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Yamaha SR400 Review
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madjak30Participant
Get your permit first. By that I mean, do the written part of the drivers license. Then take the MSF course, which is excellent. The course will help you decide on what type of bike you may like to get, you will get to see what a 250cc bike can and can’t do on the street. They will also inform you of what type of gear is manditory, but this website will give you a list of the recommended gear…helmet, gloves, proper jacket, and boots that cover your ankles. Riding pants are recommended, but at minimum wear a nice heavy pair of jeans…I would check it out there, but here in Canada your insurance is much less if you are licensed before you get coverage and the course will also get you a discount. I don’t know if the school that you are taking the MSF course through allows you to use their bike for the road test, but they did at mine…another good reason to take the course. So, take the road test if possible then get coverage.
Then you hit the streets and really start learning…lol…
Welcome to the club…
madjak30ParticipantI just posted a ride impression…under the General forum “Riding Impression from a Newbie”
I have a GS500E, but it would apply to the GS500F just the same. The thread kinda wandered a little and it talked about the comparission to a SV650…the GS will probably meet your needs, and help you with your “learning curve”. It’s a great bike and I love it…
Anyway, check out the thread.
Thanks.
madjak30ParticipantThat is the only time you will be looking for more power…but I would imagine you will want more after you ride the SV for a while as well. In the corners and in the city, you just don’t need it. If you are really stuck on the SV and it is comfortable for you, then get it. Just be careful, the accelleration is quite a bit more on that bike. Just means you can get in trouble as a new rider quicker. Like I said in my review, I have already had the thoughts of more power, but I have more than enough power to stay ahead of traffic and to travel on the hiway…so I would save the money on insurance and fuel, and get the smaller bike. The choice is yours to make, and no one will fault you for getting the SV, it’s a nice bike that has smooth power delivery…it just has more power to deliver.
As for the two up, I would wait a year of continuous riding to be sure of my abilities before taking on the extra challenge and responsibility of a passenger. Again it’s your call, if you are confident after six months…who am I to tell you, but I won’t be taking my kids on mine for atleast two seasons…and they are already driving me…”I wanna go for a ride Dad…”…Nope, too much at stake…
Good Luck!
madjak30ParticipantThe GS500 is a good starter bike, even two up. I weigh 275lbs and am 5’11” tall, and the GS500 I ride still gets up and goes…I’m not in anybodys way…0-60 is around 6 seconds with me on it, that’s Mustang GT territory. The Kawasaki EX500 (Ninja 500) would be another choice in the same bracket, except the Ninja is a little faster. If you get an older GS500E, they are naked and look similar to the SV650 without having that much power…I beleive the SV650 does 0-60 in under 4 seconds. That’s pretty quick for a beginner bike.
Just remember, a used bike will hold it’s value pretty good so having to upgrade next year isn’t as big of a deal as you may think. You will probably be able to re-sell your learner bike for what you pay, or very close to it.
PS I wouldn’t recommend going two up until atleast your second riding season…get used to riding the bike and learn the skills required, then add to the difficulty…
Good Luck!
madjak30ParticipantBut your first reaction (or atleast mine) is to try to “catch it”…if the bike weighs 400-500lbs or more, it will go down even if you try…add your selection of sore parts here…with the smaller bike, you are less likey to pull muscles…chances are the smaller bike will go down as well, they don’t seem to go down when you have a good grip on things…lol
Nice bike by the way, that is one of the bikes I was checking out before I got my GS500…has a similar seating position and reach to the handles…not much heavier either…but I didn’t want to take the chance on dropping such a new bike, hence the used GS. That bike must be a rocket for you…you weigh half what I do and I find the GS500 moves pretty good, for now…lol
madjak30ParticipantThe road ride was right at the end of the day and did a lot for the confidence…I think everyone mentioned it at the end of the day…there were a couple of the riders that were very uneasy getting much past first gear when we were practicing on the course, but part of the road ride was down the hiway (secondary) at 55mph…so they didn’t have a choice, they had to pick up the pace. They were the ones who really appreciated the road ride…it made them realize that the ride smoothed out past 15mph…
I think the course was absolutely great, kinda pricy but worth every penny.
madjak30ParticipantI hear you on the eye level thing, but they kinda look like bug antenae…the stock mirrors were replaced by the last owner to some more stylish, but smaller mirrors…as for lane splitting, it is illegal here in Canada, and I don’t know if I would do it even if it wasn’t…seems kinda dangerous, not to mention pissing off the other drivers who we already assume are trying to kill us…lol
As for being trim…well, lets just say that I won’t be called that any time soon…lol
I don’t need to be able to see what kind of car it is, I just want to know when they are there and what they are doing…I looked in my mirrors on my way home tonight, and this guy was quite a ways back…then all of a sudden there was a car passing me…it startled me, he must have been clipping along on the secondary hiway we were on (limit of 60mph, I was going around 65mph) because he caught up to me within a minute.
madjak30ParticipantI just went through this with my wife…she finally agreed that I could get a bike…I wasn’t sure how to tell her that I want to buy a bike this year, then next year get a better one…I thought it would be a hard sell, but it wasn’t bad…I just explained to her that I wanted to get a smaller used bike so that I could practice riding and get my skills built up before buying the nice bike that I really want. Plus I explained that I would hate to drop my fancy new bike due to inexperience…much better to do that to a used, cheaper and smaller bike…if it happened…the smaller the bike, the easier it will be to “catch it” before it hits the ground…I almost dumped mine during my BRC…slowing to a stop and grabbed a handful of front brake with the front tire slightly turned…thank god the bike was only about 200lbs, I was able to hold on to it and kind of one legged hopp…if it was the Gladius (about 420lbs), down it would have gone…
Anyway, good luck…but I would recommend talking to her about the above mentioned reasons for a “starter bike”…
madjak30ParticipantI wouldn’t write off the GS500 because of air cooling…they have been around for over 20 years, and are one of the more reliable bikes out there…of course I am biased, but I don’t think a bike would survive if it was a piece of…
I just finished my first ride on my GS and I don’t know if I would like a bike with any less power than it has. The 200cc bikes from the course are good for around town, but as soon as you hit any kind of speed, they loose steam…but the bonus is manouverability, man the light bikes turn on a dime and make change…I haven’t sat on the Ninja 250, but I sat on a Ninja 650R and it was tighter feeling than my GS…I’m 5’11” so not that far off of your height. Like Jeff said, sit on all of the bikes that you are considering…think about how they all felt, then go sit on them again…remember that you will probably be sitting on the bike for an hour or two when you are riding, so try to imagine if you would be comfortable for that length of time in the saddle…
I thought my GS500 was pretty roomy, so I bought it…after sitting on it for a couple of hours today, well it wasn’t bad, but it could have been better…
It will come down to what you prefer…you can alway just stop more often…you need to like the bike that you are riding. It is part of what puts the smile on your face when riding it…
Take your time making your decision and have fun…
Good Luck!!
madjak30ParticipantI know the class is modelled after the MSF classes, they even use their videos for training. Most of the class is spent in a controlled environment doing the skills building and evaluations…but on the final day, they take you on a road ride for about an hour and stop about every 10-15 mins to give pointers and hints to help you with your road test. You know, things to watch out for…when stopping at a stop sign, be sure to stop at the line then move forward to see the on coming traffic…I forgot that one on my road test a couple of times…BAD BAD BAD…
Anyway, I think the course itself is very similar to the MSF course…but they add in the road ride part. I learned more in those two and a half days than I probably would have in a season of riding…and without the bad habbits that would have to be un-learned if you took the course later…it was by far the second best choice I made, the first being deciding to get a bike and ride…lol
madjak30ParticipantAfter the last couple of days riding 250cc machines, you would have been dissapointed riding them…I out weigh you by quit a bit, but I found them under powered over about 35mph. I will let you know how my GS500 feels when I ride it…I just passed my exam today and I will have the GS registered tomorrow…have fun and be careful…watch for the idiots cutting you off from side streets…had some real excitement today because of them…no incidents, but a few close calls for my class mates at the MSF class…
madjak30ParticipantHow is it going for you? I hope you have as good of instructors as I did…they made if a lot of fun, and focussed on improving our skills without making it too serious…
madjak30ParticipantPassed the class and the road test…the instructors were pretty happy with my performance, even used me as an example a couple of times…the road test wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be…
The MSF class is awsome, I would definitely recommend it to others. I wouldn’t have learned to shoulder check as much and the slow speed manouvering that I had trouble with did get easier…just a great experience…this is the best fun ever…I can’t wait to get on the road tomorrow on my own bike…
As for “push steering”, just don’t think about it…it just works…I was push steering at 55mph today…that was an absolute blast….I can’t wait to hit some twisties…it’s almost like an addiction…just watch out for the idiots pulling out from side streets and alleys…one of the guys in my class had a real close call…someone pulled out on him on his road test…he stopped just in time…probably missed an impact by about two feet…thank god for the practice emergency braking…he passed as well, just in case you were wondering…
See you out there…woo hoo!!!
madjak30ParticipantYeah…the feeling started a few weeks ago, but today it was…well…why didn’t I do this before….but the finances didn’t support a “toy”….so there it is…
madjak30ParticipantMan…I think this is better than…well…it’s pretty good…lol
I can’t beleive how fast the day went…we stopped for a “potty break”, but it was noon…after lunch, we did some practice riding, etc, then another “potty break”…time to watch videos and go home…
Great day, learned starting on a hill, shifting in a corner, emergency breaking, and in a corner with that as well. I am still a little wobbly at the slow manouvers, but everything else seems to be going pretty good.
We do have about three in the course that don’t seem to be getting the hang of the clutch – throttle – brake combo, but maybe they will have the “A-HA” moment tomorrow…everyone seems to be having fun though, and that is the point of it all…
Last day tomorrow, then the road test…here I go…lol
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