First Rides III

First Rides III by JYNorflet

remember Ronny Reed January 22nd 2011
 

January.22.2011

The Yamaha V Star 250

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Your first motorcycle is similar to your first car, It's a vehicle that will always have a certain sentimental value. You probably remember your very first car like it was yesterday. Obviously, as with both you can have a good experience with it or a bad, either way it'll be a bike to remember. This series of posts has covered several bikes considered to be beginner bikes. As I mentioned in a previous post, the word beginner is not meant to be condescending in any way. But, everyone has to start out on something. These bikes are the bikes that foundations are built on. So, if you start out with a bike that has mechanical problems, unstable, or just unpleasant to ride, your riding foundation could be a poor one. This is not to say that you need to purchase a $4000 bike like the Yamaha V Star 250 I'll be writing about in this post. Because there are hundreds of inexpensive motorcycles out there with little to no hours on them for sale. But it certainly is a privilege to own a bike with the latest  and greatest safety equipment and the latest technology incorporated into the bike.  There is one aspect of riding that Yamaha has been very conscious of for years, and that's rider seat height., many of the Yamaha's designs incorporate a lower seat than many. The seat height being lower goes a long way towards rider comfort at stops. This is especially true if you're not exactly a tall person who is carrying a passenger.

From everything that I've read about the V Star 250 it's a great starter bike. It has a cruiser type frame, a 250cc V twin engine,  a 58.7 inch wheelbase, a seat height of 27inches. The gasoline sipping engine manages to produce gas mileage in the 78 miles per gallon category, and with a 2.5 gallon gas tank, that easily puts the fuel range in the 200 miles plus club or into scooter territory.  The bikes does have it's foot pegs located a bit forward more than many beginner bikes. But for the cruiser class of bikes they a on par. The suggested Price on the Yamaha VStar 250 is $4090.00, without tax of course.

JYNorflet

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note: Always remember, when teaching a new rider things that are obvious to you are NOT so obvious to a new rider.Be sure to remind all to riders to lower their feet when coming to s a stop, especially after a long ride. This may may sound silly, but I know someone who was training a beginner and this happend. They simply forgot to put their feet down at the end
of a very long ride.

FIRST RIDES II

First Rides II "The sequel"    1.15.2011  By JYNorflet 

Well, I'd like to say belated Happy New Year to all who read my posts. This installation is the first of what I hope to be many to follow for the year 20-11  Though somewhat smaller than my initial installation in a series of posts on beginner bikes, I hope the information assists in your attempt at determining which of these bikes best suites your needs, style and taste. As you probably recall from the earlier post, CC's denote the size of the motorcycles engine in Cubic Centimeters, (not used by Harley and some other American motorcycle / car manufactures). Anyway back at the ranch, the more or higher the CC's, the more displacement or power as well as speed the bike has. On the downside, the more CC's the heavier, the more gas consumption, and the more insurance is going to cost you.  However, a 250cc bike is ideal for training, it typically will provide the rider with a perfect balance between power, weight, balance and the oh so important maneuverability. One reason the Suzuki GZ250 looks so great to me as a beginner bike is it's style. It's sort of a cross between cruiser and a standard upright frame. This leaves the rider in a great orientation on the seat, that upright, arms straight out riding position provides several excellent benefits versus the sport bike riding position. The upright riding position places your center of gravity in just the right place. This provides you with better control of the bike, how ? Well it allows better maneuverability by allowing the rider to move his /her center of gravity easier. On the sport bike, the forward leaning position places your weight forward of the engine, in my opinion they are not as agile, especially in an emergency swerve situation where an obstacle may suddenly appear in your path. Not to mention the enormous amount of weight that is placed on your wrists. But that is an entirely separate article all together.  The Suzuki weighs approximately 300 pounds and churns out somewhere in the area of 20 H.P. which provides a top speed of 75mph or so. In addition, the bike is capable of obtaining 75 m.p.g. , which is great for the hard core commuter who not only benefits from the fun of riding and learning, but also benefits from doing it cheaply. The bike has a 3+ gallon tank,  comes equipped with electric start, a 5 speed standard gearbox, chain drive, an air cooled 2 cylinder engine, One thing I did find odd was the rear drum brake. Most if not all of today's bikes are fitted with front and rear disc brakes.  If you are not familiar with drum brakes especially on a motorcycle they do not have the stopping power of disc brakes. They also have another oddity. If you drive through a deep puddle, the drum will not operate until the water the brake shoe become dry again.  This is something that takes a bit of getting used to. So, after passing through the water you need to hold the rear brake until it become operational again.  The seat height on the Suzuki is 27.8 inches high. This is probably perfect for the average height woman, and just a bit to low for the average sized maThe 2011 model runs somewhere in the area of $2,999.00 The bike has a 3+ gallon tank,  comes equipped with electric start, a 5 speed standard gearbox, chain drive, an air cooled 2 cylinder engine, One thing I did find odd was the rear drum brake. Most if not all of today's bikes are fitted with front and rear disc brakes.  If you are not familiar with drum brakes especially on a motorcycle they do not have the stopping power of disc brakes. They also have another oddity. If you drive through a deep puddle, the drum will not operate until the water the brake shoe become dry again.  This is something that takes a bit of getting used to. So, after passing through the water you need to hold the rear brake until it become operational again.  The seat height on the Suzuki is 27.8 inches high. This is probably perfect for the average height woman, and just a bit to low for the average  or above average sized  man. The 2011 model runs somewhere in the area of $2,999.00, This is a $1000.00 reduction over previous year prices.
JYNorflet

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note: Remember, always perform a visual inspection of your bike prior to each ride.

Inspect the headlight, brake light, brake levers. look for loose nuts and bolts which may not have loc tight. Check all levers as well as safety equipment, such as mirrors, shifter and foot pegs. A little time now could save a lot of heart ache later. And don't forget that tool kit under your seat.

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