I plan to pick up a 600cc sportbike in 2005, but wouldn't mind something smaller while i'm in grad school.

Anyone had any experience with new Honda scooters? For $1899 MSRP, it seems like a great toy. 49cc, liquid-cooled, automatic tranny - seems like a great way to get around Washington DC when the weather is nice.

Can anyone elaborate on the life expectancy of a 50cc motor, as well as top speed, gas mileage, acceleration, etc. What's the insurance like?

Rus

 

There was a guy who lived down the street from me that had one of those. I thought it would be funny as hell if he would have asked me if he could ride with us.

 

For $1899 I'd get a Nighthawk 250. They are good little around-town bikes.

 

The thing is pretty cool. I went down to my local Honda dealer to check out the new 600RR when it came out and there was one there and I rode it. It was cool to play with. I just don't know if I could ride it in public.

 

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. To save myself the embarassment, I'm probably going to go for 2003 Kawasaki Ninja 250R.

Rus

 

That's not very cost effective... it's essentially the same bike from 1987 for what, $3k?

 

It is still a good buy at 3k though, there is no other bike is its price range ive seen that can compare.

 

true, but since the 250 dominates that particular market niche there is a huge used market. Since the majority of owners are new riders, there are a lot of 1-2 year old 250s with under 3k miles for less than $2k. let someone else absorb the devaluation.

 

Get a Yamaha Zuma...they are really fun. My friend can do sit downs and stand ups on his. The older ones wheelie easier but you can still do it on the new ones. Gas mileage is just crazy.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tonydatyga &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">true, but since the 250 dominates that particular market niche there is a huge used market. Since the majority of owners are new riders, there are a lot of 1-2 year old 250s with under 3k miles for less than $2k. let someone else absorb the devaluation.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Exactly. Buy a used one.