[Andrew]

My Ninja mirrors are not as good as my car. They give me a good view of my elbows though. It has made me realize how much I rely on the rear view mirror, rather than the side mirror, in the car.

[Andrew]

A quick look showed that their smallest bike is in the 600cc range. So they realistically don’t make a beginner bike.

[Andrew]

Have you done much riding before? I like BMW’s they make nice bikes. They seem more oriented towards off-road and touring though. I like the Bonneville. It’s a nice retro bike that was very comfortable to sit on. I couldn’t afford it as a first bike though. I think the Ducati’s have the best look of all 3 but it’s unfortunate that they haven’t released a small bike here in the US. I’m assuming they may have smaller bike in Europe that they don’t export.

[Andrew]

I was all set on having both feet flat while sitting on the bike until I rode the Ninja. It’s a perfect fit for me except the height. Seriously now I have have some saddle time on the Ninja the feet don’t worry me at all. I have enough contact to walk the bike to park it in the garage and balance the bike while stopped. I can’t walk it up my angled driveway but I’m not sure if I could do that with a shorter bike anyway. I don’t think being flat footed is a requirement anymore.

[Andrew]

I think the price increase makes it a 4K bike now which is a big difference from the 3K price tag on the ’07. They probably figure that demand is high enough.

[Andrew]

I check most of the t-clock stuff before I ride. I was only doing the tire pressure weekly but now I have a plug it has been each time. Once I am sure its secure I might just do it every other day. I got a good tire gauge for $15 at Autozone. It has a right angle chuck and a pressure release button. Its an Accugauge.

[Andrew]

I would think that the Bonnevile and the Tiger would be less bad because they are twins but the Tiger is still a liter bike and the Bonneville has 865 cc’s. I still think they are better second bikes.

[Andrew]

I did notice the height change and the peg change when I was narrowing down the bike I wanted. I wouldn’t have been able to get the 08 for the price I got the 07 for though.

[Andrew]

Theres a dealer in southern WI at Elkhorn (www.cycleplusinc.com) that looks to have a few 250cc bikes for anyone close enough. Website says they will ship. Rebel’s, Virago’s and some older 500cc bikes.

[Andrew]

You lucked out finding that bike people have been snapping them up from dealers all year. The Ninja is fine for smaller riders. I’m 5’4 and I can get the balls of both my feet on the ground. Or I could flat foot 1 foot if I chose.

[Andrew]

Finally got to do some practice tonight. We have been getting a lot of rain. I did figure out what my problem was with skidding the rear wheel. I was basically trying to stop too fast and grabbing a bunch of brake. At 15 I wasn’t skidding, or if I was I wasn’t noticing. At 20 I was noticing. I took the shift down out to make it easier and just practiced a nice steady squeeze using the full 20 ft I had marked out. Before I was stopping in 10. I got nice and consistent with it until I put the shift change back in which threw me off a bit. More practice should help with that.

[Andrew]

Dude. They are Italian don’t go around calling them Vet’s. How about the Ferrari’s of the bike world.

[Andrew]

here:

< img src = image_in_quotes / >

[Andrew]

https://www.bestbeginnermotorcycles.com/forum/forum-topic/1345/zomg-new-yamaha-sport-bike

[Andrew]

Some of this personal preference. There are 2 cars in my house. A V6 Galant and a V4 Corolla. If the traffic in Chicago is going 85 then I am able to do that with headroom to spare in both cars. The V6 obviously has more instant torque should I wish to blow past someone or away from someone but I can achieve the same result in the Corolla. It’s just not as fun.

Now if you want your bike to have the same sort of headroom as a V6 does in traffic then you will want a bigger bike. What Budd is saying is that you can’t dismiss the 250cc bike as being incapable of handling interstate traffic. It can handle it but it’s not as much fun as a bigger bike.

The underlying assumption here is that you drive the same way you ride. I don’t ride the way I drive as I don’t have that cage around me anymore.

[Author]

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