Another new bike rider (BecauseImaKiwi)

[Chanak]

I was thinking a:
Brand new Scorpio Z, or
This RG 150: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-183868834.htm or
This Kawasaki ZXR: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-178666534.htm

All those bikes look low enough for my 5'3"-ness haha.

If the RG is low enough for my 5'(notquite1buttallenoughnottobe0)"-ness, it's low enough for your 5'3-ness :P

[TOTO]

Hey Girl, Welcome to the wonderful world of biking and KB (the madhouse).

Would strongly recommend you stay away from 2 stroke bikes like the Suzuki RG 150. You can learn to ride on anything but the 2 strokes are more temperamental and can sometimes get you in situations you dont want to be in.

The first step is to go to a bike shop and sit on some 250cc bikes and see what fits you and what doesnt. I recommend writing down the the make and model of the bike that fits you well so you can go looking for it on trade-me. After you have done that you can start looking on TradeMe.

Wether you go for a sports bike or a cruiser is entirely up to your personal preference, as both will give you the nesseserry skills for your later motorcycling life. There is a fair number of naked sports bikes - which means its a sports bike performance but without the plastics. Having no fairings (plastics) on your first bike is a good thing as the ammount of damage to the bike if it is dropped will be minimal, which realisticly sometimes happens.

Had a wee look on trade me for ya and found a few bikes you may wanna go to the bike shops and ask if they have them so you can have a sit on and see how they feel. here they are:

Sports bikes
Honda Hornet 250 - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-184713880.htm
Suzuki GSX250 - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-184358731.htm
Suzuki GSF250 Bandit - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-182414367.htm
Yamaha Scorpio 225 - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-168943781.htm
Honda CBR 250 - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-184292329.htm
Kawasaki ZXR 250 - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-178666534.htm

You should know that the last two - the CBR and the ZXR are some of the fastest sports 250cc bikes you can find, but the downside is that they are more expensive even tho they are quite old, and you may be faced with some extra maintenance costs fue to their age. I wouldnt buy anything older than year 1995.

Cruisers
Suzuki GZ 250- http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-184529143.htm
Suzuki GN 250 - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-184541383.htm
Suzuki VL250 Intruder (Super comfy seat) - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-184361736.htm

Try to sit on at least those models and see how they fit ya.

Hope this is of some help to you. Also, armoured gear is essential from day 1 on a bike, make sure you have all the armoured gear - boots, pants, jacket gloves and ofcourse helmet

let us know how you go and if you need anything else

[Brooke]

Hi Ya, Hope you are getting on well with making a decision on your bike. I am a new rider to this game too and am also on the vertically challenged side. With my bike I wanted to buy new for the warranty side of things etc and what I found suited me best was the Kawasaki 250. I found comfortable sitting on the bike and wasn't stretching out too much in my arms or my legs. I guess it comes down to what you want to spend and what you want to get out of your bike. I feel the most important thing is how comfortable you feel on your bike.

I know the last thing I wanted to worry about while trying to remember all the other things to do on my bike what what I felt like or how I was going to get my feet on the ground if I had to stop and especially if the road was on an angle!

I hope you find a really cool bike and have as much fun as me!

Best of Luck.

[BecauseImaKiwi]

Wow! Thanks for all the help! I didn't expect this many responses lol.
I'm definitely leaning towards a Kawasaki, I've read heaps of good things about them and have gone to a Kawa shop here and sat on a Ninja..

Does anyone here know much about the Suzuki Across?
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=186899164

I'm liking that 'glove box' haha.

[portokiwi]

Welcome kiwi to KBer. Good to see you are asking for advice.

[slimjim]

nooo...a yama........
and welcome too......

[jrandom]

Welcome to the forum.

Scorpio's the best learner bike by far. You can't go wrong for 4 grand brand new, and they hustle along the road just fine and dandy.

[sinfull]

Welcome to the forum.

Scorpio's the best learner bike by far. You can't go wrong for 4 grand brand new, and they hustle along the road just fine and dandy.

I find ours to be a bit sluggish !

[MyGSXF:Me]

purchased a Scorpio 2 weeks ago and love it. I had no riding skills at all, and am picking it up real quick.

Welcome to the world of motorcycling...

I would like to suggest that you give Andrew & Lynne a call at "Roadsafe" & book yourself in for a rider training course!

www.roadsafe.co.nz

Will be the BEST investment you can make on for your riding passion!!!


BeacuseImaKiwi.. welcome to KB & great to see another chick joining the ranks!!! As mentioned, I also recommend you go round shops & sit on bikes to get a feel for what you like. Looking at pictures of one, is very different to actually sitting on it.

& as Unit said... wear ALL ya gear ALL the time!!

Jen

[jrandom]

I find ours to be a bit sluggish !

I wasn't suggesting that she ride it back to back with a Speed Triple.

[sinfull]

I wasn't suggesting that she ride it back to back with a Speed Triple.

If i have my way tommorrow there could be an addition to the family !

[jrandom]

If i have my way tommorrow there could be an addition to the family !

Way hey hey! Own the muthafuckin RACETRACK au.

[madbikeboy]

Welcome to KiddieBiker. There are loads of really great and helpful people here - make sure you get some training and perhaps a Mentor (they have a green ME next to their name).

You'll have some good days and some tough days in the beginning, but it's well worth it.

[cheshirecat]

Hi,
A friend of mine has just got into bikes so I've spent some time riding with her - keeping cars off her taillight, setting lines through corners, braking techniques, etc etc. I think you could ask any Biker and they would be happy to do the same for you. Just stop by the roadside and look as if there's a problem with your bike and you'll get the first biker coming past.

Aside form all the above spend lots of time doing low speed manouvers, figure of eights, braking practice, road positioning etc. Oh and always ride within your envelope - very important, ride as if you are invisible to other vehicles and always imagine a brick wall around the corner.

Good luck

[GrayWolf]

Plenty of good adivce being given here.
All engine types have there good and bad points.
Singles tend to be slower, lighter and good around town with a more upright seating position. Cheap to run, cheap for servicing costs. Major services about half the cost of a four cylinder (4 pot). They usualy dont need a fistfull of revs to pull away in traffic.
Twins like th ZXR or ZZR (same engine ZZR looks) to me are the best compromise, still ligher, reasonable open road abilities but not so expensive to maintain as the 4 pot bikes. Pretty reasonable in traffic too.
4 pots, fastest and frequently the most abused (apart from 2 strokes which have to be abused , just because they are 2T's)
The biggest concern is the amount of abuse/thrashing/and lack of proper maintanance they've had. A major service (A service) for a 4 pot is in the region of $600, not many young hoons are going to 'out' that kind of spondoolicks on a regular basis.
Singles are easier to ride, thats why the basic training schools tend to use single pot bikes for their courses.
ZXR/ZZR are not a full sport bike for performance or seating position. One of your best friends in riding is 'the view' the higher up you are? the better road reading distance you get. So leaning really forwards does restrict the distance you can see in traffic.
Comfort for the rider? the more race/sport oriented the bike is; (Seat construction and rider position) the sooner you are looking for a pit stop to stretch the body, rest the wrist ache and unkink the neck.