Scooters - The gateway drug

Hello. My name is Matt. And I ride a scooter.

I know that counts as swearing to some people It's a little 125cc pale blue Sachs Amici. It goes like.. a mild breeze. When my wife mentioned she wanted a scooter for when we're living Northside (currently in Lanyon), I said sounds fun, I'll get one too, in a supporting/be-your-learning-buddy kind of way.

Then we stopped house hunting, did the stay upright course and bought scooters (hers is a blue Yahama Vino 125cc). You may have seen our twin blue beasts riding the Cotter Rd between the Tracking Station and Tharwa and back some Sundays ago, because it seemed every single motorcycle in the ACT overtook us on those rides . (we pulled over to the side a whole heaping bunch though!)

Anyway, we kind of forgot the whole moving thing.

Which would be OK, but I so love riding the little scooter, that driving to work feels like such a wasted riding opportunity. Alas, because it'll never go 100 km/h (except maybe downhill with a gale-force tail wind), I avoid the Parkway and the Monaro and add 15 minutes to my trip in doing so.

So only a couple of months in, after being overtaken by many cool bikes on the Cotter, we want to upgrade! I want to upgrade to something I can do my daily commute with, and in a pinch go see family in Newcastle or Omeo. Problem is I desperately want a retro styled cafe racer-ish bike like the Bonneville, but something a tad cheaper for the first one, newish so that maintenance time is less than riding time, and obviously restricted to something LAMS approved, but I'll pose that question to youse all in another thread. For now,

Hello!

Matt.

 

Welcome Matt,

How about a CB400 ?

 

The scooter obviously works for you and I recommend that you revel in it.

 

G'day Matt and welcome to CR.

If you want to look at a diverse range of bikes and meet some ok people in the process, we meet for coffee every Monday at Caffe E Cibo in Fyshwick.

Enjoy the ride

 

Don't get me wrong, I love my Amici, and will no doubt keep it for going to the shops, or the movies etc, but ever since sitting on the scooter at Stay Upright I've been looking with envy at manual bikes, with flash backs to teenage years on a dirt bike (maybe "endeavoring to stay on a dirt bike" is more accurate), and having something bigger (not just in cc's, but wheel size) for longer day or weekend trips would be fantastic.

And thanks Dave,

Yeah I have considered the CB400, and I'm guessing by the amount of them around I can assume they're reliable and easy to service/get parts for, plus a great all-round learner's bike. They're just not as pretty as they used to be (in my opinion - like back in the 70s) - the Kawasaki W400 looks awesome (as does the W650, but that's out of LAMS range), but doesn't seem to have much oomph. And the Yamaha SR400 has the look I'm after too, but I can't find good info on a comfortable cruising speed. But for the prices of those I could save a smidge more and go a Bonneville anyway, or a Royal Enfield (too slow for what I want though.. I think).

But yeah, have considered sucking it up and getting a CB400 for the learning / provisional years and then reevaluate my situation after that.

EDIT: Thanks for the welcome Riicho! and I like the idea of meeting some CR members, will work on getting out to one soon

 

welcome :wave

 

HOW FABULOUS, you have been bitten by the bug. The minute you start taking the long way to work and picking up your helmet rather than the car keys, you have the biking bug. One hell of a feeling isn't it. Never apologise for your first bike mate, IT IS YOUR BIKE! It has two wheels, own it.

Riicho is right, come along to coffee. Once it gets warmer you'll get almost every bike you can imagine. If you are nice to people they might let you sit on them. In the meantime, go and walk up and down the second hand bikes at CMC and see if anything catches your eye. Make a list, come home and do your research and see what suits you. Once you have narrowed it down you can TEST RIDE and that is the best bit!

 

My very recent story is somewhat similar to yours. I started on a little MadAss 125. Around town it was a hoot, but I soon learned the limitations of the little motorcycle if I wanted to go beyond the city streets.

A friend of mine was kind enough to lend me a Yamaha XT250, which was a nice and easy transition to a larger motorcycle. The experience was very good but I wanted a bit more.

I looked around a lot, sat on a few and came up with a short list of two motorcycles - CB400 and GS500.

I opted for the GS500f for two reasons. Cost, it was a bit cheaper than I could find a CB400 for, and secondly I like the idea of a fairing for some wind protection. So, I bought the fairing variant of the GS500. I love it. Good amount of power for a new rider, and handles very nicely.

Being a cautious individual these days, I have taken it very easy on the GS500 so far. It is quite different to riding the little motorcycle. It weighs twice as much and the centre of gravity is much higher, which means that counter steering is so much more noticeable. While I got my P's a month or so ago, I'm back practicing the skills again, and love riding.

It's unlikely that the GS500f will be my final motorcycle, but I can see that I'll learn a lot about riding on it, and have some great rides.

Sitting here being a bit gloomy about the weather and not going for a ride, I think I might have the bug as well.

 

ME TOO! Road trip to CMC? We can kick tyres, talk about how fast we are, spend $20 on something we didn't know we needed and climb on things we hhave no intention of buying! Sounds like a great way to spend a rainy day. Second choice is walking around Bunnings, but I can't get out of there without spending $100. WHOO HOO!

Sorry, this is a little off topic, but you can see my logic...

 

Yeah, this weather's horrible :/ But my wife and I stopped by Joe's Motorcycles and picked up some waterproof pants in case the riding bug got too much

But yes, even on the little scooter, zipping down Lady Denman Drive or Cotter Rd as fast as you can (legally and mechanically), leaning into corners, feeling more alive than you have in years... It makes you regret the last 20 years of lost motorcycle riding you could have been doing. We drove down to Orange last weekend and in my head I was picking my line for corners, my right hand twisting the steering wheel ineffectually, and generally feeling claustrophobic. 30 minutes from home we considered going back and risking the trip on our scooters (which would have been a very bad idea - the roads near Orange were destroyed by their recent rain).

Yes we definitely have the bug And we both have all the safety gear and wear full-face helmets.

We've been researching like the dickens. It's hard to find the "one", but yes, I should probably be concentrating more on the fact that it'll be my first manual bike, and others will come later (once the LAMS restriction falls away). Joe's had a nice W650, and CMC a lot of CB400s. Went to Eurotune and sat on a 2007 Royal Enfield Classic, and that was really nice...

My wife's into Sports Bikes, so she's looking at things like the Ninja, but happy for suggestions around that for a learner who's 5 foot nothing (a low seat would be good )

 

Haha yeah! Actually with Father's Day tomorrow I need to get to Supercheap Auto for a gift certificate (dad's preference over Bunnings)

 

Welcome Matty!
I upgraded from a CBR125 to an XL650V - it's a noticeable improvement in power and comfort on the highway - so I understand your predicament
Make sure you do some research and TEST RIDE everything
And come to coffee!

 

Welcome aboard! I'm sure you'll be able to find a bike that suits you, don't rule out getting an older bike if it's something you want.

 

Welcome to CR!

 

Matty - nice t have you aboard.
Couple of things regarding what youve already posted up...
You mentioned the Mrs is looking at the sporty stuff, and by the sounds of it you like the more up-right, classic style of bike.
For yourself I would still highly reccommend the CB400 - *especially* if you can find a tri-colour one. I love my retro bikes and to me the tri-colour CB400 really is a fabulous bike:

I also wouldn't under-estimate the Royal Enfield. The current model, although yes - still running a 40yo engine essentially, is EFI and the look of an Enfield is sensational from a Classic point of view.
Even with its whopping 27bhp - it will still sit on 100k/h happily.

However with your wife looking to upgrade as well, and your obvious perchance for owning similar bikes - have you considered the Hyosung range? You'll have a choice of 250 or LAMs 650, and they do a Naked/Standard bike, a Half-faired/upright bike (in the 650), and a 'Racer' Sports bike too:

 

( Oh Lurch, you clever thing. You're thinking JUST what I'm thinking. I think I saw a CB400 with the tricolor paint yesterday heading into Tuggeranong and my little heart skipped a beat. I do like the extra R though, but I don't know how much that affects price. )

Hello everyone, I'm the Mrs. You've pretty much heard the story so I won't repeat it. You also know, thanks to blabbermouth Mattay, that I'm somewhat vertically challenged. Somewhat. Anyway, just stopping by to say hello, nice weather for it, and looking forward to making better acquaintance with you all.

If my scooter stank doesn't put you off, that is.

 

Hey and welcome. Don't forget to stop by the new members area and say g'day.

 

Therea a preference OVER Bunnings? WHAT THE..? heheh

Depending on your budget, theres always the GPZ and ZZR to consider! Though, at 5'4" my Ninja is perfect height for me

YAY! it seems as tough we have a new member to add to the Vertically Challenged club of CR. Get yourselves out to Coffee on a Monday night and meet the gang. To be honest, I think half of CR would love to get out on a scooter to see what all the fuss is about! I know Supamodel and I are on the look out for a scooter each, just for some fun!

 

Honda CBR250RR or Yamaha FZR250RR. low seat and 18000 rpm redline

 

And both old as the hills