Any of you have, or are interested, in small displacement motorcycles?
I have other bikes but a year ago I decided to pick up a small street legal motorcycle. It would be for riding everything from local trails and dirt roads up to primary (55 mph) roads. My friend had been hinting that she'd like to learn to ride so that would be another use for it. In my search for a simple, light weight. motorcycle I ended up buying a Yamaha XT250. While there are other dual sport 250's out there with better specs this little bike just hit the sweet spot for me with its combination of light weight, low seat height, ample ground clearance, air cooled, FI, adequate fuel capacity, wide ratio gearing, and Japanese quality.
I had forgotten just how easy and fun it is riding a small bike like this. It's so light to push out of the garage or around a stump, the gearing is low enough to ride trails at a crawl but high enough to motor down the road comfortably at 60 mph. There's no turbulence or added noise from a fairing or windshield just clean air moving past the helmet. I find myself seeking out interesting little dirt and gravel roads to explore which is how I learned to ride many years ago on my first motorcycle, which was also a dual sport 250, so riding this thing tends to bring back good memories.
For anyone looking for a first motorcycle a 250 such as this would be what I recommend. What's great though is just how fun they are for experienced riders as well.
A friend I met, who happens to also ride an XT250, has traveled all around the U.S. on his, and he's 6'-8" tall!
