My test rides thread

[colin1]

I love my rs125 but i have passed my full bike license and its time to think about other bikes.

I am gonna test ride a wide variety and decide what i want and what i like.

Today i tested a honda dominator 650 single - a big trail bike, and a honda rebel 250 paralell twin - a small cruiser.

I found i really liked the riding position of the dominator and it was great in town at low speeds. It coped ok going faster but wasnt really happy. The vibration at some speeds and rev ranges was a bit high but its possible this could be sorted out by bar end weights or thicker grips.

Although the rebel had felt comfy in the shop, at first i cdnt get comfy when riding. Then I found that i could lean back, with my arms pulling on the bars stopping me from falling backwards. This was fine in a straight line but not so good in town where i had o sit up in a way that wasnt comfy on the rebel. I really liked the 250 paralell twin tho. Just enough power.

From this it seems i want a trailie with a 250 paralell twin engine. The closest i know to this are stinkwheels kle500 or a transalp or maybe a 400 supermoto. Id like a small engine for fuel economy in a commuter.

Next week I will be test riding a freewind (similar to dominator), majesty 250 scooter, burgman 400 scooter, thundercat 600 sportsbike.

I know the thundercat isnt exactly a commuter but im open to having something less practical and more fun too.

The other thing was i got a big surprise in streetbike, ive never been in before, and they must have about 100 bikes or more, at least 20 in my price range. The other places i have been to have about 20 and about 3 in my price range.

i have just found a 4stroke 250 motocross bike on ebay, so they do exist but unfortunately its an offroad bike.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[The Old Geeza]

Surely, COLINWALL the final choice has to be yours ?

I'm an old bloke as far as modern biking is concerned, and I can't help thinking from reading so many posts on BCF that there seems to be a somewhat 'I've got to look cool and fit in' attitude amongst younger bikers.

For what it's worth, I bought a lid because it fitted my head perfectly. I bought a bike because I could afford it, it was comfortable and wasn't so heavy that I couldn't hold it up. I bought gloves, boots and clothing because they fitted me and felt comfortable. Etc, etc, etc...

IMO, once you sit and ride a bike that feels exactly right for you, then why not just buy that bike?

Every single person has their own personal preference regarding what bike to buy or ride. But their opinion is always going to be based on their own experiences, not yours. And since all younger bikers are going to try to convince you to buy a bike like theirs (because theirs is the best), you'll never get a true experience of what exactly is best for YOU.

So, just test ride all the bikes you want. Then select the one you found most comfortable with. You'll NEVER find the perfect bike which has everything you want or need. If you did, then we'd all be riding it.

Just buy the bike that feels best for you.

I'm not slagging off any single member of BCF or any other biker whatsoever. Rather, what I am doing is respecting everyone's choice of whatever bike you ride.

It's all a matter of personal choice.

(Oh, go on then all of you, start posting the 'You Old Git' replies. You know you want to )





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Horse Power was safer when the Horses had it!

[colin1]

yeah im gonna make my pick based on lots of things not just image.

I'm probably gonna test ride more bikes than the salesmen think is necessary too as I wanna buy the right bike. I know that test rides dont give a complete picture but its better than just reading or looking at pretty bikes.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[The Old Geeza]

[colin1]

ive now found some 4 stroke 250 motoX bikes that are road legal now and some are dirt cheap
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[colin1]

i went to the cat n fiddle near buxton and macclesfield today with my mate mat who has an 05 rs125. On the way back from stoke onwards i was on his bike.

It was surprsing how different they were. Mine is about 10 years older and isnt in perfect health.

He has also downgeared his by 3 teeth, which improves the acceleration. I didnt realise it, but my suspension must be knackered as his is much better. Not just back, but front too. He has more even power all through the revs, so i my powervalve may be sticking, or it could be my 34mm carb and race exhaust changes the power delivery, or both. His gearbox is incredibly smooth, while mine is not.

Mine is old shape and his is new shape. The difference in seat etc is almost enough to be like a different bike model.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[lilredmachine]

or it could be because yours is 10 years old and technology has moved on a bit.
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.

[colin1]

no im pretty sure my bike is knackered and not set up right

i dont think the design of rs125's has changed that much but i could be wrong
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[Andy C]

when i got mine rebuilt i saw a '05 RS125 in the shop and all i can say is mmmmmmmm. saying that though i wouldnt buy another RS125, just few small reasons but i think they arnt practical for regular use (warming up) and only mode of travel. If you like RS125 a lot why not a RS250, then you can keep up a lot more on ride-outs!
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99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet

[colin1]

I was thinking of getting an rs250, but ive gone off the idea recently.

but i might go back to the idea.

i like extrema (old shape) rs125's and rs250's.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[levi]

COLINWALL hurry up and make your mind up you have test riden more bikes then i have had hot meals in the time i have been on this forum which isnt long tbh haha. pick one my 2 pence is get a zxr400 nice bike
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Proud owner of a Gilera Cougar 125
Proud owner of a Honda VFR 750

[colin1]

I have not test ridden enough yet.

Today I tested a yp250 (big scooter), freewind (city big single trail style thing), gsxf 600 (budget sports 600)

First I took the GSXF 600, straight away it felt a lot more powerful than anything I have ridden before. It has 80bhp, where the dominator had 60. The dominator didnt feel much more powerful than my rs, but this gsxf did. It accelerated effortlessly but didnt feel like a rocket ship. It was a bit frustrating being behind a bus on the way to the petrol station. I would have used its power to overtake but there were cars coming the other way.

Disaster at petrol station. Ive got some petrol, paid, and now i want to go again. I cant get it to start ! Its got an imobiliser thing that you touch with a key type thing, before you put the ignition on. Im sure Im doing it right but it wont work ! arggh. This is 15 mins into my 1 hour test ride and i havnt even opened it up yet. Not quite soul destroying but pretty close. Fortunately I had prepared for this type of eventuality by bringing my phone, and the dealers card. Unfortunately I have left the dealers card with my license etc at the dealers ! arggh ! I borrow a business pages from the car wash across the road but its not in it. I end up having to ring 118 118 even though I know they are ridiculously expensive. I ring the dealer, and the guy is on his lunch break. I use up whats left of my credit describing the situation to various people and eventually someone comes down. Probably wasnt long really but sitting on a nice powerful bike which you cant get to work makes it feel longer. It turns out that all it was, was that with some bikes you have to hold the clutch in when you start them. I didnt know this as I wasnt told.

Its time for me to go back now, but I have another half hour.

I liked the effortless power and it was easier to lean over in bends than an er5 but something about the bars hurt my wrists. The bars were higher than my rs but were maybe at a different angle or something. You couldnt really do a duck down riding position either.

I took it back and the guy apologised as he just holds the clutch in without thinking. Hes a bit embarrassed cos of the freewind that wdnt start last week, and the rebel that had bits fall offf it.

Next is the yp250. A few weeks ago I had been thinking this was the thing to have, but after trying the rebel cruiser thing, I had thought feet forward riding position didnt suite me and wd be good for long journeys but not for nimbly nipping thru traffic. I was wrong. The yp250 is great. It has enough power to pull away briskly it turns really easily (maybe cos the wheels are small and the weight is carried so low). It was very comfy on my wrists and was a real pleasure in town traffic. Being automatic was a real plus even tho I wasnt sure I wd like an auto. I took it onto the motorway to see how it was cruising at a steady high speed. It was very comfy in straight lines cruising at 60 or 70, but when the motorway curved round, the steering went light at 70 which was a bit unnerving. It wasnt bad enough to be scary, but was enough to know that you wdnt take it through high speed twisties. This was actually another bonus because it means i can justify keeping the rs for that type of riding. The big fairing helps at high speed too. Another big plus was that the mirrors did not vibrate at all at speed. They did on the gsxf600.

I knew I still had the freewind to try but as I have already tried a dominator which was similar, I had a good idea what it would be like. There was no question in my mind that the yp250 is the best ive tried so far.

I had another good surprise with the yp250 when i did a u turn with it in the dealers car park to park it up. It has a tiny turning cirlce and was really easy to turn tightly.

The freewind had a smoother engine than the dominator, with no annoying bar vibration. The handling didnt feel quite as good when turning but there was the same poise and balance at low speeds. The low rev power is very good for pulling away. The GSXf 600 had a lot more power at higher revs so wd be good for overtaking, but didnt have the low rev power kick. The freewind felt quite a bit better in traffic than the gsxf600 and the seating position was more comfy than the yp250, but the bar position was not as good, so the yp250 was more comfy. A spell on the motoway showed it was more stable than the majesty and had more power at higher speeds, but it had no wind protection and so wdnt be good for any distance. I dont think you really need good acceleration on the motorway, as overtaking isnt such a risky rushed thing.

Its a shame I didnt try out the gSXF600 on the motorway or a country road. I think the gsxf600, neither sporty enough to be good for the country road, or comfy enough to cruise on a motorway. I like its engine, but dont like the riding position. I have heard it gets slated in the bike press so I'm not gonna let it turn me away from 600 inline 4's.

So the yp250 scooter is in the lead by a long way. Oh and I like its underseat helmet storage too. I know a lot of people started out on scooters so know what they are like, but Im glad i started on a motorbike as its more stable and more forgiving of mistakes.

If I got a yp250, I could justify keeping the rs125 for weekend blasts, and as I have spent money getting it fixed up, it wd be silly to sell it just when its working properly as i wont get my money back. Now that its fixed up, I dont think it will cost much next year.

Tomorrow I have got the thundercat, and the burgman 400 scooter.

I dont think I'll bother test riding the transalp anymore. But I'm still interested in vfr750, tt600, sv650.

sr125
rs125 '96
cg125
cbr125
er5
dominator
rebel 250
rs125 '05
gsxf600
yp250
freewind
11 so far
I really shd do another 9
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[colin1]

I expected the burgman 400 to be like the majesty 250 only more powerful. It wasnt. There was no wow. It was ok but it wasnt particularly nippy in traffic and the throttle response was awful. It would rev a bit and then accelerate slowly. It was better on the motorway cos it was more stable and the engine was more comfy at high speeds but it was a bit of a disappointment as I wd use it mostly in town and only occasionally on motorways.

When I took it back and asked if there was something wrong with it as it felt like my bike did when the clutch was slipping. He said it was designed to be like this and is set up to have slow throttle response on purpose. Apparently this is to avoid a lurchy stop start feel. He said the 250 I had tried must have been set up wrongly. He also said that being set up like that would wear out the roller bearings. I can help bneing a bit suspicious that I was deliberately given a crap burgman to ride so the thundercat felt better, so I go down the more lucrative sportsbike route.

I liked the set up of the 250, but this could mean that if i bought a different 250 from elsewhere, it wdnt necessarily feel the way i like it due to the set up The 400 wd have been better if it had the throttle response the way i like it but it still didnt steer as nicely in traffic. The 400 wd be could for touring on motorways btu not much good in town.

Next was the thundercat. I wasnt expecting great things from the thundercat as I wasnt greatly impressed by the gsxf 600. However it was great. It was better in traffic than the burgman 400 and had everything I like about my rs and takes it to another level. With the gsxf600 it was only fun when it was going fast and it was more stable than fun. The thundercat was even fun going slowly. Im not quite sure why. Maybe the precise handling. It felt more like a trail bike than my rs making it better in town.

The consequences of this are that I might have to find different people to ride with as I'm not sure I could justify keeping the rs as the thundercat does everything better. I could probably stay at rs speeds but its gonna be more fun if i open it up. The acceleration makes it like a highly controllable rocketship.

My riding buddies have rs125's.

Im also beginning to think that as set up makes such a difference, it might be good to buy from a dealer, as if I buy off ebay, antoehr thundercat might nto feel the same.

Tomorrow I will be riding an sv650. Friday I will be riding a vfr750 and maybe a tt600. The guy also says that if i like the sv650, it might be worth me trying an sv1000 as they are the same insurance group as the thundercat and vfr750.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[Andy C]

i think SV650 looks really nice, tell us how it rides!lol
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99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet

[Ork12]

I quite like the sv650 aswell, only bit I don't like is the way the pipe between exhaust bit and engine looks, apart from that its a beauty
Alex

[colin1]

[G]

If the SV does pull better low down (relatively), I suspect it will only be due to the shorter gearing.

Obviously you do need to compare the position in the rev range rather than the actual revs - my TRX pulls well from 4k, which wouldn't get much on my r6, but that pulls better at 7.6k, which is half revs for it.

NU insurance groups often don't mean much. Some companies add thier own weightings or use a different scheme.
Also age effects a bike - so a fifteen year old group 17 may be cheaper to insure than a new group 12, even on TPO!

[colin1]

Ive just had a go on an sv650 and it wasnt bad but wasnt wow.

Good points- very smooth gearbox, nice riding postion especially tucked behind screen.

Its more flickable than the thundercat but generally it feels only slightly better than my rs. The other thing is, it sounds great at 5000revs and below as it had a race can but I didnt like the sound at higher revs. It pulls better at low revs than at high revs, so on twisty country roads, i prefer my rs125 as it may not be better but its more fun.

2 stroke sounds crap at low revs but actually quite good at high revs
the thundercat sounded good at low revs but sounded great at high revs.

The sv650 was enjoyable when riding gently. It had the power and was very flickable when riding fast yet strangely wasnt as enjoyable as the rs. It didnt have the power of the thundercat for overtaking. The suspension or chassis made the ride a bit better than the rs125 but nowhere near as good as the thundercat.

To be honest I got more wow from a 250 scooter.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[G]

Incidentally, the handling of the 'cat can be speeded up by changing geometry a bit.

Now, it does have a few more kg than the sv, but can still be pretty agile.

If you liked it, also look at the ZX6 J and above models - does most of the same, but more so. It was my first 'proper' big bike (ie 100hp+), think McJam has got one for sale .

Also, on your comments re ebay - you should really test ride the bike, whatever, be it ebay or a dealer. Plenty of dealers will have dodgy bikes as well.

[colin1]

funnily enough a guy who i have met off 125sportsbikes forum, was at streetbike when i was arranging test rides. He saw mer but I didnt see him. He has just bought a zx6 from streetbike. He did have a cbr125 and goes under the name philly46.

I had a look at mcjams bike and i like it (except the blue screen). Not too expensive for me either. I have pm'ed him to see if i can test ride it when im up in stoke on 2oct.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[colin1]

It felt taller than i expected partly because the saddle was wide. With the rs125, my feet are flat on the ground, with the vfr750 I'm on the balls of my feet. The VFR750 was very comfy and felt like I could ride for hours with no discomfort, day after day going to europe or something wd be fine. It still handled fairly well too. It accelerated very well, great for overtaking but you are bit insulated from the ride, a bit like with a car. It felt like a bike you could easily live with and enjoy. It sounded good but not as good as the thundercat.

The only problem was, after 30 mins, i needed to stop off at a pub to go to the loo. When I came to the bike I cdnt start it. The battery was flat. Fortunately the key ring, had the dealers number on it. I had meant to get the number b4 i left the house but forgot.

Me and the bike were picked up and I was out on the triumph.

It was very bad at pulling away and acceleration for overtaking 30-70 was nothing like as good as the thundercat or the vfr750 but it was a lot more nimble, nippy and revvy. It was a lot like my rs125 but better. I didnt feel the wow that I did with the 250 scooter or the thundercat, but I think its more the kind of thing I'm after for twisty country lanes. It revs higher than my rs and this gives an adrenaline rush. The vfr750 and the thundercat both feel composed at speed. The thundercat feels poised too, while the vfr750 feels comfortable.
The tt600 was more comfy than the thundercat. The sales guy said the acceleration may have felt weak on the tt600 because of the gearing, but when i asked about downgearing, he said it wd probably need to be remapped if it was downgeared. I have heard that 2001 models onwards are the ones to buy, and although this one was registered as 2001, as it has a two tone paint job,l I think its a 2000 model. So it could be later models dont have this problem. The dealer has already spend quite a lot on it having it remapped and although I'm sure its better than it was, I wdnt have expected to slip the clutch to pull away on a 600

If I got this, Id probably get a cheap 250 scooter for commuting.

The VFR750 wd make sense for long trips, but I am more likely to use a big bike for 1-2 hour countryside blasts. In the way I use my rs125. I can commute on anything really.

On my way home on the rs125, I popped into my aprilia dealer for a nose, and when i came out i noticed my left indicator was mashed ! I just turned round and went back in to get an indicator only £20 not too bad. I cdnt think how it had happened. I decided to go back to the dealer I had done the test rides with. Sure enough there were bits of indicator everywhere. I picked them up and then realised if it had fallen over, my side fairing could be damaged too. I looked and it was This left fairing was the only undamaged panel on the bike and cost me £100. I started to wonder if this had been done by sales staff thinking I was wasting there time or something. Or maybe someone who parked up and knocked it over. The thing that got to me was that all of these wd have been bikes. Someone had definitely put it back on its stand.

It was raining by now and I was feeling a bit miserable when I got home, even though I have just tried out two nice bikes.

Then the sales guy from the dealer phones and says it had blown over in the wind and some guys had seen it going, and tried to race out to stop it. Apparently bikes have been blown over there before, including his blackbird. They had picked it up and put a call out when I was on my test ride. He also said the vfr was just flooded and had gone flat with me trying to start it.

I still reckon the battery on the vfr was too flat to go out on and shd have been put on charge the night before and at first I was a bit suspicious about the wind story. I think he embellished it a bit, and someone noticed it lying in the car park and went to pick it up.

It does make me grateful I have a cheap bike though, as if i owned the tt600, and that had got blown over, it wd cost hundreds to fix. Id have thought something heavy like his blackbird, would have even more damage.

Im thinking I will leave getting a big bike until march and might get a cheap(£300) 250 majesty off ebay for over the winter.

The dealers prices are twice that of private sales, so I might try to talk him down a bit as I think he has more margin for discounts than he is letting on. Or I might get a private sale for £1500 instead of £3000.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[kevinjcolgan]

cool reports. Just one question. I've just been looking at bikes and wanted to test em but only 1 dealer out of 6 wud let me (and he was gonna charge a tenner)...
How do ya do it? Anyway I've bought mine without a testride as I couldn't do owt else.
Good to test em ..defo better than what i've had to do but i reckon u'll have a hard time deciding! :)Have fun.
Kev
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Bright Yellow FZS600 Fazer.. Bootifull
as of 1st Oct 05

[G]

[colin1]

I wdnt buy a bike blind without a test ride as even the same type model of bike can ride differentlyu if its set up differently.

Im not young so that may help getting a test ride. One dealer wdnt let me as their insurance only covers ppl with 12mnths experience but they said if i sorted out my own insurance, they wd be ok. Another sells em cheap so doesnt offer test rides as they dont have insurance.
The others have been fine and havnt even asked for some form of cash security which i expected. Although one did want to hold on to my credit card.

I tell them my budget is £3000-£4000, and ask what they have. In truth I'd be happy getting something cheaper but that seems a reasonable price for a dealer bike.

The dealer with the dominator and sv650, didnt want to let me go on the speed triple. The dealer with the freewind, rebel, majesty and gsxf600 didnt want to let me go on a sports 600 but I talked him into the gsxf600. He was worried if I dropped it that I wd need to pay for the side fairings.

None of the bikes were a problem to ride and I wasnt pushing the bikes into anything dangerous. I just went at the speeds Id ride my rs.

Im sure somewhere in Leeds wd have done you a test ride, but dont go for any now as you dont want to find something that makes u wanna ditch ur fazer. A few of the bikes I wd have quite cheerfully bought, I didnt like at all, but most have been ok and its just finding the right flavour.

What G says about mapping being unnecessary, makes sense. I think the sales guy isnt that technical. It could be though that a gsxr600 or r6 would handle as nicely as the tt600, but have the acceleration of the thundercat though. After all the thundercat doesnt have a reputation for acceleration.

I probably cant have it all though, cos I like the revvy engine of the tt600 on country lanes but if it was more powerful for overtaking it wd be more composed and less adrenalin when riding normally.

Im unlikely to ride at 140mph, so it wd make sense to downgear really. I like acceleration and sharp bends.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[kevinjcolgan]

hmm, oh well lets hope it's ok for me! I had 3k to spend and went to main dealers too. its prob cos its my first bike and i'm 22. but they said (apart from that 1) that they didnt do any testriding!.. I was quite annoyed and now have bought without seeing if riding it suites me.
Then again I got nowt to compare it to. But haev bought blind like you say.... looks mint though, the fazer and the next best bikes were a cbr and t'cat. But i thought they were maybe too much for a 1st bike!

also I'm annoyed there were virtually no hornets, sv's and fazer etc around...I'm sure i'll be grinning like a fool on Saturday anyway.. just a bit apprehensive now about the purchase.Kev
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Bright Yellow FZS600 Fazer.. Bootifull
as of 1st Oct 05