Bike suggestions?

swank76

swank76

Chicago Born and Bred!
Ah, a typical love story. Boy takes a MSR class and gets a license. Boy loves the little Honda Nighthawk 250 he used so he buys one. Boy finds some scumbag has stolen and crashed his scoot. Bike is totaled out and he has an insurance check to buy a new one. I liked my little Nighthawk enough to consider buying a new one. I had been inspired by a poster on here to try a cafe conversion and had started the research. It handled well and was easy to maintain, ideal for someone like me with limited experience as a mechanic.

Then I started looking around and was wondering what else was out there? So I'm looking for some suggestions and recommendations. The bike doesn't have to be vintage, and I'm probably not ready for a big shiny new bike so used is my market. My criteria:

1. Fairly lightweight. I'm 5'6" and 135.

2. I'd like to keep it at 750cc or lighter. I'm still a pretty inexperienced rider.

3. Easy maintenance. Like I said, I'm not a brilliant mechanic.

A couple of bikes have caught my eye. The old SECA and SECA II's have been a buddy's suggestion. Any feedback or suggestions?
 
My $0.02 - Suzuki TU250X.

Classic styling, easy to ride, super high MPG, reliable, and easy to personalize. I just bought one to add to the stable. I ride it to work some days and the wife scoots around town on it.

How much do you want to spend?
 
Under 3-4k but I could go higher. BTW, I forgot about the TU250X when I was making my own little list. I was also considering the following:

1. SECA II 650 (based on my buddy's rec.)

2. Another Nighthawk 250. Such a fun bike and easy to ride.

3. Ninja 250 or 600. Hate the way they look but like the way they ride.

4. Buell Blast.

5. Honda Rebel 250.

I'd like to avoid a new bike because I do want to try my hand at customizing my bike.
 
My budget is around 3k. I could squeeze a little more. But this would include any mods for I would make for quite a while.
 
Do you want to ride or wrench? If it's ride, then get something Japanese made this century.

In that price range you could get an SV650 which is a far better bike than anything else mentioned so far.
 
Tim said:
My $0.02 - Suzuki TU250X.

Classic styling, easy to ride, super high MPG, reliable, and easy to personalize. I just bought one to add to the stable. I ride it to work some days and the wife scoots around town on it.

How much do you want to spend?
Click to expand...
yep yep yep
 
For $3K search out the TU250X. Seriously. Customizing a new bike is no harder than doing it to an old bike. Difference is your new bike will run ;)

Seriously, there are other advantages of new vs old. The fuel injection is nice in that there's no choke, no 'warming up', and much improved MPG (80+ mpg is common on the TU250). It has 37mm front forks which are beefier than you'll find on any older small bike (CB750 has 35's).

All that and it's still a basic traditional frame, suspension, tank... all letting you customize to your heart's content. Yes it has a fuel pump and some extra electronics, but nothing onerous.

Anyhow - as a first bike it's a great choice. You buy a project bike as your 2nd, this way you always have a bike to ride. As a new rider the best thing you can do is get miles under your belt.
 
Another question you need at ask is where you're going to ride.

A 250 is going to struggle at speed for any length of time, so you want at least a 500 if you're going to want to travel any sort of distance on the highway.
 
If you can find one a kawi w650 would do great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
+1 on the W650 if you can nab one. Nice bike and reliable. I've ridden my TU250 for an hour at 70-80mph and I weigh 180. Gets a little buzzy at speed but WAY smoother than my XS650 ;) Plus some simple sprocket changes help that out. I've already swapped out the front +1 to 16, and the rear is going -3 to 41. It's the recommended setup most people like for the bike. It's silly out of the factory. You're changing gears 20 feet out from a dead stop.
 
This little jewel belongs to a friend of mine, and started its life as a 250 nighthawk
aefe83d3-51b5-9bfd.jpg
 
lurkmaster2000 said:
ninja ex500, super easy to ride, fast and never breakdown, cheap. i would stay away from the seca (old crap)
Click to expand...

+1, half of an old ZX1000, can take ZX11 or ZRX1100 big bore pistons.
 
hillsy said:
Do you want to ride or wrench? If it's ride, then get something Japanese made this century.

In that price range you could get an SV650 which is a far better bike than anything else mentioned so far.
Click to expand...

I've owned more bikes than I can remember, have four now. Owned pretty much every type of bike, from baggers to sport bikes, and for the $ the SV 650 has to be the best bike for the buck. Light, agile, almost maintenance free. Just a great all around bike even for beginners and experienced alike. Great around town, cool in the canyons and comfortable on the freeway. I love all my bikes, but for all around, it's hard to beat the SV.....
 
Early models Buells,a white lightning might be fun enough!
But+1 on the SV:
 
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