So I'm looking at buying my first bike.

[ProchargeMe]

So far I've gotten the bike up to 80 with no issue, acceleration is fine for me. The bike is very very easy to ride and shifting is becoming more second nature than it was at first. I feel like boots would actually make it harder since the gear lever is pretty short. I ride with the ball of my foot on the pegs and keep my toes in close proximity of the shifter. But like everyone said... it's a 250, it's not fast but it's fast enough to get out of the way. I feel like I could have started on something more powerful but I feel that I would get too cocky on it too fast and that's never a good thing. After 70 miles I can say that I really do love the bike and the way I feel riding it. Paint looks damn good too

 

[rstrohkirch]

I'm confused, isn't the cbr 300r out yet? It pretty much makes the 250r obsolete. It' weights within 1 to 2lbs of the 250r, it costs like $200-300 more and it has 31hp/20tq instead 23hp/15tq. Unless of course you bought an older model at some great deal?

 

[Zenmervolt]

Thats is the nice thing about Harley. Very low maintenance bikes.
Belt drive, no valve checks decent gas mileage.
Unfortunately too many owners screw up the bike with mods.

Yup. The people who leave the bikes largely stock tend to have trouble-free machines in my experience. The guy who got me into motorcycling rides Softail Classics as his main touring bike and he's been through I think three now with over 100,000 trouble-free miles on each before selling just to upgrade to a newer model. Guy's also got a '52 Hydra-Glide that he restored and used to have a high-mile but pristine XLCR as well.

On my ZX-11 I'd do more sport touring. I think on the last set of Metzlers (M3?M4) I got about 12,000 miles out of them before they started getting sketchy. Tires before that had about 8000 miles on them.
On the Stradas that are on it now they have about 3000 miles on them and very little wear (bike is unregisterd garage queen now).

On my CBR1K I have Q3's on it. Previous Q2's were worn out at about 5K. Same goes for the tires before.
However, its a choice.
I could probably pick up a pilot road and get twice the mileage.

Yup, tire choice has a lot to do with it as well. The stock Dunlops on Harleys tend to be less long-lived than the preferred Metzeler ME880 replacements. And, of course, there's riding style too. In my mind, it doesn't make sense to get soft tires for a cruiser or a commuter bike; that would be like putting R-compounds on a '57 Chevy or a Geo Metro.

On a Duc or a CBR1000, yeah, go with the sticky tires that are dead in 5-7k, but a little 250 should easily be able to double that.

Also, the ZX-11 was epic; great bike for its day and still a very impressive machine. Nice choice.

ZV

 

[pauldun170]

So far I've gotten the bike up to 80 with no issue, acceleration is fine for me. The bike is very very easy to ride and shifting is becoming more second nature than it was at first. I feel like boots would actually make it harder since the gear lever is pretty short. I ride with the ball of my foot on the pegs and keep my toes in close proximity of the shifter. But like everyone said... it's a 250, it's not fast but it's fast enough to get out of the way. I feel like I could have started on something more powerful but I feel that I would get too cocky on it too fast and that's never a good thing. After 70 miles I can say that I really do love the bike and the way I feel riding it. Paint looks damn good too

I HIGHLY recomend getting motorcycle specific footwear.
Aside from protecting your foot and ankle, it will keep you from ruining your regular shoes.

 

[JulesMaximus]

On a Duc or a CBR1000, yeah, go with the sticky tires that are dead in 5-7k, but a little 250 should easily be able to double that.

ZV

It seems 7-8k miles is fairly average. Some have gotten more and some less... depends on riding style as well.

http://www.cbr250.net/forum/cbr250-...u-get-your-first-set-tires-your-cbr250-3.html

 

[JulesMaximus]

I HIGHLY recomend getting motorcycle specific footwear.
Aside from protecting your foot and ankle, it will keep you from ruining your regular shoes.

I have to echo this. You do not want to be riding in regular shoes or anything with laces really. They can get caught up in the controls and cause a tip over which could break bones easily. A friend of mine had that happen to him. He pulled up to a stop light and his left foot was stuck and he couldn't get his foot down. He said he almost went over but managed to get his foot free at the last second.

Not to mention the added protection that motorcycle boots offer. Regular shoes offer zero protection in a crash, they will just come right off and then you're sliding down the pavement barefoot.

Some motorcycle boots have laces but they also will have some sort of mechanism to hold the laces out away from the controls so they can't get caught up in them.

 

[pauldun170]

Yup. The people who leave the bikes largely stock tend to have trouble-free machines in my experience. The guy who got me into motorcycling rides Softail Classics as his main touring bike and he's been through I think three now with over 100,000 trouble-free miles on each before selling just to upgrade to a newer model. Guy's also got a '52 Hydra-Glide that he restored and used to have a high-mile but pristine XLCR as well.



Yup, tire choice has a lot to do with it as well. The stock Dunlops on Harleys tend to be less long-lived than the preferred Metzeler ME880 replacements. And, of course, there's riding style too. In my mind, it doesn't make sense to get soft tires for a cruiser or a commuter bike; that would be like putting R-compounds on a '57 Chevy or a Geo Metro.

On a Duc or a CBR1000, yeah, go with the sticky tires that are dead in 5-7k, but a little 250 should easily be able to double that.

Also, the ZX-11 was epic; great bike for its day and still a very impressive machine. Nice choice.

ZV

Thanks.

 

[Zenmervolt]

It seems 7-8k miles is fairly average. Some have gotten more and some less... depends on riding style as well.

http://www.cbr250.net/forum/cbr250-...u-get-your-first-set-tires-your-cbr250-3.html

Have to admit that shocks me. A 250 just doesn't have the power to really burn down a rear tire like a sportbike does. I would imagine it's something to do with the no-name "IRC Road Winners" that come on the bike from the factory. A set of Metzeler Lasertecs seems as though it would have to hold up better.

ZV

 

[olds]

Is it stock?
What is the issue?
How many miles is on it?

Couldn't tell you much about them, not a Harley guy. They look stock.

 

[pauldun170]

Have to admit that shocks me. A 250 just doesn't have the power to really burn down a rear tire like a sportbike does. I would imagine it's something to do with the no-name "IRC Road Winners" that come on the bike from the factory. A set of Metzeler Lasertecs seems as though it would have to hold up better.

ZV

I think the issue is the OEM tires.
Rake and trail might also contriibute

 

[ProchargeMe]

I'm confused, isn't the cbr 300r out yet? It pretty much makes the 250r obsolete. It' weights within 1 to 2lbs of the 250r, it costs like $200-300 more and it has 31hp/20tq instead 23hp/15tq. Unless of course you bought an older model at some great deal?

Afaik the next step up honda offers is a cb500r, and it costs about $6k new.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Have to admit that shocks me. A 250 just doesn't have the power to really burn down a rear tire like a sportbike does. I would imagine it's something to do with the no-name "IRC Road Winners" that come on the bike from the factory. A set of Metzeler Lasertecs seems as though it would have to hold up better.

ZV

Doesn't seem to be a whole lot of data on that. Probably because most people who buy those bikes only keep them for a relatively short period of time. There are numerous threads on the OEM tires but most of them seem to regard those tires in a pretty positive light.

 

[pauldun170]

Afaik the next step up honda offers is a cb500r, and it costs about $6k new.

http://powersports.honda.com/2015/cbr300r.aspx

 

[Greenman]

Afaik the next step up honda offers is a cb500r, and it costs about $6k new.

That's more than I would have thought. Harley's new "street" series start somewhere around that price, I had thought they were a little to expensive for what they were.

 

[JulesMaximus]

That's more than I would have thought. Harley's new "street" series start somewhere around that price, I had thought they were a little to expensive for what they were.

Of course HD doesn't list the hp, weight or any "real" performance specs for those bikes, or any of their bikes for that matter.

 

[rstrohkirch]

$6k isn't bad for a new 500 with today's dollar. Kawasaki was charging $5k for their 14 year old design 500r in 2009. They increased the price $100-300 every year so if it was still around today it would be like $5500-5900.

 

[JulesMaximus]

$6k isn't bad for a new 500 with today's dollar. Kawasaki was charging $5k for their 14 year old design 500r in 2009. They increased the price $100-300 every year so if it was still around today it would be like $5500-5900.

I was kind of shocked to find out the SV650 is now over $8k. Mine was new $5999 in 2008.

 

[BUTCH1]

So far I've gotten the bike up to 80 with no issue, acceleration is fine for me. The bike is very very easy to ride and shifting is becoming more second nature than it was at first. I feel like boots would actually make it harder since the gear lever is pretty short. I ride with the ball of my foot on the pegs and keep my toes in close proximity of the shifter. But like everyone said... it's a 250, it's not fast but it's fast enough to get out of the way. I feel like I could have started on something more powerful but I feel that I would get too cocky on it too fast and that's never a good thing. After 70 miles I can say that I really do love the bike and the way I feel riding it. Paint looks damn good too

Might want to read your owners manual as to break-in procedures, it might not be a good idea to hit full on top speed until the rings and bearings have had a chance to seat, once again I'm not certain but usually break-in time means keeping the revs below red-line, if I'm wrong someone feel free to correct me..

 

[ViviTheMage]

I was kind of shocked to find out the SV650 is now over $8k. Mine was new $5999 in 2008.

Aren't they stopping production on the sv650 as well? I am kind of sad I sold mine... I might have to find another.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Doesn't seem to be a whole lot of data on that. Probably because most people who buy those bikes only keep them for a relatively short period of time. There are numerous threads on the OEM tires but most of them seem to regard those tires in a pretty positive light.

Most of my experience with OE tires on bikes is that they're not bad, but that they don't last as long as a good set of replacements. For example, the stock Dunlops on Harley cruisers tend to last around 8,000 miles for the rear tire, but the preferred replacement Metzeler ME880 tends to last around 12,000 miles for the rear tire.

The OE tires may very well perform great in terms of grip, but so would a high quality replacement and I'd put money on the replacement lasting longer.

Of course HD doesn't list the hp, weight or any "real" performance specs for those bikes, or any of their bikes for that matter.

The weight and torque figures are listed right on the HD website. If you're going to lie like that, you should at least do so in ways that aren't easily discovered.

I suppose you could nitpick about the lack of a HP figure, but...

Honda's website doesn't provide a HP figure either. Not even torque. Just weight. Kawasaki is the same, no HP, no torque, only weight. Same story for Suzuki, no HP, no torque, just weight.

Of the manufacturers I checked, only Ducati listed both HP and torque. And Ducati's published numbers were inflated over what reviewers' dynos found. Harley's published 44.3 ft-lbs for the Street 750 was almost dead on to the dyno's 43.2, but Ducati's published 50.6 ft-lbs for the Monster 696 was more than 10% higher than the 44 ft-lb dyno result.

So, based on an objective comparison it seems that Harley lists more information than most manufacturers and that the information Harley lists is more accurate than the information listed by the few manufacturers who publish more information.

I like Ducati, they make beautiful bikes that are incredible performers and I'm not intending to cut them down here. My point is simply that your criticism of Harley is woefully ill-informed.

ZV

 

[Greenman]

The numbers on Harley's Street line all look respectable, I'd love to test ride one. Though I have heard some grumbling that the overall build quality isn't up to normal Harley standards. I'd have to look at one to decide, a lot of Harley guys think anything less than perfect is unacceptable.

 

[JulesMaximus]

The weight and torque figures are listed right on the HD website. If you're going to lie like that, you should at least do so in ways that aren't easily discovered.

I suppose you could nitpick about the lack of a HP figure, but...

I like Ducati, they make beautiful bikes that are incredible performers and I'm not intending to cut them down here. My point is simply that your criticism of Harley is woefully ill-informed.

ZV

I wasn't fucking lying. I just didn't see the weight listed when I looked. And you can find hp figures easily for most bikes... just not for Harleys.

 

[deerslayer]

Congrats on the new bike! The paint looks good.

 

[Greenman]

I wasn't fucking lying. I just didn't see the weight listed when I looked. And you can find hp figures easily for most bikes... just not for Harleys.

Harley doesn't advertise the Horsepower of their air cooled bikes, they push torque instead. Most Harley buyers aren't very concerned about horsepower, they want a lot of grunt and a reasonable 0 to 60 time. They don't care about big horsepower because for most riders, it doesn't matter.
I'm a pretty average Harley owner, and I can promise you that my bike will never hit it's top speed with me on it. The only exception to that would be if someone was shooting at me.
Huge horsepower numbers and insane top speeds are for the race track, and dick swinging competitions at the local bar. They have zero value on the street.

 

[sze5003]

What did you end up getting OP? I kept my sv650 and my buddy just sold his cbr600 due to financial issues. He borrows my bike every once in a while and he always comments on how comfortable and easy to ride it is. Next time I take it out I need to replace the rear pads.