Little bikes are different?

[Motu]

Small bikes are like puppies and kittens,fun and exciting,you gotta smile at their exuberance.My DT230 can play with the big boys because it has the power to weight ratio of a much larger bike,and yet it's only a little fella....not growed up yet.It runs the same size tyres as bigger bikes I've had but is much more nervous in corners - you can't just set a line and forget about it,there is constant adjustment through the corner.I have to be careful under power in corners as any bump or drop off will have it in the air and out of contact with the ground....step outs are kinda scary on this one.So ok,you can get that on a big bike too - but it's not the same as getting tossed around on a small bike.

I've got both - big and small....several of each.And small is waaaay more fun.

[Grub]

It's a tricky one. For sheer fun and enjoyment I think our old FXR150 put more smiles on my face han the 600 does. I remember riding home the looong way along SH58 to the last Whitby entrance instead of the first and then going back and doing it again .... ummm ... 5 times!

Quick turn in, chuckability, get-out-of-trouble-quick, light ... hmmm.

Really sucked going up SH1 Pukerua Bay and P'ram into the standard brisk NW winds though.

[FROSTY:Me]

It's got me to wondering if us more "experienced" riders (insert old if you must) have come to have a little complacency even possibly arrogance about some newbee crashes.
Riding Kylies bike along Don Buck road ( fairly twisty 50km/h residentiial road) I was a tadd nervous at how it was sliding aound so easily after a bit of a shower.

[HRT]

It's a tricky one. For sheer fun and enjoyment I think our old FXR150 put more smiles on my face han the 600 does. I remember riding home the looong way along SH58 to the last Whitby entrance instead of the first and then going back and doing it again .... ummm ... 5 times!

Quick turn in, chuckability, get-out-of-trouble-quick, light ... hmmm.

Really sucked going up SH1 Pukerua Bay and P'ram into the standard brisk NW winds though.

You don't find the 600 as nice to turn in etc? Maybe its because my last bike was so much older, but I fond the brakes, bigger tyre and power to pull so much better out of a corner make the 600 a lot more fun than the 250. 250 was alright, but felt somewhat lacking after a few months

[Disco Dan]

It's got me to wondering if us more "experienced" riders (insert old if you must) have come to have a little complacency even possibly arrogance about some newbee crashes.
Riding Kylies bike along Don Buck road ( fairly twisty 50km/h residentiial road) I was a tadd nervous at how it was sliding aound so easily after a bit of a shower.

I dont have 'years' to bring experience from only three or four so far, but I have to agree!

However larger bikes become 'twitchy' and 'fun' at high speed whereas small bikes say less than 600cc (some have 250cc size tires) are all about the lower speed 'fun' (under 100k for example).

They all still do exactly what they are built for...

[lanci]

For me the 250 bikes I have ridden are generally quite old and budget, meaning shitter suspension for price saving as well as that, the suspension is a little tired........

So my 2005 Ducati Monster which weighs the same as my Hornet, feels more stable due to quality (maybe) suspension that is less worn out.

That's my initial thought's anyway, not taking into account greater wheelbase of the Duc etc..............

[Ixion]

Obviously one must compare like and like. Comparing an MV Agusta with a GN is hardly meaningful. Perhaps a Derbi or RS125.

Most of my big bikes have shitter suspension as well, so its a closer comparison.

[90s]

If I had the money, I would have kept my old RG150 because it was such fun for the reasons Ixions outlines. Light = terrible in the crosswinds, narrow rubber scittering about - so the GSX on the commute and touring is much better.

But along scenic drive the RG was amazing fun. Poor surfaces, tight corners, constant chicanes ... at lowish speeds the thing was fun!
The torquey GSX at legal speeds runs around Scenic drive as if on rails - much calmer and faster, no drama ... but not much as much fun.
Those small bikes, of which I have owned many, are so safely entertaining at realistic speeds. I reckon the only real way to up it from that is to get a sport bike and take it to the track - for the roads there's no getting more fun than you can have on a small bike legally and/or safetly.
But there's only so much fun you can have before you need a bike for other things that they are not very good at ...
And only so many times some people can take being asked if their bike is powered by a hairdryer ...

[Roki_nz]

I *like* a bike that is 'nervy', that feels the road and needs to be ridden. If I wanted stability, I'd put an motor in an armchair. And call it a BMW.



Someone in Germany did something very similar. They put a motor in a wheel chair.
The police caught it, gave the man a fine and impounded the motor chair.

[vonstringer]

I've just started riding again on a Yamaha Scorpio 225 after a six-year break. Prior to this I had a Triumph Thunderbird Sport.

The little Yamaha definitely feels the road more and the front wheel tends to bounce along over uneven road surfaces, but it's not unnerving - just different. It's very manoeuvrable and the low weight makes it easy to throw around if necessary.

One thing it does lack is the ability to disappear from an area when car drivers are doing silly things. It was easy on the Triumph to put some distance between silly people and myself.

The Yamaha is bags of fun, cheap (not so much to worry about), and can do most things a big bike can.

[xwhatsit]

I was reminded of this again going over the Harbour Bridge yesterday. Side-by-side with a GS1200SS (those things are so cool ), he had one hand on the throttle, other hand on his thigh, just gently cruising over the peak looking at the scenery. Meanwhile I'm bouncing around with the shitty road surface, getting blown side-to-side by the wind and truck wash, constantly adjusting throttle for the effects of the wind and changing road angle.

I think I was having much more fun -- he looked like he was just rolling down his driveway I think I'd slowly go spare commuting on a big bike like that; my little nervous gutless single keeps me occupied and grinning even doing the most mundane commuter riding.

[Ixion]

I was foribly reminded today of one very important point. A small/light bike WILL skitter about. That's fine *unless* it is fitted with crap (eg Chen Shing) tyres. In which case the skitter can tunr very easily into a crash. and of course, often small bike = cheap bike = crappy OEM tyres. They really are dangerous.


This post brought to you by a joint venture of Chen Shing tyre (loosely called) and the water covered taroil puddle loosely called SH22.

The world will not be safe for little bikes until the last Chen Shing dealer is strangled with the guts of the last roading engineer.

[ital916]

I was foribly reminded today of one very important point. A small/light bike WILL skitter about. That's fine *unless* it is fitted with crap (eg Chen Shing) tyres. In which case the skitter can tunr very easily into a crash. and of course, often small bike = cheap bike = crappy OEM tyres. They really are dangerous.


This post brought to you by a joint venture of Chen Shing tyre (loosely called) and the water covered taroil puddle loosely called SH22.

The world will not be safe for little bikes until the last Chen Shing dealer is strangled with the guts of the last roading engineer.

Hear hear, ixion minister of transportation! *and maybe jim for police minister, all crooks would go into a furnace , jokes*

[FilthyLuka]

I think I was having much more fun -- he looked like he was just rolling down his driveway I think I'd slowly go spare commuting on a big bike like that; my little nervous gutless single keeps me occupied and grinning even doing the most mundane commuter riding.

I know! Commuting wise, having a mildly tuned thumper is always gonna be fun :-) After going from the slabbie back onto the GN, i gotta say, the GN is still loads of fun

[CookMySock]

my wifes' GT250R is surprisingly similar to my GT650R.. but that is probably because the bikes are surprisingly similar.