ikov
7th July 2014, 21:49
So with the imminent sale of the CBR150R, I thought I should probably make a quick review for anyone if they were curious (and/or the next sod that buys the same bike as their first step)
So I'm a pretty tall fellow maxing out at a lofty 5'2".... and svelte too, all 87kgs of streamlined lean mass.
Obviously with all of zilch/zip/nil/nadda experience of riding day in and day out, I figured the best thing to do would be to go out and get me a bonafide set of training wheels. :baby:
So i went along to many a shop and a couple private listings, but finally settled on this pretty red beauty you see below. I chose it because -
1> I could reach the ground
2> I could reach the ground at emergency stops
3> I could handle the weight and power of the bike with only basic handling skills practice.
So I'll just delve right into it; Heres the short version :
Pros-
Nimble
Easy around town
Exceptional economy (3-3.3L/100kms)
Good looking mini cbr looks for a starter bike
Can actually hold motorway speeds
Cons-
Gutless (17Hp, 12Nm torques)
Light enough to notice wind gusts
Skinny tyres not terribly confidence inspiring in the wet
Some weight on wrists
Needs high revs, but buzzes a lil bit nonetheless
The bike is what you'd expect for the size and description. As you can tell by now, it has all the advantages of a small capacity commuter, but also suffers from some (not all) of the associated drawbacks.
I always knew it was a starter bike that I would get to initiate myself and gain confidence in my riding skills. It has quite a good chassis that in the dry you could attempt reasonable lean angles and learn a bucketload on the twisties (say outside whitford or the awhitu peninsula). Braking is somewhat twitchy with the rear prone to lock if engaged too aggressively and on the occasion, unwitting stoppies have been accomplished with a handful of the front brake.
Although the bike is light, it does not carry its (145kgs) of weight as low down as you'd like it to, but then again anyone over 5'5" should really not have anything to worry about as you will be flat-footing this beast with both feet firmly on terra-firma.
I have no extensive experience of motorbiking so this is less a review and more an opinion piece but I'm trying to be as objective as possible and include all the stuff I'd expect a new rider would want to know. Something like what I want to know about a motorcycle im interested in.
I've ridden the motorcycle in all weather (barring snow for obvious reasons that snow avoids auckland) and mostly on urban and motorway routes. A very short spell on gravel was tried. It seemed not terrifying, so nothing horrible to say.
Since it does not have a lot of power, it forces one to plan their moves in traffic and be uber aware of their surroundings. Still quite happy to keep speed. I'd hazard that the meat of the power arrives at approx 6,300 rev/min and departs prompty at about 9,500 rev/min after which it just sounds ready to spit a lung and doesnt do much for horizontal motion anyways. Nice gearbox, if a lil notchy occasionally. One definitely is kept busy in the ratios if wanting to hustle about in suburban streets.
Its a cheap bike, but the panel fit and finish is good. Look to the switch-gear though and quickly you'll realise that this bike was truly made in Indonesia with budget parts. Don't even expect an engine kill switch or a pass flasher! Trust me, you wouldn't be doing much passing on this thing anyways. I'm a reasonable and pragmatic rider and don't entirely believe that a motorcycle requires to be kissing the rev-limiter in every gear. In this overall vein of riding (and since I was doing more learning than exploiting my mad skills) the bike produced some excellent mileages!:niceone:
With a 20kms ride most days a week and a lil trip the long way now and again, the bike required about $15 every fortnight or 3 weeks. Not bad at all!
In summary, its a great bike for anyone short in the leg or requiring to build skill and confidence or wanting something light and nimble for everyday travel or a combination thereof. You get a fair bit of bike with good looks, liquid cooling, electronic fuel injection, digital speedo and some of the pizzaz of a CBR/VFR lineage looks. But you also get all that comes with that you'd rather have less of, like underpowered power plant, cheap looking switchgear, etc. However, it does exactly what it says on the box and for the impression it leaves you with, its always better than expectations. All par for the course then. Give the lil tyke a go, its able and willing to spur you on to a great start to motorcycling in today's entry-level bikes.
So I'm a pretty tall fellow maxing out at a lofty 5'2".... and svelte too, all 87kgs of streamlined lean mass.
Obviously with all of zilch/zip/nil/nadda experience of riding day in and day out, I figured the best thing to do would be to go out and get me a bonafide set of training wheels. :baby:
So i went along to many a shop and a couple private listings, but finally settled on this pretty red beauty you see below. I chose it because -
1> I could reach the ground
2> I could reach the ground at emergency stops
3> I could handle the weight and power of the bike with only basic handling skills practice.
So I'll just delve right into it; Heres the short version :
Pros-
Nimble
Easy around town
Exceptional economy (3-3.3L/100kms)
Good looking mini cbr looks for a starter bike
Can actually hold motorway speeds
Cons-
Gutless (17Hp, 12Nm torques)
Light enough to notice wind gusts
Skinny tyres not terribly confidence inspiring in the wet
Some weight on wrists
Needs high revs, but buzzes a lil bit nonetheless
The bike is what you'd expect for the size and description. As you can tell by now, it has all the advantages of a small capacity commuter, but also suffers from some (not all) of the associated drawbacks.
I always knew it was a starter bike that I would get to initiate myself and gain confidence in my riding skills. It has quite a good chassis that in the dry you could attempt reasonable lean angles and learn a bucketload on the twisties (say outside whitford or the awhitu peninsula). Braking is somewhat twitchy with the rear prone to lock if engaged too aggressively and on the occasion, unwitting stoppies have been accomplished with a handful of the front brake.
Although the bike is light, it does not carry its (145kgs) of weight as low down as you'd like it to, but then again anyone over 5'5" should really not have anything to worry about as you will be flat-footing this beast with both feet firmly on terra-firma.
I have no extensive experience of motorbiking so this is less a review and more an opinion piece but I'm trying to be as objective as possible and include all the stuff I'd expect a new rider would want to know. Something like what I want to know about a motorcycle im interested in.
I've ridden the motorcycle in all weather (barring snow for obvious reasons that snow avoids auckland) and mostly on urban and motorway routes. A very short spell on gravel was tried. It seemed not terrifying, so nothing horrible to say.
Since it does not have a lot of power, it forces one to plan their moves in traffic and be uber aware of their surroundings. Still quite happy to keep speed. I'd hazard that the meat of the power arrives at approx 6,300 rev/min and departs prompty at about 9,500 rev/min after which it just sounds ready to spit a lung and doesnt do much for horizontal motion anyways. Nice gearbox, if a lil notchy occasionally. One definitely is kept busy in the ratios if wanting to hustle about in suburban streets.
Its a cheap bike, but the panel fit and finish is good. Look to the switch-gear though and quickly you'll realise that this bike was truly made in Indonesia with budget parts. Don't even expect an engine kill switch or a pass flasher! Trust me, you wouldn't be doing much passing on this thing anyways. I'm a reasonable and pragmatic rider and don't entirely believe that a motorcycle requires to be kissing the rev-limiter in every gear. In this overall vein of riding (and since I was doing more learning than exploiting my mad skills) the bike produced some excellent mileages!:niceone:
With a 20kms ride most days a week and a lil trip the long way now and again, the bike required about $15 every fortnight or 3 weeks. Not bad at all!
In summary, its a great bike for anyone short in the leg or requiring to build skill and confidence or wanting something light and nimble for everyday travel or a combination thereof. You get a fair bit of bike with good looks, liquid cooling, electronic fuel injection, digital speedo and some of the pizzaz of a CBR/VFR lineage looks. But you also get all that comes with that you'd rather have less of, like underpowered power plant, cheap looking switchgear, etc. However, it does exactly what it says on the box and for the impression it leaves you with, its always better than expectations. All par for the course then. Give the lil tyke a go, its able and willing to spur you on to a great start to motorcycling in today's entry-level bikes.