Noob from WA

[prof_stack]

Very nice site! I've been riding almost 40 years, using 7 motorcycles over that time: 90cc, 175cc, 499cc, 883cc, 1340cc, 482cc, 984cc. All pleasure riding. No commuting as its only 5 miles and bicycle is better for that.

My touring days are behind me and rides are now 50 to 200 miles per day, mostly on rural roads. My Buell XB9S is the best bike I've owned. No problems and it is maintenance free (except for oils and tire check) and averaging 58 mpg on the longer day rides. I don't scrape the pegs these days....

But I'm looking at the possibility of getting a smaller motorcycle to do these day rides and still be fun. I realize that losing 75% of the HP is quite a change!

Two days ago I test rode a GZ250, putting 20 miles on the slightly used (570 miles) '07 model. First gear was useless and it really should have a 16T sprocket on the front rather than the stock 15T as some people have done. But I was mostly impressed. I'll post some questions in the General section later and look forward to any answers you all can give.

Good to be here.