Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:38 pm
Hi redbar, I love my vulcan 500, it's quick and has nimble handling compared with the only other bike I rode (during MSF) the suzuki gz250. I found myself using all 6 gears because of the speed limitations for each gear during the break in period. i.e., I was in 6th gear by the time I hit 50 mph. But for an already broken in bike (past 1000 miles) you may never need to use 6th gear except on the highway. I know what you mean about remembering what gear you're in, because that's been a challenge for me as a new rider. I can say that with more and more riding my mind has become trained in remembering the gear I'm in so it shouldn't turn out to be too big of a deal for anyone. One thing I really liked about this bike is how responsive it is to my steering inputs, even at low speed, again compared with the gz 250. To me, the vulcan feels so much better of a ride than the gz 250 despite both being considered beginner bikes. I personally wouldn't put them in the same class.