justin_o_guy2 wrote on 03/28/10 at 12:07:41:Anyone ever screw up, leaving a stop sign & seeing something coming, closer, faster than you thought? Thats when having a bike that has some Punch can really be a good thing. Or, you can just make sure you never screw up..
Anyone ever screw up,
getting on the freeway, & seeing something coming, closer, faster than you thought? That's when you really need to goose it and appreciate a 650. Sure a 250 will get on the freeway, but the lack of power really makes you nervous when traffic is heavy, fast, full of rude tailgaters. You need good acceleration FROM the maximum speed you want to cruise at.
Ask the same "this vs. that" question on a Honda Rebel forum, and watch the conclusion go the other way.. things like the better gas mileage and longer cam chain life will have much greater importance. But then there are gobs of simple, easy to maintain bikes that do wonderfully in town, and they're thumpers.. Yamaha XT225 or TW200, Honda CRF230L, Kawasaki Sherpa.
My brother had a Rebel-engined Nighthawk 250 and it was a fun bike to putt around on. But not as fun as a single. Sure, singles generally vibrate more, but it is a lot less annoying, lower frequency vibe. I had a 400cc Yamaha twin that was quite powerful for its size... it would get on the highway no problem.. but I hated it. It had the worst of both worlds.. whiny character, but not the super performance of an inline 4. If I was going to put up with the character of a multi, I'd get a 4 cylinder sportbike that can really blast off.
So for maximum fun and ease of maintenance, I say go with an air cooled thumper. A small one for in town riding, or a Savage for highway use.
When you were a kid and your parents were making you mow the lawn, didn't you want to co-opt the lawnmower engine, mount it in a minibike and take off? To me, that's what thumpers are all about.
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