BikerL
Member
I picked one up last year, and I'm really happy with it.
I'm beyond useless with a wrench, and everyone I talk to with the 70's CBs or Nortons that I really wanted say they break down on a weekly basis. No thanks.
I think there's a downtown niche of potential first-time riders that would eat this bike up if they knew about it (West-end hipster set, think Black Dice Cafe on Dundas). But yeah the price is a bit of a hit.
The bike's got great gas mileage, it's a joy to ride around the city (upright riding position, light and nimble, easy to flick around a parallel parker), rides 2-up no problem, and can handle the Gardiner/DVP if you need to get across town quick (I get 120kph on it pretty easy, especially after dropping a tooth from the front sprocket). Plus it looks great. If you're a testosterone-fuelled 16-year-old speed freak this is not the bike for you, but she's a really fun around-towner for those of us that live more than an hour from any "open road". (The proverbial wisdom holds true here that it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow - when most of your riding is done below 70kph, you don't necessarily want a bike that's most at home at 220).
I put together a website on it, the TU250 Riders Forum, if anyone wants more info. Again, way better with a keyboard than a wrench, so I figured I'd better pull together a group of people who could tell me what the funny sounds mean!
Agreed. Riding downtown, the bike is perfect. Light. Nimble. And leaves everyone standing at the lights. Plenty of power to 90kph, but does need patience after that. So great for the side-roads to Collingwood, or similar. Low seat height adds to the ease of use. There is NOTHING out there that is this easy to ride. And if you want to, you can take it on a 3,000km trek in summer. I did. Tracks really well, even in a downpour.
