Possibly returning rider - Looking for some thoughts! (robboh)
Hi All,
Ive lurked here a bit off and on over the years, and finally decided to join
After a bit of advise / thoughts around options for getting back onto two wheels. This might be a bit of a novel, so bear with me
Bit of background. Grew up in the Manawatu (perfect bike territory) and rode farm bikes etc from about 12. Got my bike license the day I turned 15. And then stupidly let my learners expire, which meant I had to go through the whole routine again, but including the newly introduced (at the time) skills handling test. Didnt have a cage license until I had to get one for work, at about 21.
Have always been into 'hyper' 250s, having owned a TZR and a KR1-SP (evil bike - seriously needed a steering damper but I was always too jewish, or too poor, to buy one). Both of which I used to punt around in 250 Proddy at Manfield in the winter series. Was never super quick with the TZR, which was off the pace compared to the RGVs, and only ran the KR1 a couple of times before shifting to AKL.
Got to run a mate's GP125 at Old Taupo a couple of times too, which was a blast (though I was dog-slow due to not having raced, or even ridden for quite a while at the time)!!
Shifted up to AKL for work and commuted from Whangaporoa to Albany for a year or so on the KR1. As well as later on when I was carless for a while. The KR1 ended up getting given to a mate in PMR who passed it on to some young guy who raced it again. Was good to hear that. That was about 7 or 8 years ago now. Im mid-30's now.
About that stage, cages started coming on the scene. Trotting out girls, big dogs, diving, skiing, and all that sort of stuff really necessitates a car. I do a bit of clubsport racing in the car (motokhanas, hillclimbs, dual-sprints at Taupo, that sort of stuff) with an Italian car club (I do like Italian vehicles, they seem to have a bit more soul) as well, which is fun.
Over the past couple of years, Ive been really starting to get the itch to get another bike, so here I am. Some of the younger guys at work have bikes as well, which doesnt help
Coupled to all that, the price Im paying for parking in Newmarket is driving me nuts. The price of gas doesnt help, but overall, I dont think commuting a bike is actually much cheaper once you take into account tyres / chains / etc. So Im starting to think a bit more seriously about a bike. The parking building across the road lets us park bikes there for free as long as they arent in the way or taking up cage spots, so that bit is sorted.
The commute is about 10km each way, so about 100km per week (eg about 5K km per year). From Hillsborough to Newmarket, so its all urban. The back roads I use do have a few steepish hills, and a few fun corners too
The way I see it, for petrol, cheap running costs, low-cost rego, etc, a scooter would seem to be the go for commuting. But my last experience with scooters is Nifty50's which couldnt pull the skin off a rice pudding. I would worry about not being able to keep up with the traffic, especially on hills. I have a mate in PMR who is a VMoto dealer, and he only has good things to say about the Monza's (he would also tell me if there WERE bad things to say). I reckon a scooter would pay for itself in about 8 months with the savings in parking / petrol.
A bigger scooter might be an option to solve the power issue, but then dont have cheap rego etc, and still wouldnt be any good for the occasional sunday morning cobweb cleanout, or even possibly the occasional track day. So that leads on to a 'real' bike.
A 250 would seem a better option than a scooter in terms of power etc for commuting, but since my favourite bike type (250 2T) is basically off the menu these days, I wonder if I think I might find the 250 4T's a bit boring after a few months, especially out of town.
On the other hand, between the general increase in traffic density, the increased presence of the men-in-blue, IMHO the great overall lowering of general driving skills of motorist in AKL over the past 10 years, and me getting older (and less stupid?) I do find I tend to cruise the cage at just below the ticket threshold (ie 110%). I just dont slow down for corners
For the 250's, though, the Hyo 250 does look nice, though very heavy! Plus it doesnt seem to have the best of rep's. The Aprilia is just beautiful, but commuting on 250 2T's is a bit of hard work, they arent fun for just laid-back cruising out of town (especially if the road isnt billiard-table smooth), and finally not really that suitable to throw the missus on the back as pillion.
So that brings me up to the 600's. By the way, Im about 5'6" and ~62 KG, so smaller / lighter bikes are definite must for me, and I think that anything over about a 600 would be just physically too big for me.
Anyway. Again, the Hyo 650 is cheap, but heavy, not great rep, and not super powerful either. Something like a CBR 600 F4 looks like it would fit the bill for commute and being ok out of town, but they seem to be getting up there in the kays these days and getting a few years old. The current crop of 600s are all hard-out race-reps, and dont really appear to be particularly suitable for regular commuting with very narrow midrange and very hard-arse riding position??
I do like the look of the Triumph 675 Daytona (quite high seat though?) and Im guessing it would have a little more midrange than the Suzzi / Honda / Yamaha / Kwaka et al??? I reckon the Duke 749 is just beautiful as well, but it would be a bit of a crime to commute one of those, and I suspect would have very high running costs if you were clocking up the kays. Its also getting up in the $$ a bit. I could easily walk out the shop with a new scoot, or a 250, but over that would need some additional saving or talking to the bank manager.
Reading through the forums over the past few days has shown up a new one I didnt know about, which looks interesting. The Kwaka Ninja 650R. Looks like its got a reasonable riding position for commute / a bit of touring, and a reasonable pillion seat for the occasional missus involvement.
As a side note, I generally really dont like the look of naked bikes, and have always found that fairings provide far better weather / wind protection, especially out of town.
So. If you are still with me, does anyone have some pearls of wisdom which might help? Interested in thoughts on the modern 50cc scooters, or 250's v's 600's, or any other left-field suggestions people might have.
Rob.
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Originally Posted by FlangMaster
) your wife might decide that she likes it so much she might start commuting on two wheels as well - in which case she can ride it on her learner's licence.
There is no such thing as bad weather; only inappropriate clothing! 
Or what about a DR650?!
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