What should my new bike be?

**Andrew** · 28th May 2003, 20:43

I'm in a similar position, I've been on my restriced for about three weeks now and am or have been thinking about a new bike for a while. What I am looking for is something that looks big and has got some weight to it. My current bike (RGV150) has got about 90% of the power that i ever want in a bike (for now)since i'm commuting most of the time. However it isn't so nice going on the Harbour bridge in windy conditions, so weight to me is an important factor in my next bike. So i don't know whether to sell my bike for maybe $1.7k and get a 250 cbr, fzr etc now for say $3-3.5k. Or wait a year, get my full and get a 400. decisions decisions.

**babyB** · 28th May 2003, 21:06

hay Andrew. IMO wait till ya get your full, then you can get what suits your requirements and more choice too. you may find that in 12mths that the 250 is not enough especally if you want to see the country on it. way up the cost factor, ie going from 150 to 250 to say 400+ or 150 to 400+. but hay the choice is yours to make. (i never owned a bike under a 400)

**aff-man** · 29th May 2003, 10:01

Well i was in the pickel as well get rid of the honda hunk of shit or redo it a bit and wait till i get my full at the end of the year. After a bit of rasearch i found that because of the need for 250's due to learner and restricted restrictions they are a lot dearer than 400's or even a cople of older 600's. I decided to do a bit of work on my bike ride it till the end of the year and then upgrande to either a vfr400 or cbr400rr for the same price if not cheaper than thier 250 counterpart . Hey kk how is the vrf treating you

**What?** · 29th May 2003, 10:02

Originally posted by bluninja
I learnt on a 2 -stroke

So did I. But RGV250's hadn't even been dreamed of back then.

Has anyone noticed the stupidity of the law that allows a learner to ride something like an RGV, but not, say, an SR500?

**Antallica** · 29th May 2003, 10:20

So what's better then, my 4 stroke FXR150 or the 2 stroke RGV150?

2 stroke has the powerband eh?

**bikerboy** · 29th May 2003, 10:46

Affman is rigth about prices. In my looking around I found that most 400-600's are the same price as a decent 250 sport.

Although the decent 250's like rgv's have the same amount of power and handling generally and are a lot more bike than a standard 250.

You may find that a rgv250 etc keeps you amused until your ready for a bigger jump than the usual 400, say going to a 600 or even 750. Those bikes will certainly give you the skill base to jump up.

I think most people get a basic 250 then go on to 400's and then on up as they feel confident. However these slick 250's like the rgv, rs250, etc. are really learner legal 400's in desguise. From discussions I've had with people who've had them they skipped the 400 stage when up grading.

More thoughts to consider, after all a rgv 250/rs250 can be enjoyed now and for longer.

**What?** · 29th May 2003, 11:04

Originally posted by Antallica
2 stroke has the powerband eh?

Not, really - you just feel it more. 2-strokes generally produce more peak power than a similarly sized 4-stroke, but this power tends to be compressed into a much narrower powerband. You really need to see a few dyno graphs to get a good handle on this, but the guts of it is that the best spread of usable power (the "power band") is between the engine speed where maximum torque occurs and the engine speed where maximum horsepower occurs. It is normal for torque to peak at lower revs than does horsepower. On 2-strokes, these two engine speeds are often not far apart, whereas on a 4-stroke they tend to be much further apart, givng you a broader spread of usable power. The Yanks love printing this sort of stuff in road tests - Cycle World magazine is probably the most graphic.

So what is better - the FXR or RGV? It depends on what you want. Do you like having to keep the engine spinning between (I am guessing here, OK?) 9000 and 12000 rpm to make sensible progress, or do you like having usable power on tap between (guessing again) 4,000 and 9,000 rpm? And what do you use the bike for? It is very much a case of "horses for courses".

Confused? Take an RGV150 for a test ride.

**Antallica** · 29th May 2003, 18:47

Oh but the RGV's look so crappy.... I'm offended whenever I see one.

**What?** · 30th May 2003, 10:12

Which brings us right back to my previous posting - buy what suits you, what you like the look and feel of. Just don't be in a hurry, or you could end up forking out loads of dosh for something you don't want, then find you'll lose heaps when selling again.

Looks can be a bit subjective, though. I ride (amongst others) a BMW F650. Now, when I first saw it, I thought "Kin'ell, that's ugly". Then I rode it, and suddenly looks weren't quite so important. Now I don't think it looks so bad. 110,000 K's later and I still have no intention of trading it. In the same time, I have hardly ridden my beautiful looking (to me) CB1100. Fact is, it is not as good to ride as the BM.

The best advice I can give you, is 1/ Take your time, and 2/ Take plenty of test rides.

**andy1** · 30th May 2003, 12:01

the cbr 250 is a good bike i did about 350 to 450k a weekend on mine, the only problem they cost a shit load for a good one.
i reackon get a 400 cbr or zxr and blast the twisties.
maybe u just ride round town any bike is good for that as long as it's not a peice of shit.
i would blast the tiwsties every weekend with bigger bikes no problem keeping up just the straights is a bitch.
some cops let you off if u are riding a 400 on a learners, well i know a couple of people that have.

And 2 strokes they are cheap, fast, and weigh nothing.
but blow up easy if u dont know the past of the bike.
sometimes piston hitting side of cylinder or fucked rings.
i love 2 strokes, they are fucken loud as, and if u have pipes on it, wow!
u can wake up the neighbour hood in the morning!!
sorry suburb.
just make sure u get a good buy.

**Racey Rider** · 30th May 2003, 23:37

Originally posted by Antallica
Oh but the RGV's look so crappy.... I'm offended whenever I see one.

I agree! Thats why I brought the RG150.
Suzuki took a step backwards when they replaced this one with the RGV150. The RG is water cooled, full flareing, mag wheels, disk brakes both ends. The RGV is air cooled, quarter flaring, spoked wheels, Yuk! (:Puke: - won't work Ed!)

I recently brought a 98 RG150, in great condition, less than 6000kms on the clock, for $2000. I love it! :bigthumb:
Good points: Looks great (for the money), Good power to weight ratio, great brakes, so light you can just fick it around where ever you want it to go.
Bad points: Not good for slow rideing around town, (my bike just won't go that slow officer!

)
It's a bit of a sad sound when your stopped at the lights and the cages around you hear this,, putt,putt,putt,putt.
But just treat every traffic light stop as a race start and your soon forget about that.

My bike background, (for road bikes) is: RZ250 twin/cyl 2 stroke, VF750 4/cyl 4 stroke, GPZ400 twin/cyl 4 stroke, and now a KR1 twin/cyl 2 stroke to race and the RG150.

Yes buy a RGV250 if you have more money. Yes with the RG150 you have to rev it 8000rpm before it starts getting any power out of it. But its a fun bike to ride fast! You all should try one

**Antallica** · 31st May 2003, 07:39

Yeah mine has to hit about 7,000 before I will get a huge increase in power.

Heh it's DOHC ... I wanted a VTec

**Coldkiwi** · 31st May 2003, 11:04

nah.. you want a 600

I'm easy to please... I just want blu's RSV!.. or maybe this years RSV R... I could live with that! *dreams*

truth be told. if you're after a whole lotta mumbo from a bike, you're not going to be really satisfied with anything thats a 250cc.

I personally think its best to use your time on the smaller bikes to get yourself trained into good habits and good road handling skills so that you can use the small cc bike to the best of its abilities. I think trading up to a bigger cc bike before you can really utilise the potential of a small cc bike is sorta asking for trouble (kinda like giving a kitchenhand a 30cm razor sharp carving knife to use when he's had trouble just using a pairing knife).

my recommendation: go out to pukekohe for a track day or testing day (plenty of info on those here) and do some laps. you'll probably surprise yourself with how much performance you have (if you haven't been before) in that FXR.

ok.. i'm gonna do some work now (that is, after all, why i came into work on a saturday!)