Motorcycle Mojo – July 2019

J ULY 2 0 19 MOTORCYCLE MOJO 41

expensive to buy and insure. In terms of

maintenance, tires are usually cheaper

and last longer. As well, a lighter-

weight bike usually equates to being

more economical on fuel. If you drop a

lightweight bike, you can manage to lift

it easily on your own. Lightweight bikes

are usually less prone to theft compared

with their chrome-covered big brother

cruisers. Riding a lightweight bike for a

couple of years is great training before

moving up to a heavier and faster

class. A smaller bike offers you great

manoeuvrability. Finally, a lighter bike

also means you are less likely to get a

speeding ticket.

Buying a big bike to keep up with

your friends may get you in trouble

faster if you are new to riding. Buy

what you need, and not what your ego

needs. I went out riding last summer

in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley with

two friends on their 1200 cc and 1600 cc

Harleys. I easily kept up all day while

getting twice the fuel economy. I cannot

think of any downsides to starting off

with a lightweight bike. You will have a

lot of fun without the stress of handling

a big beast.

Buying a lightweight bike to build

up experience will allow a new rider to

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that a lightweight bike is all you need.

My wife and I toured Europe for three

years out of Belgium on a Kawasaki

Vulcan EN500. A lightweight bike is

also easy to sell.

For those experienced riders with

a shiny 360 to 400 kg cruiser in their

garage, having a spare 135 kg dual-

sport, for example, is a nice option.

Motorcycle Mojo editor Glenn Roberts

discovered during his research for

a previous article that 60 per cent of

Canadian roads are gravel. The light-

weight dual-sport allows more dirty

fun minus all the worries!

What more incentive do you need?

“S

o, let me understand

this better,” I said

to my student. “You

and your 6’2” [then]

boyfriend, bought a 1983 Honda CM250

Custom in Vancouver and rode it

6,000 km two-up across Canada to

Kentville, Nova Scotia?”

“Yes,” said Justine Sturgeon, one

of my students on the motorcycling

basic course in New Minas, N.S., in

the spring of 2012. They were out in

B.C. planting trees in 2011 and decided

to load up their camping gear and

belongings on a trusty, small (17 hp)

Honda and ride it across Canada.

Justine and Nathan Mentink’s fun

10-day adventure crossing Canada on

a small-bore bike made me think that

maybe many North American motorcy-

clists are missing out on a fun segment

of riding. Often, over the eight years

that I taught as a motorcycle instructor

with Nova Scotia Safety Services, I was

surprised and concerned about the

large number of beginners going to big

bikes right out of the course.

What is a Small-Bore Bike?

For the sake of this article, I will use

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of small-bore bikes. Today’s technology

combines lighter materials with amaz-

ingly powerful fuel-injected engines.

I look back on my own motorcycling

since 1982, and note that the 250 kg,

air-cooled 1981 Yamaha 750 cc Virago I

rode for 14 years had almost the same

power-to-weight ratio as my 175 kg,

liquid-cooled 2017 Kawasaki Versys-X

300, with the same top end speed of 170

km/h.

British motorcyclist Ted Simon, who

wrote Jupiter’s Travels, went around the

world for four years beginning in 1973

with a 500 cc Triumph Tiger 100, which

has the same 40 horsepower as my

Versys-X 300. He wrote that the smaller

bike allowed him to get through tight

areas easily and most of his riding was

at 80 km/h anyway, so the smaller bike

was all he needed.

Small Bikes’ Advantages

Let’s look at some of the advantages

of a lightweight bike. They are

easier to ride and handle. They are less

BUY WHAT YOU NEED,

AND NOT WHAT

YOUR EGO NEEDS

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Author Dave Alder stands

beside his Kawasaki

Versys-X 300.