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Kymco People Series – 50 / 150 / 250
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gitchy42Participant
First thing to do (other than taking a rider training course) is to sit on the bike to see how it feels. If you have a license, a dealership may let you go for a test ride. Feel out the bike, it is the best way to see if it is right and a good fit.
I’m about 6′, with a 32″ inseam and when I sat on a 2009 250R I found it to feel a little small, but not uncomfortably so. Although the Ninja has a great resale value, and if you buy used you can usually sell it for about what you paid for it.
The Hyosung 250 are comparable to the Ninja, but have a little more room. Although, the 2009’s are carbureted, the 2010’s are injected. There are a couple of major issues with this company however, they are new in the US market and because of this have little support. Also, the build quality is not quite as good as the Ninja, but is getting better each year. Another issue I have is that unlike the Korean cars that came out about 15 years ago, Korean motorcycles are NOT half the price of their competition.
A Dual Sport might be a great choice also. Nimble, light, roomie and off-road capable, they make for a fun ride. The problem is that if you get a used one, it may be a little beat up. Like Craig suggested supermoto/enduro bikes, which are basically dual-sports with street tires.
gitchy42ParticipantSo, I decided to head out for a long ride yesterday. There was some fun riding in the first few miles, and more near the end, but the middle consisted of me finding some long, straight, boring roads. I started with a 2-exit hop on the freeway, eeks, that was a lot of cars. On my way back home I encountered a chicken in the middle of the road. It took a little coaxing to get it to move out of my way. This part ended up being about 140mi.
Got home, feed the animals, ate dinner, watched some TV and thought that it was time to go do some riding that was a little more interesting. I headed out to Troutdale, and took Hwy 30 out to Multnomah Falls, with stop at the Portland Women’s Forum viewpoint and Crown Point. I know that it is a cliche ride here in Portland, but it was fun. There and back was about 70 miles. Slow twisties with some back-to-back-to-back switchbacks, I got a lot more comfortable in the turns.
The whole day together ended up being about 210 miles, and 6ish hours on the bike, with a few stops.
gitchy42ParticipantCan’t expect it to be all good, but mostly is good enough You’re right, Hwy 26 feels a lot like freeway, there are a few interesting miles as it goes over Mt Hood, but that’s pretty much it.
240mi of back roads is a hell of a day! Too bad it ended with so much time on the slab, I really don’t like I-5 after Olympia, too many cars. But then, from the Couv to Olympia is too much straight…..oh well. At leas you got alot of good riding in.
Sorry to hear that you had to cancel your Oregon Tour. I am in Portland. The gorge is a great place to go, though on the Oregon side it’s I-84 most of the way out, but where the freeway diverges from the old Highway 30 route, taking the old highway is a great ride or drive. One guy that I work with likes heading out SR-14 on the Washington side, says it gets interesting after Camas.
gitchy42ParticipantLooks like you were having a great time out there; the roads out on the coast are great, there are only 3 that are really ‘boring’; 26, 30 and 20, even 101 is a great drive, for the most part…too bad you were on the wet side though. I was in The Dalles camping all last weekend, and other than a couple of 5 min drizzles on Sunday it was dry the whole time. Unfortunately, camping meant Truck and not bike….
When it starts getting nicer I will definitely be heading out towards the coast, and up into the cascades…though out on the coast there are fewer LARGE animals to worry about. I’ve never taken 53, I’ve always taken HWY 26 or 6 across and gone north/south to Manzanita/Nehalem. Looks like a great road, thanks for the intro, I’ll probably be hitting it sometime this summer!
gitchy42ParticipantAdding an option to the mirror debate
At about $500 this is a little spendy, but considering what it is……gitchy42ParticipantThat was funny…..
gitchy42ParticipantI don’t know if you have looked at the Suzuki TU250, same power-plant as the GZ, but it is injected. It also has a ‘standard’ riding position, like the CB250 Nighthawk, although the styling makes it look like a state-of-the-art 1968 motorcycle.
However, between the two that you are considering, the GZ would probably have better insurance rates and a better price, but the Ninja will probably have a better resale value and a zippier ride.
gitchy42ParticipantThat is a pretty mean looking bike, Kawi did a great job with the styling. I hope you have a great time with Simone
gitchy42ParticipantI have ridden my bicycle on the street, at high speed (>40 SB on Glen Jackson/205 bridge) and done mountain biking. I believe that it helped me with balance and low speed maneuvers.
Oddly enough, I think that learning motorcycles has helped me on my mountain bike. I was riding it around over the weekend while I was out camping and I tried some counter-steering. Worked great, but it freaked me out a little, a 30-pound bike falls into a lean a lot faster than a 400-pound motorcycle…..
gitchy42ParticipantWelcome to the group!!
gitchy42ParticipantI’m lucky to live near a lot of back roads that go right into the foothills of the cascades. Makes for some pretty drives on fun roads
gitchy42ParticipantOK, so I’m trying to remember from Monday (been busy), so forgive me if this doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Actually had decent weather on Monday, so I was able to get a good long ride in. 1st part of the ride was about 60 miles, around 1:45 hrs. First I went down a couple of familiar roads (on the bike), then on to some roads that I have travelled in my truck a lot, but were new on the bike. Got to a rural highway (zzzz) and was surprised by passing 3 or 4 cops, also freaked me out a little. Too much driving too fast when I was younger, lol. So I turned off the highway onto a back road that drops down by a stream.
After a while, I turned up another road that followed a different stream. Got a couple hundred yards up it before I realized that it was an oiled-gravel road, not asphalt. That got me a little nervous, I KNOW in my head that it is very similar to asphalt, but I still didn’t feel comfortable. Unfortunately I had to go about a mile before I could find a safe spot to turn around (a lot of curves). I made it back down to the ‘main’ road, and tried to find the back way up into town.
I missed the turn to go up into town, and followed the road further out to BFE. Got up to an intersection that the road I was on changed names and decided it was better to turn around than to keep going. On my way back down the hill, I drove past someone that looked familiar, turned around and went back. Turns out that it was someone that I met last summer. He told me that if I had just kept going, I would have gotten back to the road I was on, it’s all a big circle. Something to remember for next time. Also on my way back down, I saw a horse that was saddled, bridled, with a lead rope dangling from the bridle. That was a little creepy. Anyways, finally got to the road I had missed earlier, it’s a pretty nice road with a 1-mile ish stretch of 15-25 mph turns (suggested speed), including a few switchbacks. I got to work on linking turns, and waiting until I can see the exit before turning into the apex. I need some more work on that. Got back into town, and then went on home. I ended up with a car tailgating a bit, which made me nervous, but didn’t screw me up really.
I got home, made dinner, then I was off to a meeting. About 12-14 miles there, all went pretty smooth, but I was 5 mins late to the meeting. Luckily just about everyone else was 10 mins late, so it worked out, lol. After the meeting I took the long way home. Got on it a little hard a couple of times, and the front end got light (oops), luckily it didn’t come off the ground. In the last couple of miles of the ride I started getting fatigued and I wasn’t making my shifts properly. I found neutral instead of second a couple of times. Also ended up with a car behind me that ended up making me ride a little faster than I should have been.
I really enjoyed all that riding, but it was a bit of a relief to get off the bike. My knees and butt were a little sore after the time in the saddle. All together I ended up putting in about 90 miles, in about 2 1/2 hours of saddle time. There was one time going through a turn that I had to dodge an obstacle, I was able to change lanes pretty easily without upsetting the bike, or myself. On another corner I came in a little hot, and had to go a little deep into the corner before turning in. I need to work on getting everything done BEFORE the corner. I was still doing some sawing in the corner, but it is getting better. Thanks Allen for the tip. Much more riding this weekend, we’re supposed to have nice weather!
gitchy42ParticipantVery true that the Ninja 250R is a much different bike than most of the other 250s. Especially the newer Ninja 250R. The new Hyosung GT250 and GT250R are comparable, but right now the support isn’t that great.
gitchy42ParticipantTry not to get too over-excited. Trust me, it’s very easy Also, sounds like the salesman actually gave you some good advice.
Pay close attention to everything in the class, ask questions if you don’t understand something. Chances are that you will be riding 250s in the class, so you should get a good feel for the power they can produce, and know if you want to go with a 250, something a little larger or something a little smaller.
Things to consider before choosing a bike: How will it be used? How tall can the seat be and still flat-foot at stops? Do you want a sport-bike (Ninja), or is a standard(TU250) or cruiser(Rebel) more what you are into? Do you like the look of a full fairing, half fairing or a naked bike (least important of the questions, but looks do matter)?
One more tip, when asking questions like this, it is best to post a new thread. That way you can keep better track of what people have said in response to your post.
Nate
gitchy42ParticipantThe MSF course in your area may require that you have a valid drivers license, a permit might not be good enough. You should probably call them or check with a local dealer. In case you don’t know, the phone number for the Cali training is 1-877-RIDE-411, that’s 1-877-7433-411
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