roxynoodle

Neither could my ex500 in stock form. I replaced all the lighting with LED except the headlight and could run a heated jacket liner and gloves. I would just turn them off like 10 minutes before I got to work, when I went down to city riding speeds. I stayed warm enough the last 10 minutes and wasn't draining the battery that way.

Call me nitpicky, but I don't like the "face" of the new CBR1000RR. It has a droopy little nose and sad eyes.

It depends. Sometimes locally is cheaper. I've found some amazing deals at Iron Pony for gear. I wish I lived closer to it! I also recently ordered some small parts for my bike from the closest dealer. Not only did they get them faster, but mailed them to me for no extra charge. Had I gone through bike bandit, I'd have been waiting a minimum of 2 weeks and would have paid significant shipping. And since the parts I needed were the bolts for my front axle, I didn't want to wait forever to ride my bike again (one had steel/aluminum corrosion and stripped out when I went to change my tires). These weren't bolts I could find locally either from the hardware store; wrong strength of metal and didn't fit right in the area where the bolt head went. Sometimes though there is a deal on the internet that is just too good to pass up, and I buy online. I shop around for what is the best deal for me.

I put it on the centerstand and then put a thin piece of house insulation board under the front tire. That is waterproof. Now I have front and rear stands, but that is how I used to do it.

I renewed my plates at the end of September and they didn't tell me I had to change them. In fact it's been a number of years since they made me change a plate for a vehicle that wasn't new to me. My truck has the bicentenial ones, and I like those. My bike has a similar red, white and blue one, and that's fine. This is the first time I've seen the pink license. Pretty icky! Mine gets renewed next year and hopefully the pink is out.

I have a Gerbings heated liner and First Gear WarmNSafe gloves. I will never go back to not having them! The jacket liner not only heats front and back, but also your arms, and it has a heated collar. You just pull the collar up and zip it all the way and your neck is nice and warm, too. For my lower half I usually can just wear jeans and overpants. If it is that cold, I also wear thermal underwear. Gore Tex lined boots keep my feet warm with no further layers needed other than normal socks.

I don't mind slabbing it. The country roads here are also straight, and badly paved as well. If I need to be somewhere by a certain time, I take the slab.

Welcome! I rode dirt as a kid, and then had a moped during my early teens. I went 24 years also before getting on 2 wheels again and I'm glad I did. Better late than never, and at least you are past the "19 year old I am invincible" attitude. Good idea to take MSF first. I did it the other way around, but it worked out for me, thankfully! A good first sport standard and great commuter is the Ninja 500 (ex500).

Welcome! Nice variety of bikes!

Well, you can definitely feel your shifts in these boots. My first year riding I tried wearing my insulated Columbia boots when it got chilly that fall. I couldn't feel either my upshifts or downshifts and that was kind of scary. But, with the Daytona boots, that isn't an issue at all. And they are warm with the Gore Tex lining. I admit they can be hot when it gets over 90, but most boots are unless they are ventilated. Gore Tex is pretty breathable though. And when it's over 90, all of me gets hot wearing gear. All of the reviews I read did say to order one size smaller than normal, so that is what I did, and that was spot on. Some other thoughts for short riders when considering a bike. It's not just your inseam that matters. I also need a narrow bike. I have big legs and small hips, which also adds to the problem. My friend's VFR is the same seat height as my Sprint and about the same weight, but the seat is much wider than my bike. When I sat on his, my legs splayed out to the sides so much, I was on my big toes holding it up. Some bikes are so wide, my hips actually hurt to sit on them. I think the light weight of the Ninja 250 will do a lot to offset your inability to flatfoot it. I would not be able to ride a cruiser either if I couldn't just because of the weight.

I'm sorry to hear about your job situation. I hope you can get back into it as soon as you can. If you need any math help with school, let me know. I'm more than happy to help.

I did have to adjust my gear lever some, but it helps that the Sprint has lazy gearing. I've yet to bog that thing. You can be in 6th gear and get down to 2k rpm and it's still motoring along. I can see it possibly being more of a problem on the Ninja 250, which requires a lot of shifting. I suppose it will depend on how much the shift lever can be adjusted and the size of her feet. And most of the height advantage of these boots is in the heel rather than the toe. For me it was a great solution. The Sprint is such a heavy bike compared to most sport bikes. I couldn't flat foot my Ninja 500, so by going to a bike that was 1.2 inches taller and 120lbs heavier, the boots really helped. I didn't really want to lower it, but I sure didn't want to drop it either. I love the bike otherwise.

How many roxynoodles can there be with Sprints, lol! Yes, I'm the same noodle:) Don't worry, I don't really care what anyone on the RAT forum has to say about what bike you are riding or what they think of it. I like a lot of different bikes that they don't. And unlike many on there, I don't have any hatred of Japanese bikes. I have 2 Kawasakis myself, and my first bike was also a Kawi. There is something to be said for lower seat heights and centers of gravity though. And dealer availability. I can't comment on suspensions because I'm too small for them to really ever be problematic for me. I might be the only Sprint owner who had to actually soften it instead of upgrade it, lol! When I first got the Sprint I definitely had the speeding problem. It seemed every time I looked at the speedo I was doing 80 or more. I've since gotten used to it and it's not such a problem now. But, yeah, I don't ever see any need to own a bike more powerful than this one. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on your new bike though. I've only been riding a few years and many of the bikes not made anymore I know nothing about, but would like to. So far all I know about the next bike is that I would like something that is max 500lbs. I'm small, have a bum elbow and I'm getting older.

It's a nice looking bike:) Of course I have to know what you like about it better than the Sprint. No, I'm not one of the Triumph people who thinks they are the only bikes on the planet, lol! I really am curious, especially since I have no idea what bike I'd like next.

Oh, and if you'd like to see my boots in person, just let me know. I was a bit leery spending $300 for boots I couldn't even try on or see in person, but was quite pleased with them. I am just north of Findlay so we could meet halfway or something. The Ladystar are the same boots as the Mstar, just smaller sizes. I have huge feet for some reason, lol! BTW, guys, neither boot says anything on them except "Daytona" so if you are a short guy looking for a solution as well, it doesn't matter which one fits you. And as a large footed woman I don't have the stigma either that I'm in the men's version.

Are you getting out of racing?

I think they do have a universal set on their website. I believe I looked at it once to help a Triumph owner that was having vibration issues. They were a great cure for the ex500. Thankfully my Sprint doesn't cause me any problems in that regard.

The boots did take 5 weeks to get to me from Germany, but they only charged me a bit less than $20 for shipping. I ordered them in the late winter and then they were here by spring, just in time for riding. I figured the boots would allow me to ride pretty much any bike I wanted and I wouldn't have to change the geometry to lower a bike. There are a lot of reviews online for them so you can read those to get a good idea of what the boot is like. But, I will say the quality is so nice they made my previous Alpinestars boots look like garbage. Also if you decide to order them from FC Moto you will see a charge for VAT that is like $50. US buyers don't have to pay that so it will come off when you place the order. So don't panic about that. My boots came to around $320 with the shipping, and yet Helimot wanted close to $500 for the same boots! It was worth waiting 5 weeks to get them for what I saved. They can be resoled as well and repaired if needed. I take good care of my stuff though and after reading review after review about how you just can't kill Daytona boots, I expect they may last me the rest of my riding life. So for your money, you get excellent, waterproof boots, and can ride pretty much any sport bike you want:)

I put HVMP bar ends on my former Ninja 500. They are heavy enough to seriously dampen vibration and long enough to probably protect the levers if the bike is dropped.

I have the solution for you. Daytona Ladystar/Mstar boots. They have a built up heel, about 1.5" and close to 1" in the toe. I have the Mstar boots and they gave me a lot more confidence with my Sprint. They are pricey, but Daytona boots can last 15-20 years, which actually makes them a pretty good buy. There is only one US distributor, Helimot in California. I bought mine direct from Germany from FC Moto, which saved me about $150. They do run one size big, so if you go with them, take that into account when ordering. I wear a 42 in pretty much every boot but these, in which I wear a 41. Keep your eye on ebay as well since you might find a slightly used pair for much less. The boots are very, very good quality and I'm glad I bought them.