Beginner, looking for a 250 as a first bike, but...

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Sareph · #1 Unread post by **Sareph** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:12 pm

I'm worried I might be too big. I'm 6'5" and weigh 300 lbs. Does this sound like I might need a bigger bike, even when I'm just starting out?

I'm mainly going to be using this bike traveling around town. There's no hills or anything (I live in Texas) and I shouldn't need to do any freeway driving.

I've been looking at the Honda Rebel, which I really like the looks of, and the Kawasaki Ninja 250. I would really like to get a bike like this, both for financial reasons (I'm a college student) and safety/practicality reasons.

I haven't taken the MSF course yet, will be doing that in a week or two, so I'll at least be able to see how I fit on a bike. But, what do you all think? Might my size force me to find a bigger first bike?

Sareph · #2 Unread post by **Sareph** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:48 pm

I thought I would add that, in case anyone makes some suggestions of bikes to try out and be on the look out for, I think I prefer cruisers. I'll know for sure once I try out the different seating positions, but as far as looks go I like cruisers more than sportbikes and the seating position looks more comfortable to me.

Thumper · #3 Unread post by **Thumper** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 7:33 am

At 6'5" you're probably going to feel like a Rebel fits like a toy. I'm 5'8"ish with a 32-33" inseam, and I was right at the edge where a Rebel was comfortable. My 6'2" son (34" inseam) could ride it, but he looked funny.

If you really want a 250, Suzuki is coming out with the TU 250, which has a much higher seat height and might be a little more friendly to taller riders.

There are other, slightly larger bikes, that are decent first bikes that might fit you a little better. Best thing to do is to go into dealerships and test-sit a bunch of different bikes. Aim for a cruiser under 800cc or a sport bike under 600...anything more than that and you're creeping into the newby-gray-area of riding.

tymanthius · Sat Jan 31, 2009 7:39 am

No riding exp. myself, but even at 5'9" I find the rebels small. But the Nighthawks, which I think have the same power plant on a diff frame, seemed to fit me better.

But I 'cheated' and got a BMW.

Still awaiting final delivery so I can drool over it.

The next BRC course is a month away.

Sareph · #5 Unread post by **Sareph** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 10:31 am

In that case I will still try a rebel but I will probably look for something more like a Vulcan 500. I was also interested in the Nighthawk, and it's a couple inches higher than the rebel so I might have luck with that one.

NNYrider · #6 Unread post by **NNYrider** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:39 am

I'm running 240 (okay, okay, 250. Satisfied?

) and a tad over 6 foot. I owned a GZ250 and still run a whole bunch of them for the MSF Basic Rider course. The 250 is okay hauling my big butt at -in-town speeds. It is fine up to about 45 MPH and then it seems to take quite some time to accelerate from 45 to 55. 55 to 60 frequently requires full throttle and some time... The Rebel and GZ are pretty much in the same class, so performance will be similar.

With your larger and heavier build I'd dare say the Rebel is too small. It will be cramped and underpowered. It'll do for cross town commutes at 30 MPH but is far from ideal.

The Ninja is a taller bike. It will fit better, and its got a little more "oomph." It will handle higher speeds better, and the riding position will be improved somewhat. Do you want a sport bike???

There are several better options: Look at 600 cc class bikes. Some good chioces are the Suzuki S40 ( I own one. Quite happy with it), the Suzuki SV650, Kawa's KLR 650, Suzuki GS500. With your height and build you should be able to handle a 750-800 class bike without a lot of difficulty, PROVIDED you complete the BRC FIRST. Honda's various 750s, the Suzuki M50, S50, C50 are decent choices.

Take the MSF BRC. Ride the little bikes. Get accustomed. I suspect you will begin to strongly dislike the little 250's before the class is over. You're going to end up cramped up and uncomfortable. Whenever I had a rider your size I put them on a Dual Sport (Suzuki DR200) or our old Nighthawk. The 33+" seat height (or thereabouts) was MUCH more comfortable than the little low 27" seats on the cruisers.

RhadamYgg · #7 Unread post by **RhadamYgg** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 3:39 pm

Sareph wrote:In that case I will still try a rebel but I will probably look for something more like a Vulcan 500. I was also interested in the Nighthawk, and it's a couple inches higher than the rebel so I might have luck with that one.

If you are looking for new bikes - the Nighthawk, I believe is discontinued this year.

You should note that the cruisers may be bigger, but the seat height doesn't necessarily go up with engine displacement.

I sat on a VTX1300 (5'9", 30" inseam) and you really SIT on a bike like that. I tend to prefer more of a standing-ish position of standard bikes, myself.

Don't worry about the Nighthawk being discontinued - I've found that the way bikes work you can still find new 2007 or even 2006 bikes in show rooms.

Before I made my decision, there were some Katanas that were new on the showroom floor that were very tempting (I love the fairing look on them... different than most sport bikes).

RhadamYgg

Thumper · #8 Unread post by **Thumper** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 8:10 am

Sareph wrote:In that case I will still try a rebel but I will probably look for something more like a Vulcan 500.

Between those two you'll likely be happier in the long run with the Vulcan, but at your height it still might be a tight fit. Really, the only way to know is to find one and test sit. Part of the fun is shopping for that first bike, and test sitting at a dozen different dealerships is free (but don't let a sales person talk you into a bike you're not going to be ready for...and they'll try.)

I know you said you prefer cruisers, but you might want to look at some of the taller standards, too.

Sareph · #9 Unread post by **Sareph** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 6:59 pm

Thanks for all your help guys.

I'm definitely looking forward to the shopping process. I guess I'm just getting a bit impatient with all this speculation before I've even sat on a motorcycle.

RhadamYgg · Sun Feb 01, 2009 7:22 pm

Sareph wrote:Thanks for all your help guys.

I'm definitely looking forward to the shopping process. I guess I'm just getting a bit impatient with all this speculation before I've even sat on a motorcycle.

Hehe - I took so long in my first selection process that people were getting frustrated on the board!

RhadamYgg