[megaspaz]

Only if you’re trying to go 90+ mph all the time.

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Actually, the 650r you picked up is along the same class as the SV650. You got lucky in your choice. You got a p-twin engine without the major throttle goosing that you’d get from a 600cc inline 4. You probably didn’t make the best choice given your experience, but you didn’t make the worst choice either. That article could use some updating with the newer middleweight p/v/l-twin bikes out on the market. But there’s more than just raw cc to look at. The article is basically railing against the 600cc inline4 super sport replica class of bikes… like the cbr600rr.

Ride safe and keep the rubber side down.

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Congrats on taking the plunge! Glad you had a great time and came back safe. Canyon backroads sure are fun…

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

email sent.

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Hellya to the suzuki pics being oh-so-underwhelming…

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Ducs are beautiful machines, but there’s a couple of reasons I wouldn’t go with this duc, both relating to heat. First off, the engine’s air-cooled. in warm/hot weather you’ll need to be moving to keep that engine from overheating. Could be a problem if you ride in congested cities and highways and not allowed to lane split/share. The second may be a problem depending on the configuration. Looks like there’s 2 seating different configs for this duc. The first being a full seat with passenger seat, the second being a single slimmer seat and just the back cowl.

Full seating

Rider seat only, thinner seat(???)

I’ve talked to a duc owner who’s bike has just the rider seat and he says his ass gets really hot when not moving. There’s heat insulation against the dual undertail exhaust, but it’s not very adequate. He’s gotta be moving to keep that heat off his ass. He really finds that uncomfortable when moving slow or stopped for a long period of time. You may feel differently, hard to tell. I also don’t know if having the full seating configuration helps against this.

Me, personally, I’d get an sv650s/sv650sf. Liquid cooled engine and proven to be reliable. It’s a popular bike, which means you’ll be able to save money as there’s a lot of used ones being sold and that parts are easily and readily available. Compared to the duc, the horsepower and torque’s about the same… Well the horsepower on the sv can be brought up to the duc by a simple slip-on exchange from the stock can.

So in summary, the main reasons i’d stick with the sv over the duc is liquid cooled engine, better heat insulation, and better maintainability (reliability and availability of parts). Well price is a major factor as well with ducs being notoriously expensive to buy machines. The 696 msrp is still more expensive than the fully faired sv650sf with ABS brakes. So Ducs, while being beautiful machines to look at and would be neat to own one, would never really be in my buy list.

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Had a company offsite to Santa Cruz today. Took Saratoga/9 to Highway 1 South/Ocean Ave. to the boardwalk. Didn’t feel like taking the company shuttle. It’s an awesomely fun road. A lot of switchbacks and twisties. Unfortunately, me riding on my own and on a schedule on that stretch of 9 for the first time, I missed every single vista point… So no pics… I will get pics next time though. Interestingly light morning traffic and light afternoon rush hour traffic via 17 back. A lot of small, quaintish towns along the way. That could be part of another possible route.

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

From everything I’ve read, reliability’s an issue with the hyosung. Maybe they’re better now, I can’t say for sure. Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about the other bike you’re looking at either. Although the pre-08 ninja’s aren’t all that good looking, they are solid beginner bikes. I’d suggest giving them a go if you’re goal is to learn and improve your riding skills. When you’re ready to upgrade, you can also go for the uber-cool factor then. Welcome to the community. (-:

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

That sports rider article is one of the best articles I’ve read about the noobs who only ask because they want validation. A lot of great arguments against the common reasons for going with a 600+cc super sport replica…

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

you mean like this… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjGfv2AeUss

srsly, wtf?

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Heh… cell phone use while driving was banned, but apparently it’s still legal to text while driving… I swear, there should be an intelligence test or something if you want to become a law maker…

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

I really would love the DOT or some uni to do another statistical analysis/study on motorcycle accidents. The Hurt report’s about 30 years old now. While I agree, that the dangers aren’t much different for motorcyclists, times have still changed and I’d prefer to rely on facts and numbers instead intuition. While the dangers haven’t changed, I bet the probabilities of accidents have increased with more autos than road capacities, more squids (stunters on public roads), more distractions driving cars (cell phone use), less road maintanence, etc. When I was growing up in the bay area, stop and go traffic on the highways only occured when accidents happened. Now it’s because of too many cars and not enough lanes. And the roads were in much better condition. Compare a current study on motorcycles with a study on cars and it would be a very interesting comparison. We don’t have that ability though because the only current and recognized motorcycle study is the ~30 year old Hurt report.

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

You should be fine, unless your commute includes steep hill/mountainous climbs. Other than that, the ninja 250 is more than adequate for hauling your butt around… in a beginner friendly way…

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

Hi! We certainly do like conversing.

Have fun at the course because motorcycling should be fun.

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[megaspaz]

There’s different levels of protection when it comes to boots as with any type of motorcycle gear. And protection and comfort aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive either. Front hard plates along the shin, hard calf tongue in the back, hard plates over the ankle balls, material for better skid protection, anti-twisting design, etc. Now I don’t know what combat boots offer in terms of protection and even the most protective boots can only protect so much depending on the speed involved in an accident, but i choose my boots with more of the fancy stuff because in my mind it might be the difference between only getting broken bones or having my foot/leg partially or completely severed. The point of protective gear is to increase your odds of suffering less damage. At least that’s the way I see it.

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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Author]

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