- This topic has 14 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 7 months ago by Rupmisc.
Is there a BestSecondMotorcycleForum?
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August 28, 2008 at 5:28 am #1989RupmiscParticipant
Ok. The 2008 Honda Nighthawk 250 was an excellent choice. After about 800 miles, I am very glad that I bought it, and still recognize the need to practice in parking lots, as well as ride on streets. My first highway rides, however, have raised an issue. Even for one or two exits, in low traffic, the bike screams beginning at 55mph, and vibrates beginning at maybe 58. It may be capable of doing 70 with 190 lbs of rider plus a full gas tank, but it wouldn’t be happy. Highway riding will have to wait, for the most part, for later. Also waiting for later, will be the ability to carry much of anything.
When later comes, where do I look to find out about the next step. I know about the 600ish bikes that are mentioned here for beginners, but does anyone have a favorite site for reviews, for just slightly less inexperienced riders? I am finding bike research far more difficult than car research. Where would you look?
Being in Massachusetts, I’ll have a nice long winter to do research and wait for Spring.
August 28, 2008 at 6:35 am #11306RabParticipantA big part of it is just you getting used to the different sound and feel of the bike at those speeds and freeway riding in general.
Those little 234 c.c. air-cooled Honda engines have been around for a long time and are virtually bullet proof. The Nighthawk *will* comfortably cruise at an indicated 65 m.p.h. all day without coming to any harm; I’ll agree, it does get a little scary at the top-end (~75-80) though Not an ideal bike for the freeway, but absolutely capable of it so long as you stay in the slow lanes. It is happier in town and on the country back-roads though.
Yes, the high revving at speed can be disconcerting at first, and having recently bought my first inline 4 (which red-lines at 12,500 r.p.m.), I can appreciate your concerns. At ~6000 r.p.m. my bike sounds (to me) like it’s revving really high, but it still has plenty of headroom if I want to take it there (which I haven’t yet). Quite a different experience from the much lower revving twin cylinder engines of my previous bikes. Like I said though, the Nighthawk 250 will happily cruise along at 60-65 all day long. Once you’ve done it a few times for, say an hour or two, you’ll settle down to it I’m sure. I had one as my first bike and am still sorry I had to sell it. Beautiful little bikes IMO.
Anyway, for second (or third or fourth, etc.) bikes I’d suggest looking at 500-650 c.c. standard or sport (not super sport) bikes e.g. Suzuki GS500F, SV650, GSX650F, DL650 (V-Strom) or Kawasaki Ninja 500, ER650, Versys or Yamaha FZ6. Other bigger, heavier, fast enough, but not scary fast bikes to consider would be the Triumph Bonneville and Harley-Davidson Sportster 883.
Cruisers? Maybe the Honda 750s, Suzuki C50, Kawasaki Vulcan 500 or 900, Yamaha V-Star 650 (maybe a little under-powered).
That’s just off the top of my head. If I’ve missed anyone’s favorite, I’m sure they’ll be happy to add to the list.
For many, any of the above would be the last “upgrade” they’ll ever need in terms of performance.
My favorite review site is:
http://www.powersportsnetwork.com/enthusiasts/review_list.asp?vehiclecategory=1
August 28, 2008 at 4:45 pm #11324RupmiscParticipantRab, I’m sure you are right about 65 being doable, but it isn’t ideal. Especially on a 2 lane (each direction) highway, many entries from a full stop with no merge lane, speed limit 55, average speed 70, obliviousness level off the scale.
Off topic: I think that my Nighthawk has an optimistic speedometer based on “your current speed is” signs. It is maybe indicating 3 mph faster than actual speed.
Does anyone know of a reliable place(s) to look for comparisons on upright-ish mid level bikes like the FZ6/Versys/650R/SV650.
Same question for Sportster 833 or 1200, other Harley, Triumph or other cruisers/standards. Better yet, all in one place.I find that maneuverability, and controllable power are more important to me than top speed. I have no problem staying at reasonable speeds on purpose. I am more leery of instant accidental acceleration. Translation: I suspect that an intermediate cruiser could have a bigger engine than 650 and be OK, whereas more than 650 on a sport bike would be a rocket ship. I don’t know where Triumph fits in, but I do know that service and dealer location become an issue.
Anyway, the question is are there fairly reliable sites that deal with the area between brand new rider and experienced rider, in as responsible a fashion as this site does for beginners? Thanks.
August 28, 2008 at 8:51 pm #11343AndrewParticipantFor reference I own 2 cars that do not show the same speed as the “you are going signs”. My Mitsubishi Galant shows me doing 3 more than the sign always does.
August 29, 2008 at 12:40 am #11351AnonymousGuestI think it’s generally accepted that all motorcycle speedos read up to 5 m.p.h. fast (mechanical ones anyway).
August 29, 2008 at 12:27 pm #11370MattParticipantBike speeds show roughly 5% increase.
The odometer is less than 1% off. The speedo increase is a matter of safety and protecting the riders from speeding tickets as opposed to a technical one.
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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”August 29, 2008 at 6:59 pm #11394sarcParticipantIf you are looking for info, troll through the thousands of backlogged comments on the various motorcycle forums. There are tons, from sport-touring specific, to cruiser specific, to general motorcycling. Its just a matter of reading a bit and finding some that fit your personal style and will be able to help meet your goals. In addition to those more general forums, where you will find a bunch of people who were looking at the same thing or rode all the bikes you are considering, each bike seems to have at least one forum devoted specifically to it. Try checking them out as well once you start to get a bit of a short list.
Just a personal plug, having ridden both 600 sport bikes (very little) and 650 2-cylinders, there really is a world of difference. The 650s have a very manageable power band, and don’t put in that unusual position of lug, lug, zooom, there goes the front end (and now I’m a youtube statistic). Its pretty easy, predictable, and the 650s will break a hundred much easier than people tend to think. Not that you need to go 100, but its nice to know you have plenty of usable power to quickly pass a truck at 75 or 80 or hop into the fast lane to avoid merging traffic.
August 29, 2008 at 8:18 pm #11397RupmiscParticipantThere probably is a lot out there, too much in too many places. I was really hoping to get some recommendations so that I could narrow the search. Especially with some recommendations on reliability. It would be nice to find a lot of usable information on one site that was generally trustworthy– like here for instance.
Elwood, do you feel bothered that the Sportster is configured to that that one chrome engine piece (sorry, don’t know what it is) gets in the way if you want to keep your knees in tight?
August 29, 2008 at 8:38 pm #11399BoOZe P-ti MotardParticipantBoOZe
Solomolo RiderAugust 30, 2008 at 2:31 am #11413AndrewParticipantNice bike. Theres no way that it can be considered a standard though with that forward foot position. Thats what killed the cruiser style for me. As a noob I can lean into a corner on the Ninja with comfort. I didn’t even want to try a corner on a cruiser because it felt so alien to have your feet in that position and then have to lean.
August 31, 2008 at 1:51 am #11463AndrewParticipantThe Sportster is about the only HD I would consider owning period. I was just saying that right now as a noob the foot forward thing bothered me. It might not once I had more experience but right now I knew it would hinder my skill development.
August 31, 2008 at 1:55 am #11464AndrewParticipantBy comparison the Ninja was a lot closer to a standard position or even a bicycle position. I have ridden bicycles for ever so it just seemed familiar and familiar was comfortable.
August 31, 2008 at 4:38 am #11469MunchParticipantI like the forward foot controls better myself….only feels natural to have the feet in front of me…. is how I sit in a car, couch , chair etc. . Sport bike types give me that “kid on the see-saw about to get a cherry bruise from the playground devil” feel. To much head first feel. I am sure I could get used to it…. heck I better…not sure what they use in MSF but got that in 2 weeks. But my Vulcan has me spoiled.
August 31, 2008 at 4:58 am #11470AndrewParticipantMy MSF was Nighthawks (standard), Rebels (standard/cruiser) and TW200/220’s (dual sports).
September 3, 2008 at 10:05 pm #11626RupmiscParticipantAlthough I am 6 feet tall and would not normally want a lower cruiser, some of the sportster models (lowered, and maybe nightster?) actually have mid pegs.
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