Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Looking to get a bike for commuting to work, short 1/2 hour rides to and fro to a friends house, and for the small trips in town. I want to be saving gas this summer, once the prices soar to above $4.00 again.

I'm 220lbs, 5'10'' and might sometimes wanna take my girlfriend for a ride, who is maybe 120 at the most, and maybe even cruise to the coast which is an hour and a half away, once I feel REALLY comfortable on the bike.

Looking to finance one, but want to get the right one of course.

Would a Yamaha 250cc v-star 2009 edition be a good suit? How about the 2009 Kawasaki EN-500cc ?? These are kinda the 2 I'm looking at.

I don't want to get something I can go fast on!!!!!

I dont' want to get something I can take up to 100mph. I'm fine at crusing on the highway at 65 or 70. However I dont' want to burn up the engine doing it though.

Would my best bet be to go with a 500cc or do I need something bigger?

Is a 250cc too small?

Any help and input would be much appreciated. Sales guy, are just shady sometimes. They keep telling me I need a 650cc. Which of course is a lot more money.

Given that you are a bigger guy you would be stuffed onto any 250 and probably the Vulcan 500. I'm 6' 175#'s and felt cramped when I sat on the Kawasaki 500. (Your clue should be that Kawa never has any pictures of dudes riding that bike on their website. )

I would look into Honda Shadow 750's, VStar 650's, Suzuki C50 or M50.

They will handle your daily needs and two up for the relatively short amount of time you are talking.

My Shadow 750 will do 70mph all day long. Last weekend I did a 150 mile round trip in some nasty head and crosswinds for over half the trip I was running between 60-70mph most of the time and still got 50mpg. I normally average 55mpg in my daily commute mix of street and highway.

The salesperson is actually saving you a bit of money because you would be buying a new bike pretty soon if you bought a 250.

The Shadow is my first bike. I took right off on it when I got to test ride before buying(I had completed MSF first.). I'm now counting my pennies for a bigger bike. :lol:

Good luck!

I'm a hair shorter than you and weigh in at 205. I bought a Buell Blast and so far it's been great. 500 size engine, comfortable, well balanced. Not a speed machine, but it does highway speeds (havent been on the highway yet though). You can ride two up on it, I havent attempted it yet, I only have about 130 miles under my belt, but so far Im loving it. I sat on everything I could back when the bike show was in NY and this was the most comfortable bike I sat on that had an engine size I was ok with. The sales guys I spoke with back when I was looking all had the any bike is fine to start on outlook. I waited until I sat on everything I could before I finally decided what to get, and ended up finding that the bikes I thought would be good starters werent comfortable for me.

That EN-500 would be fine for what your trying to do. Riding around in town with an occasional trip on the highway.

The Vulcan 500's engine is fine for what you're trying to do. Whether the frame fits you is something you need to find out - find a dealer that has one and ask to sit on it.

I'm 6'1" and personally I find the Vulcan 500 to be a little cramped, but that's just me. Everyone has different proportions and comfort expectations. This is why some of us on TMW emphasize sitting on the bike at a dealer - it's worth 1000 words. Sit on several bikes, and get a feel for the range of sizes and riding positions.

Even among the 250 cruisers there's variation in frame sizes. The Kymco Venox is about the largest-framed 250 cruiser, IIRC.

Do a few 400 mile days on a GS500 when your over 70 yo and then go sit on a Vulcan 500. The Vulcan 500 seems real roomy to me and I'm about 6' and 230# now, down from 255# since I last sat on the Vulcan at the Jan bike show.

Remember the bigger the engine the lower the mpg’s. Also depends on the style bike you want. I love cruisers. I have a Hyosung GV250 that I am getting 70+ mpg on. My wife rides it now and I drive a Yamaha 650 V Star and am getting about 52 mpg with that. I’m 5’9 and weigh 175. It handles the highways fine and around town too plus it looks great. Literally the first words out of everyone’s mouth that sees it for the first time is, “That’s a 250”. It looks bigger. The price won’t kill you either so you will make it back quickly. I recommend this bike.



http://www.hyosungmotorsusa.com/

the 250 would work but might be a tad small. Your about the same size as me and I fit decently on a vulcan 500 (I assume you are talking the vulcan 500 and not the ninja 500).

The Vulcan 500 uses the ninja 500 engine and is actually much faster than it looks (but not stupidly fast, its actually pretty easy to manage).

also check out the various 650-900ish cc cruisers (if your wanting a cruiser) like the v-star 650, suzuki C50 and M50, and Kawasaki Vulcan 900 and the 750 shadow.

I have a Vulcan 500 and am 5'10/220. The only down side I have is true on most bikes of larger bikes as well- The seat gets uncomfortable after a hour or two. Same is also true on my brothers C50.

Check out the accessories for any bike you are considering. No point in getting a bike that no one offers the accessories you must have.

If your over 6 foot the Vulcan maybe too small for you but for me at 5' 10'' is just fine. But like many bikes small and larger, the seat is the biggest weak point.

5'10" really doesn't mean anything. What's your inseam? I'm only 5'8" but have a 32" inseam. A friend of mine is 5'"11 with a 30" inseam. He fits on smaller bikes better then I do.