[WeaponZero]

I showed her pictures of the Ninja 650R and she seems to really like the look of it. She doesn’t like that it’s only 2 cylinders vs. 4 however and she also doesn’t like that in magazine comparisons it is outperformed by my bike (the SV650). Its starting to seem as though she wants something to top mine. Still, if I can get her on a 650R that’s a much wiser choice than a GSXR.

[WeaponZero]

My bike intimidated the hell out of me for the first three days. After that, though, it went away and the fun REALLY began.

[WeaponZero]

I’ve been wondering the same thing myself. I do like my SV650 and when I do “upgrade”, i would rather keep it than trade it in. Still, I long for a VFR or a late ’90s Kawasaki ZX-9R and I can’t wait until the day when I’m good enough to be able to get on one of those.

[WeaponZero]

Kawasaki Vulcan 500. There is no better starter cruiser.

[WeaponZero]

She says that what turned her on to bikes in the first place was videos on youtube of people doing illegal drag racing in the streets on Hayabusas with extended swingarms and big bore engines and custom paint jobs. When I explained to her that bikes put more of an emphasis on handling on outright speed, and that bikes like the GSXR aren’t so much made for going fast as they were going around bends, it was like it was shocking news to her.

[WeaponZero]

Apparently she’s under the impression that the fact that it was a two-stroke which are less forgiving than four-strokes changes everything and makes that experience not apply to street bikes.

[WeaponZero]

She says she rode a 125cc two-stroke dirtbike once when she was about 15 years old and crashed it into a tree because the throttle was too twitchy and sensitive for her. That’s about the extend of her riding experience.

[WeaponZero]

The used market for GS500s and Ninja 500s sucks. People keep em til they wreck em, then they buy a 750/1000. If you’re really looking for a good first bike and don’t mind riding around on something older, back in the ’80s all four of the Japanese companies made bikes that are referred to as UJMs. These were bikes that were standard-style bikes (cruiser/sportbike hybrids) with mild, low-maintenance two and four cylinder engines. They’ll make anyone a fine first bike. The Kawasaki ones were the KZ and GPz series. Suzuki had the GS series. Yamaha had the XS/Maxim (shaft drive! woohoo!) and Honda had the CB/Nighthawks(also shaft drive in the 80s). Most of today’s race-edge sportbikes started out being based on these bikes. These bikes emphasized practicality and function over form and were designed as do-it-all generic streetbikes that didn’t really fall into a niche and there are plenty to be had for ridiculously low prices on the used markets. They can be pretty fun too as any owner of a Honda CB550 Four (you heard it right–a 550 cc four cylinder) can attest to.

If you’re not willing to go that old or need something a little more aesthetically modern looking, it’s perfectly understandable. But be prepared to have to do a lot of searching for a good deal on a used bike.

[WeaponZero]

I live in Pittsburgh and I’m planning a weekend overnighter to a place that’s about 4-5 hours away in either OH or WV in October. The reason I’m waiting until October is because I don’t want to go on any long trips until after I’ve taken the MSF course which I’m scheduled for in September. It’ll probably be the only long trip I have time for before winter comes and I have to garage my bike for 3-4 months. When the new season begins, however, I’ll be out there every weekend doing long trips across state borders (which doesn’t say much because Pittsburgh is less than a half hour from the OH border and 45 min from the WV border).

[WeaponZero]

I showed her pics of the GS500F and she said that she liked the side profile view but didn’t like the way it looked from the front. In fact, she didn’t know the 2 pics I showed here were the same bike! I told her that if she thinks it looks ugly from the front that’s ok because not many people will be seeing you from in front for very long .

But, it didn’t do any good. Her squidly friends have beaten me to the punch and explained to her that twin cylinder bikes are pointless and that she should be looking into fours. Trying to undo the damage they have done to her motorcycle fantasy world is hard!

EDIT: Bear in mind that her squidly friends are the guys who all started on 80cc dirtbikes living out in the boonies or Honda F2s and F3s back when 600cc sportbikes still had some degree of mild-manneredness to them.

[WeaponZero]

Woohoo! Thanks! XP Home BTW.

[WeaponZero]

Haha nice! I liked the design of it That dragon on the side looks sweet

[WeaponZero]

I use engine braking when going down a hill at low speeds.

http://gallery.gsxr600.net/v/Baynes/SV650/MeOnBike_FullGear_.JPG.html

the hill you see behind me in that pic is one I have to go down everyday when pulling into my driveway and it is MUCH steeper in real life than it looks in that pic. I downshift into first gear and use engine braking when going down that hill because at the bottom where it ends it goes straight into my driveway.

[WeaponZero]

When I bought my SV650, I walked into a dealership and started trying on helmets. Price was no object. I tried on Arais, Shoeis, KBCs, HJCs, and a Shark. I walked out with an HJC CL-15 because it was the single most comfortable helmet for me, and for that reason I’m sticking with HJC. This FS-10 is worth looking into because I do need more han one lid. I was also looking into th Sy-Max II and AC-12.

[WeaponZero]

Hyosung is Korean, not Chinese or Japanese. The reviews of them say they perform well but seem to have poor build quality and don’t hold up well over time. General consensus seems to be don’t buy a Hyosung unless you’re planning on upgrading to another bike within a year, because when things on them do eventually start to go wrong, you won’t be able to find parts. Have you ever bought a brand new car that worked just fine without a hitch for a few years but then one thing went wrong, and as soon as you fixed it, another, and another, and it turned into a money pit that spent more time in the shop than on the road? You should expect that from a Hyosung. I don’t know this from personal experience, just from reviews on the internet. I do hope their quality improves, they seem to have some really nice looking bikes.

[Author]

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