First bike to grow into?

jere wrote: That said I feel like a bike should be quicker than a car, or at least most cars. Being quicker than traffic in a small car has saved me countless wrecks in traffic. It just seems like it would go 10 fold on a bike.

According to http://www.zeroto60times.com/vehicle-make/harley-davidson-0-60-mph-times/, my bike runs these numbers. 2013 Harley-Davidson Iron 883 0-60 mph 5.6 | Quarter mile 14.4. Although some magazines I've seen put it in the low 15's.

Most times, if I'm first in line at a light, I usually gap the traffic by 5-10 car lengths without even trying. Out on the highway I can get up and get gone much quicker than most traffic, and almost as important I can shed speed even faster.

The other day I was approaching a right turn. As I checked my mirrors prior to turning and saw a new Beetle about five car lengths behind me. After the turn I got on it like I usually do and checked the mirrors again, I was shocked to see the beetle only three car lengths behind me, really shocked. As he pulled by me, I looked down and was surprised to see a 997 Turbo Porsche. (Motorcycle mirrors are not very good)

My point being unless your city is full of Turbo 911's and the like, your going to be much quicker than typical traffic on almost any real bike. Don't worry about the 13 second time slip so much.

Nick's got a good point. Even if your first bike isn't terribly fast, when you are the first vehicle at a light, it's easy to jump ahead in order to get some space around you, since most people don't floor it as soon as the light goes green. I have no trouble creating a gap with a 150cc scooter most of the time.

I also recommend the SV650. Great all around bike.

GS500:

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/mcy/5579708459.html

A Suzuki TU250X is what I'd love to learn on. Unfortunately they seem to be non-existent in the second hand market and here at least you need to order one without seeing or sitting on one.

Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote:

jere wrote: That said I feel like a bike should be quicker than a car, or at least most cars. Being quicker than traffic in a small car has saved me countless wrecks in traffic. It just seems like it would go 10 fold on a bike.

According to http://www.zeroto60times.com/vehicle-make/harley-davidson-0-60-mph-times/, my bike runs these numbers. 2013 Harley-Davidson Iron 883 0-60 mph 5.6 | Quarter mile 14.4. Although some magazines I've seen put it in the low 15's. Most times, if I'm first in line at a light, I usually gap the traffic by 5-10 car lengths without even trying. Out on the highway I can get up and get gone much quicker than most traffic, and almost as important I can shed speed even faster. The other day I was approaching a right turn. As I checked my mirrors prior to turning and saw a new Beetle about five car lengths behind me. After the turn I got on it like I usually do and checked the mirrors again, I was shocked to see the beetle only three car lengths behind me, really shocked. As he pulled by me, I looked down and was surprised to see a 997 Turbo Porsche. (Motorcycle mirrors are not very good) My point being unless your city is full of Turbo 911's and the like, your going to be much quicker than typical traffic on almost any real bike. Don't worry about the 13 second time slip so much.

And a 250r ninja will be right there until around 100mph......when it actually pulls away from the Harley.

In reply to WOW Really Paul?:

The point was that my slow bike is still handily faster than ordinary traffic. Not that other slow bikes are faster than my slow bike. But thanks for clearing that up

Lots of good perspective guys, thanks. I am not dead set on speed by any means especially if all the other boxes get checked. Maybe slower will keep me out of trouble that follows me

My first car was an autostick 70 beetle. That thing was painfully slow, so maybe I am just over scrutinizing.

I am really liking the online following/reviews of the GS500 and 250r ninjas at this point. Guys coming from much more serious bikes all really seem to still have fun with much less.

If you want a warranty, I will throw the cb300f in. $4k new, better than a grom in every possible way.

Honestly, every thing I own is 850cc or better, BUT...

I have tons of fun on my wife's 50cc scooter and I love the idea of a tossable little sub-400cc bike for trips to the coffee shop.

A Guzzi V35 Imola II would be very welcome in my garage.

In reply to jere:

I too am a huge fan of the baby ninja, cbr, and R3. I started on a sv650(which I never liked) so I had never experienced them until just 2 years ago. I wrote up a great praise for the little ninja on here back then. They really are smile machines, especially if you're coming from "UNLIMITED POWER!" literbike land.

Just to note, you can actually find Ducati Monsters in the upper end of the "not a pile of berkeley SV" range.....they're a far better bike for the money IMHO.

singleslammer wrote: If you want a warranty, I will throw the cb300f in. $4k new, better than a grom in every possible way.

Add leftover cbr250r's and R3's to that price point. Bring 5k and you can probably find a KTM RC390

Having just gone through this exercise, I bought a Honda CB500X. So far it's been awesome.