What is a good street bike for a female?

What is a good freeway motorcycle that is good on gas Street bike wise..?

• I have a ninja 250 but I don't like riding it on a freeway. Whats a good low cost bike in the 600 cc range that is good on gas but inexpensive. Has to be street bike. Thanks for your advice!

• Answer:

  Based on your question, it seems to me that your are interested in some freeway driving but do not feel safe on your 250 cc bike. A few basic facts: 1. The heavier the bike the less it is going to be forced off course. The heavier it is the worse the gas mileage. 2 The more aerodynamic the bike the less it will respond negatively to buffeting winds. 3. Bikes with a windshield attached to the forks act like a sail to change inputs to the direction of travel much easier than a windscreen attached to the frame / fairing. 4. Bikes that are not well balanced or are top heavy tend to be more unstable in high winds or buffeting. 5. Bikes with narrower tires tend to be pushed around more. 6. Bikes with engines over 1,200 cc have a drop off in gas mileage. Idle times in slow traffic use more fuel to go no where. I ride 40 miles each way to work (mostly freeways). I decided to get a used BMW R1100RT and I feel extreemly comfortable on the big roads. These are the reasons I chose this bike: 1. Well balanced low center of gravity. (making turns at two to three mph will show you that. 2. This bike stops on a dime. Front and rear disc brakes. (Police departments in parades or escort duty usually put Harleys up front and BMWs in the rear. Why? because the BMWs can stop quicker and reversed, the Harleys run into the BMWs) 3. The R1100RT also has anti-lock brakes. A panic stop keeps you upright and straight. 4. The windshield is adjustable...raise it if too much buffeting near a truck and lower it when passed.... especially near a sand and gravel hauler. 5. There is literally NO heavy fork dive on this bike when applying the brakes. The way it is designed, when the inertia comes forward, there is a shock that pushes back on the frame to keep it up and straight. 6. It is quiet. You can hear cars come up behind you and you are more aware of their presence. (Harley riders will say the noise keeps people away but I have found it is more important that I am aware of my surroundings and not give up that job to motorists.) It is so quiet that you can enjoy the FM radio or I-pod at normal sound levels and still hear traffic around you. 7. You sit behind a full fairing. It is less likely a bouncing rock will hit you directly. When the wind shield is in the down position and the side bags/ top case are removed then it looks more like a street bike than a touring model. (So you have the best of both worlds) 8. 1100 cc's ...It has the power to get and scoot when you want to get out of the buffeting winds behind multiple trucks. The extra power also gives you a much wider power band range in each gear. Many bikes if the rpms drop below 2500 it begins to stutter. This bike at 2000 rpm is still stable in that gear. This makes for fewer gear shifts in slower freeway traffic. 9. A 6.1 gal gas tank allows a freeway run of 300 miles between fill-ups. The Honda PC800 I had before this bike only had a 4.1 gal tank and makes for more stops especially when driving out west when gas stations are further apart off the main routes. 10. Even with the windshield lowered in its lowest position, the air stream for the most part is deflected over my head. A 6 foot plus person that may not hold without a slight rise in the shield. 11. There is gap between the windshield and the fairing that allows for pressure equalization. There is no tendency for ram air to lift up the nose of the bike. This helps keep the front tire in good contact with the road at high speed. It also lessens drag and low side pressure behind the shield. 12. The cost. $5400.00 for my used RT and I still have all these features. Don't get me wrong... anything you ride is fun and I am not trying to put down anyone elses machine. I am just trying to show you the thought process I went through in deciding to get this particular bike. I am impressed with what it can do. A Honda ST 1300 would have been my runner-up but I would have spent a lot more money to get the same features since most of the equal features are only found in the past few model years. ( My longest ride so far this year is 775 miles in 13.5 hrs ,2 gas stops/food)