What can you guys tell me about the Yamaha R3?

My neighbor had a
300 Ninja and he liked it ,
he is a big guy too and rode
the wheels off that little thing .


Heck , I would ride one . . .

No reason why your
gal would not like it .


If she is fixated
on a sportbike ,
any of those new
little 300s will do .


I like the CBR300 too ,
it looks like a bigger

bike than it is . . .

 
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My first thing what is her inseam ? My wife has really SHORT legs , and the amount of work / design to get her Bandit 600 low enough , but still be rideable was serious challenge . Custom dog bones , custom shock , 60 series front tire , fork internals , cut down seat . Look for a bike that is easy to adjust with avaible aftermarket parts for short people . Tianne started on a 500 cc , and so did the oldest son . 250's , 300's people grow out of really fast . They are good for what they are . My R6 600 will get a person hurt quickly with its short wheel base . Its wheelies were very twitchy , and not the easiest bike to control under power while up in the air . Cornered like it was on a rail though . The little bandit 600 is a mere 82 Hp . Very fun , quick , and not boring . A SV650 or Others in that field are a good starter that one can keep for a fair amount of time . Many R3's had serious trans issues , and a recall .
Good luck
 
Photos for reference. A 2009 650 bandit could be had a a fair price.

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Daughter got a ninja 400. They don't make a 300 anymore.
It's about 45hp and it moves for a 400.
I think it's a great bike to learn on and my daughter is a pure beginner and picked it up quick.
 
I know sometimes asking for opinions ends up making it even harder to make a decision and gets you more confused, so here I am to get you more confused. :laugh:
The only thing I regreted when I bought my first bike in the US was listening to people that told me I was going to kill myself on a busa. I had riding experience, but on a lot of small bikes. I followed their advice of a 600 and didn’t like it. At 5’11” and 230 lbs (back then) it was uncomfortable and buzzy as hell on the highway. It mostly sat in my garage and after only 3k miles or so in over a year, I said, screw what people say and got the bike I wanted all along. To everyone’s surprise, I’m still alive and love my bike. Only thing that still hurts is my pocket, because I lost thousands when I sold the 600. Not saying she should get a busa, but every time you both go riding together and you give the busa some gas to merge on the highway and leave her behind, you’ll both be wishing you got a bigger bike. If you lived in the mountains I would say get the 300 and you can both enjoy in the curves, but down here with all these straight roads and idiots flying down the highway at 90MPH, get a 600 and save you some headaches. I know people worry about new riders and big cc bikes, but if she hasn’t put that heavy ass cruiser on the ground yet, she is smart and has some sense of what she is trying to do as she learns. She either has it in her or has a great teacher............ or both. God luck:thumbsup:
 
Like was said everywhere else, it depends on her skill and comfort level. Going to a hyper-bike is not everyone's best step right off the bat, as we all know, the Busa is pretty tame when not riled up.

I don't know if I'd put a novice on a bike like a Busa, as a former motorcycle instructor, I'd say no.
 
Thanks for all of the info guys. The R3 in question came up for a very good deal locally and I figured it would be a good learning bike for her (2015, 6400 miles $2500). I figured she could use it for 4-5k miles and sell it with 10k miles for the same price and not lose a dollar. You guys are right though, there are tons of these flooding the market right now and probably for good reason. We discussed it yesterday and I think she does want to go to a larger bike for obvious reasons. To get out of the city we have to do a bit of highway riding around here so something that can cruise safely on the highway makes more sense.

To be honest, I think I'm going to take her to a motorcycle store and let her sit on a bunch of models. I definitely don't want to be the one to make a decision. I swear this motorcycle thing is addicting. I have been riding for about a year now and you just can't get enough of it.
 
Buy her what SHE'S WILLING TO RIDE. Kinda like trying to buy her a gun - buy the one she's willing to CARRY.

We have a lot of trackday rider ladies that start out on R3's. They are a solid bike, parts are plentiful, easy to work on - most importantly, you can get seats that give a lower seating position so they can get on them... Even some of our trackday staff have gotten R3's so they can go out and play together. The bike is VERY light and will turn REALLY well. You can't go wrong - even if you have to sell it and move up when she's comfortable on it.
 
UPDATE:

We were having dinner up on GA at one of the local sports bars and while waiting for the check to come I opened up ebay. Saw an R3 for a great price with bidding ending in 15 minutes and located 3 hrs away from home. I bid... I won...LOL She is super excited but she now owns an R3!

Its a 2015 with 1080 miles on it. The bike has been sitting for a while so I need to change the oil and the chain has never had any maintenance. I'm going to attach some pictures here below.

IMG_8754.JPG

IMG_8756.JPG


Here is the chain which is currently a work in progress. Im going to pull the fairings off and take a good look at the front sprocket. Rear sprocket is just dirty and has no real wear.
Here is the before picture of the chain...
IMG_8771.JPG

I did some cleaning up and the chain is starting to look better but still has surface rust. It is also not tensioned correctly so I will tighten it up a bit.
IMG_8780.JPG


But here she is and super excited!
IMG_8776.JPG
 
UPDATE:

We were having dinner up on GA at one of the local sports bars and while waiting for the check to come I opened up ebay. Saw an R3 for a great price with bidding ending in 15 minutes and located 3 hrs away from home. I bid... I won...LOL She is super excited but she now owns an R3!

Its a 2015 with 1080 miles on it. The bike has been sitting for a while so I need to change the oil and the chain has never had any maintenance. I'm going to attach some pictures here below.

View attachment 1631516
View attachment 1631517

Here is the chain which is currently a work in progress. Im going to pull the fairings off and take a good look at the front sprocket. Rear sprocket is just dirty and has no real wear.
Here is the before picture of the chain...
View attachment 1631518
I did some cleaning up and the chain is starting to look better but still has surface rust. It is also not tensioned correctly so I will tighten it up a bit.
View attachment 1631519

But here she is and super excited!
View attachment 1631520
That's a good looking little bike and is almost new...well done.

She will have smiles for miles on that bike..
 
Started modding it for her...

Tidy tail done, halo led turn signals, led integrated taillight, wrapped forks in black, shogun frame sliders pulled off all the warning stickers. Bike came with an overheat issue that was not disclosed to me. Overflow tank was leaking and slowly all the coolant went bye bye. Got it all fixed and sorted and bike rides great! Clutch is VERY light which takes some getting used to.
IMG_8921.jpeg

IMG_8923.jpeg
 
Started modding it for her...

Tidy tail done, halo led turn signals, led integrated taillight, wrapped forks in black, shogun frame sliders pulled off all the warning stickers. Bike came with an overheat issue that was not disclosed to me. Overflow tank was leaking and slowly all the coolant went bye bye. Got it all fixed and sorted and bike rides great! Clutch is VERY light which takes some getting used to.
View attachment 1631848
View attachment 1631849
Looking good sir :thumbsup:
 
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