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Review of the Genuine Blur
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SantaCruzRiderParticipant
Online sites that I’ve used recently and would highly recommend include:
NewEnough — can’t beat their prices
MotorcycleSuperstore — pretty much everything you need, great prices, plus cool bargain basement
DennisKirk — ditto
Bike Bandit — only drawback is that they carry EVERYTHING, so you can get lost in the site
JCWhitney — a mix of some cheap off-brand stuff and some gear that is overpriced compared to some other sites. Great site for tools and garage gear.SantaCruzRiderParticipantThe instrument panel should fix well with a 2-part epoxy — it comes in black so no issue.
This is different plastic from the fairing, which is an ABS and responds well to ABS cement (the kind plumbers use on ABS pipe).
February 5, 2010 at 5:24 pm in reply to: Whats the best wayto come to a stop at an intersection/stop sign? #24422SantaCruzRiderParticipantExcept for starting the bike and the rare pull over to adjust a visor or something, my bike is never both running and in neutral.
Stopping at lights, I cycle through the gears, sometimes providing a moment of engine braking in each gear, sometimes just keeping the clutch in and dropping down gears as I pass through what I estimate to be the right speed. Even when coasting down, I very much like to have the bike sliding through a gear that will allow me to power forward at all times.
Of course I have had a very few (thankfully) panic stops where it’s full brake and I come to a stop in 5th gear. But I quickly kick down to 1st in case folks start piling up and I need to move (I also try to end panic traffic stops in as safe a place as possible, typically off to the side of a lane or splitting lanes (legal in Cali) and a couple cars into the backup.
February 3, 2010 at 5:30 am in reply to: Whats the best wayto come to a stop at an intersection/stop sign? #24377SantaCruzRiderParticipantSo JR, can we all assume that you’re skipping the BRC? Hard to believe that the didn’t give any info on how to get into gear at a stop.
Assuming that’s the case, you might want to pickup Motorcycling for Dummies, it goes through the most basic of controls and covers alot of territory.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantThe SV is a V-twin and the 650 is a parallel twin, and both are tuned to generate their power in the lower rev ranges. This makes them both pretty street and beginner friendly, and certainly more so than most parallel 4s.
This is not to say that parallel 4s can’t be detuned to make their power lower (many sport tourers do just that). But all things being equal (and they NEVER are), V-twins, followed by parallel twins are more often built and tuned in a manner that makes them more beginner friendly. Meanwhile, many parallel 4s are built and tuned to take advantage of their inherent abilities to rev very high and put out high hps.
There are a lot things that go into comparing various bike and engine displacement is often one of the most inconsistent measures. That’s why sometimes, 650ccs feels smaller than 500.
+1 on the idea of sitting on lots of bikes. Printed specs and recommendations can only take you so far. Eventually, how the bike feels under you will make all the difference in whether you love your new bike.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantIf you’re looking for a bike to tinker with, a ’78 could be great fun. But if you vision is to spend more time in the saddle, rather than under it, I would stay away from anything even close to that old.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantLooks like the cool kind of gizmo that you love using until that one time when you scrub the rim a bit too hard and the bike falls over onto your wife’s car.
I’ll pass and either roll the bike up a couple feet or use the centerstand — which my bike has because that was on the “must have” criteria. (yeah, it sounds smug, sorry)
January 26, 2010 at 6:52 am in reply to: Are 250 motorcycles suited for carrying around 2 people? #24223SantaCruzRiderParticipantIn terms of riding with a passenger, bikes are usually limited more by their wheelbase and suspension. The Ninja should be fine for the infrequent jaunt. Power will suffer a bit, but you generally want to take it easy and make acceleration smoother with a passenger as they are going to be less able to respond to sudden changes in speed.
But as mentioned above, you have a lot to learn before you put someone else’s life in your hands. Passengers are distracting, the make the bike top heavy, increase your stopping distance, shift their weight the wrong way in curves and upset your balance, and slam up on your back during hard braking — so now you’re braking hard and having to perform a bench press to keep from getting smashed into the tank. It’s not for the novice.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantFirst off, congrats on the new bike — it sounds like you’re already having fun.
As to your class choice, I’m going to make an assumption that you’ll continue to have at least a few parking lot practice sessions over the next couple of months. If that’s the case, I’m willing to bet that you will have little trouble handling the Blast. It will be more challenging than the 125, but I doubt if it will cause you trouble.
Ultimately, your choice will be:
— Ride the comfortable and relatively familiar 125 and be better able to focus on some of the nuances of control
0r
— Ride the Blast and have the opportunity to spend some quality time on a different type/size bike. This could be both good and badI’m assuming the discount is pretty much a wash as your husband can use it for himself later. — That’s my 2 cents.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantNo doubt that a new bike has its benefits. But I wouldn’t necessarily walk away from a 5 yr old bike with 6k miles on it, especially if it can save you some decent $$$. 6k is just broken-in in my book.
There are no guarantees, but bot the 500s you listed are reliable bikes, and ones that are not really at the top of the list for street stunters. There is a good chance that both bikes have the original tires, so checking the tread for uneven wear can tell you a lot. Fairings, pipes, pegs and handlebar ends are the first thing to show if the bike has been dropped — so if they are clean, the bike likely has at least remained upright.
Do you like the ergo of the 250 compared to the two 500s? They sit a bit differently and one may be more comfortable than the other.
But as brider says, there is no perfect answer. All three sound like great choices, so try to relax and not worry too much about making a mistake.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantThe “seriously” comment was in ref to the headline to choose whichever bike is red — it was a feeble attempt to be funny, but was obviously lost.
Sounds like you’ve had a bad day, figuring out this whole website posting thing — so apologies for adding to the pain.
As for your question: There is little to separate the two bikes. I’m assuming you’ve sat on both and determined that they offer the same or similar levels of comfort.
Did you take both for a ride? If so, did one handle more naturally–then get that one.
The mileage on both is nothing, so I’d look to be sure that they were maintained properly and not abused.
Good luck
SantaCruzRiderParticipantSeriously, I already posted to your earlier hijack message. Hope that and others here can help.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantGo to the “post new topic” link at the top portion of the message area (just to the left of the right column).
As for these bikes, I don’t think the years or mileage give either much advantage. If I was looking at these two, I’d get the one that fit the best. If both feel the same, I’d get the one that was the cleanest and/or had the most complete maintenance records. I’d probably also follow my intuition on the seller and how he represents his previous use and care of the bike. If it’s still a tie — go for the coolest color.
SantaCruzRiderParticipantThat’s what makes it so funny to think about it being used on a roadway.
Of course you also have to wonder how many seats, tires, jackets and windscreens will get melted by riders who forget that it takes several minutes for a halogen bulb to cool enough not to melt nearly anything it touches.
I’m looking forward to the road review — though I hope they don’t try it in Florida.
SantaCruzRiderParticipant… especially from law enforcement.
I can imagine the response you’ll get when every time you glance back to change lanes you blast a halogen lamp into the face of the driver beside you. They should make a version with a video cam on the back so you can also record the hilarious accidents you leave in your wake.
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