First time out on the street today!

[Cop J]

Just posting this to rant. Today was my first time out on the streets of New Jersey today. I haven't ridden since I took the MSF which was about 2 weeks ago, since my bike was in the shop getting its carbs cleaned.

Well I pulled my old Honda 700 out of the garage and my dad pulled out his 08 Busa and we drove around regular streets for about 20 miles. It was okay weather (49 degrees) but it felt a lot colder on the bike. I used a lot of things I learned in the MSF, like the SEE method. I looked ahead about 12 seconds and stayed a 2 second distance behind my dad. Looking through the turns = works wonders. This bike is pretty heavy compared to the one I used in the MSF (Honda 125) so I had to get used to the weight.

Overall, my first ride was pretty fun. I can't wait to get my own sportbike. I am looking into a Suzuki GS500F or a Suzuki SV650F. I know the bike I am riding now is a cruiser, but how does that bike compare to these 2, powerwise?

[metalrat]

I don't have any seat time on the two your looking or the one you have, but you get used to the weight after awhile.
Congrate on the ride. You survived the streets of Jersey

[RayOSV]

The gs500 and certainly the sv650 will leave your 700 in the dust.

Ride safe, have fun, and increase your following distance a bit to 4 seconds.

[Anthonyd5189]

I have a GS500F right now and I love it, great bike. 0-60 in around 4 seconds I think, just to give you an idea. I'm actually looking to sell my GS right now to buy a SV650S, haha.

[Cop J]

Yeah, I figured the GS500F and SV650s would be a lot faster than this bike. What makes a 500cc bike faster than a 700c though? HP, Weight, One being a sportbike, age, etc.?

[Anthonyd5189]

Power to weight ratio mainly, along with other things. Cruisers are designed to make more torque since they aren't about going fast.

[RayOSV]

Originally Posted by Cop J

Yeah, I figured the GS500F and SV650s would be a lot faster than this bike. What makes a 500cc bike faster than a 700c though? HP, Weight, One being a sportbike, age, etc.?

With all due respect, your Magna is over 20 years old. Technology has come a long way although the gs500 isn't a new design. The Magna is an old-school, heavy cruiser. The gs500 is a small, light sport bike. I'm not really sure about a straight line drag race, but the gs500 will certainly out handle the Magna in the twisties.

[kxl77]

Originally Posted by Anthonyd5189

Power to weight ratio mainly, along with other things. Cruisers are designed to make more torque since they aren't about going fast.

That doesn't make sense, you need torque to rapidly accelerate..

[2h2o]

Originally Posted by kxl77

That doesn't make sense, you need torque to rapidly accelerate..

Absolutely true. No acceleration will happen at all without some sort of force (application of torque) acting upon the mass (bike and rider.)

Originally Posted by Cop J

Yeah, I figured the GS500F and SV650s would be a lot faster than this bike. What makes a 500cc bike faster than a 700c though? HP, Weight, One being a sportbike, age, etc.?

Horsepower is a relationship of torque to engine speed. Even if the sportbike had just half of the torque of the cruiser, but could rev 2.5 times higher (or more, not uncommon), it would out-accelerate the cruiser. Perhaps it would not accelerate as hard initially, but it would likely accelerate longer. The math is below.

Gearing will play a big part:the first few gears of a sport bike are usually pretty short so the pilot can quickly bring the engine speed high, whereas a cruiser is geared longer to take advantage of the low-end torque.

Weight plays a big part of it too. Sportbikes are usually pretty light, low 400s or so for a middle-weight. A comparable displacement cruiser will usually be heavier, coming in closer to or above 500.

Please, skip this part. I'm a nerd. ha.

P=(T*R)/5252 where P is Horsepower, T is Torque (ft. lbs.) and R is engine speed in RPMs.

Example: 50 ft.lbs x 5000 RPM / 5252 = 47.6 HP
25 ft. lbs * 12500 RPM / 5252 = 59.5 HP. ftw!

[Anthonyd5189]

Originally Posted by kxl77

That doesn't make sense, you need torque to rapidly accelerate..

You can have all the torque in the world, but if you don't have the HP to back it up, you wont be going anywhere. Take one of those rock crawling trucks, TONS of torque, no speed.

I was saying, that cruisers aren't high horsepower machines designed for speed. They have more torque to get them moving but once they are moving they don't have the HP to get them moving fast(in respect to a SS)

[Cop J]

I never said my cruiser was by any means fast. I just wanted to compare it to one of those starter bikes. I wanted to know if I would be killing myself on this thing or if this is slow compared to a GS500F or Ninja 250r.

[cajunTLR]

The new 250R is awesome. If you get a chance to get one I'd do it. Then after you learn on the coolest learner bike out you can always sell it for practically what you bought it for.

[VermillionX]

I would say the same thing. Those little bikes are freaking awsome. I would rock one if I was not getting another new bike.

[DaleCaliente]

Your 700 cruiser could not hold a candle to the GS500 at any speed - let alone an SV650.
However, alot of people learn on the 500 and SV650 - after taking mSF and riding your 700, youd be fine, IMO.