First time at "highway speeds"

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JustMark · #1 Unread post by **JustMark** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:43 am

So after a couple hundred miles of 2-lane, around town, mainly not over 55MPH driving, i decided yesterday to take my little '06 cb250 nighthawk on the road where the "big boys" play. Now granted i only went up the highway to the next little town (about 7 miles) but for a n00b doing 70 and even at one point 75MPH, that's something new. The engine sounded like it handled it well, didn't act like it wanted to blow up and i actually had more room in the throttle, had i wanted to peg the speedo up to its 85 limit, but, baby steps....baby steps. I know that a cb250 isnt designed for long highway trips at top speeds, but now its nice to know that if i wanna get out and run, i can do it for a little while. Any other "smaller bike" owners run yours at higher speeds? How was it and how much more(longer trips) could i do if i wanted?

amit_shah25 · Sun Mar 21, 2010 4:36 am

Noice ! How did that wind feel

Take it slow and easy. Safety is very very very important ! I grew up riding motorcycles for around 15 years in India (smaller ones - 250cc or so), but I still call myself a noobie here in US. Riding a 800cc cruiser at 75 mph is very different from riding a 250cc baby in heavy traffic ! Those gusts of wind still scare me !

JustMark · #3 Unread post by **JustMark** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:14 am

amit_shah25 wrote:Noice ! How did that wind feel

Take it slow and easy. Safety is very very very important ! I grew up riding motorcycles for around 15 years in India (smaller ones - 250cc or so), but I still call myself a noobie here in US. Riding a 800cc cruiser at 75 mph is very different from riding a 250cc baby in heavy traffic ! Those gusts of wind still scare me !

Wind? Well....its different...lol But nothing i cant get used to with experience. it wasnt an open section of highway (had trees on both sides of the road) so i didnt have to deal with alot of crosswinds blowing me around. Ill get braver sometime and take a longer trip. All in good time...lol

Thumper · #4 Unread post by **Thumper** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:35 am

That little Nighthawk will do just fine on the Interstate; I had a Rebel and never had a problem running it up and down I-80 at 70-80 mph. Those engines sound like ticked off bees when you have them revving that high, but they're built to take it. The more you do it, the more comfortable you'll get with the whole thing: the speed, that feeling like you're being pushed around, semi-truck blow-by...

As for trip distance--you can take it cross country if you want. It'll be fine. You might be walking funny after an entire day on it, but the bike will be fine.

It took me more than a couple hundred miles to work up the nerve to get on a freeway so I'm very impressed...I started doing exit-to-exit runs on I-505 here, which has a lot less traffic that I-80, and worked my way up until I could comfortable ride on I-80 with traffic. There's nothing like getting those little bikes revved up and going fast...makes me miss my Rebel just a little

RhadamYgg · Sun Mar 21, 2010 11:14 am

My experience on a small bike was that if I wanted to do a SS1000 on it, I could do it - that was a Ninja 250. In fact with its higher fuel capacity and higher mpg, I could have done it in fewer stops. Come to think of it, the width of my current bike gave me bruises on my inner thighs doing that long ride and that probably wouldn't have happened on the Ninja 250. Hmmm

#6 Unread post by **jaskc78** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:46 pm

I took my ninja 250 on a 200-mile trip out around the smaller towns in the mountains around tucson. some very scenic 2-lane roads that get up to 65mph speed limit, it did just fine. didn't even have the fuel light come on.

#7 Unread post by **Wrider** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:51 pm

Yeah it'll do 80 all day long for repeated days without giving you trouble. Don't be afraid to keep up with traffic, the CB is designed to do that!
Congrats on your first highway trip!

RhadamYgg · #8 Unread post by **RhadamYgg** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 1:53 pm

jaskc78 wrote:I took my ninja 250 on a 200-mile trip out around the smaller towns in the mountains around tucson. some very scenic 2-lane roads that get up to 65mph speed limit, it did just fine. didn't even have the fuel light come on.

That is so wrong... I get between 130 and 160 a tank on the B-King. Bleh. Really sucked on my 1000 mile trip. Really would love a 350 to 400 mile range I get in cars on a bike, even if I needed a break, I wouldn't be taking a break just because my bike needs fuel.

JustMark · #9 Unread post by **JustMark** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 2:19 am

Thanks for the good words everyone!

Thumper - My trip was just an exit-to-exit also. Just enough to see how the bike (and me) reacted. Nice to know the "ticked off bees" were normal. I wasnt sure if the motor was yelling at me to slow down or speed up..lol

Wrider - Nice to know im not going to have to worry about keeping up with the cages. Thanks

matthew5656 · Mon Apr 12, 2010 9:03 pm

I never had any trouble on the highway riding my old nighthawk. The cb250/450/550/650/700S/750 are some of those rare designs that no one really has anything horrible or discouraging to say about them; and regardless if it's the 250 or the 750, it's a great one, but I wish honda brought the larger displacements back.

Now your bike is naked, and there's nothing bad about being naked... but here's my suggestion when you hop onto the highway with that: Earbuds.

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