[Matt]

There is actually a good reason for the heavy-handed teaching of counter-steering (even though most people do it automatically).

Because the physics of it are counter-intuitive, when someone gets into a panic situation (leaned over and going into a corner too fast) their brain needs to know what to do, because their terrified brain (thinking slowly) is going to what their brain thinks is the right thing to do. The “right” thing to do in that case would be to turn the handle bars like you do when going slowly. Which may very well high-side the poor sap.

It is better to make it sound overly complicated that way, when the brown stuff hits the fan, their brain is saying “push harder, keep pushing harder” because it has been rammed into them.

If that hasn’t been an issue for you, then awesome. I for one am greatful for the heavy handed counter-steering lessons. Twice now I’ve gone in too fast and both times my first reaction is what I do on my mountain bike: knee out, hips turned, drift the back end. The problem of course is that I can only drift the back end of a bike with my hips when it weighs 30 pounds and has 2.5″ wide tires… 330 pounds with 5″ wide tires… not going to happen. The “Push harder dumb-ass” (actual quote of what I said in my helmet) is what kept me on the road.

[Matt]

The list is pretty comprehensive. I gave it a look over when someone else had a question about the allowed bikes. I don’t think there is a bike you’d want start on that isn’t in the list.

I am a bit surprised by the 80km/h rule for one year though… Around here that rule lasts for 90 days (60 if you take an approved course). Same for no pillion.

From the outside, the Aussie system looks like a good graduated system.

Now, as for the original topic – yup Ben, I get you. I think you’ll find all the regulars here do. The people that don’t, well they leave for another forum where they can BS about wheelies and 120mph passes down the slab…

Thinking about that though, I’ve found it interesting lurking the many forums that I do… ADVriders tend to get it. I really like that forum, and for all the jabs at non BMW GSs, they are a pretty inclusive bunch, and you’ll find they ride pretty much everything everywhere.
The Ninja250.Org guys… well… I’m not so sure… Most of them seem to get it, and the FAQ sure imparts “It”… but I’ve found I no longer read the general bike discussion threads because of comments that just jar me with the non-“it”-ness…
My local forums seem to be 50/50 people that get “it” and ****-disturbers. Or maybe the disturbers just post most often…
I no longer even bother visiting Kawi forums or some of the other brand specific forums I used to… too much circle-jerk for my stomach…

I guess like any community created soley by a shared passion, you get lots of guys who really dig it, and lots of guys who really dig the image or the superficial version… I for one will never understand tv show fan clubs, I just don’t get that “it”, no matter how cool I look in my Lost t-shirt*…

(apparently I too feel like ranting… maybe I just need a coffee)

-Matt

*I don’t actually own a Lost t-shirt, in fact, I’ve never even seen a single episode.

[Matt]

The bike will most certainly work for 4 years with regular maintenance. There are no shortage of sportbikes still on the road from 10 or even 20 years ago.

Seriously though, since you are going to be paying for it for so long, put sliders on it.

As for the sludge, ask your local yammy service manager about it. He’ll be able to tell you better than anyone else what the issue is and how to avoid it. He’ll probably have some other useful advice.

Have fun, keep safe.

[Matt]

http://www.verucci.com/html/products/cruisers/VC250-2.htm

Okay, so just looking things over very quickly. The cruiser you point to appears no better than any of the japanese 250 cruisers.

The about us page describes Verucci as an Italian / American company specializing in watches and apparel that is now moving into helmets and vehicles. Vehicles seem intended primarily for South America with some going to North America and Spain…

My first thoughts are: Man they look just like Lifan bikes. Even the naming convention on their dirtbike is the same as the lifan. The 200cc sport bike looks a lot like the Lifan… but the engines are different from the Lifan bikes. Different displacements, and in the case of the sport bike, noticibly less power.

Between that and the fact that their parent company is called Qingqi leads me to believe they are a chinese manufacturer. Even if they say “american and italian designed”.

Reading their warranty, I’d avoid them: 90 days, parts only. Basically, if there is something wrong with the bike, you’re on your own. And getting parts may be very difficult.

If you are going to go the route of a super cheap new bike (aka Chinese made), go with a Lifan sold through American Lifan. Other importers do not have all the paperwork to put those bikes on the road legally. Even the Canadian Lifan importer recognizes that Lifans, while the highest quality of the chinese bikes, are inferior to their japanese equivilants. Roughly one in 6 bikes out of the factory have an issue (usually an electrical harness that wasn’t put together properly). I’ve read a number of posts on forums all saying that the first thing you need to do with any chinese made bike is go through the entire bike taking off each bolt and loctite-ing it.

Seriously, for the money, buy a used japanese bike. A used Rebel or Virago will be much much easier to deal with.

[Matt]

It has up on the forum several times before.

Power delivery is very similar to the SV650 and Ninja650R. It is as friendly as those. The big thing is that Ducati’s don’t have a perfect track record for reliability (though that has gone up a lot in the last decade). They still require a fair amount of regular maintenance. And when you need parts, they won’t be cheap. IF you drop the bike, expect to pay a lot more than you would to fix a Japanese bike.

So really, it is an okay starting bike so long as you remember it is in the class of the 650s (much heavier and more powerful than the 250s) and you’ll be paying (much?) more for total cost of ownership.

[Matt]

I park my bike in a heated underground lot. I get down to it, start it, and manage the choke while I setup my tank bag, put on my earplugs, helmet, and gloves. By the time I’m ready to go the bike has some warmth to it. To get out of the lot I have to go up a moderately steep ramp. First dozen times I tried to get up the ramp, even on hard throttle I stalled. The trick for me is to run it up that ramp at 6k and use the clutch to control my speed. By the time I get to the road I can kill the choke and ride normally (still ride easy for 5-10 minutes to let the engine keep warming up and to warm up my tires).

[Matt]

[Matt]

I’m not going to preach, you’e heard it before. Okay, I am going to preach, but I’m hoping to add some constructive advice in it…

Riding “slow” won’t save you from an inadvertant twist of the throttle – keeping it out of the powerband is what will protect you.

The big issues with the R6 is that the power will climb really fast past a certain rev (I think 7k is where it start to pick up steam). So keep your revs low. You’ve got 6 speeds and an engine that will let you do 90% of your driving in second gear. Use all your gearing. Short shift to keep the bike well below the 7k range. Think of 7k as your redline for the first month (or more!) move your imaginary redline to 8000 later, and slowly move it up.

Secondly, save your skin and your wallet. ATGATT. If you don’t have both pants and a jacket, get some. Leather will cost you more but you can reuse after a crash. Textile is like an airbag, use once. Also, leather protects you better in the event of a long slide. Secondly, the bit about your wallet. Put on a set of frame sliders. They don’t cost much (I know replacement sliders are like $25 a pair or something ridiculiously cheap. I don’t know how much the install kit / upfront cost is). They will save you a lot of money and heart-ache if you drop or slide the bike.

Side note about the RPM:
Ben posted an issue with his ZX-6R in that the engine needs to be run up to 10k every now and then to burn off sludge. I’m guessing your R6 will have the same issue. Once you are comfortable with freeway riding, add a stretch to your rides. Try for a mostly straight stretch that will let you run at 10k (probably in second gear). You can use this time to play with your throttle a little bit; no sense in saying you are never going to want to feel that bike’s pull – you will. When there isn’t any traffic drop down to 45 or 50mph, and smoothly roll on the throttle up to 65 or 70 (enough to feel the pull, not enough to piss off a cop or make you look like a hooligan). Do that to enjoy your bike and clear the sludge out of your engine in a safe and responsible way.

I’d like Ben’s input on that last point, since I’m not sure what really needs to be done to clean the sludge…

Don’t zip around town or back country roads at 10k, you are just asking to fertalize a farmer’s field with your new bike.
Be safe and have fun.

[Matt]

Best McDonald’s quote ever:

“Going to McDonald’s for a salad is like going to a drug dealer for vitamins.”

[Matt]

I’m with Spaz on this one…

[Matt]

Do you know the person selling the bike?
Is it from a dealer?
Will the seller give you the VIN to check out?

We get ALOT of sport bikes posted on the local classifieds, almost always for that exact price. Inevitably the seller is in another city. These are SCAMs.

Be careful. Even if it is in town and the VIN checks out, take it to a Yamaha Dealership to be looked over before the sale is finalized. I cannot stress this enough.

If everyting checks out and you’ve got yourself a deal, then please, use some of that money saved for full leathers (they sell perforated ones for warm weather)and frame sliders.

[Matt]

I haven’t ridden the 650R, but I did a new (800cc) BMW F650GS. It makes about 5 foot pounds more torque. That puts both bikes at just over TRIPLE the torque of the Ninja 250. Let me be clear on this, if I’m heavy on the throttle and quick on the clutch I can get that front wheel light without trying. I’m certain with practice I could wheelie the 250. I’m even more certain that I could wheelie it by mistake if I really buggered things.

Wheelieing a bike is not smooth and elegant like they make it look on TV. Unless you have good balance and the bike goes up perfectly stright, it is going to come down on its side, or turned enough that when it hits down it’ll steer violently to one side. And unless you expecting it, it can be a pretty scary thing even when everything goes right. Youtube is full of the failures. I recommend you watch them.

Now, again, I can’t speak to the 650R or other riders. But if I made the same mistakes on the F6560GS that I’ve made a dozen times on my 250, well, I probably wouldn’t still be in this sport.

[Matt]

Yes it does. But don’t take my word for it. Go sit on one yourself. Sit on it for 20 minutes in the dealership, then you’ll know just how comfy a bike it is.

[Matt]

A note on the highbeams:
Have you ever owned/driven a low car, like a mazda 323 or older civic?
It puts you right at eye level with headlights on trucks and motorcycles. I can say from experience that even in day time a highbeam aimed at your face is far more than an annoyance. It is painful if they are right behind me, and I can’t look at them (or what is behind them) when on coming. At my experienced riders course they expressly stated not to run highbeams for exactly that reason.

Similarly, if you ever come up to Canada, you’ll be ticketed since running highbeams during the day is illegal (in Ontario at least).

As you said, best way to stay safe is to build good riding skills, relying on obnoxiously bright and potentially dangerous headlights, not my idea of a good riding skill.

My 2 cents (for what they are worth… I’ve recently noticed 2 cents doesn’t buy very much)

[Matt]

Black textile is pretty safe at night. Or at least, Joe Rocket is. They have reflective stripping in the black trim! Pretty awesome, it looks black during the day, but it shines white in headlights (or a camera’s flash). Not sure which other brands also do this. I think all the high end ones do.

The downside, black is still a lousy idea during the day. All black is worse: The human perception notices changes more than things or shapes.
So, the best way to get someone’s attention is to “change”. At night, you can do this to oncoming traffic by wiggling the front end just enough to have your light beam move from side to side (works as well as flashing your high beams without blinding the guy or making him think you’re telling him to go ahead and turn left across your path).
When you wear clothing with different colours (say, red jacket with black trim and white helmet), as you move about different areas are thrown into contrast and you are more visible. If you, your bike, and your helmet are all black, than the only thing that you have going for you is your silhouette and any reflections.

There are some very slick looking jackets (imo) that have black arms but a white torso (or black body, large white stripe in arms). When kept clean these high contrast jackets can look really cool while, be visible, and avoid the fluorescent yellow look.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/joe-rocket/phoenix-jacket-pants/joe-rocket-phoenix-4-jacket-phoenix-2-pants.jpg

[Author]

Posts