250cc for a big bastard

[seraph]

Problem: housemate wants to ride up here in qld. LAMS has come in, but all the >250cc bikes are guff, hence solutions to be limited to 250cc rides.

Being a 6ft4inch 140kg type, most 250's will be miniscule, and the suspension won't be up to fanging it in the hills on bumpy qld roads. He's likely to be doing a LOT of riding (everyday commuting and 2-3 day rides a week) and he really wants to LEARN how to ride properly. Therefore, he WILL be doing suspension work on it. Complete new shock? Or rebuild the stock one? What about the forks, how adaptable are the forks on a low-tech 250? Is there anything else one needs to consider? I think he just wants it to work to the limit of his riding abilities.

So... what bike do y'all recommend? What worked/didn't work for you kids when you were learning on a quarterbike?

Muchos gracias, folks J.

[tape]

Jamie,

2 come to mind, firstly GPX 250 and the Spewzuki Accross 250 if 2fiddy's are what you want? Both have a decnt crotch height if suspended propper.. (scuse the wine effected engrish)

Both are suitable for the more bigger person than the crotch rockets.

hope this made sense

cheers

[seraph]

Lol, I'd completely forgotten the Across exists, thanks Tape I'll look into how adaptable the suspension is, but I do have a pet Zenodamper to make it good with fancy overseas bits if necessary. Any other suggestions? Not even sure where to start looking... J.

[dave#3]

I rode a zzr250 about 50,000 kms at 6ft and 120 kgs. It wasn't fantastic I suppose but it worked for me - I wound the rear pre-load adjuster right up and then just rode the farker.

Good luck.

[tape]

I dunno what the Hyosoonlee are like what are they height wise ? CBF lookin but they appear high in the saddle????

[seraph]

hrmm, I think the mini-zed is too small for him, I'm 6ft in my bare feet and had my knees around my ears riding mine. Any bigger bikes? Or ways to make a bike bigger? Like rearsets, riser bars, crazy frame modifications brought on by inhaling too many welding fumes? If the suspension can work for him without bottoming out, being uncomfortable, then we do y'all think we could maybe modify the bike to make it fit the rest of him? I gots a 4-inch grinder called Axe that I'm mad keen to bust out for "modifications"

[Nelso]

Do LAMS include bigger bikes in Qld? Maybe an ER5? The other option is to motard a 250 chookie which could be ok to commute and scratch on but not the best for long rides.

[seraph]

the qld LAMS list includes a whole bunch of bigger capacity, heavier bikes that have been restricted to less than the power of most stock 250's which are also LAMS approved... and they are more expensive to boot. No point getting a bigger one, the whole fucken system is ridiculous, so 250cc will give him more bang for buck. we've discussed this ad nauseum - 250 it is. Motard was considered then discarded as an option, since he's mad keen to do bris-sydney runs on it, and not even *I'm* batshit crazy enough to do that run on a chookie...

[tim]

GS500
What's the reason to limit to 250cc again? Guff?

[laidback]

Not sure but some of the bigger *cruiser* type bikes have low HP but higher torque and that would be OK for longer distance runs. Not sure which ones are LAMS approved.

[Strika]

Hyosung and Suzuki do 650cc learner legal bikes. The Hyosung GT650 in naked and faired versions is a large framed bike. As is the LAMS approved Suzuki 650 V-twin thingo which was only recently released. (Revamped SV650) There is also a 650 ninja LAMS approved model which I saw in an advert recently. Plus there is the dare I say it, Honda CB400, which a mate of mine who is 6ft tall and weighs a good 120kgs, rode for a week and reckons is a cracking bike. I think the KLR650 might be LAMS too??? It's a comfy mount for long distances and with some suspension mods which you intend to do anyway, it would make a handy hills bike. A well ridden KLR is a difficult bike to pass on a mountain road. A mate of mine had a Tengai 650 (Early 90's version of the KLR sorta) and you couldn't pass him on a twisty bit of tar!

[seraph]

tim: because when a bike is bigger than 250cc's, it is limited by power to weight ratio. When it's 250cc it's not, except for 4 particular bikes. therefore, to haul 140kg's of pure manmeat along for long distances, more power good. I will look into the options listed above (in fact I already am) but basically from the research he's done 250's are a better answer than the bigger capacity LAMS bikes.

I'm still trying to convince him to get a bros, but he's not keen... so many options, so few actual bikes for sale out here in the real world

[seraph]

mmm, good point, is torque more important than power in this case? opinions?

[tim]

I know it's decided on a 250 but I'll give my opinion anyway.

For what he wants I would say 100% go for a bigger bike no question about it!

"Power figures" are an interesting thing, and are not so objective in reality.

You've gotta rev the guts out of a 250 to get the power figures quoted.

Great on the track and spirited riding, but and low down could be painful commuting off at the lights, in traffic etc.

The wider power range and more torque of the bigger twins etc makes them much better suited in my opinion.

Also, doing long trips on smaller bikes will be revving their guts out once again(?????) Can change the gearing (???) but then power goes out the window (????)

My GS has been awesome! It's not a Kwakka so I always feel weird talking it up on here, but at 6ft it's the perfect size, and just as comfy for my dad who's 6foot3.

The low and mid power is more than enough to learn on but will last and not leave him wishing he'd got something bigger, it's generally a very confidence-inspiring bike to learn on, and EVERYONE who has ridden it says how great it is to ride (seriously)!

I find myself wanting to upgrade because I can now, but not because I'm feeling frustrated or limited with my bike.

At the end of the day, I think he's gonna have a more pleasurable experience taking advantage of the LAMS bikes, and learning to ride on a bike such as the GS500 or the ER5 or CB400.

Just my 2c.

[Nelso]

tim: because when a bike is bigger than 250cc's, it is limited by power to weight ratio. When it's 250cc it's not, except for 4 particular bikes. therefore, to haul 140kg's of pure manmeat along for long distances, more power good. I will look into the options listed above (in fact I already am) but basically from the research he's done 250's are a better answer than the bigger capacity LAMS bikes.

I'm still trying to convince him to get a bros, but he's not keen... so many options, so few actual bikes for sale out here in the real world

I'm a lazy 120kg and my ZZR250 struggled to get over 100kph, that's why I pissed it off and rode a ZX9 on my P's; but I wouldn't recommend that option. If I was to do it again I would be getting a restricted 650 and looking at unrestricting it a bit. Surly it can't be that hard to open them up a bit to get a bit more performance out of them without it being noticeable.