[Matt]

Long legs – the SV won’t be any better for you than the CB750.

What you want is a Dual Sport or Tall street bike.

A 250cc dual sport is a great learning bike to teach you the ropes.
The 650 dual sports are pretty easy to ride from all I’ve heard, but I can’t speak from experience.
There is also a Suzuki 400cc dual sport with a number of people absolutely love.

Other tall choices include the Suzuki V-Strom 650 (DL650) and Kawasaki Versys. Both sit you more upright and have taller seats than other street bikes but less than a 650 Dual Sport. While both friendly bikes, they aren’t truely beginner bikes and you will find yourself less at ease on them than you would a 250cc Dual sport (or even a 650 dual sport, so I’m told).

—
“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

Bike speeds show roughly 5% increase.

The odometer is less than 1% off. The speedo increase is a matter of safety and protecting the riders from speeding tickets as opposed to a technical one.

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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

The Duck is actually the two I am less bothered by. The FZ6 consistently gets points (either for or against depending) in reviews because of the engine. It is running a only mildly detuned R6 engine. It is really peaky and powerful. As a city bike, the reviewers tend not to like it, since it needs to be spun like a sport bike. As a beginner bike it isn’t considered friendly for those exact same reasons. It only get points for the engine when you take it out into the canyons and start riding it like a sport bike.

Somewhat related, I sat on a 696 last night. Wow, is that ever a cool feeling bike. It is vey small and tight. You are leaned forward slightly (similar to my ZZR-250) but there is _nothing_ in front of you. The instruments are small, the headlight is out of the way, basically, it is the handlebars and then nothing – just the road. Even the mirrors are small and off to the sides. It really feels like being Wiley Coyote strapping yourself to an Acme rocket (similar leg position too!).
What a cool experience that bike must be.

—
“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

After reading that interview, I have to say, I’m actually slightly more interested in a JP bike. I still wouldn’t trust it as a primary bike… but as a cheap (in all senses of the word) cruiser… I could see myself buying a 300cc Bobber… of course, for similar money and a helluvalot of hard work I could buy a couple of parts Rebels and make my own baby bobber…

Vulcan 500 Bobber anyone?

—
“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

Oh that just made my day
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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

I was told not to expect the crown (top of head) padding to break in much. If it is a little snug, then it’ll break in. If it is tight, it won’t break in enough. If it is JUST right, it’ll break in and be slightly loose.

Checkpads are different, they can be tight, they’ll break in a fair amount. I know my cheekpads where rather tight, but after two months of riding they were no longer an issue.

Headshape has a big role in helmet fitting. Go to a store with a wide variety of makes. Different models from the same company will usually use the same head shape, going to different companies is the best way to find a better fit.

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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

Looks to be a chinese made bike.
Be cautious when buying chinese. Thier QA is not up to par with what North Americans expect.

Big grumbles from buyers of chinese bikes are:
-Poorly assembled, often requiring much fo the bike to be disassembled and put back together with loc-tite.
-Poor parts availability for non-honda clone bikes
-very poor warranty service (make sure you read just what “6 month limited warranty” means to this company)

The best chinese make seems to be Lifan. But even they aren’t considered on par with the Korean makes, let alone the Japanese bikes.

Many chinese bikes use a clone of the Honda 238cc parrallel twin (the engine found in the Rebel 250 and Nighhawk). The nice thing about these bikes is that when you need a part, you can put any honda compatible oem or aftermarket part in there.

This johnny pag uses a parrallel twin 300cc engine. It could just be a borred out 238, or it could be an entirely different engine.
They claim 18.5 pounds of torque, which puts it a few up on the rebel, and would be about right for a bored out 238cc.

In all honesty, at $3400 US, you might as well get a used Rebel or other 250cc cruiser. The tiny difference in power won’t really be noticed, but the piece of mind knowing that when something goes wrong, you’ll have a dealer network and parts supply *on this continent* are not to be overlooked.

Unrelated:
The United Motors bikes they sell are, I believe, Hyosoung made.

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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

There are two I see regularily around here. One owner shops at the same grocery store, so I got to oogle it while he was shopping

I think the comparisons to motorcycles, three wheeled scooters (MP3) and sports cars are all off. This thing is a sled (ski-doo, snowmobile, whatver you want to call it) for the road. It seats almost identically to a snowmobile, and I think rides more like on than like a bike.

Just like the new style mustangs, I wouldn’t own one – it simply isn’t meant for me. But I smile everytime I see one

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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

’nuff said.

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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

Just so we are clear, the Anon post isn’t mine.

In fact, I made no mention of a law requiring seatbelts. In Canada, I have one, I am happy to have it. I’m not going to preach to you that you need one. My comment was that I consider simply saying “this decision only affects me” to be short sighted. People have to make their decisions with others in mind; “no man is an island” and all that. I find a lot of the “freedom” arguments in cases like seatbelts and helmets to not really consider those other consequences.

Dying is easy, living is hard.

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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

“I don’t believe in seatbelt laws because when you choose not to wear a seatbelt the only person you’re endangering is yourself.”

Again, a matter of opinion, but I think that view is too short sighted. It assumes your death or maiming only affects you. The simple fact is, if you die a lot of people will suffer (spouse / SO, parents, children, siblings, close friends).
If you are maimed, you will suffer for the rest of your very long loooong life.
Even someone as unrelated to you as the person who hits your car will suffer. Most people don’t deal well with learning they’ve just killed another human being, even if they can rationalize it as “it was his own fault for not wearing his seatbelt”.

With freedom comes responsibility. I consider wearing a seatbelt and preventing my unnecissary death and injury a responsibility to my family and friends.

As for stuff hitting your helmet, I’ve had rocks and june bugs hit my helmet so hard it snapped my neck back… I have no idea how people can ride without a face shield… I like my teeth!

—
“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

The GS500 seems to be a good re-introduction bike. It’ll have slightly mroe power and response than the old 450, but it won’t feel like a completely different beast.

I know my area MSF-equivilant offers a “re-introduction” course. It is aimed at people who have either been out of the sport for many years, or learned to ride on their own and now want proper lessons.

I was going to say that if you remember all the controls and are cofortable playign around in a parkinglot, the ERC would be a good idea. Except that they don’t cover some of the really basic stuff (they just expect you to know how to do very low speed maneuvering). The reintroduction course might be the better bet since it spend moe time rebuilding the fundamentals upon which everything else is based.

Whatever you chose, Welcome back to the sport!

—
“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

Canada has a manditory helmet law… I grew up with it, so I don’t have the same feelings against helmets that many people south of the border have.

Elwood (and others) make good points regarding natural selection / cost of rehab (it really is only half a joke, just look at insurance pay outs) / and personal freedom.

My issue with the personal freedom line is this:
By allowing people to ride without a helmet you are setting them up to “conform” to unsafe peer and media based pressures (gotta look good after all, don’t want to be laughed at, etc). It is really easy to say “they made their choice”, but how educated is that choice really?
When someone who’s been riding for 20 years and has seen buddies die, he is making an educated risk assessment.
When Young Buck gets on his new bad-ass ultra-cool bike, is it? If he ever needs a helmet, he won’t get a second chance. Lots of people “learn teh hard way” when it comes to leather. Fewer people survive to learn helmets the hard way.
And Young Buck isn’t the only person paying for his mistake. His family and friends will lose someone they love, for ONE mistake he made. Wanna bet Mr and Mrs Buck have a thing against “murder-cycles” afterwards?

I was recently reading a bit about helmet laws in another country… darned if I can remember which (I think it was a commonwealth country, not that that really narrows it down). Basically, helmets are required so long as the person is under 30 years of age or has their restricted/learners license. That seemed to me to strike a good balance between the two view points.

I was also reading that years ago 17 states revoked their manditory helmet laws following the “freedom” argument. I believe they say a pretty noticible increase in the fatality rates of motorcycles where other states (who hadn’t changed their laws one way or the other) hadn’t.

I’d like to find both articles…

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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

Easy,
There is no GSX500 in North America. I’m pretty certain there isn’t one anywhere actually.

GS500E/F is a sporty standard. It is intended as an everyday commuter / sporty ride / low budget touring bike / beginners bike. Take your pick of duty, it does them all reasonably well. E and F designate generation I believe. ShannonG or Ben could probably tell you more.

GSX-650F is the Katana/Bandit replacement. It is an everyday sport bike or budget sport tourer depending on your want. In either case it is not really intended for beginners.

GSX-600R -750R and -1000R are supersports intended for experienced riders. They are aimed at track day riders and people who want serious performance at the cost of practicality. The R suffix in this case means “Race”

All are great fun and reliable bikes. Of all of them, the GS500 will have the lowest insurance, best gas mileage, and be the most forgiving.

—
“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Matt]

DRLs in cars use your low beam at 30hz instead of a 60hz current (so it is less bright than a proper low-beam – it also messes with aftermarket HID systems, much to my dismay).
Speaking as someone who lives in a country with manditory Daytime Running Lights, I assure you, I notice when someone has their highbeams on even on a sunny day.

Motorcycles in Canada run their stock low-beams anytime the bike is turned on (I thought this was standard south of the border as well, but don’t know for sure).

If you don’t think you are bothering other drivers riding with a high beam on, simply have a buddy sit on your bike, high beams on, and then sit in your car 50 feet away in the opposing lane. If you’re okay with that, go for it. It is all about the golden rule. Me, I notice it, I strongly dislike it, I won’t inflict it on others.

I’m curious if there is a report on this more recent than the Hurt report…

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“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Author]

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