i have rode the buel blast and it's a small bike...if i were you i would save my money and get a bigger bike...

 

Hmmmmm...Weeds I hope to put this delicatley enoughs so's not to offend anyone..here goes. Whoever told you the Buell Blast put out that much horsepower is being just a bit optomistic. I'm searching for my old copy of Motorcycle Consumer News that had the road test of the Blast in it. If I recall the measured actual rear-wheel horsepower at about 24 h.p. Keep in mind this is half of a Sporster engine. (about 51h.p) And it's heavy. And the handeling was..shall we say..not particularly impressive. Now M.C.N. is a magazine that does actual testing and doesn't give a ++++ what the manufacturers think. They take no advertising and print what they find. Reliability may also be a factor, concerning the donor engine. Vibration, poor brakes and a lack of ground clearance were also noted in the test. Excessive clutch effort and cobby shifting was also an issue. And if I recall correctly the seat was an issue, as it is on most Buells. Personally I'd stick with the Kaw. for now. It would probably run circles around the Buell, reliability is a non-issue, they run forever and 80+ m.p.g. is a good reason as well!! As always..ride before you buy. And no "around the block" testing. If the seller won't let you have if for a few hours...walk away. Just my thoughts. Audie..the oldfart!

 

oldfart, I was definitely going to take this thing for a test ride. The Ninja was/is my first bike, so I know pretty well what it can do. If I take this buell for a test ride, it's going to get one hell of a ride. I'm used to riding a sportbike (or as much of one as the 250 is) so I've learned how to give it a decent lean and throttle through turns, and since taking the MSF course I've gone out to a parking lot every once in awhile and practiced flicking the bike back & forth to avoid hazards. So yeah, this wasn't going to be a ride around the block, yup it's good, kinda deal.

Oh, and just to CYA, the Ninja gets 50+mpg, not 80+. Mine gets about 53 if you really wanna get picky-not that I keep track or anything

 

No experience with the Buell. My first bike was a Yamaha XS7502D. Cruised wherever I wanted it to. Rode others, 1200 sportster, it was okay, not an everyday driver for me. A British bike that vibrated so much I lost weight riding it. My buddies Boss Hoss, big bike with a lot of power. My Old GoldWing, that one I did a flip, flop and fly on. Only rode a couple of times after that, it took a while to heal and walk right. I've been looking around but don't know if I can ride two wheels anymore. I have trouble getting my right foot up on the pegs. I plan on experimenting this summer and seeing if I can ride regular again. I'm like you Audie, when I ride, I ride a lot.

 

soondg, maybe when I go down to Ocean City this year, I can make a pit stop in Philly. Would be fun to take a little ride on the bikes. I don't think you'd have any problem riding on mine for a little bit, and I wouldn't worry about having to lift your leg up...you can practically walk onto the seat.

 

Be careful what you say Weeds, I may take you up on it. Bashful I'm not.

 

Well now Weed glad to hear ye took the safety course!! I worry about folks taking up this sport (riding motorcycles) on account of it ain't as easy as they think! Lot of dangers involved. Usually from the cagers..not the bikes. And congrats on taking long test drives. Last time I took a vehicle out for a test drive I handed my keys to the seller and told him to keep the Goldwing if I didn't come back. I test-drove the snot out of that old GMC for 3 hours and kept it for 15 years afterwards! Now...hmmmm...'bout that gas milage on the Kaw. Stop wringing that throttle like a chickens neck!! HAW!HAW!HAW! Cycle Magazine did a test not long ago on "budget/beginner bikes" and the Kaw was second only to the Honda Rebel. (also a 250cc.) The reason it came in 2nd. place was on account of it got "only 70m.p.g." as compared to the Honda's 80m.p.g. The writers all agreed it would have done better but they couldn't help whacking that throttle and hitting redline at every oppertunity. I believe one writer mentioned..."You can lay this thing down till yer earlobes drag on the ground in the turns and laugh all the way to the next turn!!" And don't let the size fool ya neither! Back in the '70's Yamaha came out with the RD 350. That little bike was outlawed from running in open competition with 750cc bikes in racing! Howcome?? It whipped their ***** on the track every time! Deals Gap (The Dragon) is where you need to take that bike! Giggle as ya tuck in and whip by them cruisers throwing sparks off their running-boards! Now gitter done! Audie..the oldfart...layin it down and lost in the memories...

 

Man, I'd love to know how they got 70 mpg out of it. I'll shift around 5k, any lower than that and it doesn't have enough power to pull into gear, and I'm still 'only' getting that 53 mpg. The first tank I ran through it, I was afraid to upshift, so I rode around at 6-7k rpms all the time and I only got 36 mpg.As for them whacking it off the redline, that's not until 14k, and I still haven't done that yet. The bike does start to sound mean about 10k though. And yeah, you can lean it like there's no tomorrow. There was one time I was coming home, was in a suburbian-hell type neighborhood, and must not have realized how far I was actually leaning, because my pegs started scraping. That's when I realized that I could quit riding like a putz and relax a little, haha.

 

Ok, I found the article you were talking about, and I think I found out how he got his 70 mpg. He was riding on the highway for a decent part of the trip. Mine hasn't seen a highway. It's all stop & go Pittsburgh traffic, and it's even worse when I have to go into town during rush hour for school.