least, too high strung). Between my experience and my small stature, I figure the biggest bike I'd want to own (at least until I'm a lot older or more experienced) would be a SV650. Only turn off there is the rather tall seat height on it for a guy of my size.
In any case, I'll keep looking at EX500 prices, and yeah I love how cheap insurance is for the EX250/500 (provided you insure it as an EX250/500, and not a "Ninja 500R").
That's a way different bike than your typical 650cc motorcycle.
Yeah, race-replica supersports shouldn't be compared straight cc for cc to any other class of bikes.
edit: aaand beated, yaay
It was a phenomenal performing bike in regards to acceleration, braking, and to a lesser extent handling. My cousin lowered it and put an extended swing arm. Yes, I know, I don't like it either, and my family as a whole has done some really stupid things with that bike, but I could do no more than tell them what they're doing wrong. It's his bike to fuck up as he sees fit. In any case, I took it for a test ride, demanding a helmet (they're florida residents), and drove up and down one of the residential neighborhood roads before deciding I would NOT take it out onto busier public roads.
I really hope dealers are warning amateur riders before selling them these super-sport bikes. I imagine that rookie mistakes are the majority of the reason those bikes end up with salvage titles all of the place.
They really aren't.
I've also never seen him wearing more gear than a helmet, and am 99% sure that the bike has never spent any time on a race track. Hopefully he'll end up selling it because that is a recipe for disaster.
Tossing my old k5(2005) GSX-R1000 side to side was cake compared to my 05 CBR1000RR. Plus the double butterfly thorrtlebodies on the Suzuki allow for ultra smooth acceleration which makes it easy for the novice to feel overconfident. You don't have to babysit the throttle like you did on other race reps of its day.
The new liters are just ridiculous in weight and performance. However the scariest bike I have ever ridden was a 2004 kawasaki ZX-10. read some reviews on it as it basically separated the men from the boys out of professional reviewers
I pulled up to a local bike shop recently and this guy and his buddy are like "hey nice bike, how big is that?" I chatted with them for a few like a proud parent would, and pretty quickly realized one of the guys didn't know dick about motorcycles. Later I saw him go in the shop and first sat on a GS500, and was like hey...not a terrible strategy!
Later I saw him sitting on a hyabusa with a big grin "I think this is me!"
The store clerk walked up and said "you look good on that bad boy!"
That's not to say all bike salesman are horrible people, I've met some cool guys who will actually have a conversation, but do your own research.
The other half are salesmen who either just don't care, or genuinely feel a new rider can handle whatever they want. Usually they're at the bigger dealerships, and usually know a bit less about bikes in general. Every once and a while you meet someone who is really serious about bikes, but just feels that people should be allowed to buy whatever they want, suitability be damned. Thus far I'd say this attitude is a lot more prevalent in the US, coupled with that "give me freedom or give me death" kind of outlook. The attitude seems to be a bit more rare in Canada, in my experiences anyway.
need to get some boots for real
Rookie mistakes are probably cause for 50% of single vehicle crashes. Idiot "stunters" are cause for 40%, and road hazards likely make up the rest.*
Now, in general, I would say that 90% of multi-vehicle crashes are due to people in cars not paying attention. People just don't see motorcycles. I can't count the number of times that people changed lanes right on top of me. That was my main problem with riding. I do miss having a bike though.
My salesman sat down with my stepdad and me (he was cosigning for me) and recommended that I take a motorcycle safety course before I got on the 2005 Kawasaki ZX6R that I just had to have. My parents (and myself) thought it was a great idea. They helped me get the bike, and then kept it at their house in their garage until I finished the course and got my M endorsement. I wish more salesmen would do that. It's so hard to explain to people how fast the damn things are. The first 2 hours I rode it around with my buddies, I was terrified, and would lag far, far behind just trying to get used to the thing. After that, I decided I'd just open it up once to see how it felt. I opened it up in second gear and almost peed myself on the spot. I probably didn't really get past a 1/2-turn for another week.
EDIT: I pulled all of the above statistics out of my ass. That's just my take on it.
See, that's why I like to use all the gears in a low displacement bike: because I can't throw myself off the bike if I jolt the throttle or pop the clutch in second gear.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Cagers not paying attention doesn't help, but neither does the fact that a lot people don't wear proper protective gear in colors that catch the eye. A lot of riders I see are wearing black or very dark colors on both their helmet and clothes, and some colors are harder to see at night. Some colors are also a bad idea when you take into account color deficiency/blindness that's not all that uncommon to some degree or another in males. My solid orange helmet isn't "cool" or "stylish", but it's one hell of a lot easier to see than one with patterns made of blue, black, and gray.
Would this be a good first bike for around the city?
http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-street-cruisers-choppers-2005-Buell-Blast-W0QQAdIdZ200287852
1) You are huge, Buell's are tiny.
2) Buell is no more, unless you can find one for ball's cheap and have a local harley dealership that will still service them, I suggest you not buy one. Yes I know harley promised to keep servicing them and I myself wondered if I could pick one up for cheap (not a blast though)
3) The blast has never been a very good motorcycle, I think you should keep looking.
I am now a Triumph whore so get this one instead.
Cool good to know. What size engine is good for someone my weight?
I weigh 230 or so, and the Suzuki 650 V-Twin hauls my ass just fine at any reasonable highway speed.
Are you looking for a cruiser/sport/standard?
I was just watching some clip from some travel show with an athlete that's gigantic doing the hosting.
He went to Italy and they put him on a Ducati Monster.
It almost looked like he was riding a pocket bike. It was hilarious.
Engine size to bike weight can play a role. Smaller displacement cruisers can easily weigh 150+ pounds more than other types of motorcycles and generally won't be terribly happy about going highway speeds (or uphill) with a heavy rider and/or packed luggage.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I was thinking something like a Ninja 250 except for I'm 6'3" 250 lbs and I'm worried I would look absolutely ridiculous on something that small, but I want to be able to learn on something smaller displacement so I don't die. Thoughts?
I'm only 5'5" and 120lbs and I found the ninja 250 to be a bit sluggish at times, I couldn't possibly recommend it for someone your size, other than to use as a toy (track bike, practice bike). For daily riding you're going to want more power to get you comfortably positioned in traffic.
I weighed about 315 when I got a V-Strom (650 v-twin) two years ago, and it moved me plenty fine. I'm about 6' even, and was plenty comfortable on it. Getting down to 210 allowed me to reward myself with my FZ1 this year
weird.
This bike is my reward for going down from 360lbs to 300lbs this year... When I hit 250lbs I get to buy myself a Dodge challenger R/T
630 in the morning setting out. Way to early for a off day if you ask me
My Ride Group
Some ultra custom I had the mind to take pic of.
Our faithful steads.
Next year I hope to have a double bubble wind screen install to avoid this. The black spots are gnats and the yellow mark was a butterfly that decided to play chicken with me I won :winky:.
This is good advice.
LOL, I saw pic of a guy who after smacking a bee in the face doing 60mph the bee manage to survive. The bee then stung him as a final parting gift. To his credit he didn't wreck the bike.
I have no idea how it managed to do that.
TCX Synergy WR! I got to ride for about a half hour yesterday with them to try them out. Much better than gym shoes!
edit: it was a DR:
http://thereifixedit.com/2010/05/05/epic-kludge-photo-downside-to-half-mile-winding-driveway/
Just did a course this past weekend to learn how to ride. Two days worth or riding practice and theory that culminated in a road test where we rode on residential streets, city boulevards, and freeways/highways. Was lots of fun. Our group was the last to hit the road, and we were stuck doing 95 kph on one of the highways into our city in the pouring rain.
My gear is on the way from jafrum.com. Still need to go get my license.
Oh and I need a bike too.
I never finish anyth