Wife's new (first) bike.

[sfalexi]

Heres the thread on her taking the msf class....

HERE

END:  We got a 2012 CBR 250R with ABS.  Total price, 5k out the door and we bought a few accessories at about 25% off after paying for the bike (not included in the 5k).


TOTAL STORY:  Gonna be long, so only read if you're bored and want to hear OUR shopping story.

So we saw two used ninja 250s at a dealer a few hours away.  So we drove there on Saturday to check it out.  Turns out they sold both of them within the last two days and didn't get a chance to take them down off cycletrader yet (plausible).  So we asked what's available, and I told them I wanted a cheap. low power bike, and my wife had to be comfortable with it.  We asked about the ninja 250s and honda CBR 250s they had and got some initial prices on that.  But I wanted used.

Next up was an 09 Ninja 500R they wanted 3999 for.  I offered 3200 + accessories at cost.  They countered with 3600, and I said I don't want to go past 3400 so I can keep total cost at 4k.  They didn't accept, so I didn't buy.  The salesman apologized and thought his manager would go for 3400, but I guess not.

As I went to buy some cheap accessories (they had a good sale going on), he came up and asked if we could talk about the new CBR 250s.  I said, "Sure."  I didn't really want to buy new, but I figured even if my wife didn't like riding or wanted to upgrade, I could keep it as MY commuter bike and move the Victory Vision to "weekend touring" duty if she upgraded.  Since that morning, they sold the 2 CBR 250s that were non-abs and were building a 3rd that they sold that day trying to get it ready for the buyer.  They had the ABS model left, but I'm ok with upgrading to a safer bike for my wife.  Essentially, with it being a brand new bike (they just started bringing them to US for 2011), it having great reviews, and nice features, I didn't try to beat them down on price.  I just insisted that I refuse to pay ANY fees.  So I only paid the bike's MSRP and taxes.  No freight, no prep, and no document fees.

Lucky for me, I have great credit so we put 2k down and Honda picked up the rest at 5.99 percent.  But I'll pay it off in a few months.  I'm gonna try this whole "get out of debt" thing by paying extra on everything.

So she's got her new toy, and it reminded me of how much I missed my 919.  And I look forward to her upgrading so I can commute on it!!!  Now to get some luggage for it!

Alexi

[UHOH]

Nice.

Along about mid summer suggest seeing if you and she can ride away for the weekend
 to someplace really special (to her) and expensive - that's <250 miles away.
I'm thinking that'll mostly set you up for a long, happy mutual relationship w/ riding as recreation.

[bluepoof]

That's awesome!!   I've heard good things about those CBRs.  

[Frankienuckles]

Congrats to the Mrs. on her new ride!

[bomber]

Great story --

A new bike means she won't have to get used to the whole "hold your tongue on the LEFT side of your mouth while trying to start it in the rain" kinda thing . . . . ..

Enjoy your first year riding together -- it can be a wonderful thing!

[Rincewind]

Congrats to both of you.  Those CBR250R bikes sold fast from my local dealer.  I bet it will be a popular bike this year.  Have you ridden it and have impressions or top speed?

[viffergyrl]

Oooooo that is so cool. I hope she loves her new bike. Please encourage her to join up on the forum; unless that would somehow upset the peace of the household.  

[sfalexi]

Oooooo that is so cool. I hope she loves her new bike. Please encourage her to join up on the forum; unless that would somehow upset the peace of the household.

Oh I'm trying!!!  But she insists she doesn't think she'd be a good forum person so it looks like I'll have to be a "go through" person for a while (I usually just show her posts or email her links to posts I think she'd be interested in).

Congrats to both of you.  Those CBR250R bikes sold fast from my local dealer.  I bet it will be a popular bike this year.  Have you ridden it and have impressions or top speed?

I'll give my first impressions.  DISCLAIMER: Only been riding about three years (with a year off inbetween) but I love riding and ride about 12 - 15k miles a year, and year round unless there's snow/ice (which in GA is not very often!).  

Getting on it reminded me of my old Honda 919.  Pretty much the same seating position and size.  The thing is RIDICULOUSLY light.  Feels like a little toy compared to my Victory Vision (900 pounds vs 370ish?!).  The clutch pull is EXTREMELY light.  And yes, I stalled twice cause I'm not used to revving higher than 2.5 to start off from a stop.  The manual has you shifting early and often, getting you to 6th gear at 37 mph.  That being said, the powerband is pretty wide, and it's nice to know you can probably get to fourth or fifth gear, and just twist your right hand to do any speed changes if you want.  And I forgot just how many bugs hit you when you're on an unfaired bike.  Had to pull over and clean my helmet visor twice from splatters so I could see (riding home at dusk on back roads....yuck!).  Also got hit in the throat pretty hard by some giant bug which sucked.

Cause it's new, and not my bike, I only rode it home from the dealer.  about 130 miles.  In that 130 miles almost all of it at about 65 - 70 mph, the gas tank emptied by 1/2.  So that right there points to REALLY good gas mileage.  At 65 - 70 mph, the speedo was at about 6 to 7k, which means there's a little more room to speed up.  I've heard that it's top speed is about 85, and I'd say that's probably right.  It doesn't speed up quickly, but I think if you take off, you'll still be able to pull away from most traffic at a light.  It's a tiny single cylinder engine, but it's still faster off the jump than probably most of the cars out there, and with how most drivers accelerate, I think you can still put a nice space cushion behind you between you and them.

My butt was a little sore after that 130 mile ride home, but I could shift a little on the seat which helped.  Seat seems pretty hard.  I don't think, as is, it'd be a long mile tourer, but for normal rides it should be fine.  I'm sure seat upgrades will be available, or if not, it's low enough to easily accommodate a sheepskin pad or something like that.  Brakes are fine, stops great.  The main thing I had to remember and get used to was shifting often and early (I didn't want to rev it really high yet), but it's nice that the 6th gear will handle most speed limit changes so I can go from 70 mph, down to 40 mph when I get to that one traffic light town, and no shifting necessary.  

All in all, I think this will be a GREAT learner bike for her, has some nice features (fuel injection and mpg were real big PLUSSES in my book), and to be honest, I don't think we'll ever get rid of it.  If she ever feels she needs/wants to upgrade in the future, I think I'm gonna keep it for myself as a fun little toy/commuter and relegate the Vision to two-up/touring duty.  Honestly, if you're looking for a fun toy, for 4k, this thing fits the bill!!!  And after we get her some soft side luggage and put on a topbox, this thing would would be a fun, fuel efficient weekend tourer as well as commuter!

Alexi

PS - Like I said, I'm not sure what you want to know, but as I have it in the garage, if you have questions about particular things, let me know and I'll do my best to let you know what I think or what I find about it.  

[Rincewind]

Thanks Alexi.

-Alex

[Chuck 500]

Great story, Alexi.  Getting to ride with your wife, priceless.

Good choice of bike.  The EFI will take some of the guesswork out of getting it started so she can concentrate on the important things.

Joining the forum would be a good step.  I found this forum about nine months after learning to ride in June 2008.  The folks on here answered a lot of questions and provided lots of inspiration (and still do).

Keep the shiny side up,

Chuck

[Kootenanny]

Friend of mine has a CBR250R.  I've been helping him learn to ride, so I've had a chance to ride it, and--it's a great bike!