- This topic has 8 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 7 months ago by owlie.
Buying 1st bike
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September 16, 2009 at 2:20 pm #3432chessmeisterParticipant
I am buying my 1st bike. I have been taking lessons on a Yamaha Virago 250. I am 65 yrs old, 200 lbs and cannot decide on the best bike for combining city and hwy riding. I have narrowed it down to 3 bikes. Virago 250, Vulcan 500 and Suzuki S 40 (650 cc’s) I need some guidance please.
September 16, 2009 at 9:30 pm #22368eternal05Participant…I don’t want to give bad advice. The one thing I know for a fact about the former Virago 250 (now called the V-Star 250) is that, due to its very light weight and relatively low power output, it may not be ideal for highway riding. The downside of going with a larger bike is that they are generally less easily maneuvered, and harder to control for newer riders. If you’ve had fairly extensive experience on the 250 during your lessons, you may be up to the task.
I would probably point you towards the Vulcan 500 or S40 myself. I have heard very good things from Vulcan owners, though I haven’t heard anything bad about the S40 either. A bit more weight and more power will make for a much more pleasant ride on the highway, but neither bike is large enough or powerful enough to present too much of a problem to a new rider. Just be extra cautious for the first few months, and really practice the crap out of your new bike (e.g. clutch control, emergency stops, tight maneuvers, swerves, etc).
One more thing: how tall are you? I’ve heard of tall riders having issues on the 250. I sure did when I took my MSF course. I would definitely suggest going to a dealer and sitting on all of these bikes. Comfort is a large part of the equation.
September 16, 2009 at 10:37 pm #22369eonParticipant…you won’t listen to my advice anyway , but it does seem there have been a few threads on here recently around the V-Star 250, Vulcan 500 and S40. You might want to trawl through the recent threads and see if there is any useful information in there. I do not believe there is a search facility yet so you will have to use the click and peck search method.
September 16, 2009 at 10:52 pm #22370davidmdahlParticipantAll three bikes, Virago (VSTAR) 250, S40, and Vulcan 500 are popular and well-respected bikes for beginners. The S40, despite having almost three times the engine displacement over the Yamaha, is only about 60 lbs heavier. The Vulcan 500 is about 90 lbs heavier than the S40.
Vstar 250 324 lbs
S40 381 lbs
Vulcan 500 472 lbsThe best choice will be affected by the mix of highway to urban riding you will do, as well as your comfort with the weight of the bike. Butt-test each of the bikes to see what fits.
Best wishes,
David
September 16, 2009 at 11:13 pm #22372SunyJimParticipantI started riding last summer, took the course bought an old honda shadow.
The bikes your looking at are all great starter bikes,
the Virago 250/star250 is the lightest and easiest to control, but the least amount of power at 21HP. I would NOT take that on a freeway… it would be better as an around town bike, and I hate to say, you’ll be wanting more bike in 6 months.The s40 650cc actually is the next lightest and second powerful bike on the list, and the closest to our webhosts 250 Ninja that he raves about as a great starter bike. (The 250 ninja is 355lbs, and 37HP). The s40 is 381lbs dry, Single cylinder with HP of 31, 33.6 ft/lbs of torque. and 5 speed belt drive. The belt drive is nice there is less maintenance with a belt than with a chain. The only complaints I hear is that it’s thumpy being a single cylinder. But great over all starter bike, works for the back roads and the freeway and will take you where you need to go for the next few years. I would seriously recommend this as a starter bike, or the older version the suzuki savage which is the same bike but a 4 speed.
the vulcan 500, 439lbs dry, 46 hp and 33 lbs of torque 6 speed chain drive. This is really a detuned sport bike in cruiser clothes, the liquid cooled inline engine is right out off the ninja 500. The weight is a bit more, and the HP a bit higher, it’s peppier than the other 2 bikes, but it’s not my first pick because of the chain. Chain drive bikes in my opinion are a bit of a pain, they need to be lubricated constantly, where shaft and belt drive bikes are just get on and go.
Overall I would go S40
September 17, 2009 at 2:16 am #22375owlieParticipantI bought an S40 as my first bike about a month ago. I had a rough start with it, more due to my inexperience than to the bike. Yes, it is a thumper, but the only time this is bothersome is when I shift gears too early- it certainly lets me know. One thing to note is that it backfires. I’ve seen some threads elsewhere on how to reduce/eliminate this, but it really doesn’t bother me.
I would definitely recommend it as a beginner bike. It is easy to handle and lightweight for a 650. The one caveat is that you have to spend time getting the clutch control down. Otherwise, you’ll fight with the bike at every stop and every go.
Owlie
September 17, 2009 at 1:55 pm #22383JackTradeParticipantWhat’s the vibration like, overall?
My Buell is a thumper as well, and it’s like sitting on a paint mixer when I’m idling. Things in the mirrors look like impressionist paintings. It smooths out once you get past maybe 2000 rpm (I’m guessing, as no tach). Not that I mind…once I got used to it, I barely notice it anymore, except when things shake themselves loose (like the odometer knob did the other week…).
Just curious if foreign thumpers are better mannered than my domestic…I have a feeling they probably are. I too get backfires occassionaly, but to me it goes with the unruly nature of this sort of engine.
September 17, 2009 at 3:50 pm #22384eonParticipantNot sure if scooters are directly comparable or not given where the engine sits, but my scoot is a thumper and the vibration is very minimal. Everything does vibrate at idle but soon as I give it some gas that goes away. At speeds I cannot feel much apart from a faint rhythmic pulse. Of course, given that the engine is way down by the back wheel and not between my knees that could explain a lot.
September 17, 2009 at 6:25 pm #22386owlieParticipantIt really doesn’t seem to bad to me. Yes, the mirrors do look like some sort of impressionist art, but I can still identify things in them. The only other bike I’ve ridden was for the MSF class, so I can’t really compare them. I will say that reading through various forums, I tend to see more complaints about backfiring for the S40 than vibration and vice versa for the Blast.
Really the only time I notice that it is a thumper is when I am underrevving the engine because I shifted too soon or didn’t make it into first and so am taking off in second. But I think that any bike would probably protest in either case.
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