[Prawnstar]

The very first time I rode a motorcycle was during the MSF class and I was immediately hooked! Ah to be free and ride! I scoured the internet after passing the exam and found that there were opposing arguments about what to buy as your first bike. 1) buy a bike that’s used and cheap, sits low, and is light and slow.. vs 2) buy something you can grow into a bit, something that even may scare you at first but you will grow into.. I went with option 1 and purchased a used 2016 suzuki TU250x. I owned it for exactly 10 days. So those of you out there that ponder riding, take the MSF course AND AFTER YOU PASS buy a 400 or 500cc bike! I can’t stress this enough. You are prepared enough to grow into something. Stick to your neighborhood at first and then start to slowly venture out.
I purchased the Ducati Sixty2 because it has the freaking best suspension, brakes, weight and handling of any 400 < cc bike period. I tested them all! If you like sport bike looks then go for the ninja 400. Buying a slow 250cc will put you in serious danger on the road. It’s too slow and it’s too light. Pay no attention to how they tell you you can hit a freeway on it because you can’t without being blown around like a methed out piece of pollen. Cars blow you to the edges of the road and cut right in front of you because they’re pissed you’re slow.
The Ducati helped me get over (real quick) the fear that bigger CC motorcycles look like huge serious machine because the Sixty2 is a real bike. Those fat wheels keep you planted and you have throttle room left even on the highway going 70. You need that. You need power pulling onto a 45mph road from a stop sign or else you will be waiting half an hour for a large enough gap. You will be fine on a 400 CC bike.. period! Don’t waste $2800 like I did on a bike you will grow out of within days. It will be days too!
I’m a woman in her early 30’s, I’m 5’6 (and a half. gotta have that half damn it) and between 130-135lbs. I can flick around and make this Ducati Sixty2 my bitch and I love it. Everything else in the segment feels subpar.. and for you icon people out there who are reading this.. I probably should have come to you because I already feel remorse 5 days after buying the 62 as the sales people told me to get the 803 engine but I reneged due to the icons shit throttle which scared me. 2 bad.. so in conclusion, don’t go for a 250 or 300 as a first bike.. for real.

 

[Max Kool]

Grats on getting your license and your sixty2!


(I personally believe an Icon with a 2017+ throttle tube could have been an even better choice)

 

[K1W1]

Welcome to the forum and welcome to motorcycling it seems that you have the bug so lets hope your motorcycling journey is long and pleasurable. As a relative newcomer to this forum myself I think that you will find it a friendly and helpful place.
Unfortunately I do have to take you to task on your opinions on the TU250X which is a terrific bike in its class. I will put my 40+ years and millions of motorcycle kms riding against your 20 days experience any time. My daughter has a TU250 which she loves, I love riding it, my wife who has almost as much motorcycling experience as I do loves riding it and my daughters boyfriend an ex Kawasaki Factory Team WSB mechanic loves riding it. Sure is light weight (not a bad thing really) but if you ride it correctly they do have plenty of go and can more than keep up with much bigger bikes on any road that does not involve long boring straights which any real motorcyclist hates anyway. People have circumnavigated the world on bikes with way less performance than the TU250X. If the bike did not gel with you that is fine but that is not necessarily the bikes fault when as a new rider you effectively have no experience and no reference points for comparison.
Moving on I hope we see lots of pictures of your Sixty2 and its adventures because we all know that without pictures it didn't happen.

 

[Rick Ducati]

enjoy it!:wav:

 

[Rick Ducati]

I probably should have come to you because I already feel remorse 5 days after buying the 62 as the sales people told me to get the 803 engine but I reneged due to the icons shit throttle which scared me. 2 bad.. so in conclusion, don’t go for a 250 or 300 as a first bike.. for real.

read here about your Sixty2

7 Things I Learned About The Ducati Scrambler Sixty2 In A Wicked Week Of Riding

 

[Prawnstar]

K1W1 - I tried to make the post more about why to step up to a 400cc or 500cc after you pass your msf and was not intentionally knocking the suzuki tux.. I LOVED the TUX. I haven’t sold it but I made the step up within 10 days for reasons I’ll bring up in a second. The suzuki TUX is GREAT for people that have never ridden a bike period. 3 things I felt that are so strong about the bike that I don’t want to sell it go as follows: the riding position.. those handlebars.. I LOVE THEM...easy clutch pull, and the gas mileage. What I felt was dangerous was the lack of power and lack of braking power. I live in a city and people speed up quickly and they brake quickly and the population is dense. To get to a grocery store, a coffee shop.. or basically anywhere but a house in my area means popping onto a road with a speed limit of 55. Most people are going 60-65. Beginner riders are not going to feel comfortable revving a bike to redline within their first weeks, and with a bike with 14 horse power and like 7ft pounds of torque. . that is what you have to do to make it up to 60 without people behind you getting pissed. Not to mention when they get pissed they pass you and cut right the hell in front of you which is also startling and stressful for new riders. Also my commute to work involves a freeway. I can get to work in 24 minutes per freeway and if I avoided freeway it would take me an hour and a half. The internet had opposing opinions about the capability of freeway riding with the TUX and if I were to review it I would say do not do it. Also, I locked the rear wheel once when someone pulled right out in front of me. I managed to save myself and the bike by not letting go of the brake but it scared me off the bike for days. In fact everything about riding scared me so much more than it does on the scrambler 62. I still am scared but I’m scared about the right things about riding rather than being scared of the bike and how it’s so slow that I’m going to piss people off and make them do dangerous things to maneuver around me. 400cc’s gives me just enough to not piss people off to make those moves, 400 pounds and fat tires makes me feel confident and oh so much more stable when I have to ride with some speed. Having abs brakes helps me feel more confident about those idiots that pop out in front of me. So for still being a beginner rider, but msf trained beginner not pure beginner, I think that going with a bike like mine helps build rider confidence... most women that went through the kind of things I went through on the TUX would be scared straight back to the garage and that would be the end of biking for them. If they had started out on the bike I have now, they wouldn’t have had those experiences. When My riding skills and confidence in my skills comes to the level that I can chock that throttle back without fear, when red lining the revs doesn’t scare the shit out of me, I’ll come back to that suzuki and ride the shit out of it.

 

[Max Kool]

Great perspective, and in essence, I think you're right.

A very light bike is not very confidence inspiring, especially while you're still learning.

 

[K1W1]

Prawnstar lets agree to disagree. You made a blanket comment that the TU250X was no good for beginning riders. I will say that it is but I will qualify it by saying that it may not suit every beginning rider.

My daughter picking up her TU250X which for some reason she calls BJ and she says she will never sell.
[

 

[O2theL]

Interesting perspective Prawnstar. I admire your clarity of opinion, although I personally relate more to K1W1 on this.
I spent my early riding years in Europe (UK, Holland, Germany) where new riders are forced to ride low capacity bikes first - I went from 50cc to 125cc to 250cc to 500cc. Not sure if you've experienced city driving/riding in large Euro cities but I can tell you that it's far more intense that anything in the US (incl. NYC and LA). It's clear to me that low cc bikes have to be ridden in a very different way to larger cc bikes. I currently have 6 bikes (5 Ducs and one Honda) with a range in cc from 350 to 1198 and I ride them very differently.
On a small cc bike you have to open the throttle wide to get to high revs to make forward movement possible. It feels like you're hurting the bike and your senses are more on edge because of the engine noise and vibration. On large cc bikes you can run them at lower revs to achieve the same speed/acceleration so they can feel less intimating. I might be wrong, but I think this is what you're experiencing.

I currently live in Harley country. Riders here typically have never ridden (including to learn on) anything under 1000cc. They are used to running no more than 3000rpm at any time and thus experience something very different than a TU250 or even a Sixty2. It's interesting to let them ride one of my high revving Ducs - even guys with 20 years riding experience dislike it and feel unsafe.

So, I think your experience is real and I can totally understand you having a high comfort level on a 400 rather than a 250. That said, I don't think everyone will have the same experience as a new rider and I certainly know that experienced riders often love lower cc bikes. There's a saying "more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow".

For the record, I rode my 1000cc Sport Classic to the office today and loved it.

 

[Prawnstar]

O2theL- so agree riding in Europe.. cough.. a city in Europe.. I watch motorcycle reviews all the time featuring guys riding all around Europe and India and my whole body tenses when they lane split and everyone is honking all around and people are everywhere and cars are unpredictable. I have to remember I’m not the one that’s doing the riding.. my hat is off to you. Riding in the US would be like a nap for you. (A joke of course.. you know what I mean.) I take your opinion and K1W1’s with admiration and some agreement. Maybe it’s just the rider? Maybe it’s where we live on the map? Who knows.. I’m just happy to be a new part of the riding comradery.

 

[Prawnstar]

Ps K1W1- your daughter is beautiful! She looks like a great gal!

 

[iblastoff]

I actually have both the TUX and sixty2. To say the TUX is not a good beginner bike is ridiculous. I live in a major metropolitan city and commute every single day on the TUX for the past 2 years. It’s perfect for busy city riding.

For highway, the TUX can cruise 65-75mph just fine. You won’t be passing at that speed but it’s certainly capable if you know your limitations and ride accordingly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[iblastoff]

Prawnstar lets agree to disagree. You made a blanket comment that the TU250X was no good for beginning riders. I will say that it is but I will qualify it by saying that it may not suit every beginning rider.

My daughter picking up her TU250X which for some reason she calls BJ and she says she will never sell.
[

i love my TUX!