Opinions on motorcycle choice for wife?

After many years as a pillion, my wife has expressed an interest in
learning to ride and gaining a motorcycle license, mainly to prove to
herself that she can do it.

After much procrastination, she has made a booking for a pre-learner
course at HART, St Ives (thats St Ives, Sydney, NSW, not Victoria, QLD,
SA, WA, Tasmania or anywhere else) in October, and as a surprise, I plan
to buy her a small bike she can use then use as a learner to hopefully
get her license.

I am interested in opinions on both the criterion I plan to use to
select a suitable bike, and the model(s) might suit.

I am looking for:

1. Easy to ride, which probably means a lowish seat height (wife is
approx 5'10", so not too short) and low weight
2. Safe
3. Cheap to run (ie fuel, registration, insurance)
4. Cheap to repair, if god-forbid it topples over
5. Likely to keep enough value so that it can be sold in 12 months with
minimal loss
6. Fit within a $3500 budget
7. Will not be used on expressways or highways, so performance at 100
km/h+ is not an issue
8. Will not be used off-road, and
9. She hates step-throughs, and calls them "bikes for sissy's" (hey, I'm
only the messenger!)

(1), (2) & (8) probably rule out most road/trail hybrids
(4) would mean no full-fairing
(6) & (7) suggest a 250
(5) points to something a few years old, so that depreciation has
leveled-out

So far the best option seems to be a late-90s Honda CB250.

Any opinions would be welcome.
Thanks
David

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 18 Sep 2006 07:37:47 GMT

They are a lovely little bike, but does she like the looks?

Does she like the cruiser looks like the GN250 or the Virago?

It is important that the rider likes the bike - giving them as gifts
unseen can backfire.

So don't give her a bike. Give her a gift certificate "1 (one)
motorcycle, plus unlimited husband time helping to look for same"

Zebee

 

Must be able to touch the ground is a good start lol.
Lushy

 

I think that SHE needs to go and sit on a few bikes herself and make a
decision then.

justAL

 

And I am not the original David who posted .
Lushy

 

Yep, what justAL said....

But having said that....I'm hoping to put my GPX250 on the market around
October-November <eyebrow waggle>

betty

 

Depends on how much they will give you for your wife . If she is a newer
model you may get a nice new bike but for an old battered model a battered
postie bike is your best hope

 

Sage advice. I suspect someone 5'10" might find a pocket cruiser
restricting, but who knows? The Yamaha Zeal (FZX 250) is a candidate
too, but she'd have to get used to its powerband. I also think she has
to be given the chance to do more than just sit on a bike.

 

Email BT. I'm sure he needs parts or something.

justAL

 

" 4. Cheap to repair, if god-forbid it topples over"
Doesn't your GPX have a fairing?

 

Is that you I can hear humming the tune to "Memories" in the background
there, Al?

Ahh GPX250. Those were the days, my friend...


BTH

 

yes, but only a little one <grin> and it has a couple of minor scratches on
it already, so it's not as if it's squeaky-clean and "EEK, DON'T SCRATCH THE
PAINTWORK" It's funny isn't it, I think the GPX is really streamlined as
far as faired bikes go.... (and yet the first time I sat on it I thought the
fairing was bloody enormous!!!!!) Well, after a CB250, you would I
suppose....I found it quite intimidating. Then I sat on a ZZR250 and went
"cor, what a whopper" even though it's essentially the same bike!

I suppose it's all relative. Last time I rode a CB250 I felt like my elbows
were flapping and I didn't know what to do with them (hard to explain
really...) ... and when I recently sat on a GS500F I was staggered by the
size of the fairing "wow - what an aggressive fairing!"

I think a lot of that reaction to a faired bike is psychological - a friend
who got her Ps on a Virago 250 freaked out when she test-rode a faired
bike... something about not being able to see the front wheel moving...
although I reckon if you're looking at the wheel instead of the road, you've
got a basic problem.....

betty

 

Heh! That CT90 that I collected for Johnnie5 in Geelong has exactly
that kind of story attached to it (apparently it was a
marriage-breaker, in the end!)


BTH

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 18 Sep 2006 20:07:26 +1000

I had that the first time I rode a bike with a frame mounted fairing.

It was an XZ550 which has a lot of enclosure around the bars, so the
bars turned and everything else stayed pointed ahead, was very
disconcerting for someone who had only ever ridden naked bikes before,
not even a bikini fairing.

Zebee
- who was so put off by it she didn't buy the thing which was
definitely a Good Thing.

 

Yeah, memories. Rented GPX250, St George's Inlet, cocky learner's move
equates to Moike on a health kick.

justAL

 

That would have been my first suggestion.

Suzuki also make a wonderful basic beginner 250 cc, the GZ 250, very
easy to ride, and I really like the Yamaha Virago 250 -a good choice if
she likes a cruiser syle.

 

Just because a bike has a fairing doesn't mean it's more expensive to
repair than a non-faired bike. A fairing will spread the impact over a
wider area, and will flex and absorb impact damage, so while a bike
might fall over and sustain a few hundred dollars of plastic damage,
without the fairing the same drop without fairing might cause damage to
the radiator, oil cooler, engine covers, frame, etc.

As for the GPX. From what I've seen, they crash cheaply.

Nev..
'04 CBR1100XX

 

I new someone would come back with that line

 

agree , great choice

except for the fact of they dont corner real well

CB,GN , Spada , VTR , GPX,ZZR

 

Yes, good point.

I know she does not like the "cruiser" style, but could not be sure if
she would prefer a CB250 or a GPX250, for example.

I really wanted to try and make it a surprise, but, as you say, it is
probably better to have no surprise than a bad one

David