Trials
Well-known member
All of them. You sure sound like a prospective buyer to me, bike shops are in the business of selling motorcycles, let them do their job.
Just take everything the sales guy tells you as a possible lie.
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Super Duper New
- Thread starter TowneBike
- Start date
Just take everything the sales guy tells you as a possible lie.
Trials
Well-known member
No they are called out standing bikes
It might not have a seat but it has a very comfy fender down there somewhere.HAHAHAHAHA noted! Thanks for being so responsive!
Haha whoops, pretty new with the jargonNo they are called out standing bikes
I can say once you have your M2 try to test ride anything they will let you take out.
I’m on my third bike in four years because my idea of what’s cool and what’s riding keeps changing.
I started on a 1400cc Custom chopper (my dads but adopted by me for a season)
Then 1400cc Harley touring bike (my first street bike)
Rode a friends 600cc super sport
Rode a neighbors cbr 300cc (by far the best most fun starter bike)
Now on a Ktm 1190 adventure (current ride)
I do not recommend any of my choices for first bikes all for different reasons.
Not one is a very good starter bike other than the 300 honestly.
I’m on my third bike in four years because my idea of what’s cool and what’s riding keeps changing.
I started on a 1400cc Custom chopper (my dads but adopted by me for a season)
Then 1400cc Harley touring bike (my first street bike)
Rode a friends 600cc super sport
Rode a neighbors cbr 300cc (by far the best most fun starter bike)
Now on a Ktm 1190 adventure (current ride)
I do not recommend any of my choices for first bikes all for different reasons.
Not one is a very good starter bike other than the 300 honestly.
J_F
Guest
you never forget your first
Thanks for the advice, I'm being convinced I should try out all bikes, and definitely not trying anything over a 650 unless I'm supervised
Trials
Well-known member
Ride every motorcycle you can get your hands on.
Don't get hung up on engine displacement, it's a crap way to ascertain how easy or difficult the bike will be to ride. You'd be better just looking at front brakes. If a bike is very heavy &/or very fast they fit it with great huge front dual disc brakes, the ones you should ride first do not have those.
Don't get hung up on engine displacement, it's a crap way to ascertain how easy or difficult the bike will be to ride. You'd be better just looking at front brakes. If a bike is very heavy &/or very fast they fit it with great huge front dual disc brakes, the ones you should ride first do not have those.
Noted!! I'm thinking my first ride will be at a place like Learning Curves or RTI. 250's and 300's won't have that huge front brake will they? Do specs on a bike usually tell me if they have this type of brake?
Trials
Well-known member
My first ride was in the Yardley factory parking lot in East York in 1965. I was too short to reach the ground from the saddle so I had to launch from a curb or take a rolling start before I threw my right leg over the saddle. Stopping involved sliding my butt off the left side and hooking my right leg over the saddle so I could touch a toe to the ground once I came to a complete stop. :I in those days all the bikes had the same seat height even if it was only 80cc, manufactures went out of their way to make the saddle that tall.
The very best place too first ride a motorcycle is on a grassy field or the flat bottom of a sand pit. Makes crashing far less painful and you will break far fewer levers.
Specs are very important when you are shopping for motorcycles, but you have to learn how the specs relate to results. Massive front brakes on a bike is an easy visual key, should be easy to spot, if the brake disc's are nearly as large as the rim and there are 2 of them, those are probably powerful stoppers.
I think Hyosung 250 pictured here is the only 250cc bike with huge looking dual disc brakes that don't really work like huge dual disc brakes. China likes to put stuff on there product so they can list it as a sales feature on the brochure, not because it needs it or is better. Brakes on that particular bike don't actually work as well as one good brake disc fitted with a decent calliper :| while they look like the real thing they are poor value. Those hyosung callipers are crap and the wrong thing to put on that disc which was made to look like it is on a radial calliper equipped bike.
When shopping for disc brakes the most important feature is usually the number of active hydraulic pistons in the calliper. Two beats one, particularly if they push against each other, 4 piston brake callipers is the performance spec of choice to look for, but you won't find them on anything less then a high performance brake.
reference quote: Honda CBR250R vs. Hyosung GT250R vs. Kawasaki Ninja 250R | MC Comparison
"Although it has twice the front brakes of the Honda and Kawasaki, the Hyosung’s squishy lever takes double the effort and has practically no feel."
... squishy brake lever action on a hydraulic brake is either the result of air in the system, stretch in the rubber brake lines that should be steel reinforced or poor design of the calliper. In the case of the hyosung example I would suspect the rubber brake hoses and poorly designed callipers to be the source of the problem the test riders noted.
The very best place too first ride a motorcycle is on a grassy field or the flat bottom of a sand pit. Makes crashing far less painful and you will break far fewer levers.
Specs are very important when you are shopping for motorcycles, but you have to learn how the specs relate to results. Massive front brakes on a bike is an easy visual key, should be easy to spot, if the brake disc's are nearly as large as the rim and there are 2 of them, those are probably powerful stoppers.
I think Hyosung 250 pictured here is the only 250cc bike with huge looking dual disc brakes that don't really work like huge dual disc brakes. China likes to put stuff on there product so they can list it as a sales feature on the brochure, not because it needs it or is better. Brakes on that particular bike don't actually work as well as one good brake disc fitted with a decent calliper :| while they look like the real thing they are poor value. Those hyosung callipers are crap and the wrong thing to put on that disc which was made to look like it is on a radial calliper equipped bike.
When shopping for disc brakes the most important feature is usually the number of active hydraulic pistons in the calliper. Two beats one, particularly if they push against each other, 4 piston brake callipers is the performance spec of choice to look for, but you won't find them on anything less then a high performance brake.
reference quote: Honda CBR250R vs. Hyosung GT250R vs. Kawasaki Ninja 250R | MC Comparison
"Although it has twice the front brakes of the Honda and Kawasaki, the Hyosung’s squishy lever takes double the effort and has practically no feel."
... squishy brake lever action on a hydraulic brake is either the result of air in the system, stretch in the rubber brake lines that should be steel reinforced or poor design of the calliper. In the case of the hyosung example I would suspect the rubber brake hoses and poorly designed callipers to be the source of the problem the test riders noted.
sburns
Well-known member
You've already been given lots of great advice on here by some very experienced riders. I can share some limited experience. I starting riding in 2017 and I had no prior experience on 2 wheels. I went with the Learning curves course. Mostly because of schedule and proximity. They had a bunch of different bikes to try, I tested 4 bikes (funny enough the curiser wasn't one of them). But honestly you'll be spending most of your time just on the basics (cluch, first gear, curves, second gear, and braking). Still a ton of fun, and that is the feeling you should have, as this is a great way to figure out if this is for you or not. Passed the course, barely I think, and went and bought a bike and month later. I got a heavy curiser, ya not the easiest bike to start to learn with, was quite daungting at first, I dropped it twice, but I had some goals in mind. In the beginning I took it slow and practiced, and practiced and got comfortable controlling the bike, now I am having a blast and go everywhere. Also I was solely interested in cruisers as well, but now that I have been riding I really have been looking at adventure touring bikes.
Have fun!
Have fun!
+1 for Learning Curves. Good assortment of bikes and the instructors are top notch.
To answer your question, no those bikes are single disc.
My chopper was 1400cc yet really not that fast
My Harley Road Glide was mini van slow, very heavy, very comfortable
My 1190 adv is nuts fast, very tall, but once I’m up there the view is great, it’s mostly comfortable and it’s probably the easiest of my three to ride.
But still to much for my experience level.
I would highly recommend an adv style bike like the v strom or similar in a 650cc for a first.
My Harley Road Glide was mini van slow, very heavy, very comfortable
My 1190 adv is nuts fast, very tall, but once I’m up there the view is great, it’s mostly comfortable and it’s probably the easiest of my three to ride.
But still to much for my experience level.
I would highly recommend an adv style bike like the v strom or similar in a 650cc for a first.
sburns
Well-known member
Trials
Well-known member
Did you try twisting the volume control more?
Doesn't actually help but it seems to make the riders very happy.
Welcome to GTAM and riding. It's a fantastic pastime.
Just going to rehash some of what has already been said by knowledgeable folks and add some stuff (may cover tracks already trodden...)
Get good gear and wear all of it; boots, gloves, quality leather (or armoured textile if you can't wing full leather...) jacket pants etc. The old saying "dress for the slide, not the ride" carries a lot of meaning. Avoid beanie type helmets; study why full-face helmets are vastly superior. Always wear eye protection and/or ride with the visor down or cracked a bit for airflow. Taking a june bug in the face at speed doesn't tickle; taking a stone or a bird to the face could cause injury and a crash.
Many smaller cruisers are pussycats in terms of power delivery. They generally have low seats and so flat-footing it while stopped is a cinch, even if you've got short inseams. However, they can be heavy and have "odd" handling dynamics because design emphasis is often placed on straight-line stability and, yes, style instead of handling. A small standard (the kind in highest abundance at motorcycle training outfits) are docile and predictable.
Needless to say, I heartily recommend any qualified school for a full-weekend course. Pay attention to what they say; it may seem tedious and repetitive but it's for a reason. They stuff you learn early on is stuff you'll use all the time on the road. Part of the training is to take some of the thinking out of what you're doing and make it "muscle memory" or so rote you don't even think, you just "do."
Make sure you check with your insurance provider before signing anything or paying cash for a machine. Brand-new riders often face challenging insurance costs and it can be worse if you're in a high-risk area (like much of the GTA...) A small-displacement, non-sport bike is your best bet. A Virago 250 would be a great machine to start on.
Good luck and ride safe.
Just going to rehash some of what has already been said by knowledgeable folks and add some stuff (may cover tracks already trodden...)
Get good gear and wear all of it; boots, gloves, quality leather (or armoured textile if you can't wing full leather...) jacket pants etc. The old saying "dress for the slide, not the ride" carries a lot of meaning. Avoid beanie type helmets; study why full-face helmets are vastly superior. Always wear eye protection and/or ride with the visor down or cracked a bit for airflow. Taking a june bug in the face at speed doesn't tickle; taking a stone or a bird to the face could cause injury and a crash.
Many smaller cruisers are pussycats in terms of power delivery. They generally have low seats and so flat-footing it while stopped is a cinch, even if you've got short inseams. However, they can be heavy and have "odd" handling dynamics because design emphasis is often placed on straight-line stability and, yes, style instead of handling. A small standard (the kind in highest abundance at motorcycle training outfits) are docile and predictable.
Needless to say, I heartily recommend any qualified school for a full-weekend course. Pay attention to what they say; it may seem tedious and repetitive but it's for a reason. They stuff you learn early on is stuff you'll use all the time on the road. Part of the training is to take some of the thinking out of what you're doing and make it "muscle memory" or so rote you don't even think, you just "do."
Make sure you check with your insurance provider before signing anything or paying cash for a machine. Brand-new riders often face challenging insurance costs and it can be worse if you're in a high-risk area (like much of the GTA...) A small-displacement, non-sport bike is your best bet. A Virago 250 would be a great machine to start on.
Good luck and ride safe.
Did you try twisting the volume control more?
Doesn't actually help but it seems to make the riders very happy.
Oh ya
I had 400w JL audio 4 channel amp with 4 250w JL speakers.
You could hear me coming was an understatement.
More stereo power than engine.
But she was pretty and sparkly and so very comfortable
And I dare say still the best sound at idle of any bike on the road.
I still love HD
Trials
Well-known member
I think I seen you one day.
HD idles like an 8 cylinder radial engine firing on 2 cylinders.
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