Scorpio 225

[el loco jalapeno]

Yep I've had one for a bit over a month and it's going great. The back brake feels as though it's not attached to anything more than a spring, so there's not much danger of learners over-using it.

The fastest I've had it would only be about 105, it's fair humming by then but it still has a couple of grand left on the revs. I'd recommend it to anyone considering a new GN or just looking for a comfy learner bike.

[The Stranger:Me]

After other posts in this thread, I thought I had better check my estimate of top speed. Went for a blat up the motorway and it topped out at 130kph at 8,000 RPM. I am 100kg (of solid muscle). It is red lined at 9,500 RPM.

This bike has only travelled 150 km so I didn't want to ring it whilst running it in. I am farily confident that I would get 140kph out of it max after it has loosened up a bit in say a couple of thousand km and am sure you would easily get that, or more, with an average weight rider.

[Oakie]

Interesting.
The bike she gets will be used out of town more than as a commuter as we're only 5 minutes by bicycle from her work. While it is for out of town use though, it won't be for big tours or fast 'blowing out the cobwebs' trips ... more for 30km to 150 km day trips at around about the speed limit.
A brand new Scorpio at $3995 appeals while she gets her confidence back with a move to something a bit bigger in due course. Obviously a 2 year warranty and the confidence that the bike hasn't been thrashed by a previous owner goes some way to making up the difference between the 225cc single cylinder and a second hand 250cc twin cylinder and of course at about $1000 cheaper

Thanks for the info.

[Mathiacus]

i just rolled mine out of the shop yesterday. it was a bit funny.. going from a 24 year old 2 stroke to a new 4 stroke. i have the impression that i have gone form "the fastest thing on two wheels" to the slowest. i know im only running it in. but i hit top (5th) gear too soon. travelling around town at 60 km in 5th.... get to the highway where it is 80kmh and dont have to change up???. i think this bike needs about 3 more gears. the handling is very sharp, it stops fine. i would recomend this bike to any learner (not to a 22 year old thrill seeker). i will say the best thing about this bike is the fact that i am not going to kill myself off it.
anybody know much about the '83 model yamaha rz250?

[el loco jalapeno]

i know im only running it in. but i hit top (5th) gear too soon. travelling around town at 60 km in 5th.... get to the highway where it is 80kmh and dont have to change up???. i think this bike needs about 3 more gears.

Haha, I find myself thinking that too... at least one more would be good

It's not a bike for speed demons, but responsible learner types... well doing 1500km on the road before getting one's licence might not be responsible, if it was hypothetically done... but at least I've got my bit of paper now!

I can see I'll be shopping in approximately six months though.

[Oakie]

Seems the Scorpio is off the shopping list. Mrs Oakie found it just a shade too tall for her diminutive legs.

[dman]

No fairing is a plus for learners - not that they have come even close to using this advantage yet.

Why would no fairing be a good idea for a learner?

[xwhatsit]

Why would no fairing be a good idea for a learner?

In the first few weeks of owning a bike, you're likely to occasionally forget about things like side stands, whether or not the bike is in gear, putting your feet down soon enough when you come to a stop, screwing up U-turns in your driveway, etc etc. I dropped mine trying to bump start it ^_^. So if you happen to drop your bike, if it has no fairings, you're going to be a lot better off. It's just like dropping your bicycle; maybe some broken/bent clutch/brake levers and some scratches. With fairings, they crack and snap and can get a whole lot more expensive.

[McJim]

Why would no fairing be a good idea for a learner?

Yeah what Xerxes said.

Those moulded pieces of plastic covering the front of bikes are:

a: Fragile.
b: Several hundred bucks per panel.

But they're bloody useful at 120kph+ (which no learner should be doing anyway)

[dman]

ahh... ka-click! Of course, does this mean it would be a good idea for a learner to take of his fairings initially? Seeing that they serve no other useful purpose other than aerodymanics (which is a very useful purpose indeed! But not intially so important to a learner).

[xwhatsit]

ahh... ka-click! Of course, does this mean it would be a good idea for a learner to take of his fairings initially? Seeing that they serve no other useful purpose other than aerodymanics (which is a very useful purpose indeed! But not intially so important to a learner).

Taking fairings off is not always so straightforward. On sportsbikes, often things like headlights, indicators, and mirrors are attached to the fairings. So if you take them off, you no longer have those good things.

The aerodynamic qualities of fairings are somewhat overrated, IMHO -- at least at speeds <=120kph. For a 250cc bike used at road legal speeds, they mainly serve the purpose of inspiring the appropriate sportsbike aesthetic, and (what I think McJim referred to) minimise the wind buffeting you around (at 100kph you do get blown around quite a bit on a naked bike -- I enjoy the feeling ).

[The Stranger:Me]

at 100kph you do get blown around quite a bit on a naked bike -- I enjoy the feeling.

Harden up. At 180 it is still comfortable, 180 - 200 is good for building neck muscles 200+ good for building arm muscles and learning to ride whilst horizontal and without your feet on the pegs.

[xwhatsit]

Harden up. At 180 it is still comfortable, 180 - 200 is good for building neck muscles 200+ good for building arm muscles and learning to ride whilst horizontal and without your feet on the pegs.

Lol, I'm talking about from a newbie/car-driver's point of view. More buffeting than anything uncomfortable. Like I said, I quite enjoy being in the wind -- fully faired bikes seem boring, I have no desire to sit in a cocoon of air (as RantyDave just put it in another thread, travelling `in a bubble of air whose sole purpose is to stop you from thinking you're moving forwards at all'). When your bike maxes out at 145kph flat on the tank, you need something to give you a sense of straight line speed.

[el loco jalapeno]

After other posts in this thread, I thought I had better check my estimate of top speed. Went for a blat up the motorway and it topped out at 130kph at 8,000 RPM. I am 100kg (of solid muscle). It is red lined at 9,500 RPM.

This bike has only travelled 150 km so I didn't want to ring it whilst running it in. I am farily confident that I would get 140kph out of it max after it has loosened up a bit in say a couple of thousand km and am sure you would easily get that, or more, with an average weight rider.

I can now confirm the Scorpio's ceiling is somewhere around 130 on reasonably flat road. I haven't weighed myself in years but I must be 70kg max, and lying flat on the tank with the throttle wide open, it was just over the 130 mark (and it wouldn't make it to redline ). Admittedly I had a backpack on but nothing much in it, so there could have been some aerodynamic effect. You'd see 140 with a slight bit of downhill or a tail wind though.

[Lucy]

I can now confirm the Scorpio's ceiling is somewhere around 130 on reasonably flat road. I haven't weighed myself in years but I must be 70kg max, and lying flat on the tank with the throttle wide open, it was just over the 130 mark (and it wouldn't make it to redline ). Admittedly I had a backpack on but nothing much in it, so there could have been some aerodynamic effect. You'd see 140 with a slight bit of downhill or a tail wind though.

That's interesting. My Gn goes 100 easily, and one day I was trying to catch up with someone and twisted the throttle as far as it would go and it was about 105, BUT, then, later on I held the throttle open again, and kept it there, and the speed crept up and up and up, and I ended up at 120 and accelerating. Got scared and slowed down. And I'm NOT 70kg max.... So it took a while to get there, but get there it did. And it wasn't a fluke because another day I got to 120-130ish. (too scared to take my eyes off the road to check properly).