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Soon to be Owner in Wilmington, NC

3K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  sdriv3r 
#1 ·
I'll be purchasing and riding my matte silver/blue R3 back to Wilmington, NC from Jacksonville on Friday! It will be my second bike (prev. was a '12 CBR 250R) and I'm stoked. I loved the CBR but at times wished it had just a little more power when at speed. I don't have any interest in owning a larger bike nor have the income to support one as a full time student.

During my CBR ownership, I put on nearly 10k miles in just one year. I learned a lot from it and sold it this past February. I thought I'd be fine without a motorcycle for a few years until I completed my undergraduate studies but I was wrong!

So far I strongly reccomend Lejeune Motorsports in Jacksonville, NC. They've been great to work with and originally came up with ~$5800 OTD. I had seen a post from a member in Charlotte that got their R3 for $5360 OTD and mentioned it to their finance guy. He's matching that price and didn't even want to see their post! I will update the thread after riding it back home on Friday about my experience with them for anyone looking to purchase in my area and of course, my first impressions of the R3!

As a side note, it is about a 60 mile ride back. The highway stretch has a varying speed limit from 55 to 45 MPH the whole time. Will I be fine just varying speed/RPM and engine load for the trip back?

Looking forward to sharing my experiences and of course learning from you guys.
 
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#2 ·
Congrats! And you will be fine at those speeds. You can do about 65mph and still be a hair under 7000rpm. Remember, they recommend not going over 7000rpm for "extended" periods. So don't be afraid to open her up for a couple seconds early on. Don't baby it too much when accelerating. I've actually set my rpm limit to 8500 for when I'm accelerating and I've had it up to 10,000 once or twice very briefly during my break in period. The key is not holding those high rpms for extended periods. My 600 mile service is set for June 2. I'll probably be over 600 miles by then, but that's all the dealer had open!
 
#4 ·
Congrats dude !
I am planning to purchase a motorcycle next month, i am unable to decide which one i want to go with, i am looking at Yamaha R3 & KTM RC 390.
I have 4 years riding experience on a 200 cc motorcycle, planning to upgrade to a 300-400 cc motorcycle now.
I tried to test ride the R3 but the dealership guy wasn't ready to give me the bike since it was brand new which he had & he said i had to purchase the bike to test ride it, he would accept return if i don't like the motorcycle later (i was like are you crazy do i have to do all the paper work to test ride a bike?
Anyways please share your experience hopefully it helps me to figure out which one to go with.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I rode the RC390, I bought the R3!

My observations on the RC390:

CONS:
Very cramped riding position

Very poor build quality (gaps in/misaligned panels, thin spots on paint, rear fender out of alignment, turn signals not straight)

Uneven idle ( has stalling issues, too)

Runs very hot (legs get toasted)

Significant vibration (it's a single)

Really styled for racing or posing

Cheap looks/feel of the passenger seat (squishy, rubbery)

Uncomfortable rider seat (pushes you up into the tank & too far forward)

Throttle can get stuck on WFO on some (particularly seen on some used on the track)

Wheels have an issue with fracturing https://www.google.com/search?q=390...u5oQSPw4P4BQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1280&bih=637

Runs close to $7,000.00 Out The Door

PROS:
Nice design (it's a great looking bike)
"Cool Factor" of having a unique looking bike/very few on the road

Some quick R3 observations:

PROS:

Great riding position, not cramped

Very good build quality

No idle issues, no stalling

Runs cool, no issues, no toasted legs

Very little vibration (just a bit around 5,800 RPMs up to 6,300 RPMs on mine)

Has race styling a la the R6 & R1 but more upright and comfortable seating position (a 250 mile ride was not a problem with a couple short stops)

Nice looking passenger seat, but probably not comfortable for all but very short rides (replace with rear seat cowl at first opportunity!)

Comfortable rider seat

NO throttle issues and no wheel breakage issues, at least so far and I wouldn't expect any from a Yamaha

Nice design, great looking bike (this is subject to individual tastes, obviously)

CONS: None that I can see except that the rear shock is too soft, turn signals move around like Bobbleheads, the grips and levers are CHEAP! and possibly, for some, no ABS is an issue.

PLUS: read and watch video on this Moderators thread:

http://www.r3-forums.com/forum/297-yamaha-yzf-r3-news/4905-beginner-ish-sportbike-shootout.html
 
#6 ·
Thank you for sharing some good information on the RC 390, do you have any information on the Yamaha R3 too?
I would really appreciate if you could share your thoughts on it. Online when i read reviews most of them complained about compormising riding positions nad nothing else, i was primarily interested since it has ABS braking system which Yamaha R3 doesn't have.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the posts guys, I LOVE THIS BIKE!!! I haven't ridden anything with two wheels since mid February and was having some major withdrawls. I still can't believe it's mine! The build quality is great, I'm happy I went with the matte silver/blue scheme. I'm a big fan of the stock seating position with my 5'5" frame. It is feels less upright and even a tad bit higher than my CBR was, even with Yoshimura rearset brackets but no clipon modification. It is slightly aggressive but still extremely comfortable for my hour ride back home. Compared to the CBR's single, this bike is extremely smooth and I love the high revving nature. The build quality is really nice, dash is cool with the shift light and gear indicator and the bike seems very well thought out. It has noticably more power throughout the entire rev range than my CBR did and pulls very strongly at all speeds. I have no complaints about the bias ply Pilot Streets although I haven't pushed the bike on any corners yet since I'm not 100% comfortable. The suspension handles my area's less than perfect roads better than my CBR did as well, I'm not sure if it's the KYB forks that gives this feel but it rides much more smoothly than my CBR did. I know my thoughts on the bike are scattered but this would be an awesome first bike and I'd reccomend it to anyone coming from a Ninja 250r or CBR 250r not wanting a bigger displacement and a much more expensive bike. The R3 packs a big punch coming from my CBR and is a great second bike for me. Plus I won't get in too much trouble on the R3. I see myself keeping this bike for a very long time with some mods down the road.

My dealer was great to work with during the purchase. After finalizing my insurance on the bike (those 30 minutes on the phone with the rep were the longest 30 minutes of my life!) I was pretty much out the door after signing a few papers. I ended up adding the 36 month extended warranty for $400. I was first offerred it for $650 but after telling him I saw it for cheaper on the forum and he came back after a couple minutes with that number. I figure for another $9/month on my payment it's cheap insurance for four years of ownership. Seeing as it is a first year model and newly designed engine I figure I'm better safe than sorry. Only ding on them is that they didn't have the oil filter or crush washer in stock. I picked up some Yamalube at the dealer and a FRAM oil filter from Walmart after work tonight.

I put on about 120 miles today (60 of which were the ride back to home) and I plan on riding a little more tomorrow before changing the oil and filter and riding with a friend. I've done a somewhat hard break in, keeping the RPMS around the 7-8k mark with bursts of acceleration and engine breaking on the way home. I was not being afraid to hit the upper revs at 8-10k once in town. I may change the oil one more time before the 600 mile mark but I have not decided yet. Is the 600 mile service just an oil change and general lookover of the bike?

I can't wait to ride more tomorrow :D.
 
#11 ·
Hello guys !
I am purchasing a Yamaha YZF R3 (Blue/Matte Silver) tomorrow. This is going to be my first bike, just had to buy a motorcycle jacket & a helmet with it.
Can you please advice me on what/which jacket and helmet to purchase and where?
I live in Raleigh, NC.
 
#12 ·
All I can say with gear is try in on first! Mostly with helmets, even if you have your size and check the measurements online and everything, one helmet will be different compared to another one. One might be a perfect fit while another will give you pressure and be uncomfortable.

You can always try locally and buy online (revzilla seems to be big in the states). Did you try negotiating gear while buying your bike? Most dealers will at least give you some % off gear if you buy a bike with them. Some might even include a helmet with the bike.
 
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