[eternal05]

…just shows lack of attention watching the very Faster DVD you (Jeff) recommended in another thread. Hopkins has had the worst luck of just about anybody in MotoGP and World SBK and AMA road racing, and frequent brutal crashes have ruined him. He might have landed on his butt in the clip you showed, but you can’t begin to count the number of times he landed on his head, his hands, his chest, his feet, etc. There is no evidence whatsoever that he was employing any technique to land a particular way. Even if it is possible, as you claim, it’s not remotely relevant for new riders who shouldn’t be high-siding to begin with. The on-road high-side is an accident for racers and for people with powerful bikes and no throttle control. Nobody on this forum should fall in either camp when first starting out.

Listen folks, if you’re a beginner, I think these are the three bare minimum things to remember about crashing, things that you actually can think about in the moment:

1) Do your best to practice proper riding techniques and situational awareness so you do not crash. Despite popular “wisdom,” crashing is avoidable.

2) If you do crash, let go of the bike immediately and push it away!

3) If you do crash, don’t try to get up until you’re sure that you’ve stopped. You’d be surprised by how many people think they’re stopped and jump up only to find they’re flying through the air at 30mph.

[eternal05]

And I’ll be watching. Hopefully Stoner will keep his pants on and avoid embarassing everybody else with his big ol’ Ducati stones. Watching him win the race at Qatar every year is just getting boring…

[eternal05]

While it is important to accept that you can crash, and get that out of your mind when you’re riding, accepting that you will crash is a terrible idea. Every crash is an opportunity to die, if not from the crash itself, from getting mauled by another vehicle as you go down. I’ve never crashed on the road, and I don’t plan to if I can help it.

[eternal05]

There are people who want a manual car: a clutch, and a gear lever. Then there are people that don’t want to be bothered with all that. Yet, as companies develop super-fancy semi-automatic gearboxes which are capable of running both in “automatic” and “manual” mode, they’re choosing to replace true manual transmissions with this technology rather than replacing automatics! It’s infuriating to me. Why, if a semi-automatic gearbox can function like an automatic, would you take away the option of a true manual for those that want it, especially on high-end performance cars?

[eternal05]

…then it’s the vent on the gas tank. Scared the hell out of me the first night it was in the garage, but turns out that’s all it is. It’s not just mine either, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s a well-known phenomenon; check out http://ninja250.org/.

[eternal05]

If you’re worried about banging up your fairings for the first few months…take them off! It’s easy, and while it will probably take you 20-30 mins the first time, each time after it’s a 5 minute job. Sure, your bike will look a bit goofy, but it saves you the $800 per side if you do drop the bike.

[eternal05]

The CBF600 isn’t available in the US, so I can’t tell you I have any personal experience. On paper, however, it does look very comparble to the SV650. One big difference, however, is that the SV650 does have very different power delivery than the CBR600-derived CBF600 engine as a result of the SV being a V-twin (two cylinders, ~90 degrees apart) and the CBF being an inline 4 (four cylinders, all in line with each other…I know, shocking). PERSONALLY, I don’t really see one as being terribly worse than the other given equal horsepower and power delivery. For instance, here’s the SV650’s power curve (it’s the bright orange line):

Now here’s the Yamaha FZ6R (on paper, very comparable to the Honda CBF). It’s power curve is at the bottom of the left chart in navy blue (sorry about this huge image):

As you can see, they’re very similar. They’re both very linear and they both hit about the same peak power. Their torque delivery is a bit different, but that’s to be expected given the differences between engines.

So yes, if the SV650 is a good beginner bike, then yes, the Honda CBF600 is probably a good beginner bike as well.

The real question is “is a new SV650/CBF600 a good beginner bike?” The answer there is a definite “maybe.” First, I would stay away because, despite being reasonable for beginners, they’re still not ideal. You have NO idea how fast and heavy those bikes are: faster to 60 than any production Porsche (yes, even the $400K+ Carrera GT). A few milliseconds too much throttle and you’re planted into a canyon wall. The second, perhaps more important issue is that these are really nice bikes to mess up. You can get lucky, but it seems like the resounding majority of folks crashed, or at the very least dropped, their first bike one or more times. I’d hate to think of a nice shiny sportbike getting torn up, though at the very least, the CBF600SA isn’t faired.

If you insist on buying new, I’d suggest buying a cheaper bike (go go Ninja 250R). Otherwise, I’d suggest buying a really cheap ($2-3K) SV650/CBF600 and not having to worry about banging it up.

[eternal05]

I’m really glad to hear that Ford is doing some great things with that car…it was long overdue. The Mustangs of my youth were crap, just lame coupes with the badge of a legendary but long dead muscle car. The “new” Mustang of…what was it…2005? That was the first mustang since this one

to catch my eye. The new ones, in my opinion, are even sleeker (than the ’05, not the GT500…oh no…). To hear that Ford is doing the remarkably un-American and making more horsepower with less displacement and better fuel economy is wonderful. I was seriously worried that American cars would be a thing of the past. Maybe they’ll stick around after all.

I was reading about it a bit, and it seems that Ford did a similar job with the Mustang engine that Audi did with their S4 that I got to drive a few months back. Previous models ran with V8 engines, but the 2011, like the new Mustang, is back to a V6, but one that puts out just as much power:

2011 Mustang:
-Displacement: 3.7L
-Power: 305hp
-Torque: 280 lb-ft

2011 S4:
-Displacement: 3.0L
-Power: 333hp
-Torque: 325 lb-ft

[eternal05]

…but we’re too stupid and impatient for them in this country. They put in a big roundabout near my dad’s house and I see everybody signalling to go in (which doesn’t makes sense, since you can only go one way), then didn’t signal to get out. I have a traffic circle near my house (it’s too small to be truly called a “roundabout”) and I have yet to see anybody who doesn’t live in my house go around it the right way. Sure, lots of people cut the left (though if any one of them did while I was coming around that blind turn on my motorcycle, they’d kill me), but some even go STRAIGHT by going clockwise around it…

Honestly I think it’s hopeless. Elwood’s and his awful Miami traffic are probably laughing at me whining about this “little” thing, but I think it’s just a bit more evidence to the fact that Americans don’t know how to drive (and don’t care).

[eternal05]

Jeff, I was just about to post this myself. Good comparo.

[eternal05]

Eon got everything right, but just so you hear it from an authoritative source (another ’08 250R owner):

1. Yes, 8-9K at freeway speed is normal. With the Ninja, you have two options: ride it for MPG or ride it for safety. By “safety” I mean that, since you have somewhat less power than, say, that SV650 you wanted, you will want to be more careful about where you are in relation to the engine’s powerband so that, if needed, you can still power your way out of a tough situation. If you want good MPG, keep your revs under 7-8K or so. This is perfectly reasonable on normal roads, and the 250R has plenty of grunt in the midrange at lower speeds to keep you out of trouble. On the freeway, however, I HIGHLY suggest that you err massively on the side of caution. When I get on a freeway onramp (assuming it’s straight), I’m usually at full throttle and shifting around 9-11K rpm. The Ninja has much better brakes than it does engine, so if you need to slow down to merge, that’s not ever a problem. If you get on hot, however, you can get past that grandma that insists on driving in the merging lane at 45mph and then matching your speed as you try to merge.

Note: Any vehicle, car, boat, motorcycle, etc. will burn DRAMATICALLY more fuel when at WOT (wide open throttle) than at “cruising speed.” So yes, if you constantly ring your Ninja’s neck, your MPG will suffer…to like, maybe 45-55mpg? Not so bad for the fun you get to have. If you want better fuel economy, see my response to your last question.

2. First piece of advice: stick to the “eventually” in your original post. Do not rush riding with a passenger. It’s very tricky, especially with a light and top-heavy bike like the 250R. It’s much more predictable (though not necessarily easier) on a heavier bike with lower COG, where the passenger’s weight doesn’t play such a big role.

Now as far as suspension goes, depending on your weight, I’d definitely firm up the rear just for you. I’m about 200 lbs wearing all my gear, and I have my rear shock maxed (still have the stock shock). The 250R is made for little people (both size and weight) and even with the suspension firmed up, if I really cared, I would be better off investing in an aftermarket fork and rear shock. So for riding with a passenger? Definitely firm up that rear shock. You’re also going to want to add a few PSI to your rear tire (see the manual for cold PSI w/ passenger). Make sure that you undo both your changes to the suspension and to your tire pressure when you go back to riding solo.

Note: Do not take my suspension settings as doctrine. I’m just a lunkhead like everybody else, so play around, read some literature on the topic, or see a qualified expert if you need help deciding on a proper suspension setup for yourself.

3. Eon is dead on with this one: every 500 miles. The problem is that you don’t have a center stand. What you’re going to need (for this, and in general) is a rear swingarm stand. I HIGHLY recommend Pit Bull (Pit Bull Spooled/Standard rear stand allows you to work with both spooled/unspooled bikes).

Second thing to note–it’s common sense really, but it’s amazing how uncommon that is these days–is that you should not, under ANY circumstances, think it’s a good idea to turn the engine on, put the bike in first clean/lube the chain will the engine’s spinning the rear wheel. Just one Google search on the topic will provide you with plenty of gruesome evidence that it’s a REALLY bad idea.

Third, lubing your chain isn’t hard, but doing it the best way possible and with minimal fling onto the rest of your bike is a bit tricky. I’d find a good article on the topic, preferably from a reputable magazine rather than CBR600dude on YouTube.

4. As far as your mileage goes, I’ve found the single biggest factor to be where you ride, not so much how you ride. If you ride on the freeway (60-75mph) your mileage will suffer because it forces the Ninja to be very high in the rev range. More engine cycles means more gas used, given a particular throttle setting, so revving high will kill your MPG. You’ll also find that if you’re in lots of stop and go traffic (or just commuting through lots of stop lights and signs), your mileage will also suffer. I think this is both because you are constantly losing your momentum and having to waste more gas to get going again, but also because the Ninja’s 1st gear is very low, and you really have to gun it to pull away from the line at a reasonable speed.

So, if you’re mostly riding on arterial streets and windy highways (30-50mph), your mileage can be very good. Mine has gone over 70mph ONCE (I don’t usually try to conserve fuel), but more often than not I’m in the 50-60mpg range. Then again, I do tend to ring the little Ninja’s neck, so you may have better luck.

So, there you have it: way more than you wanted in response to your questions. Do let us know if you have any others, and enjoy the crap out of that bike!

[eternal05]

I would stick with steel sprockets (as opposed to aluminum): they’re cheaper and they don’t wear nearly as easily.

[eternal05]

The latest 2.0T (two-liter turbocharged inline-four) is ridiculous. It has BETTER fuel economy than the 2.0T in my car (an ’06), AND it has MORE horsepower (211hp vs. 200hp) and WAAAAAAYYY more torque (258 ft-lbs vs. 207 ft-lbs). This thing has so much torque that, especially for consumers who never rev anywhere near their peak horsepower, there’s really no point in getting the optional V6.

[eternal05]

You bought a great bike, and with time you’ll learn to love it, but as a beginner it’s a lot to deal with. If you can afford a Blast or a similarly friendly and re-sellable bike, definitely go for it. You’ll enjoy that gixxer SO much more if you’re a confident rider just learning to cope with its power and handling instead of a newbie learning to ride from scratch.

Good luck figuring things out, and hope to see you out riding soon

[eternal05]

…got oil $$$$, anyone?

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