Motorbikes

[turtle33]

the drz400 is a dirt bike?

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the 2 bikes that would be the best is a 600cc suzuki bandit or a drz400 with motard wheels. The 600 "should" be learner legal, the r6 is definatly not. The 600 is really comfortable to ride and is really tough. (try riding a r6/1 for a long ride, really sh*thouse) But the pick if your riding around town is the drz400 SM, man these things are so much fun, they dont have fairing etc to smash, and you can get some knobbies and go bush. I wouldnt take the 400 on a 500k ride but around town they are heaps better than any roadie. If u search hi and lo you will get the drz with wheels for 6k.

yeah mate I got a fair idea what bikes are what :banghead: , as I said if its a commuter you want than the DRZ 400 SM (Super Motard- road tyres on a dirt bike) is the ducks guts. Super motard is the the new "cool" in road bikes, I challange anyone to try and out handle one on a road bike. When im on the SM (not a drz) roadies pull up and wanna know all about it etc. In every situation the drz will eat any 250 roadie that you have mentioned except top speed. With the drz, you can have a road bike to commute and a dirt bike to play.

[mickq]

CBR-250R (single front brake) and RR's (double front brake) are reliable bikes. Most you will find on the road are imported so watch out - the imported ones come second hand from Japan, where they are raced. Generally the easiest way to pick them is the cheap-ass muffler the importers put on them to make them legal in Aus. One problem is that when they run the race-style mufflers in japan, they also rejet the bike. Changing back to an aussie style muffler makes the engine run very rich - much richer than it should.

That being said, Jap engines tend to be very good and even if it has been raced hopefully you will get a good one. You can learn the genuine aussie ones by the exhuast can and also colour because only a couple of colours were imported here properly.

The fastest 250cc four stroke is the ZX-2R which as someone said has funky air inlet hoses sticking out of the handle bar area and connecting to the petrol tank area (acually its an air filter not tank in that area). But its barely faster - not worth getting excited about because an ok rider on a slower bike will whip you regardless. I dont believe any of these are genuine imports...all are grey market.

To be honest, there is stuff all difference between the 250's. Whilst the CBR's look ok, they are also made to rev - you have to ride them very hard and hold them very high in the revs to get power....and be in the right gear. If you arent, there isnt much power.

Also, be warned....you CAN expect to drop the bike int he first 12 months. It may simply be at a servo or similar. If your bike has fairings expect the repair bill to be high, or you can not repair it and lose a lot on resale.

I ended up going a naked bike called the Yamaha FZX250 Zeal which was also a better for for me as I am 6'1. It easily kept up with CBR's, and had a boot load more low and mid range torque. The engine was a factory modified version of the FZR250R engine, modded to add more torque and make it less peaky. It revved to 15.5k whilst the CBR's rev to around 18....but my engine made good power from just 7000 revs whilst the CBR needs a bootload more revs - its very peaky and that's not so enjoyable in traffic.

I say go with any of the good brands (not chinese ones!) in either a V-twin or 4 stroke but NOT a 2 stoke. They are all pretty good. Just get one that looks in good nick and well cared for. Have someone who knows bikes give it a quick look over - there are certain things you should look for. Something as simple as the chain not being well maintained and snapping can bring you down, so dont get that cheaper, dodgy looking bike!

Stay away from any 2 strokes. I dont care what anyone says, they are lethal. The insurance companies call them Kiddy Killers, and for good reason. that's why many insurers wont touch the 250cc 2 strokes. They are tricky to ride and catch out even experienced riders with their on/off power band. The 125cc 2 strokes arent as bad but put out about the same power as the 250cc 4 strokes but are lots more peaky and piggish to ride - there is no reason to go with a 125cc 2 stroke as nothing to gain. Not to mention the frequent maintenance of 2 strokes. This includes the Honda 125cc 2 stoke - there are made in malaysia and have TERRIBLE reputations for blowing engines. Some people have their well maintained engines blow 5+ times over their warrantee period and sell them to some poor git just as the warrantee expires.

So check out any Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki or Kawasaki 4 cylinder or V-twin bikes. All will be pretty good. The margin between them power wise is minimal once you start looking at the sportier ones. Do your searching on the net: try to get one with 35+hp. Bikes like the GPX250 have just 28 and are reasonably slow. 40-45hp will put you on par with CBR250RR's and there are several bikes including naked ones that have that much power.

Be sure to put things in perspective though. Whilst at the moment there seems to be lots of difference and performance will be a big concern for you, after 6 months you will be used to the power and you will realise it wouldnt make that much difference what you would have bought as your first bike - its all about braking, gears, cornering etc.

The first bike I rode larger than a 250 was a CBR-1000 a few years back on a test ride at Honda HART in Melbourne. Accelerated so quick in 2nd gear from 100kmh-185 or so it made me scream, literally. Like a mac truck had hit me from behind. And that's a slowish 1000cc bike!

Am looking at the new R1 at the moment. Looks like a fun bike

12R's and 14R's are too large for my needs. You cant even use a 1000cc bike very well on the roads, I doubt a 1200 or 1400 is going to be of much more benefit other than a bit more mid range torque. Not sure about the 12R and 14R but the R1 does around 176kmh in 1st gear so using the full rev range on the streets is a pretty rare occurrence...whcih I guess you could argue is a reason its good to have more mid range torque. I prefer the cornering of a smaller capacity bike too. Ideally would liek the power of a 1000cc bike in a chassis that handles like a 600.

[ENVY-T]

My mate had a Honda 'SPADA' years ago. It was a naked 250 and it looked horn. Performed ok, but the look was similar to that of Ducati monster.

A bit old now, but awsome to look at.

[xrdreaming]

My mate has a new 07 GSX-R 600, that is silly fast (10 second 1/4 miles), I can't imagine what the 1000's are like.

[bugster70]

Ideally would liek the power of a 1000cc bike in a chassis that handles like a 600.

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Well then, you'd be looking at something like the GSX-R750. More than enough grunt for real world situations, handles like a race bike and will top 300km/h if you really want to go that fast.

[bugster70]

My mate had a Honda 'SPADA' years ago. It was a naked 250 and it looked horn. Performed ok, but the look was similar to that of Ducati monster.

A bit old now, but awsome to look at.

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Marcus, you sure you're not getting confused with the VTR250? Now THAT'S a Monster lookalike!

[SAMSXR6T]

Here is my two bucks worth.. go the DRZ 400 with the motard wheels. you may need to change the gear ratios to suit the hi revs you will be using or the constant opening of the throttle on the hwy's... or have a spare set of rims with off road tyres.

[ENVY-T]

My mate had a Honda 'SPADA' years ago. It was a naked 250 and it looked horn. Performed ok, but the look was similar to that of Ducati monster.

A bit old now, but awsome to look at.

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Marcus, you sure you're not getting confused with the VTR250? Now THAT'S a Monster lookalike!

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Yup it's very nice, but I have a soft spot for the spada.

[mickq]

Nah, I wouldnt mind the extra power from the 1000cc bike. I agree, the GSXR-750 is a great mix of extra torque and handling similar to a 600, but for me a 1000cc would be best. Also, I must admit I love the looks of the R1.

I have recommended a 750 to two friends recently. One just bought one (up from his Gixxer 600 onto a nice black 750) and is very happy. The other is upgrading soon after he pays something else off first, as he found despite being a reasonably tame rider (and happy with 600cc on the street) the 600cc bike needed lots more power on Philip Island track.

Its funny you know, people here talk of their cars being fast, including the modded ones which are sure ok by car standards. They should jump on any japanese 1000cc sport bike for $18k and it will redefine their concept of acceleration. Its frightening. 0-100 in low 2's to mid 2's is....well.....different. Its like playing on a playstation. Everything is so fast its like a video game.

You can tell the people that dont ride.....they think they can take you on at the lights, thinking you are quick like a car, not quick like a bike. if you beat a sports bike, the guy simply isnt taking you on, he is probably just taking off like he normally does or a newbie scared to use more than 25% throttle because even that is damn fast.

WRX owners are best at this - seem to think they are the fastest thing on the road. Hell, if they took you on they would be going flat out in 4th gear getting near to 200kmh and Id be almost ready to go into 2nd gear...

Ideally would liek the power of a 1000cc bike in a chassis that handles like a 600.

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Well then, you'd be looking at something like the GSX-R750. More than enough grunt for real world situations, handles like a race bike and will top 300km/h if you really want to go that fast.

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Edited 03/02/07 07:54 AM by mickq

[EZ2CME]

WRX owners are best at this - seem to think they are the fastest thing on the road. Hell, if they took you on they would be going flat out in 4th gear getting near to 200kmh and Id be almost ready to go into 2nd gear...

So your saying 1st gear goes all the way to 200kmh on the bike?