New here, and to biking as well.

[Scoobyroo]

Hello all! I picked up my first bike a few months ago but have only recently been actually doing anything to it. The only bike I had ridden before was a ct90  The new..well new to me at least, bike is a 1990 VTR 250 Interceptor. I havent taken any riding classes or anything yet, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.





I recently started working on it again after finding out my keys to it had been moved and lost by my parents while I was on vacation. After getting the ignition out and keyed I discovered the tank lock was keyed from a different bike as well as the seat lock. I ended up downloading some templates and made a small lockpick set to get the tank lock off and finally have all my keys back again.


Picture from removing the ignition.

The bike needs love, mainly maintenance and cleaning issues for now.  Does anyone happen to know where an early 87-90? Honda Hurricane (CBR 600) might be being parted out? They're a goldmine for upgraded parts for these bikes.

[dt]

Welcome to the forum Scoobyroo!

On your Q about training courses, the most popular, as best I can tell, is the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, which has courses throughout the country. The link to their site is below.

http://www.msf-usa.org/

[mrbones]

Hey, welcome to the site. What a perfect first bike as far as size and power is concerned. The 250's seem pretty rare. I was shopping for a smaller sport bike to mess around with just for fun. I've looked at 250 & 500 Ninjas, a 500 Interceptor and a CB400F CB-1 that I've owned before. But I can't find one at the right price as everybody thinks there bike is worth more than it is these days. Now I'm considering 1100 BMW's so I'm all over the place and think I need to chill out on the whole idea.

Aren't the riding classes required now to get a license?

I wouldn't upgrade the bike unless something is broken. Get a feel for the bike first by putting some miles on the clock. This makes a good baseline before upgrading.

It's probably easiest to find CBR600 parts on ebay and keep watching it for deals.

Get a front fender for that bike or you can expect a whole lot of water in your face if you get stuck in the rain.

[Rich]

there is someone near by that has one he is selling, its been sitting outside for a few years but should have good parts, ill see if he still has it

[Scoobyroo]

there is someone near by that has one he is selling, its been sitting outside for a few years but should have good parts, ill see if he still has it

That would be awesome, they have to be hurricanes though, 1987-1990. The main reason I'm after one is because of the front fork and shock setup fitting on to the 250, brake rotors are a lot more obtainable for the hurricane than they are for the 250. Honda quoted me 650$ for just one. But if his is complete..hell I'd be interested in riding that a bit more than the 250 haha.

[bagobones]

Thats the perfect bike. Take the MSF course - sign up ASAP. Dont do anything to modify that bike, ride it as is. Don't feel like you HAVE to get parts from the dealer. They will rape your ass and then empty your wallet when it comes to parts for older bikes. Most things can be found online! Be safe. Learn well. Get a book called "proficient motorcycling". Buy it. read it. reread it. Live it. Ride like you're invisible, but love riding. It keeps me SANE!

[bagobones]

Here is the book

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1889540536/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=2707382777&ref=pd_sl_502s791tds_b

[Scoobyroo]

Thats the perfect bike. Take the MSF course - sign up ASAP. Dont do anything to modify that bike, ride it as is. Don't feel like you HAVE to get parts from the dealer. They will rape your ass and then empty your wallet when it comes to parts for older bikes. Most things can be found online! Be safe. Learn well. Get a book called "proficient motorcycling". Buy it. read it. reread it. Live it. Ride like you're invisible, but love riding. It keeps me SANE!

I know about the dealer bit but some parts just aren't made by anyone else, The front sprocket for example I have to get through them, the front rotor as well unless I just keep getting ones taken off of other bikes, rear shocks are the same way. The main problem is that many parts of this bike were only used on the 1990 model so there is no aftermarket for even the basics.  Finding an oring chain is going to be a another adventure too as again, only used from 89-90. I'll check into the book though, thanks for the link.

[Scoobyroo]

Picked up a helmet today for 50$



Like this but silver, made by HJC. It seems ok but I don't know much about helmets. Did I get screwed?

[dt]

I think you got yourself a sweet $300 HJC for $50. 

Awesome color! The whole face section pops up, right?

[Scoobyroo]

I think you got yourself a sweet $300 HJC for $50. 

Awesome color! The whole face section pops up, right?

Yea, part of the assembly for it coming up was popped out of place. I was pretty upset thinking it was broken but ended up taking it apart and setting everything right again. Its got about a year left on it before its expired. I'm sure by then I can afford something new

[dcameras]

Scoobyroo,
You might try http://www.stevescyclesalvage.com/ . They are up in Tifton, Ga. and have quite a number of salvage motorcycles to pull from. 
Good deal on the helmet .

[dt]

^^ Steve's has a good babes page.  ^^

[Scoobyroo]

Scoobyroo,
You might try http://www.stevescyclesalvage.com/ . They are up in Tifton, Ga. and have quite a number of salvage motorcycles to pull from. 
Good deal on the helmet .

I gave them a call and they did indeed have the parts, but the total was about as much as buying a hurricane outright

[dcameras]

Scoobyroo,
It's good that they had the parts but not good that they were wanting so much for them. I bought one part from them for the Honda Reflex I have and it was priced ok but that may have been luck getting it that good. I found a site under their links page that might be helpful. This link is for motorcycle salvage yards in Florida. There were 38 on the list when I brought it up.
http://www.junkyarddog.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?categories=AB&city=&state=Florida&zip_code=&phone_area_code=&keywords=&boolean=and
Maybe this will help you find what you need at a much better price.