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The Aprilia RS 250 cup bike is about as user friendly as they come....60 HP, no barometers needed, put oil in the injector tank, fuel in the gas tank, tires a coupla-3 times a year to sprint, great corner speed, a top end in the winter, and they can be had for under/around $4K...
Just a quick support from another new guy who didn't believe everyone when they said go SV650. I actually thought engine size mattered for speed (oopps) and I had a liter on the street. I ran off and bought a R6 as my first race bike thinking a 600 would be slower.... WOW> go get an SV... Or even a classic superbike would work great... Cheap to buy and not quite as radical...
Do not make fun of a good rider on an SV on most of the tracks here - if you are a 'so-so' rider on a 600 you'll get your head handed to you.
Good value, good fun, new racer friendly, easy on tires, cheap to acquire, cheap to run...
What's not to like?
So J Dub, does this mean you're getting an SV and joining me next year? COme on, do it. You know you want to.Quote:Originally posted by Jonathan Wright:
Do not make fun of a good rider on an SV on most of the tracks here - if you are a 'so-so' rider on a 600 you'll get your head handed to you.
Good value, good fun, new racer friendly, easy on tires, cheap to acquire, cheap to run...
What's not to like?
C Dub
I took at good, long, thoughtful look at what I wanted to flog on the track... and ended up with a cookie cutter R6 [img]/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]
My thinking ran along these lines:
- Dont wanna spend time wrenching, and don't wanna invest in technology that's fading. So the 125/250 options was out (esp. that arcane plug chop/jetting biz.) BTW, I still love and own a 2 smoke dirt bike.
- There is a diff in riding styles btwn the smallbikes and the larger inline fours. The former carry a lotta corner speed, whereas the fast riders on the latter tend to use a point-and-shoot style. Some (fast) experts I spoke with said that they didn't gain much from starting with an SV before "graduating" to the 600s due to this diff in riding style. I'm sure there are others who will disagree. Ronnie Hay - got an opinion? You jumped btwn the SV and ZX6 and did purty well this season.
So I started with an old 600 (SRAD Gixxer) and putted around with it for a year or two doing occassional track days (no CMRA intentions). I then moved up to a "current 600" hoping not to get beat by a chick named Weeble riding a kiddie bike [img]/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]
I've got too much invested in the R6 from an engine rebuild this year, else I'd seriously consider moving down to the SV for these two reasons: cheaper to run (tires) and easier to podium (grid size).
Apart from the "slow bike will teach you skillz", also consider that it will be safer (less prone to wheelspin/highside) and cheaper.
I meant no disrepect to the SV riders with my comments... They were aimed at a rookie just starting off. Actually it's more of a complement. You HAVE to know what your doing to be fast on a SV. An R6 can dive into a corner, blow all the corner speed and Drag race to the next corner all day and still post ok times. It's very tempting and makes focusing on cornerspeed harder to do. That's why I recommend the SV. It forces you to focus on what's really important (lines, cornerspeed) and less on going fast in a straight line. Also, the SV is safer for the throttle happy. I just crushed my R6 because I rocked the throttle to hard to fast and the bike high sided. Rookie mistake... an SV wont do that as easily.
600- crazy fast, very competitve, chews up tires, so fast its hard to focus on learning, and enough power to be very dangerous.
SV- Better manners, easier on tires, forces focus on faster corner speed, won't spin the back tire as easily
I'm still wonderin' what I was thinkin'...
Well since nobody with a 250 or 125 has sounded off I guess I'll jump in here, my vote would be for a 125 or 250, In fact I'm trying to find a 125 right now. There is something that you have to consider is that the 125 and 250's are purpose built race bikes, not street bikes converted to race. I started off last year on a R6 like most Newbie's because I didn't know any better, and what I realized was that I was in the "Meatgrinder" classes with 60 other people! After fighting with the bike 1/2 the year, I decided to get something easier to ride, Aprilia RS250, or SV I ended up finding a 93 TZ250 that was a basket case, I did not know the difference between the Aprilia RS250 and a TZ250, that was untill I rode it! The Aprilia is a Streetbike converted to racing, the TZ is a purpose built MotoGP bike! Difference being about 60 pounds less weight, and about 20 more HP. I'm not bashing on other bikes I'm just saying that the 125/250 are Purpose built and there is a difference. Now I get regularly smoked by people on SV's (Igal, Brandon, Chris, Weeble etc). When I first rode my TZ I was 3 seconds a lap faster at Oakhill! (I'm faily slow) but it was just much easier to ride, they turn in faster, you can go deeper in on the brakes and carry more corner speed. Plus the Power is unbeliveable. Now the power comes on in a range of 10k-12k so you have to keep its neck rung out, but it is worth it! Especially when you can pass people on the Outside! If I had to start over again I would probably get a 125 over a 250 they are cheaper to run, 2 sets of tires a full year couple of pistons and new crank at the beginning of the season and your good! Now before everybody starts banging the drum about how much work they are lets address that. If you run conservative setting (jetting etc) they are only a little more work, Draining your fuel, changing out pistons every couple of weekends(that takes about 30 minutes) etc, If you are tuning it to the N'th degree then yea they are going to have problems. Are they more expensive than a 600 to run? No you can either buy pistons for your 125/250 or tires for your 600, at the end of a full season it will be a little cheaper on the 250. (Unless you are really slow on a 600). My endurace teamate was buying a new set of tires every weekend $350 I bought about three sets. If you look at the AMA riders, and MotoGp look at how many rode 125's!
And another good thing is that they Crash so well, because they are so over built/ weigh so little, I cartwheeled mine at 70mph at Cresson and only had to buy a clip on and an upper. Do that with an sv or 600 and your buying forks, tanks etc. The bottom line is you have to buy what is right for you!
Hey Rich,
Like others have said, the most important thing is finding the right bike for you. There are folks that can debate the advantages and dissadvantages of this bike versus that bike until their blue in the face, but when it's all said and done, you will be the person riding the bike.
I was like you, I didn't have bikes around when I was a kid. It wasn't until I was 14 before my mom gave in and bought me a Yami DT50, but even then I only had it for 6 months before I out grew it. And until last year, I hadn't ridden anything with two wheels other than bicycles.
Now, for my shameless support of 125 GP bikes. [img]/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif[/img] I, like many racers, started racing on a 600 supersport, a CBR 600RR. As a matter of fact, I just finished my first season of racing. About half way into the season, I wanted to improve my skills and carry more corner speed. I picked up a '98 RS125 from Alan Tan to do just that.
Let me tell you, it was the best investement I've ever made. The things that little bike can teach you and the things you can do on it are absolutely amazing! I definately feel that I've improoved both my skills and corner speed only having ridden the bike a handfull of times. This will be my primary race bike for next season, if not my only...
Like most folks that started off on four strokes, I was concerned about the maintanence involved with a two stroke. Everybody keep saying, man they're a bunch of work, and I kept hearing about how I would be working on them more than I'd be riding them. Well, that's not necessarily true. I hardly ever work on my bike. It all depends on how "hardcore" you want to get with it. If you're wanting a fairly low maintenance bike, it can be that bike. If you want to work on it constantly and get it dialed in like a motogp bike, it can be that bike too.
The great thing about a 125 or a 250 is that it can be as cheap as you're willing to make it or as expensive as the pros if you are willing to go that far. If you're faily slow starting out, it wouldn't be out of the question to run an entire season on a set of tires. Obviously, the sets of tires you go through increase as you increase your speed, but even then 2-3 sets for a season isn't out of the realm of possiblity. Also, like Pierson said, you can pretty much go a full season on 2-3 pistons and 1 crank.
From the way you described your stature, you would fit on a 125 really well. Together, you and the bike would just top 300lbs. With a typical late model 125 puting out around 40hp, you'd be very competative. Not to mention you'd have a BLAST! The 125 GP grid is fairly small. So, you wouldn't be out there in the "meat grinder." Which, in my oppinion, is a better environment to get to grips with racing.
WORD!
Tony,
That was beautiful, man! :rolleyes: