Which Bike to Buy?

When I decided to buy my bike, I had thought about getting back to riding for a year. I had to justify the cost of taking that money out of my "rainy day" fund and spend it on something that was totally not practical, and would not help me financially if something should happen to my job. I'm sure you've been through those decisions yourself...

After much agonizing, I finally overcame that roadblock with the knowledge that if I didn't honour my gut feelings, I would forever regret it. So, on January 1, 2011, the serious hunt was on for a motorcycle!

I was looking for a standard bike similar to the 1977 Kawasaki KZ200 that I rode from 1981 to 1985. I had had a lot of fun on that and had ridden on all the paved roads of the North Island at that time. 

When I had been given the opportunity to take our neighbour's brand new 1983 Yamaha Virago 750 out for a 40 km spin back in 1983, I had loved the power and rider position of that too. (Thinking back on that, I don't know that I would have let a teenager take out my brand-new bike, but I must have impressed him enough that he wasn't worried.) 

Having not paid any attention to the evolution of motorcycles since 1985, I had no idea that small standard motorcycles no longer existed in North America. Everything was either the Honda CBR 125 or next stop, a 650, with nothing in between. Whoa, what had happened? Upon further research, discovered that smaller motorcycles existed in Europe but just were not available here. That is changing now with Kawasaki's new Ninja 300 and Honda's CBR 250 that came out last year (although not soon enough that it was available when I was looking). 

After talking to a few people and reading numerous blogs about beginner/re-entry bikes, I was told that since I had ridden before, I would quickly be bored with a small bike. Having not ridden though for many years, I wasn't so sure about that, but went with that advice while I was looking.

I also wasn't limited to a lower seat height with my 33 inch inseam, my options were not so limited as other gals. What was proving difficult though was finding a bike where I didn't lean over the tank. Coming from a mostly off-road riding background, the leaning over position with narrow handlebars was just not comfortable. 

Albeit my search would have been easier living in a bigger city with more dealerships, I needed to find a place I felt comfortable walking into that sold and serviced the brand I was going to buy. More consideration ensued...