Re: New Guy With TU250
 

Welcome aboard and ride safe. If your "peers" disapprove then they are NOT your peers.


:)

Re: New Guy With TU250
 

TC66, your so called friends are probably too worried about their appearance and shiney chrome than the actual riding. Ride your bike, get it dirty and park beside them at the coffee shop. Others will know who really rides.

Re: New Guy With TU250
 

Welcome Toe Cutter. Let us know how the rear turn signals hold up. The design kinda swayed me away from the TU as it seems like a passenger could break those off pretty easy. Lots of good folks here and good info. Enjoy. GZ Brian.

Re: New Guy With TU250
 

Lucky you that's a sweet bike! I would trade my GZ for a TU anyday. I've heard only good reviews about the TU. Unfortunately they don't sell TU's in Canada which sucks otherwise I would be riding one preferably a black one. I like cruiser's but retro style vintage bikes are more my style. Enjoy riding the bike I'm sure you are!

Re: New Guy With TU250
 

Hello all, I'm new to this forum and a new owner of the TU, looking for a forum for it as well. I've had it almost a week and I love it to death. I'm not a new rider by any means, I've been riding for about 10 years, I've owned a bunch of different bikes and ridden countless others. I know the TU is considered a beginners bike, (and it certainly would be great for a beginner) but as a seasoned rider I find it to be the most satisfying ride yet! Suzuki really hit the mark with this one. In a word, I would call it "responsive". There is no hesitation in any of it's operation, from the engine firing up, to twisting the throttle, to pulling the clutch, to pulling around a corner. It's just smooth and effortless.

I've been collecting and restoring old Hondas for a number of years, my most recent (and favorite) a 1971 CB350. I had recently convinced myself I was going to keep that one forever. But even fully restored, no 40 year old bike can be considered reliable, and I like riding more than wrenching so I decided to check out the TU. I was really attracted to the simplicity and reliability of a single cylinder, fuel injection, and electronic ignition. No more bad floats, stuck needles, gummed up carbs. No more choke, cold bloodiness, hesitation. No more leaking petcocks.

I love old bikes. They just have a certain "mojo" to them. But after I rode the TU for the first time I knew I wouldn't miss the 350. Sure, it doesn't have the raw power and acceleration of a bigger bike, but it does everything else better. Way better. It's just so much easier to live with. I know that no matter what, I can just shut the bike off when I'm done with it, and always have it waiting to go for me when I need it.

I couple of other benefits: It cruises at freeway speeds better than the 350 due to gearing. It will sing along at 65 mph all day long. Gas mileage is great. Getting 75 now, but I know that wll improve. The distance from the passenger foot pegs to the pillion seat is short so my 6 year old daughter can toot around town with me. Also, with the exhaust on one side, I taught her to always enter and exit the bike from the left so I never have to worry about her getting burned. It actually carries a full sized passenger with ease, something I was sure it couldn't handle. With a combined 400 lbs of rider and passenger, it does just fine, with only a slight degradation in power and handling.

There's probably a ton more good things to say about this little bike, but I can't think of them now. I just love it. They can keep their 750, 1000, 1500s. My TU250 works just fine, thank you very much.

Re: New Guy With TU250
 

Welcome to the forum.Your experience will be appreciated.

Re: New Guy With TU250
 

ToeCutter - welcome to the forum man! This is a great place to be for a 250 rider - be it TU or GZ.

I wanted to chime in on the whole "Harley-rider acceptance" thing too. We have a guy here at my work who was giving me some crap the other day, asking about my 'little bike.' I asked him what he had, and he said some kind of giant Harley (fat boy, wide glide, something....) and so I am asked him why he didn't ride it to work? He went on to give some long excuse about it running hot, too much trouble, blah blah blah - meanwhile, I ride my '01 GZ every single day and am loving it. I think that pretty much says it all.

Also, another interesting tidbit - one night, I was coming home, and there was a guy on a custom Harley in front of me. When we stopped at the light, I stayed about 20 feet behind him, because I didn't want to "break protocol" and ride up next to him on my 'little bike'. So, to my complete surprise, he looks back, and waves me up to ride beside him. He said "I like riding with people - it's a lot more fun," and so we cruised on together for the next few miles, side by side. I have to admit, it felt pretty damn cool!

Of course, there are a lot of "harley snobs" out there who won't even look at me when I ride by them. But I always try to remember that they are not all that way, and even when they are, I could care less. Like my cousin in South Dakota told me when I told him what I was riding - "Take pride in what you ride brother." Indeed, I think we can all take pride in our awesome bikes !

Good luck, be safe, and happy riding :2tup:


AZ Kev

Re: New Guy With TU250
 

I hear ya, AZ Kev. I've been snubbed by a few HD snobs as well. Thankfully they are relatively few in number (at least in my neck of the woods), and most riders will give or return a wave no matter what you're riding. And you're right about the everyday thing-- my GZ is my daily transport, whereas most of the big hogs I see are weekend toys. Ride on!

Re: New Guy With TU250
 

Must be a worldwide thing. It's the same over here. You'll never see harleys during the week. :cool: