Thinking of coming over to the Mana... Suggestions?

[Scoot Man]

I currently ride a MP3-500, and although I love the convenience of a scooter I am thinking of upgrading to a naked/street fighter style bike.

I'm mainly looking for a lighter faster bike. I am not that experienced with a manual shift bike and ride in a non bike friendly heavily congested traffic. The CVT function of the Mana appeals to me, but it seems to be a bit heavy.

If all of you had to do it over again, would you stick with the Mana or possibly switch over to another similar bike.

I am looking to stick in the $9K or less range, so factoring low mile used bikes, my possibilities are quite broad.


Thanks in advance,
Steve

[mikelevitt]

Hey Steve,

Faster yes, lighter, no. The Mana will feel very top heavy to you after riding the MP3. But really any bike will in this size range. The Ducati monster is a bit lighter, but it is really pretty tiny as well - very low and compact. The Mana is average weight for a bike of it's type and size IMO.

I go back and forth between a GTV and the Mana. GTV is lighter and more carefree in the city - the Mana feels like more work. Plus, there is a lot of heat that comes off a bike that you don't feel on a scoot.

But the Mana is very very stable at speed, very quick and easy once you are moving, and a blast to ride in the city with the CVT. I would have a hard time going back to shifting in the city after being spoiled by the mana and the scoots.

It has all of the performance that I can use and a lot more. I am not a good or aggressive rider, but it is nice to have more capability on tap than I can use. Great brakes. Very comfortable for me.

On the other hand, you will miss being able to carry all of the stuff you can haul on a scooter.

One other thing - the headlight is very weak on the Mana. Horrible IMO. I have tried a few things - HID etc with really no joy there. Just for comparaison, the light on my GTV is MUCH BETTER! You may miss all of the lights on the MP3...

I like it a lot. If I could only have one bike, I am not sure what I would keep. But I can say for sure that I love the Mana and especially the CVT. It really is flawless..

Mike

[revorg]

I highly recommend the Mana. I came from the 500 and have had BMWs (an R and 2 GSs, an FJR 145hp, and a Vstrom). There isn't another motorcycle that I would rather have. It's that good. While it isn't as easy to move around in the garage, it isn't hard either.
The three biggest items for me are the handling, the power available and the automatic transmission. You don't have to worry about being in the right gear because you are always in the right gear. Passing, turning, starting, parking, it is just right.
The only complaint is the seat, and that will be fixed somehow. I did a 7 hour day last week and by moving around a bit it was tolerable. I did stop three times. I'm 5' 8" and 150 lbs. People with long legs may not fit as well from what I can surmise from comments.

[Dman51]

The Mana all the way. If your looking for an automatic there really is no other choice. The Honda auto bike is way over priced and talk about heavy its a boat. Once you get going on the Mana it is very light and nimble. Any non step through bike will feel heavier than a scooter as it is step through and the weight is behind you along with the motor. You will have to give up a bit of storage as the MP3 basically has a trunk. The faux gas tank which is the storage on the Mana is the largest and probably only storage of its type for an actual motorcycle. The more speed you want the bigger the engine which comes with weight. So the best compromise would be the Mana. Sure it will take some getting use to but its easy.

[Jim web]

It's a great bike scoot man, it's the first bike i ever rode, i didnt have any trouble i started in a parking lot, then moved onto some side street's worked my way up to the highway. I travel though a lot of traffic in Pittsburgh, and i love it. i am not that tall either 5'7, i been riding since last september. Aug 5th i am going to a MSF class. Buy one you will like it.

[abouc]

It's on my short list. All the convenience of a scooter with the power and sound of a v-twin. The one I test rode recently was easy to maneuver in traffic and very stable at high speeds.

[pete roper]

The only way you'll know if you like it is to ride one. Essentially it's a motorbike with a CVT transmission with a couple of spiffy drive options that nobody probably uses, (I know I don't, mine stays in 'Touring' the whole time.)

Seat height is tall by scoot and even many motorbike standards but it handles its weight well. Biggest issue is its shitbox suspension but even this is streets ahead of what most scooters have so you'll probably be impressed. Simply because of the motor's capacity performance is probably considerably up on most of the Maxi Scoots but I haven't ridden enough of 'em to give an objective assesment of that.

As for luggage carrying capacity? Bag it up and it has more than ample space for anybody. If you need more space than this;

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3618/3299881074_c19662e612.jpg?v=0

Then you need one of these

http://photos.dmotorworks.com.au/new/190/19_6353691_F34.JPG

A 'Serial Killer' van!

Yeah, I've got one of them too :D.

The Mana is a seriously good motorbike marred by a couple of irritating, cheapskate flaws but I don't regret buying mine for an instant!

Pete

[williamr]

I'm the odd one here. I don't like the weight of the Mana and find it less agile than a lighter more commuter based bike with similar performance. A 400lb 650 twin is faster, more agile and more economical, but not to everyone's taste.

I also much prefer the extra degree of control that I get from a manual clutch in really congested traffic. If you feel you could cope with that, look at the ER-6n (new to the States) or SV650 naked bikes. If you ride a lot in rain though, you might want to reconsider a naked lol.

That said, if you're happy in traffic with an MP3 you'll find the Mana is a big improvement, and it beats shit out of the fast maxi scooters for agility and fuel economy.

Rob

[shadyman]

I test rode a er-6n on sat at a kaw. test ride day & found it a bit buzzy. A friend has a sv 650 which is nowhere as smooth as the Mana. Both are a bit lighter in weight. the mana is definately faster than the kaw. & maybe even with the sv. As for gas mileage. I've been getting mid 50's to low 60's. thats riding 2 up in sport gear mode. I can't come close to that in touring. The Mana has 3000 mi. on it, and really came to life after the first 1000 mi. No complaints here. It also isn't my only bike. I also have a kaw z750, duc monster, & a suz.1200 bandit. The mana was bought mainly for my wife, but I tend to ride it every chance I get.

[mybug]

Very interesting to hear that you are getting significantly better mileage using the 'sport' mapping.

Mileage is a concern for me considering I easily and consistently get better than 50 on my 04' Scarabeo GT.

Is everyone finding the same ?

[shadyman]

In sport mode you can lug the bike around in 7th gear nicely. It loves low rpm.
I find if i switch to sport gear from touring at 55 mph it is in 5th. When the bike was new it got 36 -40 mpg. But gradually increased with break-in. I have never had a bike that increased performance & fuel mileage like this one did as it accumulated miles. Also didn't baby it first 500 mi.

[groovymaster]

The Mana weighs less than the Fuoco (aka MP3-500). The engine is much more powerful than the 500 engine, the throttle response off the line is seriously improved, the ECVT transmission is way superior to the standard belt-pulley type, and in my opinion the Mana feels much more responsive and less quirky-tippy than the reverse-trikes.

[williamr]

. the mana is definately faster than the kaw. & maybe even with the sv. .

Not worth getting into a pissing contest here as the numbers are very close, but the mags show the Kawa and the SV being very similar and both about 5 mph faster than the Mana and about a second faster on 0 - 60 - as long as the guy driving the manual trannys knows what he's doing. The Mana engine is bigger and bit lower revving so it'll certainly be less 'buzzy'.

All three are as fast as you need for normal road use. I tend to come down in favour of the mana for cruising or touring, but prefer either of the two 650s for lane splitting and weaving through heavily congested traffic when you're pushed down below about 25 mph. If you don't do this much, they lose their advantage.

Personally I like faired bikes or scoots anyway to keep the worst of the rain off. That might be a UK thing lol.

Rob

[tha-mask]

I second the comment about Sport Gear Mode.

You can defo have the bike in say 5 or 6th gear position when in touring its probably at about 3 or 4, this reduces the rpm and hence the vibes and consumption. It was one of my very early observations and one that I noted in the write up I did.