Reviewing The Honda Forza 300

   I'm probably the last person, honestly, that should be reviewing the Honda Forza 300, because honestly, I'm not someone that has been riding much at all.  The Forza was my first bike. Sure, first bike I rode was a '03 Burgman 400, but then I spent about 14 hours in the saddle of a Kawasaki 125, and didn't get any more saddle time than that in the Burgman 400 before I started riding the Forza 300.
Maybe that gives me a better view on it? Maybe not. But I can tell you that riding it was a lot of fun.

It was quick, but it wasn't fast by any stretch. Top end I got to was around 121km/h, but I didn't push it any further than that. I was quite happy keeping it under that speed. It is a lighter bike, so the wind buffeting from the trucks was a bit much.  After riding the Burgman 400 at the very least behind a truck at 50mph, I must say that the heavier weight of the 400 does make a difference at the higher speeds.

Practicality wise, tho, the Forza 300 is great. The underseat storage is quite large, capable of storing two full helmets.

But I will say I'm not a fan of the shape of it. I find that for packing things, like say, a couple of bags of groceries, not that easy to store in this bike.
The Burgman 400 can hold a fair bit of stuff, and has a better layout, I believe it's roughly the same amount, if not a bit more, in the Burgman 400, but in layout alone, it definitely is a win.
But if you only need a few things, it will hold a fair bit of stuff.  Since it was the only bike I was riding, I did many quick shopping trips on this bike.  More frequent thru the week, sure, but that just meant more riding the bike.
I didn't mind, it kept the car in the driveway, because honstly, I prefer riding over driving. It's just overall more enjoyable.  Sure, it can be considered to be "scarier" or, more dangerous, but many things are dangerous that we do in life.  It doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy life to our fullest.  For me, I have really taken a liking to riding. Just something about it. And now it's something that my kid and I can bond over.  We've got a couple thousand kilometers now under our belts together, and we're only getting started!

So what is my honest opinion of this bike;

Well, honestly, if it was my only bike I was to own, I have a feeling I'd definitely get bored of it eventually. It is a lot of fun to ride, it has a lot of getup and go, but as someone looking at a commuter bike, this is not it.  It's a great little weekend rider, or city runabout that can do the innercity freeways, but as a bike that you commute on, I would have to pass.
But that said, I would happily get another, as they are an absolute blast to ride! Super nimble, and a lot of fun in the twisties, just not as my only bike.

Would I recommend One?

Yes, I totally would.  If you're learning to ride, or you are living in a city, or won't really be traveling the highways, this is a fantastic bike! But it is not great if you're a short rider.  If you stand under 5' 5" you'll likely be tip-toeing the bike a bit, as the seat does sit a bit high, at around 31".  For someone who lives in a city, I think more people should own bikes like this. It'll cut down on congestion, and make travel thru the city far easier, and more enjoyable.  I can't imagine how much faster Toronto would move if more people rode motorcycles instead of cars, considering most times it's a large SUV with one person it in, sipping on a latte, making a tiktok of herself and how she's going to divorce her husband for one silly reason or another. Which reminds me, it's quite scary how many people are STILL using their cell phones behind the wheel.

However, going forward, the Forza 300 will no longer be a part of this family, as it has since moved on to another owner, who was looking for something smaller for his wife.

We made a trade for a much bigger bike.  When I say much bigger, I mean it's more than double the size.

Until next time.

Stay tuned....

So I Bought A Scooter

 A couple years ago my wife purchased a Suzuki Burgman 400 Maxi-Scooter. I'm not going to lie, it wasn't necessarily her idea to buy a Scooter, but mine own. 
However when she got her first Scooter, it was about 3 years ago, for her 40th birthday, we found and purchased her first Motorcycle, which was also her first Scooter. A 2013 Honda PCX150, which was a really nice little Scooter, but at 150ccs, it wasn't quite fast enough for what she wanted for the roads around us. Sure, it could keep up with traffic fairly easily, but when the average speed is around 80km/h (50mph) it was into its top end of the powerband on its little engine.

But it served its purpose, and she learned how to ride.
Well, fast forward to the end of the next year, and she decides to get herself a second bike, because she didn't feel that she was ready to sell the PCX150.  A 2004 Suzuki Burgman 400, and this bike she rode 5 times.  Once to test ride it.  Second time was to get it certified. Third was bringing it home from the mechanic after it was safetied. Fourth was riding it to the gas station to fuel it up, and back. And Fifth was when my son and I decided we were going to get our Motorcycle license, and started learning on that, she rode it to the parking lot.

So it didn't really get ridden much at all, and mostly sat.
I had replaced both tires, so they're still basically new, the year we got the bike, because we knew the tires needed replacement.
Brakes were fine, basically everything was good on the bike, but it sat.
She sold the PCX150, for a Honda Rebel 250, but sold that at the end of the season because it was too slow.
After that she picked up a Honda Forza 300, which is a beautiful Motorcycle. Great colour, and is it ever quick, and nimble. However, it's a little tall for both herself, and myself. We're 

not that tall.

But yet the Suzi still sits there in our driveway, the only difference is now it has two riders taking it out.
Myself, and my son.  The bike is fantastic!  We both love the bike, we're very happy with it, but we are thinking of getting a Burgman 650, or a Silverwing 600.  Not to replace the Burgman 400, oh no, that bike I currently plan on keeping for quite a few more years to come. 

I do believe I'd be much happier gifting it to my son when he gets his Full motorcycle license.  I haven't told that part to my wife, but it is my plan.  What he does with it from that point is up to him. We have our youngest too, who has an Electric Scooter, which he really enjoys riding. We're trying to source batteries for it, as it definitely needs batteries.
We're not sure which cells are dead, so we're replacing the set, at this current point in time.
However the little scooter *IS* a lot of fun to ride, even if it only does 25mph (40km/h).

Honestly, the Burgman 400 is cheap to fill, gets 60+mpg, is highway capable up to 85mph. It's a very very fun bike to ride! The engine is really smooth for a single cylinder, corners very easily, and has plenty of getup and go power, which is great!

Well, it turns out that the Burgman 400, the bike I *THOUGHT* was mine, turns out it was more to be my son's and wife's bike, and I got the Forza 300, which I learned how to handle, and ride pretty well. Granted, no, I have not been riding very long at all! I love the little Forza. It's quick, nimble, and a blast to ride!

In fact, this video, I took it on the highway a few times, and it was brilliant!  I loved it on the highway, and found it sat there at 115km/h (72mph) quite comfortably, and felt good.  
However, it was the first time I noticed that it was also starting to reach out to its top end. 
At first I thought, "Well, if the bike can do 140km/h top speed, how much more do I need it to do?"
WELL, let me tell you, when you start reaching the top end, you start to realize that if you needed the extra power to get away, or out of, trouble, you can't. That's it, you've reached the top speed, and there is no more.
Sure, on most roads, that's more than sufficient, but on a freeway with speed limits in the range of of top end, you start to realize that you can get stuck in a bad situation pretty easily.

Now, for myself, 120km/h is a pretty high rate of travel, as I rarely travel much more than about 105km/h, which may not seem like much, but I just do my best to not exceed the speed limit. No, not because I'm some kind of "saint" and I'm a better driver than you, because you like to travel 20km/h over the limit regularly. That's fine, you have deeper pockets than I do, clearly. I keep my speed down, simply to save my pocketbook. 

On the Motorcycle I'm less stringent on the speed on the highway, as I believe you have to maintain movement on the highway to prevent blending into the background.
As Motorcycles are the smallest vehicle on the highway, it's very easy for them to be lost in the background noise of trucks, and large SUVs, which seem to dominate the highways. One way to stand out, is to keep moving, and to keep moving, means moving at a slightly higher rate of speed than traffic. If you have a thousand moving parts, all traveling at the same speed, in the same direction, it might as well not be moving at all, as it'll all blend together, however if you get something moving slightly faster than the rest, you'll see it pretty easily.
In fact, that's how they find objects in the night sky that are new.
They'll point a camera at a specific spot in the sky and take photos.  
Then they'll analyse these photos to see if anything has changed over the course of several days, or weeks.  If they notice something has moved, then they build a timelapse image to confirm.  Things remaining static disappear in the background, while things moving stand out.
So if you're on a motorcycle, visibility is the key to safety, not loud pipes.. Be seen!
The problem, tho, is that when you start to reach the top end, and traffic is traveling already at a higher rate of speed, if you need to maneuver in traffic, such as getting around trucks, you now have to have more speed left over to slip into another lane safely, and pass the truck so you can see, and stop getting slapped around by the wind buffeting.

But they are an absolute blast to ride, with lots of storage, comfortable seats, and a very relaxed riding style.

I'd highly recommend a Maxi Scooter to anyone looking to get into riding. Whether as your first bike, or your only bike! Scooters are basically like the Pickup Trucks of the Motorcycle world. You either love them, or you hate them. Myself, personally, I love these things!

Anyway guys, until the next one...