Your absolutely right ! a motorcycle doesn't have to be BIG to be fun or even enough to get the job done.... it just depends on what you want.
I started off on a honda 50cc sport ( the one with an actual clutch!)
and I'ed have to say that was enough to get me all over Shasta county....
Obviously I like every other Red blooded young man at the time wanted a bigger bike ! but the 50cc actually got the job done... no it wasn't freeway leagle nore could it hold 60mph on flat ground.... but it did the job.
I upgraded by trading My honda 50cc for a Honda 90cc in 2 cardboard boxes
and I had it running within the week.... and wow what a difference !
still it wasn't freeway leagle but I could do the speed limit anywhere else !
....I spent a good 10 years on that honda 90cc I could repair any part of it
and it was fairly cheap to replace needed parts.... I up graded from the honda 90cc to a Honda 305 dream and was finally freeway leagle 70mph became my Cruising speed and I put 1000miles a month on that bike for at least 3 years straight.... ( I had a girl friend that was the Sheriff's daughter !)
after we both were out of school we were married and have been married every sense.... but the bikes have changed over the decades.
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there is something Neat about a small light motorcycle that many people Miss.... the Lightness makes moving them when your not riding them a breeze.... and lets be honnest that is almost every day several times a day
unless you have alot of room ! getting a wheel off a small light bike isn't a big deal..... doing that on a 800lb BMW is a big deal add to that center stands are a thing of the past and just changing a tire takes special tool considerations.... that didn't used to be that way ! Every bike had a center stand... and it was not something you took off to save weight... because You knew you would need it.... yet they eliminated them !makes little sense!
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Personally I have settled on 250cc being about the smallest I would want to go now.... because I did find limitations that you can't really over come on smaller bikes.... like hill climbing ( and I love hill climbing!)
with a Modern bike now days I would say 150cc to 175~200cc would be about perfect as the bikes now days put out more HP than the bikes of old.
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THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH A SMALL BIKE!....but you can be killed just as easy on a Navi as on a full dress Harley bikes always loose when they tangle with a car.
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after you've ridden larger heavier bikes for a while and then go back to a small bike you'll notice they do not stop as easy anymore..... the rear will skid just because there is no weight on the tire....
riding around in town I almost always just use the rear brake to stop....
and it's true you should get into the habbit of using BOTH brakes all the time
but if your doing 40mph and hit the both brakes on a 500lb bike you'll stop so fast that you will be rear ended by a car !
if you do that on a 120lb bike you'll stop in almost the same space but the car driver has less visual aquities to see you..... good brake lights have saved more motorcycle riders than anything else in my opinion !
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when in doubt drive defensively...plan on them NOT seeing you.... that has saved me hospital time several times !
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Bob........