motorcycle question

[RAMd®d]

...so a person might be less likely to get in trouble on one.

Not true.

Buell's have a ton of torque so they move quickly enough to get a careless person in trouble, very handily.


...but my 700 would barely touch 100mph...

As a cruiser its power band may have designed for just that- cruising. Or it may have had some engine difficulty.

My '71 750 K4 Honda would jump up to 125mph with two up, in no time. I later added K&N air filters, raised the needles and put in larger high speed jets. It screamed. A lot of fun.

[kj]

RAMd®d wrote:
...so a person might be less likely to get in trouble on one.

Not true.

Buell's have a ton of torque so they move quickly enough to get a careless person in trouble, very handily.

I meant "relatively". Heck, walking down the sidewalk could be dangerous if you're careless. kj.

[Undrpsi]

Depends on what you're learning to ride.

Ninja 250 was one of the best bikes I ever had. Got it cheap. Hopped it up. Rode it like I stole it for 3 years. Excellent bike to learn 'crotch rocket' style riding. Moved all the way up thru a GSX then on to an R1. I don't think any of the 600cc sport bikes are good 'basic' bikes. Most take considerate skill and aren't very forgiving.

Honda Rebel 250/450 are great small bikes. Lot's of women ride these because they are light, dependable, and easy to ride. Most people start on these and move up to Harley's, V-Stars, and others in the cruiser range.

Honda Shadow (up to 650cc) are great 'standard' bikes (confusing to some that 'standard' and 'cruiser' are used interchangeably on several bikes). You can even go back to the late 70's and thru the 80's with Nomads, V45's, V65's, and the LTD's. These are what most kids of the 70's think of when they think of motorcycles...and YEAH, back then a 650 or 750cc was a BIG bike.

I currently have a Vstar 650. My wife got it for me after making me get rid of my sportbike. (uh...something about blowing by her at WELL over 140...and me being WELL over 40....and she wasn't going to raise 4 kids alone...). I would consider it a beginner bike and it's a 650cc. I am a small guy but you can ride these new 650cc's like they are big wheels. Massive improvment in weight and rideability is the biggest reason why a 650cc is now considered 'small'. Harley and the others are making bikes with 1300, 1400, 1800, and BIGGER engines now.

And yeah, once the kids are gone I will have my butt back on some kind of sport bike. The other poster talked about Buell's...sweet bikes...that new XB9 transparent blue version is cool as crap.

Man, didn't mean to write a book...tooo much coffee on a Monday morning.

Jay

[mrbigstuff]

I think dual sports are great bikes to learn on, as they are very forgiving on the suspension end of things as well.

Try one of these:

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/11/315/Mot...XT250.aspx

[mrbigstuff]

oh, yeah, not a good beginner bike:

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Any bike over 400 cc that can not hit 90 mph is either way under geared or is using lawnmower technology. The 60's era Honda CL90 I rode in high school could hit 65 mph with a hint of a tailwind. The 1979 Yamaha RD400F (a :quotes: small :quotes: bike but not a beginners bike) had a top speed right around 100 mph.

[RAMd®d]

By "very handily" I mean "relatively". The scale between it and other bikes is relatively small, where speed kills.

You seem to imply that a Buell is so slow that it's very easy to avoid trouble or that it doesn't lend itself to trouble. That's incorrect.

It's not as quick as most of the big crotch rockets, but an inadvertent twist of the grip and you're going much quicker than you were a second ago. That's one of the things that gets idiots in trouble.

And once you're at any kind of real speed, things happen very quickly and it really doesn't matter *what* brand of bike your on when HP exceeds talent. They'll all get you in trouble. (Like it's actually the bikes fault.)

So be it an FJ, GSX-R, Honda, or a Buell, anybody with a brain can ride them without the *bike* getting them into trouble. And anybody deficient in that department can hurt themselves equally well.

The unqualified notion that a Buell is somehow not as dangerous because of "70's tech" is ridiculous.

[wurm]

RAMd®d wrote:
So you're saying nobody should ride anything bigger than a 250?

Nope. Never said that at all. The whole point of this thread is my surprise that a 650 or 750 wold be referred to as a "beginner's bike". You can go as fast as you want on two wheels. Frankly, I never understood the attraction of the crotch rockets, but that's just me.

I will however, admit to referring to crotch-rocket riders doing wheelies on the highway, as assholes.

[olnacl]

RAMd®d wrote:
And once you're at any kind of real speed, things happen very quickly and it really doesn't matter *what* brand of bike your on when HP exceeds talent. They'll all get you in trouble. (Like it's actually the bikes fault..

Reminds me of a quote from a sailor who, after successfully completing a singlehanded race, came into the harbor under spinnaker and suffered a knockdown rounding up to drop the sail - "I confused my ability with my ambition".

[Undrpsi]

wurm wrote:
[quote=RAMd®d]
So you're saying nobody should ride anything bigger than a 250?

Nope. Never said that at all. The whole point of this thread is my surprise that a 650 or 750 wold be referred to as a "beginner's bike". You can go as fast as you want on two wheels. Frankly, I never understood the attraction of the crotch rockets, but that's just me.

I will however, admit to referring to crotch-rocket riders doing wheelies on the highway, as assholes.
We call them "Squids" down here. No shirt, No shoes, No helmet...no brains.

and just for edification. Had a good friend lose it in a turn at WELL over 120 mph...wearing leathers and helmet....scrapes and bruises. He knew how to tuck and roll in accident (not that that always works). 4 years ago...a guy 2 streets over dumped his Harley at barely walking speed (IMHO the slow speed was part of the problem)...snapped his spine....DOA. If it's 'your time' it doesn't matter about speed or ability...it's just 'your time'.

In my motorcycle safety course they told us "It's not IF you are going to wreck...but WHEN".

Jay