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Yamaha Jog (CE50, CG50, CY50)
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briderdtParticipant
At least it’s not a Helix!
All joking aside, it’s not a bad idea — they come in a 650 engine size.
Really, though, it depends on what you’re comfortable with. You mentioned a couple cruisers, and a standard or two…
I’d recommend, though, to take the MSF Basic Rider training first, and THEN decide on the bike you like. You might decide that a DRZ400 is the best bike for yourself.
briderdtParticipantThere’s a “local” (about 15 miles away) mechanic who works out of his garage (and it’s a NICE garage — better than most professional shops I see at the dealers), and will do tire swaps for low-carb energy drink and some change. Top-notch mechanic, too, trusted my all the local racers. Anyway, when I brought my rear wheel in last summer to have him patch the tire, he told me that he’ll often have people ship the tires to him, and then ride the bike over to have them swapped and balanced. Awesome service, if you ask me.
Yes, I can agree that a dealer could mark up a LITTLE bit the price of mounting and balancing the tires, but when it’s a separate line item on the invoice, you’re paying for that service SEPARATELY, not as a package deal.
briderdtParticipant…are “Optional”. It comes standard with a Brembo MASTER CYLINDER. It actually doesn’t mention what the standard calipers are.
briderdtParticipantIt was mostly a tongue-in-cheek profession of my love for sport bikes. As in “sport bikes are the only REAL bikes.”
Yes, I know HD’s racing heritage, and that they really are the ONLY US mass-producing motorcycle company. Just not my cup-o-tea.
briderdtParticipant…we really need a REAL American motorcycle.
Sorry, to me HD (and all the custom chopper makers) doesn’t count.
I’m a bit sad that they’re using a Hyosung engine, though. I like the look of the bike. Seems to be priced a little higher than the competition (especially considering the Hyosung engine). The Suzuki SV650S seems to be the direct competition for this one, which is, what, a good $1K lower… with a much better after-market.
Much as I’d like to see this one FINALLY make it (I’ve watched it for well over 18 months), I have my doubts.
briderdtParticipant…I’ve ridden on the road and raced for many years (over 3 decades in various capacities), and I think the ONE thing it helped me with most was in already having a built-in traffic radar for hazards and the idea that I’m basically invisible to anyone in a car.
Why is that so important? Because I didn’t have to develop THAT skill along with the skills of just operating the motorcycle. It was one less thing that had to take up the available conscious-thought allotment.
briderdtParticipantThe “S” on the end denotes the faired version (with the lower clip-on bars), verses the naked version (sometimes will have an “N” added on) with the higher handlebars.
Converting between the two isn’t a difficult thing, though it’d be easier to add risers and handlebars (with a swap of the triples and new cables/brake lines) to an “S” model than to add fairings to a naked (would also need the “S” version fairing stay, gages, lights, etc).
If you’re wanting the upright position with fairings, I’d strongly suggest the Ninja 650R.
briderdtParticipantNice that you handled your 600cc bike as a beginner. The FZ6R is a de-tuned inline-4 that’s made to have a flatter power curve more similar to a V-twin than a supersport 600cc I-4 like a GSXR. Not all 600cc engines are equal, there’s no broad brush that these bikes can all be painted with.
Your points about the 250 are very valid, though. If some one is getting bored with a 250 in a few months, likely they’re not pushing the bikes capabilities half as much as they’d like to believe.
briderdtParticipantEven now, with my 9-year-old daughter, I feel it in the corners. She’s pretty great about leaning with me, but sometimes she’s a little late on it. At all of 70 lbs, if she leans in late (and kind of abruptly), I get surprised (in a bad way) and have to make a line correction mid-corner. Feels like the back end is stepping out on me.
If that were to happen in my first 6 months, I think I would have (1) run it off the road, and (2) needed new underwear.
briderdtParticipant…then look around for one that’s been converted. Check on SVRider.com in the classifieds, there might be one in your area. Or at the very least, there are a lot of people who put the naked bars and risers on the S model.
Or you could go with the GS500, or Ninja 650…
briderdtParticipantThere’s another product out there called “Luv Handles” which are essentially huge aluminum D-rings that you put on your belt, providing handles for the pillion. I prefer the Powermadd option by far though.
briderdtParticipantMaking a TPS adjustment (look it up on Canyonchasers — it’s free and totally within the abilities of even the most ham-fisted mechanic) will make a big difference in the low-speed charactistics of the SV. Add a Crampbuster, and I think you’ll find the bike a lot easier to handle at low speeds.
Also, don’t forget clutch modulation.
briderdtParticipantI have a rear pad that another rider built that takes the place of the grab rail on my SV — sits about 7″ high and gives a nice feel that the pillion won’t fall off the back.
Also, there’s a product out there called a Powermadd that the rider wears over his/her jacket, and adds two sets of handles onto the rider. Perfect! My daughter loves it. Lets her relax a little so that she doesn’t have to lean on me, but gives her a secure place to hold onto.
Here’s one place that has it: http://www.motorcyclegearforkids.com/shop/article_18/Powermadd-Rider-Hold-Tight.html?shop_param=cid%3D1%26aid%3D18%26
briderdtParticipantI’m one who started out on a SV650s. I had an advantage that I’d been road bike (bicycle) riding and racing for MANY years, so I kind of already had the built-in hazard radar, so really mostly had to worry about operating the bike itself and not so much on learning to watch for traffic, etc. BUT… I rode my SV before taking the MSF class. Smart? Maybe not. I survived, and got a good dose of respect for the throttle in the process. After taking the class on a Honda 250 Nighthawk, I was second-guessing my choice of bikes.
No doubt I made learning to ride more difficult on myself by starting out with the bike I did. I’ve been lucky in that the only drop I’ve had was a no-speed corner when I killed the engine and set it down real easy.
briderdtParticipantI had the same issue with my SV650s — I got a great view of my arms, but not so much the road. I added bar-end mirrors to my bike (keep the bar end weights if you can), and within 4 days removed the stock mirrors. There are extenders out there (pieces that mount between the mirror and fairing), or possibly another mirror with a longer stalk, that might alleviate the problem, but I’ve found the bar-ends to be a cheap solution that works very well.
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