Hey all,
I've been shopping around recently for a new (or at least new to me) motorcycle to replace the rebel 250 I learned to ride on, and was shown the r3 by a guy at my friendly local bike shop. Needless to say its peaked my interest.
So, I did a bit of searching and have found some good info, but not exactly what I'm after. I was hoping that some of you who have had a chance to put some miles on your bike could tell me how it behaves on the interstate/highway. Specifically, in the 70-80 mph range does it feel like the 320 is being strung out at all? What rpm are you sitting at when cruising within that range; does that seem like a reasonable rpm at which to cruise for an extended time? And finally, does the r3 offer a comfortable ride in said conditions?
A bit of background to give the questions more context:
I bought the rebel 250 I currently own so I could learn to ride, and had intended to use it to commute to school. While it has been a fantastic first bike for me, it is impractical for use on the interstate or highways where the speed limits exceed 60 mph (they say the rebel can do 80, but that is the indicated speed, and in reality its doing about 72; not to mention its sitting at the redline in 5th gear at this speed and sounds strung out to the point of likening it to a runaway sewing machine powered by angry bees). Unfortunately, my commute to school is 68 miles long each direction, taking almost exactly 1 hour when travelling with the flow of traffic; about 30 minutes of which are on the interstate with traffic going 75-80, 20 minutes on a state highway with traffic at 60-65, and around 10-15 minutes in town stoplight to stoplight. So now I find myself looking for an affordable, small displacement motorcycle that gets decent mileage and can handle the speeds that traffic realistically travels at so that I don't wind up on the interstate at 60 mph actual speed getting rear ended by the Chi O going 80 while texting and applying eye liner that "never saw [me]."
I've been shopping around recently for a new (or at least new to me) motorcycle to replace the rebel 250 I learned to ride on, and was shown the r3 by a guy at my friendly local bike shop. Needless to say its peaked my interest.
So, I did a bit of searching and have found some good info, but not exactly what I'm after. I was hoping that some of you who have had a chance to put some miles on your bike could tell me how it behaves on the interstate/highway. Specifically, in the 70-80 mph range does it feel like the 320 is being strung out at all? What rpm are you sitting at when cruising within that range; does that seem like a reasonable rpm at which to cruise for an extended time? And finally, does the r3 offer a comfortable ride in said conditions?
A bit of background to give the questions more context:
I bought the rebel 250 I currently own so I could learn to ride, and had intended to use it to commute to school. While it has been a fantastic first bike for me, it is impractical for use on the interstate or highways where the speed limits exceed 60 mph (they say the rebel can do 80, but that is the indicated speed, and in reality its doing about 72; not to mention its sitting at the redline in 5th gear at this speed and sounds strung out to the point of likening it to a runaway sewing machine powered by angry bees). Unfortunately, my commute to school is 68 miles long each direction, taking almost exactly 1 hour when travelling with the flow of traffic; about 30 minutes of which are on the interstate with traffic going 75-80, 20 minutes on a state highway with traffic at 60-65, and around 10-15 minutes in town stoplight to stoplight. So now I find myself looking for an affordable, small displacement motorcycle that gets decent mileage and can handle the speeds that traffic realistically travels at so that I don't wind up on the interstate at 60 mph actual speed getting rear ended by the Chi O going 80 while texting and applying eye liner that "never saw [me]."