[helios]

Hey guys. I’m an Aussie, I live out in the country and up in the hills (so lots of lefts, rights, ups and downs to deal with) but I work in town so I drive for 40 minutes every morning through these hills just to reach the highway and drive for another 40 minutes. A lot of bike convoys come through my area and my dad used to ride as well, this makes me want to ride all the more, but I have yet to find the all-rounded bike that I need .

So here I am, a total newbie looking for the right bike. I really like the Vulcan 500 but I’m think this is too much power for a beginner, though I read somewhere that cruisers need more ccs to reach the same speeds as a sportbike, I also read that 250 is the best starting point but I need to reach highway speeds and maintain the maneuverability required on mountain roads (Could a 250 do this?). I’d like a cruiser but I’m not too biased stylewise.

Any help would be great.

~Finn

[megaspaz]

Hiya and welcome! I’m not too hip to cruiser or standard class bikes, but If you look on the site there’s a few reviews on good beginner cruiser bikes. For highway speeds, not sure what it’s like in Australia, but uncle_bernie started with an Suzuki S40 and he seemed to say it was fine on the highway. Not to sure what the cc’s on that bike are though, but he did write a review on the S40 vs. the S50! (-:

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Matt]

The Vulcan 500 is a pretty forgiving bike. (One of my co-workers just bought it to get back into motorcycles after 15 years away). He loves it. Because the engine is the same as the Ninja 500 it develops its power more as you climb the revs, which means it needs to be driven differently from most other cruisers (which make their power low down). But, once you get used to letting the engine yell a little bit, you’ll find it can keep up with the bigger bikes without issue (according to the owner).

The only thing to be wary of with it is that it is a big wide bike compared to the 250 cruisers (even compared to some 600/650cc cruisers). Not hard to handle, but the width of the tank between your knees can be a big negative (My mom got a Shadlow 600 for the skinnier tank) or a big positive (for my co-worker). Just saying, sit on one before you make up your mind (same advice goes for every bike).

Concerning the Ninja – Yes it can reach highway speeds and hold them all day long. I’ve done it many times now. And can it handle the mountain roads? The little ninja is more than willing to play fast in the twisties. I recently posted a link to a video of a Ninja 250 keeping up with a KTM 690 in a very tight road, well worth the watch.

[Author]

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