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BenParticipant
Hey mrmrjoe50,
Congrats on the bike! The cb250 is actually one bike that has been on my ‘to review’ list for months now I just haven’t gotten around to it, but I promise I will in the coming weeks that way you can post all sorts of comments on it!
Also, I actually do recommend people go used for their first bike, in fact I would say to buy used for EVERY bike because it will save you so much money. You lose at least a thousand dollars by driving the thing off the lot, and chances are if you are buying from a dealer than you will get a loan, and in general I am against getting a loan for any luxury item like a motorcycle.
Thanks for the mini review, I’ll be sure to link you once I have my own review up!
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminBenParticipantWell once you get the shifting down, if you think are ready for a 600 then go for it The jump from a 500 to a 600 isn’t going to be nearly as hard as a 250 to a 600.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminBenParticipantI just don’t agree with the logic “it is better to grow into a bike than grow out of one”. This is going to be your first bike not your last bike, you don’t need something that is beyond your skill level. You don’t throw someone who is just learning to box in a ring with mike tyson, that would be rediculous. Sure he MIGHT learn faster because he is forced to, but chances are he is just going to get beat up a lot. If you throw that same person in the ring with someone who matches their skill then they will learn a lot more, and they won’t get nearly as injured.
The same could be said for motorcycles, and you should get a bike that fits your skill level and not jump into the ring on a bike that is more than a newbie should handle.
Once again, just get a bike that is used, cheap (because you will probably drop it), and one with a manageable power output that won’t send you into trees with the flick of a wrist.
(on a side note although the vulan900 is one of the tamer 900cc bikes out there, I think the fact that it is so expensive and heavier than the vulcan 500 makes it a poor choice as a beginner bike. I dropped my first bike 3 times in the first 6 months and it was only a little gs500 which weighs MUCH less than a vulcan 900).
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminBenParticipantHey Mike,
Wow that sounds really weird. I’ve never really heard of anyone shifting like that, it doesn’t seem very intuitive and it makes me wonder if its the bike and not you. You are basically saying it redlines whenever you upshift is that correct?
Also just to make sure, in your description of shifting at no point did you say that you let off the gas. Letting off the gas is a must when you pull in the clutch. As soon as you grab that clutch level you should be ready to at least EASE off the gas a smidge, but probably not cut it off entirely.
Hmm..
Well its either you or your bike thats doing this. If you think its your bike then I would suggest you have someone else ride it a bit and see if it happens to them. Or maybe ride someone elses bike and see if it happens when you are on their bike and not yours. By doing those two things you will find out which one is the problem, you or your technique.
If its your technique that is an easy fix and it just requires practice. I would suggest you get down shifting before you jump on a 600 because if you rev a 600 up to redline when shifting at the very least you will get quite the surge of acceleration. Hopefully it won’t wheelie, but depending on the bike and the speed it is a possibility.
I really have a feeling this is your bike though because this just doesn’t sound like a natural thing that someone would pick up as a bad habit. Have someone else with some riding experience ride your bike for you and tell you if it happens to them. Where do you live anyway? If you live in the california bay area I could probably help you out.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin
BenParticipantWelcome ixfe!
Just because its snowy right now doesn’t mean you can’t still ride
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_racing
http://www.myconfinedspace.com/watermark.php?src=wp-content/uploads/2006/12/studdedbusa1.jpg
Glad to have you on board!
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminBenParticipantHmmm… So are you saying when you down shift the RPMs skyrocket? Because it wouldn’t really make sense if it was happening when you upshifted, unless you were really grabbing a lot of throttle when you shift.
Also How high up are we talking? Like it jumps from 7,000 to like 10,000? or like 7,000 to 15,000? You know you are suppose to ease off the gas when you shift right? Just for a split second while your clutch is in.
Concerning your question, I wouldn’t be too worried about pulling wheelies on a 600. I recently learned how to wheelie and I actually practiced in a parking lot for an hour the first time and I couldn’t even get the front end up a little! Eventually I figured out what I was doing wrong, but even now my bike won’t wheelie unless I open it ALL the way up, and lean back in the seat. My bike is a few years old though and I would imagine an r6 or the 08 CBR would be able to wheelie quite a bit easier.
Once again, I would look at how your shifting, because if this is happening when your going from 2nd to 3rd (upshifting), vs from 3rd to 2nd (downshifting) then I would look at your technique because that really shouldn’t be happening unless you want it to happen. In fact when you upshift you should be dropping the RPM’s by a thousand or so instead of increasing them. If it is happening while downshifting then you would be slowing down and therefore the bike isn’t going to pull a wheelie on you since it takes a lot of acceleration to get the front end up. I hope that helps.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminBenParticipantWelcome Mike! I really think that the next bike I’m going to add to my stable is giong to be the drz400. It seems like it would be so good going up mount hamilton which is really close. The roads going up are paved, but even when riding a street bike it ‘feels’ like i’m riding a dirtbike when I go up that road!
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminBenParticipantHey Bernie,
I’m not quite sure what you mean. As soon as you post a topic in the forum it should show up regardless of you being logged in or not (although if you are NOT logged in then you will have to use the captcha to make sure you are a human and not a spam bot). Are you saying that you make a post, and then when you log out you don’t see it? If that is the case, try checking the site again in like 10 minutes or so. Right now the site is set up so it ‘refreshes’ from the database every 10 minutes or so to help ease bandwidth issues. Let me know if that is whats wrong, or if its something else.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminJanuary 1, 2008 at 11:46 pm in reply to: In case a motorized unicycle is just too tame for you… #4896BenParticipantWelcome aboard bernard!
That wetbike looks like it would be a blast to ride around on.
It sounds like you have some experience on land and sea, so I bet you will feel right at home on that s40. I haven’t reviewed it myself, but I did find a great review online of that bike. Check it out:http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/roadtests/2006_suzuki_boulevard_s40/index.html
It looks ideal for the new rider, and it is a really great looking bite to boot! I think its really cool that it uses a belt drive instead of a chain, I wish my bike did that! Usually only the more expensive bmw’s are belt driven, so its a nice change to see one of the big 4 japanese bikes with that feature. Let us know when you take the plunge, and be sure to post some pics on the forum.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminBenParticipantMerry christmas and a happy new year as well!
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin
BenParticipantI think your best bet would be to do tons of research, and then SHOW them you have done tons of research.
Tell them that you will always wear all the proper safety gear (helmet, pants, leather gloves, etc..) and show them WHY you are going to wear it (have statistics ready). In fact if you have a little money saved up then show them how serious you are and go buy the gloves or helmet or something, that way they see that you are willing to spend your own money for it.
Also tell them that you will buy the bike (or if they buy the bike, that you will pay them back and have a whole payment plan worked out), and that you want to start on a smaller bike because it would be cheaper and easier for a new rider to control. Tell them you want to take the MSF course and everything and I’m sure they will consider it.
Worse case scenario is you only have to wait 3 more years until you move out and then you can get one
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminBenParticipantI definitely won’t sell out
Unlike gamespot I am very aware that the integrety of the site is much more important then advertiser wishes. I run this site in my spare time as a labor of love and I have no plans on selling out, EVER
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminBenParticipantUghhhhhhhh… The versys is soooooooooo ugly, please don’t ever recommend it!!! lol, the same goes for the multistrada, those are two of the ugliest bikes ever produced
heheh
Ben~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin
BenParticipantMan I want to test ride a KLR soooooooo bad I’m really getting into the dual sport stuff ever since I started this site.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminBenParticipantI am actually planning on doing this for the 08 ninja 250, we’ll see if I can find any dealers that will take the bait.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin -
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