Which 1st bike?

**vifferman** · 29th July 2004, 16:04

Originally Posted by celticno6

I was reading a study that said that motorcyclists dressed completely in black were seen more often by cage-drivers, as the black was somehow more "intimidating" and made the rider more scary.

It's hardly a statistically valid sample, but that was my experience on my (black) VFR when wearing all black gear, as compared with when I swapped to a red jacket and coloured glubs.

If you want leather, Zapf, you can make it suitable for all seasons by buying relatively inexpensive waterproofs to go over the top; my pants were $49 and fit over my leather pants very easily without taking my boots off (probably because they were designed to do so). I used to wear a $150 secondhand leather jacket (thinking Cordura was too wussy to offer good protection), but eventually came to see that it wasn't the best option for me, as it was too cold in winter, too hot in summer, didn't have proper armour, and was only showerproof. My Teknic jacket is waterproof, has CE-approved armour, has a zip-in liner for winter, vents for summer, and now that it has leather on the sleeves to supplement the kevlar patches (thanx to Kerrie at MSW), offers good crash resistance.
Have a look at secondhand stuff by all means, but not helmets, and make sure the helmet you buy is a good fit. Be aware that different brands fit different shaped heads (e.g., a person is almost always an Arai head or Shoei head, not both). And while it's true that you get what you pay for, wih some brands you don't get anything extra for the name and elevated pricetag.

**Zapf** · 29th July 2004, 23:30

tkns for the info so far...

been to Auckland Motorcycles and power sports at Khyber pass today. Found the following

- Nice Triumph CE armored textile jacket with zip in heat reflective liner
- Nice Triumph CE armored textile pants.
- OX.. boots
- Shoei XR1000 helmet which fitted me really well
- Gloves... (not kevlar stitiched thou)

All up they wanted about 2k for it.... anyone has experience with Triumph gear?

My only concern is ripping the jacket / pants if I have my 1st off... But its hard to find colour leather in NZ, and its quite a big price difference between good leather and good textile.

Firestormer / Celticno6, are you serious about black? really?

Lou Girardan, White Trash and Stew where do you guys all work? So I can come check out ur shops, so to keep my options open.

tkns all.

**Ghost Lemur** · 30th July 2004, 13:02

If you are buying the bike from a shop, get your kit at the same time. You should be able to get a super sweet deal doing it that way.

Don't know you're situation, but gear is covered via contents insurance (weird I know). So you really need some if you want your gear to be covered.

Vero? are supposed to be really good and do both bikes and contents, so if you go to them for both at the same time, again you might be able to neg a good deal.

**vifferman** · 30th July 2004, 14:33

Originally Posted by Zapf

tkns for the info so far...

My only concern is ripping the jacket / pants if I have my 1st off... But its hard to find colour leather in NZ, and its quite a big price difference between good leather and good textile.

Firestormer / Celticno6, are you serious about black? really?

Yes, what I said was true, but it doesn't necessarily mean black is best, in fact, you're less visible, especially in dim conditions (like commuting surrounded by dim-witted car drivers.)
Check out Mt Eden M/C and Motomail too. From what I've seen, Mt Eden have some reasonably priced gear, and Motomail have a good range of stuff (gloves, boots, helmets, jackets, pants, etc.) at various prices from 'budget' to more expensive.

**Zapf** · 30th July 2004, 20:57

Ermm.. been to a few places today. Haldane's / Colemans / Mt Eden & the BMW place in new market...... with bery bery expensive gear. But a very nice helmet too..

think back to motomail I go tomorrow. damm I need my learners.... getting an itch now....

**loosebruce** · 31st July 2004, 01:00

Hey Zapf, mate good to see you're out there getting your licence, as for your bike choice, it's a hard one, i've ridden all 3 of the bike's your after, My mate's VTR was pretty cool to blat round on he'd put a neptune pipe on it, thing sounded real nice, real easy to turn, brakes are sweet can't fault it really, the GSX to be honest felt like it had no real power at all, real flat and quite boring to ride, same handling as the VTR but i'd have to take the VTR over it unless you prefer full fairing bikes more, the ZZR's haven't really changed much over the years, maybe an idea to if your're in the position to buy 2nd hand to hunt one out, they're pretty reliable and on par with the VTR's in opinion and chances are a lot cheaper than the VTR leaving you more coin for gear.

And if it's gear your're after motomail are okay but expensive go talk to Kerry at Motohaus next door, he doesn't stock much gear but he can get you in whatever you want and at a good price so have a look round figure out what you want and pay him a visit.

Your choice on the bike front mate, take em all for a good test ride and see what one you like best and go from there.

All the best

**Zapf** · 31st July 2004, 09:11

Originally Posted by loosebruce

Hey Zapf, mate good to see you're out there getting your licence, as for your bike choice, it's a hard one, i've ridden all 3 of the bike's your after, My mate's VTR was pretty cool to blat round on he'd put a neptune pipe on it, thing sounded real nice, real easy to turn, brakes are sweet can't fault it really, the GSX to be honest felt like it had no real power at all, real flat and quite boring to ride, same handling as the VTR but i'd have to take the VTR over it unless you prefer full fairing bikes more, the ZZR's haven't really changed much over the years, maybe an idea to if your're in the position to buy 2nd hand to hunt one out, they're pretty reliable and on par with the VTR's in opinion and chances are a lot cheaper than the VTR leaving you more coin for gear.

And if it's gear your're after motomail are okay but expensive go talk to Kerry at Motohaus next door, he doesn't stock much gear but he can get you in whatever you want and at a good price so have a look round figure out what you want and pay him a visit.

Your choice on the bike front mate, take em all for a good test ride and see what one you like best and go from there.

All the best

hi there, u are not wrong when u say the GSX has no power. it true

GSX only make 20kW @ 11'000rpm. Where as VTR makes 32ps at 10'500rpm.

I have recently been told about the Hornet. A 250cc from honda, similar frame as VTR with a inline 4 engine making 40ps.

Ermm... pitty all are older imports.

oh and tkns for the tip I'll go talk to Motohaus

**s.langham** · 8th February 2005, 11:43

Ive been lovin ma 1999 ZZR 250 that i piked up off trade me, done 12500 wen i got it (19700 now!) i scored it for 3800!!
it is a good mix of sports/tourer. i ride it to work every day, thrash it over peikock hill and i've taken her all the way to aucks for a weekend!!!
gettin a workshop manual so i can do a lil more than a simple service.

as for gear i decided textile was fully the way to go, lighter, more waterproof, it breathes and ive heard it lasts longer when sliding against the road?!?! well i bounced wen i dropped my toy!!!
i got all my gear from one dude off trade me ( went to his workshop and tried it all on ) i got, jacket, pants, gloves, helmet, tankbag, disclock/alarm, road boots (with sliders) for under 1000!!!

as for crashes, as my school dean told me a few years back......
"there are two sorts of people on the road...... those who have crashed.................... and those who are going to"

**vifferman** · 8th February 2005, 11:48

Originally Posted by s.langham

as for gear i decided textile was fully the way to go, lighter, more waterproof, it breathes and ive heard it lasts longer when sliding against the road?!?!

Lighter? Yes.
More waterproof? If in good knick, and/or waterproofed.
Breathes? Sometimes - depends on the fabric. But leather breathes too.
Lasts longer? No, definitely not, not even kevlar fabric. Leather still has the best abrasion resistance.

But good for you, buying the full set of gear!

**Trudes** · 19th March 2005, 13:16

I totally lost any confindence in learning when we got a fxr, two years later, (last Nov) I bought a new GN 250, bloody fantastic learners bike, super easy to ride, yet still rides like a bike, not a scooter, and really reliable, they appear to be holding their re-sale price well, and not having to get a warrant every six months for first three years I think it is, is bloody beaut!!

**Mokoro** · 25th April 2005, 00:06

Was going to start a thread, but thought it might be considerate to ask in here.....

What RPM does your (or has your) 250cc sit at on the open road?
Adjustable with different sprockets?
Comfortable on a long journey?
Fuel consumption?

I'm keen to get ahold of a 250cc, and one thing I want to do is do a biiiig journey (Auckland to Dunedin).
Ive owned an RG150 before, clocked up god knows how many k's in over a year that I owned it, and that was rather rattly/high rpm on the open rd. About 9000rpm at 100ks from memory... Id like to try take the rpm down juuust a wee bit on my next bike..

**250learna** · 25th April 2005, 15:44

Originally Posted by Thestinkbitch

I totally lost any confindence in learning when we got a fxr, two years later, (last Nov)

What part of it made you uncomfortable? My m8 got one about a year ago and i learned to ride on that, i found it so light easy to ride? Also it was highly recomended to him at the time by most ppl he spoke to...
Im not trying to say your wrong am just wondering what put you off it?

Originally Posted by riffer

I was reading a study that said that motorcyclists dressed completely in black were seen more often by cage-drivers, as the black was somehow more "intimidating" and made the rider more scary.

the black gears remind "cage" drivers of the ghostrider the most feared of all

and that why they feel intimidated

**pommie girl** · 25th April 2005, 15:52

Originally Posted by Mokoro

Was going to start a thread, but thought it might be considerate to ask in here.....

What RPM does your (or has your) 250cc sit at on the open road?
Adjustable with different sprockets?
Comfortable on a long journey?
Fuel consumption?

I'm keen to get ahold of a 250cc, and one thing I want to do is do a biiiig journey (Auckland to Dunedin).
Ive owned an RG150 before, clocked up god knows how many k's in over a year that I owned it, and that was rather rattly/high rpm on the open rd. About 9000rpm at 100ks from memory... Id like to try take the rpm down juuust a wee bit on my next bike..

Have owned a GN250 first and moved to the GSX250 - have to say prefer the GSX as it feels like an all around a much better ride (to me, anyway) - practically feels like it rides itself compared to the GN250 which I always seemed to battle with on the motorways.

My GSX handles 100kph+ with ease and sits at 7500 rpm, but it had already been adjusted before I bought it from Holeshot in Takapuna. Very comfy to ride and just seems to go forever on bugger all petrol. I take mine into work an back (Albany to city), sit in traffic (occasionally) etc etc and tend to fill it up once every fortnight (or maybe slightly less).

Sorry, don't know all the tech terminology but hope this helps! :-)

**Speedy** · 2nd May 2005, 01:00

hey i personaly like the GSX250 i have 1 and i must say its awsome.....in no way is it as fast as a CBRR250 etc but so much fun 2 learn on ,never ever has problems and so cheap 2 run(not 2 fix) age,price,looks its all value 4 money .Once u get confident regear the sprocets put a pod filter on it and clean out ports etc...........mine quiker now and im halfway through doing all that its a good bike. have fun and goodluck.