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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> 1st real ride on the 96 650:
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Message started by shiphteey on 08/17/09 at 06:08:47

Title: 1st real ride on the 96 650:
Post by shiphteey on 08/17/09 at 06:08:47

After picking one up for $150 on Craigslist I dumped another 6-700 to get it running and fix most of the important leaks. So its mid August and I finally take it out for a ride. First impressions are wow, this thing is surprisingly torquey out the gate! This is coming from a lightweight guy with a Ninja 250 and ZX-12 so take it for what it is. The seat height is exceptionally low and even girls 4'10" can flat foot just fine.

Once underway the buzziness of the handlebars became apparent, especially on highway speeds. Do the speed limit and you may be ok but let demons out (all 30 of em) and you'll see what I mean.

Brakes, from a sportbike perspective are lackluster. But since its just a little heavier than a Ninja 250 but with ZX-12ish wheelbase and a low center of gravity (hey its a cruiser) it gets the job done and you can dial in more rear brakes given the weight distribution of the bike. Dialing in too much easily locked up the dry rotted tires I was on (with 1" chicken strips) but it did the job.

I'll be honest, I didn't trust the tires as far as I could throw em so I took it noob-ish easy the first few corners. Buddy on a 929 checked out pretty quickly and was puzzled by my putt-putt riding but it was just me needing to make sure I trusted the tires. Could you imagine going around your first set of corners and washing out? Total fail. But in slowly dialing up the speed on the Savage (now referred to as the Salvage due to its shoddy apperance) I noticed how neutral it handled. It held a line on some corners a little better than the ZX-9R and Ninja 250. I'm sure the low center of gravity and longer wheelbase with relatively low HP played a part in it. A bike like this really lets the new rider roll on the throttle and get the weight distribution correct on the tires to give it the proper handling coming out the corners without every disrupting the tires, suspension or chassis. As old as these tires are they never once skipped out or slipped on me (except for when I kept dialing in more and more lean angle on the smooth, unused portion, which was bound to happen).

Long highway rides are going to leave your hands a little numb unless you invest in some sort of gel grip or its equivalent. I don't really mind it so far because I don't see myself topping out much on this bike. Speaking of topping out, I managed to barely see the needle just touch 90 on the 100 mph speedometer. Loaned out my GPS to a buddy on a 929 and didn't feel like asking for it back just to figure out how far under 100 mph I really was, maybe next time. That was done with no backrest, no air filter, no front fender and no mirrors.

Having spent 99.9% of my riding time on sportbikes, one thing I learned about riding a cruiser, or at the very least THIS cruiser was that weighting the pegs didn't seem to make as much of a difference as on a sportbike, which makes sense because the center of gravity is already much lower on a cruiser so the effect would be less drastic than on a sportbike. Scooting 1/2 my butt off the seat for a corner made a little difference but the real key in getting this bike through the twisties was setting up corner entry speed properly and dialing in just the right amount of countersteer through the handlebars. Pushed 2 hours through twisties I was quite familiar with and the bike shined much more than one could imagine. You look at the bike and go "No WAY!" but it rode just fine. I was never too hard on the brakes setting up for the corners, partly because I knew the corners already and partly because starting a corner with excessive front end dive would do me no good. Naturally I pushed a litte harder and I got a little bit of weave/wobble on the rear end. Nothing scary mind you, just the Suzuki's way of saying "Hey, this ain't no Ninja 250...chill out."

Odd quirks consisted of numerous backfires ranging from just a little cough to hit-the-deck-cuz-someone-just-got-their-head-taken-off-by-a-sawed-off. Amusing to say the least but this wouldn't be the bike for trying to sneak back at home undetected by parents or your significant other unless you roll off the throttle slowly 1/2 a block away and turn it off. Exhaust note idling or under light load is very old school VW Beetle....or new school Jetsons....depends on how you look at it.

Roll-ons with a 929 at 50 with me in 3rd and the Honda in 6th had me out in front...for a couple of seconds....and no more than a couple of seconds...and then it was over about as quickly as any 140 HP vs 30 HP bike race you could think up. But at least I only needed 1.5 gallons to his 2.6 at the pump.

Something else that may be noteworthy, especially to newer riders, is that if you are in too high a gear with too low RPMs and need it to quickly get on the gas (either to make it through the yellow light or to avoid being hit...maybe merging), just open up the throttle and it will still get the job done much better than if you were on a Ninja 250 or GZ250 or Rebel 250. That big 94x94 mm piston chugging up and down makes good power down low and pulls harder than those bikes with less effort down low, which is where most newer or calmer riders tend to be on the streets.

Aside from the buzzy bars at higher speeds/rpms and cramped ergos for bigger riders there isn't much to fauilt on this bike. For what I payed and what I got it isnt 1/2 bad. You do seem to fly a little lower under the radar with the cops compared to the flashy colors of every zx/gsxr/cbr/whatever out there with whatever aftermarket exhaust they have howling away. It could definately use taller gearing (smaller numerically) but aside from a taller tire that may rub on some components you're left with the expensive custom option of smaller teeth on the rear pulley (yes, its belt driven). Of course that would take away from its snappy attitude down low in the city but would pay big dividends for the long distance highway rider.

Given its ridiculously low compression of 8:1 I have considered the thought of putting nitrous on it, and will leave it at that ;-)

A.

Title: Re: 1st real ride on the 96 650:
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 08/17/09 at 07:51:07

They are a fun little bike, arent they? Mine handles the short radius turns just fine, but the long sweepers give it time to develop a nasty wobble.

Title: Re: 1st real ride on the 96 650:
Post by FreeSpirit on 08/17/09 at 08:34:13

Justin ,do you have a fork brace? I'm just wondering.

Title: Re: 1st real ride on the 96 650:
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 08/17/09 at 09:09:48

Ohhhh Noww, Gurrrr, you KNOW Ive got a fork brace. Im always hollerin about them being the best thing since vulcanization. I think my wobble issue is based in the rear suspension. When the rear starts to rise & fall, the front starts to saw back & forth, making the rear go up & down some more. If Im able to dial on the beans &its in the right range, the torque will temporarily stabilize it, then I have to roll off & it gets worse for a sec, then starts to calm a bit. Im talking about corners I am going in at 65+ & trying to come out at 70 +, with, ( Just trying to guess) about a 80' radius.
The asphalt isnt so perfect as to not challenge the suspension, not so rough as to be scary, still hunting a better line.

Title: Re: 1st real ride on the 96 650:
Post by mikestrikes on 08/17/09 at 16:38:28

6C77766F776B7A7A661F0 wrote:

Having spent 99.9% of my riding time on sportbikes.

Given its ridiculously low compression of 8:1 I have considered the thought of putting nitrous on it, and will leave it at that ;-)

A.

Glad someone from the sportbike crowd knows how to not bash it and give a good review... me being from the sport-naked-muscle bike side I'm looking forward to the change in pace and style ! I like most all bikes so I dont discriminate...

Ahhh as for the NOS.... if you do use very little. The piston has a real thin top, and with its low RPM style it may spit back into the carb real bad.... I dont know.

But I was wanting someone to step up and order the parts, I build it and send it to them, I was looking at TURBO'n it with about 4 psi...

Who ever does this I will build it for free for the first one... so think about that !