Picked up my first bike today!

[sil3nt]

So Monday morning i wake up check my emails and see the new bikes listed on trademe. Scroll through the many overpriced 250s :nono: and come across a 1987 GPX 250 for less than $2000 buy now! Holy crap i just knew that thing was the bike for me! Txt the guy straight away and arrange to meet it. Turns out the bike is less than 10km from my house :niceone: The bike seemed to be in good nick only a few scratches and a ding or two on the exhausts but otherwise all good despite the age and high ks (65,000). Can't say i really know what too look for on bikes though. Borrowed some gear and took it for a REALLY short test ride as i am totally new to riding and didnt want to bin it. The thing ran fine so i was happy. Told the guy yep i'll take it! Money would take a few days to transfer but thats fine.

This morning i wake up and go look at some helmets. I knew Boyd had a good selection so i was pretty sure i was going to get one from there. However i did check out another place first (the kawasaki dealer across the road from boyd) where the sales lady was extremely suprised i only wanted to spend $300 on a helmet. She tells me "this is your head you know? you going to want to spend more than $300. The more you spend the better the helmet". I tried not to laugh at her said thanks and walked out. Over to Boyd and try on helmets for awhile end up getting an HJC for about $270. Although my head measures a Medium i ended up with a small and it feels real nice.

Headed off to the girlfriends place to steal a jacket and gloves and then go pick up the bike. Road it home fine then decided to go take it for a little ride around to get used to it. Now this is where the fun starts. Well not fun for me as it is actually quite embarassing. Im riding along and slowing down for an intersection when the bike dies. Im thinking oh this is great! less than 2ks of riding and i've killed it. Tried starting to no avail. Flicked it onto the reserve tank but still no start. By now i've killed the battery and realised i switched the tank off and not onto reserve :( Ring the girlfriend and she comes down to help me push it home. So my first day of riding involves me pushing my bike 2ks home which included one real cnut of a hill. After getting it home it was now dark however i put some gas in and jump start the bike with the car (after reading how to do it properly online) and head out on a ride. My god :gob: riding is so much fun! I think there is plenty of power from this 250 for me. Could not imagine riding a 1000. So despite an embarassing start everything seems to be good and im in love with it :clap:. Dunno if i will stick an L plate on though. Riding at 100 is comfortable and 70 does seem rather silly. Will try and get some pics up tomorrow!

[robo555]

Finally got a bike after 50+ posts on KB? Yay

[Slyer]

Nice work. Only took you three years!
My GPX had 75,000k's when I got it! :bleh:
They did a quite a few changes for the '88 GPX.
Does your bike look like this?
http://www.bikepics.com/pictures/967215/

[vindy500]

my gpx is registered as an 87 but is the same style as the 88-07 model

[davebullet]

Congratulations on the bike and quite a story - something to remember and pass on! My first bike was located less than 2ks from my house as it happens too. Meant to be!

Don't forget to invest in some good gear. Nothing wrong with HJC helmets either.

[The Baron]

Great news.. first bike.

Congrats to you and a good read also.

[portokiwi]

:scooter: Way to go on the new bike.:scooter:

[Mom]

Enjoy your new bike mate, all the fun is ahead of you!

[sil3nt]

Nice work. Only took you three years!
My GPX had 75,000k's when I got it! :bleh:
They did a quite a few changes for the '88 GPX.
Does your bike look like this?
http://www.bikepics.com/pictures/967215/
Like someone said mine is registered as 87 but it is the 88 style.

Looking at this site (http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/What_are_the_different_models_of_the_EX250%3F) its an EX250-F. However carjam tells me its:
# Engine no: EX250EE
# Chassis: EX250E
which would be the the style shown by Slyer.
Its pretty much exactly the same as http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showpost.php?p=1951364&postcount=660 jjust a bit more scratched!

[sil3nt]

Pics are up here http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=2009685#post2009685

[Slyer]

Much better nick than mine was! (but I only paid 1.3k)

[sil3nt]

i only paid $500 more :bleh:

[Tank]

Good on you!! Now get out there and enjoy it!

[Burtha]

woohoo! good on ya - have heaps of fun.
Dont forget to give the nice pink jacket back to your girlfriend :D

[icekiwi]

Awesome...on ya bike then as it were..

[sil3nt]

woohoo! good on ya - have heaps of fun.
Dont forget to give the nice pink jacket back to your girlfriend :Dhaha shh!

No riding until i get some oil in the damn thing. Checked this morning and it looks completly empty :pinch: I figure i might as well do an oil change (not really a change if theres none in there in the first place though!) although i dont have the tools. I cant even put some oil in because i cant open the cap. Seems like it hasnt been turned for awhile. Oh well the girlfriends dad was a motorcycle mechanic so i might have to give him a call. Or the other option is giving $150+ to a dealer to give it a service.

[Burtha]

:)

that will probably come down to how long before your itching to go for a ride. family are always cheaper but probably longer ...
ring dinga ding ding ...

spanner / grips should be able to get the cap off (?) seemed to work ok on mine when it was a bit stuck, just be careful not to mush the plastic (if it is plasticy) ie; make sure you have a good firm grip, don't fray edges etc
otherwise spanner and hammer, tappity tap

[popa griffin]

Now we'll be seeing you at terapa tavern on wednessday nights?

[sil3nt]

Now we'll be seeing you at terapa tavern on wednessday nights?sadly wednesday nights i have muay thai training until around 9 - 9:30 although i never seem to turn up anyway!

The Fairing is in the way to get pliers to work properly. Will keep trying the tappity tap method!

[caseye]

Don't tap it too hard if it's plastic, just take a deep breath and take it ( the fairing off) and undo the thing properly.
Well done on getting your first bike and bleieve me it won;'t be long and a 1000 will be frimly in your sights.has a laugh at the pushing, but hey we've all done that at some time or another.
Ride safe.

[sil3nt]

Finally got it off. Pretty easy as well. Dont know why i didnt put the pliers under the fairing in the first place. Sometimes i really am an idiot. This bike is teaching me some good lessons already! Only problem now is that its too late to pick up any oil.

[Bonez]

Enjoy your new to you bike. Take it easy and above all have fun riding it.

[fizbin]

Congrats on the new bike dude

[Solly]

Now we'll be seeing you at terapa tavern on wednessday nights?

Hey, Love ya Avatar PG

BTW sil3ntwar, .......yeeeeeehaaaaa, let the fun begin:Punk::Punk:

[Insanity_rules]

Nice ride dude, have fun out there. Good bike too, know a couple with much larger mileages than yours. Just keep clean oil in it and attend to any major noises.

[Headbanger]

haha shh!

No riding until i get some oil in the damn thing. Checked this morning and it looks completly empty :pinch: I figure i might as well do an oil change (not really a change if theres none in there in the first place though!) although i dont have the tools. I cant even put some oil in because i cant open the cap. Seems like it hasnt been turned for awhile. Oh well the girlfriends dad was a motorcycle mechanic so i might have to give him a call. Or the other option is giving $150+ to a dealer to give it a service.


Good thing your clever enough to check the oil, Though its a good idea to have a look at the shit before buying the bike, The state of the oil (or lack of oil ) can tell you many things.

As for pushing it, we all do it at some stage, Envision if you will pushing a half ton Harley up that hill.

And consider buying a workshop manual, It will teach you shit about youyr bike you will never learn from trial and error.

[Conquiztador]

Ah yes, my oldest boy totalled his NZ250 motor as a result of not checkin the oil. But he now checks the oil level each time! So it was not all a waste.

[vindy500]

And consider buying a workshop manual, It will teach you shit about youyr bike you will never learn from trial and error.

download it. quick google should bring it up

[sil3nt]

I have access to the manual thanks to someone on this forum :)

[LBD]

Welcome to our world buddy...bike and a girfriend whose dad is a bike mechanic (and probably a KB poster on the sly so watch what you post...)

And did I read into your words your girfriend is into bikes as well, you are on to a good thing there...

[sil3nt]

Welcome to our world buddy...bike and a girfriend whose dad is a bike mechanic (and probably a KB poster on the sly so watch what you post...)

And did I read into your words your girfriend is into bikes as well, you are on to a good thing there...He is on the forum i dont think he posts. He would probably be banned by now if he did :2thumbsup

Girlfriend does not ride and isn't keen on it. The gear is for the rides she goes on with her dad.

[LBD]

He is on the forum i dont think he posts. He would probably be banned by now if he did :2thumbsup

Girlfriend does not ride and isn't keen on it. The gear is for the rides she goes on with her dad.

So the 3 of you will be out on riding dates...You, Her, and chaparone...(I am the Dad of a georgeous bike riding daughter....I know about these things.)

To the rest of you deviates out there....NAFF OFF

[Kungfaux]

Sweet bike!

I'm gonna be going through all the 'first bike' stuff next week (hoping i won'd do anything too stupid). I got a 1988 Honda VT250F!! Waiting for it to come back from VINZ (cert, vin, rego etc) So excited, i'll chuck some photos up

KB is so great for finding stuff out btw!! Cheers to everyone haha

[Kungfaux]

Here it is!

Got the bike on thursday but couldn't really ride it until friday cos I had to mount the new number plate, rego, wof, l-plate and all that. Bit of hassle really. All sorted now though. :yes:

Only real issue i'm having is with putting it on the centre stand! I was trying on the first night i got the bike and as i was rocking the bike back onto the stand it tilted away from me and fell over!! :gob: Felt like a bit of a knob dropping it. Luckily, noone saw and the bike fell onto a grass patch in the driveway so no damage was done, phew! I don't think i'll use the centre stand much but it would be good to know how without dropping it haha. Does anyone have any solid methods of getting a bike onto the centre stand? It may just be that i am too small (66kgs) haha.

But since i've started riding its been so much fun, after work on saturday i went for a nice ride and the bike feels so sweet! I think this bike has got enough power for me, i have been riding with the revs at about 4-5000rpm. When i go past that it really pulls! I think is shall keep me interested well into my restricted :yes:.

I think i've picked up the basic skills without too much hassle. Things i'm gonna work on are: hillstarts using rear brake, managing my downshifts so i don't lock up (i think i have a bad habit of engine braking at low speed, i've had minor skids whilst in a straight line a few times) and getting more confidence with the brakes in case someone pulls out on me! I'm interested in doing a riding skills thing so i get better at that kinda stuff, is there a KBer one??

I've got an L-plate on for the time being cos i don't wanna risk a fine, maybe in a month or two that may change. Not gonna venture onto the motorway for a while either, just gonna get used to the bike at town speed first.

Haven't got proper gear yet but i have been looking and i think i'm gonna get an ixon jacket, textile with CE armour bits and some gloves too. Maybe some kevlar jeans soon after too. I am only doing a 20min commute everyday so i think boots may be a bit excessive.

So yeah all up i am pretty happy with the bike and am glad to now be part of the motorcycling community!! (cos 50cc scooters don't really count do they? :laugh:

[discotex]

Haven't got proper gear yet but i have been looking and i think i'm gonna get an ixon jacket, textile with CE armour bits and some gloves too. Maybe some kevlar jeans soon after too. I am only doing a 20min commute everyday so i think boots may be a bit excessive.


Boots are never excessive mate. How much do you value your ankles and toes?

[Slyer]

The trick with a centre stand is to pull the bike up from a bit of frame on the rear of the bike.

You will also come to appreciate decent waterproof boots after your sneakers get soaked many many times. ;)

[sil3nt]

nice bike man! On my bike there is a handle near the back of the bike that is used to pull the rear end up. You can see it here: http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/I_am_having_trouble_putting_my_bike_on_its_centers tand

Im guessing your bike should have something similar.

If you can afford the boots then go for it. I think its the last thing im gonna get. Well maybe boots before proper pants.

[quickbuck]

Only real issue i'm having is with putting it on the centre stand!

Easy one here....
All you have to do it this:
1) Hold the bike by the handle bars and stand on the left... All the while holding the front brake.
2) Put foot on the part of the centre stand protruding from under your bike and plant it into he ground (Of course we are on a flat solid surface!)
3) Now reach down to the left of your bike with your right hand and find a solid piece of frame under the plastic above the rear wheel.
4) Now lift your bike while standing ALL your weight onto he centrestand.
5) All going well your bike will move back 6 inches and the rear will rise up.
6) Job done.

[Kungfaux]

Cheers guys

Yeah just after i posted i went to fill her up and i noticed that handle by the rear wheel, lifting that instead of pulling the handlebar makes it simple, even with a full tank!!

Yeah i intend to get all the gear eventually (i.e within a few months) but money is a little tight, i have about $400 ish and i think the order i should buy gear is :

1. Helmet (already got, clearly!)
2. Jacket (textile, CE etc)
3. Gloves (winter, warm, waterproof)
4. Pants (kevlar jeans and cheap waterproof ones to go over?)
5. Boots (waterproof ones)

[discotex]

1. Helmet (already got, clearly!)
2. Jacket (textile, CE etc)
3. Gloves (winter, warm, waterproof)
4. Pants (kevlar jeans and cheap waterproof ones to go over?)
5. Boots (waterproof ones)

I'd get gloves before a jacket. Hands touch down first and have very little protective skin above the bone.

In both my offs my knuckles would be totally gone if I wasn't wearing gloves. If I wasn't wearing a jacket I'd have some road rash but I'd rather a bit of road rash than lose the use of my fingers.

[caseye]

You are being offered some damn fine advice here, gloves and boots would be the order I'd start in too.
You can't ride a bike with no fingers or feet.