[TrialsRider]

For me it’s a constant challenge to gain weight. Good news for you, the lighter you get the faster your bike will be

[TrialsRider]

Black is no color at all, and how are you suppose to shine up a flat black finish anyway. Flat black is the paint you put on something that you want to disappear from view, put on your flat black helmet and black leathers and you have a combination that is dangerous for night riding.

Note to the joe, invest in some reflective tape asap.

White is not so bad, I’ve had white bikes before, visibility is good and at least the sun won’t fade it. Yellow is great, just look how much your bike stands out on the avatar. Kawasaki Green, not my favorite but it is the most easily perceived color to the human eye.

[TrialsRider]

If you actually want to pick up the pace, you might work on breaking a little harder, later and accelerating out of the turns a little earlier. But full tilt into a blind corner on the public roads is a fast way to terminate the fun.

Some track time sounds like an excellent idea, it would help you to establish a better concept of just how fast is too fast for your tires. Otherwise stay with what you’ve been doing, you might be the only one that realizes it’s a pleasure ride and not a race.

[TrialsRider]

Just had to say Hi, because it’s just not fair that you post an intro and your first and only response is a spammer. … whatever you do, don’t buy your motorcycle from “Motor bike Warehouse” (edit: spam deleted)
Never even seen a Hyosung myself but the 250 Ninja is an excellent entry and I’m sure you’ll have a blast with either of these rides. Welcome to the group

[TrialsRider]

I read it has a gear drive valve train and gear drives are the absolute best design possible for valve drives. Things to be aware of; as beginner bikes go, CBR250RR has an extremely high revving engine and that usually implies they have a power band that comes on strong some point at high revs. The transition between very mild performance at lower revs and tons of power as it finds it’s powerband, can be startling to a new rider, possibly even lifting the front wheel in low gear, don’t over-react if that happens, use smooth throttle control until you become familiar with the engines characteristics, test it out on a fairly open road area or very large parking lot, if such a thing exists in Hong Kong ? CBR250RR also has very low and narrow bars, not the best for beginner riders because they force you into a tight crouch position, and provide reduced leverage for slow speed control, also not great for picking the bike up, if it happens to fall off the kick-stand or something. Motorcycle models in your part of the world are very different than those available in North America, and the law might restrict your selection until you have a full license. This might even be the most powerful ‘Road Racer’ type bike you can operate for a start.
Good to have you on the site, and do keep us updated on your progress.

edit: don’t consider one that is too worn out, they will be complex to work on and relatively expensive to service.

[TrialsRider]

Just showing off my baby

[TrialsRider]

I was about to post “Maybe you’ve just been riding on your tailbone too long and need to adjust your posture.” but then briderdt pointed you to the MYRP ( Master Yoda Riding Position ) Sure glad someone else wrote that, don’t think I could do it without using the terms “weighting the pegs” and “lowering your centre of gravity”

[TrialsRider]

Moto Guzzi is fitted with a dry clutch and the internal gears likely have a very large face dimension, which adds up to the rider needing to be very deliberate and positive when gear selecting. ( same goes for my BMW ) A brand new dry clutch also needs to be worn in slightly and applied with a little more finesse, there is a finer line between disengaged and fully engaged, because there is no oil that needs to be ‘squeezed out’ from between the clutch plates … It’s a learned thing. Both are items you would not normally find on the Japanese machines and likely why you found no problem shifting a little virago.

[TrialsRider]

…so far I remember every nut, bolt and injury like it was only half a century ago

[TrialsRider]

Afraid I would print off the articles that indicate it is illegal to drive a riding lawn mower on the public roadways, along with illustrations on how to hand turn signal and drop them in his mail slot.

I had a corner spill many years ago when my full knobby tires lost grip on a series of wet manhole covers. A lady came out of her house, not to see if I was OK but to curse at me for chewing up her lawn, didn’t even care that I was bleeding so I got out of there fast. Never expect the average citizen to give a hoot about you or your safety when you’re riding a motorcycle.

Glad you’re unscathed, remember, what you survive makes you stronger.

[TrialsRider]

IMO a true beginner bike should weigh less than half the weight of any of these bikes, but I can see the attraction to the Shiver as it ( almost ) has, all the right stuff. Good handlebar stance, great lighting, hydraulic clutch, etc. very, very sweet bike. Wish I could offer more first hand experience with the Italian bikes.

‘Rain mode’ relates to an on the fly fuel injection MAPI adjustment, more than the fly by wire feature, I’ve seen it in use by world class, factory sponsored Trials riders on the Montesa 4RT for several years now and it is a credit to Aprilia to include that feature on a production motorcycle. The concept is they ‘retard’ the timing ( very slightly ) and correspondingly adjust the fuel delivery to ‘flatten’ the powerband ( or the opposite for the go fast setting ), so I can see how Aprilia would imply this makes the bike better suited to beginners. Shiver weighs roughly the same as the 650 Kawasaki, so if that bike is truly suitable for a beginner, I see how the Shiver can legitimize the same claim.

USD ( upside down ) forks and the non-linkage rear suspension are not my favorite designs. Aprilia was coincidently one of first to apply the USD forks on their Trials bike back in 1989, they proved less than satisfactory for Trials application. I recall the complaints being; too hard to keep the oil in and the large diameter top tubes restricted the lock to lock turning range needed for Trials. …also heard rumors the design was more prone to catastrophic failure of either the triple tree or lower castings, relative to a conventional fork design.

A, I was just kidding with the icy road comment, but you do have really nice legs

[TrialsRider]

lol, automatic would also detract from engine braking on an icy road surface

[TrialsRider]

Inclined to agree with Gary on best use of a dual sport, OP you make no mention of where the bike will be ridden the rest of the time and dual sport is after all a design compromise. Addressing the ‘smooth’ ride question specifically, any motorcycle with a single cylinder and chain drive will inherently vibrate a little more than a shaft or belt drive multi, performance is the bastion of chain drives, not sustained cruising speeds. Far from intolerable vibration or dangerous anything, small displacement dual sports are just not ideal for the freeway or off road, Motards are right at home in the city, on a tight race track or twisty mountain road.

If I had one motorcycle as my only vehicle, it would be a large displacement, dual sport single, more dirt equipped than pavement. For versatility my preference by far is to have a pure dirt bike plus a pure street bike, or better yet, a competition dirt bike in the back of a little pick-up truck.

[TrialsRider]

It generally takes a major timing chain failure to eat valves like that. What kind of bike was it and what happened ?

[TrialsRider]

The part about going too slow to keep balance is crap. Very misleading for beginner riders. There is no relationship between balance and speed, if there was I would not be able to balance at a dead stop for extended periods. Balance is balance and speed is speed, you need to master both to be a skillful rider.

[Author]

Posts