Starting out

[Zukin]

So, are you coming to Kaipara?

Hi

No unfortunately not
Only one Bike has arrived and still waiting for one
Have fun
Will see you on the trail somewhere

Scott

[upshift]

Hi

No unfortunately not
Only one Bike has arrived and still waiting for one
Have fun
Will see you on the trail somewhere

Scott

Very unfortunate.
I have been lurking on your mountain to sea ride thread and possible starter for that. Also looking at coming up that way on 25/26 November.

cheers,
Neil

[XR250 Si]

Yep, it arrived on time. The mechanic went over a few things with me... most of which I have already forgotten. LOL.

One thing I hadn't tested was the horn. Well crikey! It scared the crap out of me. I guess it needs to be loud to alert all those crazy cage drivers out there.

No plans to go to any events just yet guys. Will see how quickly I get the hang of the bike and then see what's going on.

Got a full tank of gas and ready to go. Just trying to remember where I put my helmet...

[Alice]

Hi

No unfortunately not
Only one Bike has arrived and still waiting for one
Have fun
Will see you on the trail somewhere

Scott

Bummed out for you.
I have been reading this thread and feeling excited for you.I am in a similiar situation, I have brought a VTR 250 to learn on after months of getting things sorted, learner license, what to buy, trying to track a bike down, looking at bikes that have a high ask price, decisions, decisions.Made a final decision and now I have to wait 6 weeks for it to arrive, 6 bloody weeks ---In the meantime I have to settle for watching other people riding along and I think, soon, soon I will be doing that tooo.Its cruel particulatly on the warm sunny days we have had lately.Can't wait!
Hope yours turns up sooon.

[XR250 Si]

Yeah, I know how it feels to have to wait. I too have waited around 6 weeks. In the end I gave up waiting for this 'new shipment' that was supposed to arrive over a month ago and tracked down one of the previous shipment instead. It was a demo unit, but when I looked at it, it had only done 1km. So I went for it.

[merv]

Hey glad to hear you have the bike now XR250 Si. When I bought mine Motomart had one in the shop and I just went in and bought it so I never had the kind of wait you are talking about. Still having fun with mine, I take it on the trips that it suits and leave the WR at home. I finally caught up with Zukin for a ride and if you haven't seen it yet check out the story here http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=37744.

Don't believe those too much that are telling you its a learners bike - while they have a lower compression engine and smaller header pipes than an XR250R once you've run it in you will be able to wind it out to around 140km/hr on the speedo - a true over 130 by my GPS, and I can run mine fast on gravel and still do over 25km/litre of gas. True it is not as quick as my WR but the engine will do far more kms before a rebuild and that's why I have the XR to use it on the cruisy types of rides over longer distances where I don't need the speed of the WR and it would be pointless putting extra kms on the WR engine.

Have fun.

[XR250 Si]

Cheers Merv, I didn't get much of a chance to ride the bike in the weekend due to lots of other things such as an engagement party to go to. Yesterday was a write off.

I did enjoy the time I did spend on it though. On Saturday I took a corner a little too quickly and had the rear end slide out a tad. Not a major and I didn't fall off or anything. All I thought was "Whooaaa, that was fun!"

Straight home for a ride tonight.

[merv]

As far as riding the XR on gravel goes, I've tended to be one that runs knobblies at fairly low pressure like about 14psi and I love riding fast on gravel, but the first few outings I did on the XR it felt a bit loose particularly at the front. I thought its the damn road legal tyres being a bit too rounded and it was kind of rolling on the stones. Anyway before this latest trip I took a hunch and bumped the pressures up to 21psi both ends and on the roads we went on it made it a whole lot better, so contrary to my normal thinking for dirt riding more grip didn't come from less air.

[Motu]

That's a bit backwards alright Merv,I'll file that one away for future reference.I definatly equate low pressures with traction,and will only go up to take the snap out on hook up or to subdue a wobble....but I can handle a lot of wobble and shake before I up the pressures.

[merv]

Yeah its just the type of tyres it came with I think. Typical road legal stuff they have firm carcasses and it just took me a while to figure out they are more like a road tyre and need the firm pressure on gravel. On muddy slippery going that would be different of course. The roads we were on were quite tight but there was enough of a straight between curves for me to register 111km/hr on my GPS as the quickest I went on the gravel and the XR feels good at that. No matter what Zukin says about his DRZ (which is basically the same as the DR I had) the Honda is smoother, is more responsive (no sticky carb or driveline lash) and handles better than the Suzuki ever did. I always felt like I was riding that bike at 80% and swearing at it while I did.

[XR250 Si]

Took the bike out for a quick spin last night. With our typical Auckland weather whaddya know... I get to the end of the driveway and it starts pissing down on me. Nothing major, although I wish I had zipped in my waterproof liner!

Just headed around the block a few times. Think I'm starting to get the hang of things. Well, I'm having no issues with balancing at least . I'm still getting used to the gears. Biggest problem is I keep forgetting which gear I'm in (No doubt I'll get the hang of this in the near future). Don't like the feeling of dropping it into too lower a gear and having what feels like the front pitching down a bit.

Mental note to myself... must remember to turn the fuel selector to the 'on' position before heading out.

[merv]

Good on ya Si keep getting used to the bike and you will love it.

[XR250 Si]

Not much new to report. Have had a couple of rides around the neighbourhood this week. Had my longest ride last night. Sure, it was only 25km, but I felt this ride was in some way a turning point. Felt really comfortable and relaxed on the bike from the start and I think this has something to do having got the hang of the gearing.

A small step, but I now feel comfortable riding at 50kph+

I do need to practise the stop/start side of things a little more as I stalled a couple of times more than I would have liked at the uphill stop signs around our area. Good practise for hill starts though eh?

Hoping to get to the park tomorrow morning where I can hone a few more things in relative safety. Just hope I don't wake up with a migraine like last weekend.

[merv]

Going well then, have fun.

[XR250 Si]

First photo after Saturday's ride.