Quote from Michael Denham :

Well some people do fine and some people don't. The proportion of people who don't is a lot higher when you look at those who started off on 600cc+ sportbikes. I know of a lot of local riders who started off on too much bike and then ended up injured or worse because of it. There is one story that really makes me sad...

I know someone who works at a motorcycle dealer, and he had a teenager come in wanting to buy a 1000cc sportbike as his first bike. My friend said he wouldn't sell it to him, because it's not a good decision for a new rider, and he would rather lose a sale than see him get hurt. His Dad came in and was very upset, saying he should have just sold him the 1000cc bike. The salesman explained why he didn't think it was a good decision, but the father went ahead and bought the 1000cc bike under his own name anyway. A week later the father came in and said his son was dead, and admitted that the salesman was right, he shouldn't have started on that bike.

This kind of thing happens all the time... sure a lot of people are fine starting off on really fast bikes, but a LOT more inexperienced people kill themselves on 600cc + bikes than on Ninja 250s....

maybe he should start with an electric bycicle then :P

Quote from Zachary Zoomy :

maybe he should start with an electric bycicle then :P

Actually those are pretty fast as well

Get a Postie bike, those would help you learn for sure.
But i dont ride personally i want to but my mum wont let me get a bike because her brother died in an accident.
But from what ive heard around Dans suggestion of a CB500 would be a good investment

Quote from danowat :

Ahh....little lad then

I'd still say the Suzuki is your best bet

LOL Didn't he put in something about wanting to have a bike that he can lean over on? ROFL... maybe something that does really cool stoppies?

OK. if you really want a bike, You need to figure out how much and HOW you're going to actually ride the thing. Are you going to commute? If so, how far?
Is it just going to be something you zip around the neighborhood with on pretty days? What is maintenance going to be like? How easy is it going to be to get parts? Also, and trust me on this, Do you have a good friend with a pick-up truck?
Me personally? I can't recommend either one. But in this case, I'd have to go with the Suzuki. Even though Suzukis are moody bikes, I've never seen a Ninja that didn't quickly become a piece of crap. But that could be that way because of the owners.

Another thing to think of: Next year, we're planning to buy my wife a bike.
I want her to get a Harley 883. The reason? Harley's hold their value really good. So if she changes her mind or really gets into it and wants a bigger bike, We could use that for a decent trade or sell it for close to what we paid for it.
I dunno, when comes time to replace my bike, I'll either get another Intruder or I dunno a Victory Vegas Jackpot. Those look so cool! But I dunno, I'm spoiled on shaft drive & dealing with belts looks like a big pain. Plus the big price difference.

Oh one more thing. Good Luck in getting ANY bike before September. And the dealers are getting tight with financing new models. And if you get a used bike, be careful with sport bikes, It may look cool, but alot of times they aren't taken good care of.

Anyways, good luck with that and remember to pay attention to the idiot in the minivan, talking on the cell phone more than how cool your knee looks turning

Good god, not a cruiser............

Quote from mrodgers :

Those with a true passion for motorcycles, this statement is the complete opposite. Learn to be a motorcyclist, not a kid with a motorcycle. A motorcyclist has much more respect for the machine and you learn much about awareness, more than anything you will ever do. Becoming a motorcyclist helps in infinite ways even when driving a car. You learn to become aware of everything and learn to look far ahead at potential situations that you become a far better motorist all together no matter what you are using.

It's the kids and the immature (doesn't always mean young of age) with the superior attitude and thinking they are indestructible that are the ones that are more likely to "do stupid stuff."


It only took 2 days for me. Nervousness, a turn, gravel, and a very large pickup truck who thought it was ok to ride right on my rear fender made for a 'not so pleasant' slide on my butt. Lucky, I wasn't moving very fast. I ALWAYS wore a full face helmet, even after the law was revoked here in PA that it was a requirement. I laid down my bike at a VERY low speed. I was turning off one road onto another, maybe 10 mph if that, and the back tire spun and slipped in fine gravel. It was so slow that it was very close to being the equivelant to being stopped and the bike falling. I was knocked down to the pavement and my helmet thumped onto the road. I could tell that it would have hurt VERY much had I not been wearing a helmet. I couldn't imagine actually having a real crash without a helmet form that experience.


Wrong. You don't need a bike that will allow you to learn how to get your knee down. You are not on a race track out on public roads. You need a bike that will allow you to learn to respect the bike. You should never be "using the full potential" on the roads.


Favorite make is Honda. No real reason. I just think the quality of Honda is at the very top, but that doesn't mean anything about the quality of the others. My 2nd choice is the Kawasaki.

My first bike was a used 1983 Honda Nighthawk CB550SC. Pic of my bike. What I liked about my bike being on 2 wheels for the first time is, it was VERY easy to ride those first few weeks. The lower rpm range was easy on power and acceleration. As I got use to riding, I went further into the rpm range and was pleasantly surprised at the rush of acceleration once I hit 6000 rpm and moved above. As a beginner, this was great because you always outgrow your first bike. The ease of using lower rpm to learn, then the allowance of the higher rpms in faster acceleration and more speed allowed me to use the bike for longer than a month.

The first time I got on a bike was when I test road a bike someone was selling. It was a Yamaha 650 Special. Basically, a thumper, or a single cylinder very low powered engine. I rode it 8 feet and it was immediately clear to me that I would out grow it within a matter of days. In hindsight, my immediate reaction I now know was spot on. Basically, what I'm saying is, you don't want too small of a bike, but you don't want too big of a bike either.

I would recommend used Honda Nighthawks to anyone just starting out on a motorcycle. Small enough to initially learn on, but big enough to continue for a short while.


cc's mean absolutely nothing. As I said, my very first experience was on a 650 cc, and it was like riding one of those electric scooter toys for the kids. Absolutely no usable power. There's a huge difference between single cylinders, V-twins, 4 cylinders, and V-4 engines.


I would recommend not wasting the money on something new for your first bike. As you said you are interested in a sport bike, these would be great bikes, except that a year down the road, you WILL be looking for more. Not only that, but as the saying goes, there's 2 types of riders. Those who HAVE laid their bikes down, and those who are GOING to lay their bikes down. I would rather pay the small cash for something used, learn, take a motorcycle safety course (free in PA), and have hardly anything into it. Then, after you have learned, you know more about what you want and can look for an 'upgrade' to your beginner bike and spend for something new.

For the record, I spent $1150 (tax, title, and registration) on my Nighthawk in 2001, rode it for ~20,000 miles, and sold it for $900.

Be aware of the 'sticker shock' when you go to purchase tires for a bike. They aren't cheap, and they don't last like car tires. I was putting a rear tire on mine every year, and a front ever 2 years.

Good post!
I would recomend a single or twin for first bike (yamaha SR 500 or MT03, Suzuki Sv650, Honda Night Hawk 650, kawasaki ER 650, Ducati Monster 620, perhaps Buell Blast (never ridden myself) or similar).

I have being riding motorcycles since 1989 and had my only accident a few weeks after getting the licens.I was driving slow but miss judged the car and went of the road with hurting thumbs and knees, cause the speed was low I was up on the bike the next week.

If you want your knee down go racing instead... There you will learn how to go fast and be safe and there will be medical personal at site cause you will crash.

Riding in traffic is hard in another way, you have you take care of your self and look out for kids, bad asphalt, trees, drunken drivers, animals, people doing misstakes.

best regards
Tooby

Quote from danowat :

Good god, not a cruiser............

I dunno.. It's really cool to whip up on some crotch rocket's ass when they're all hunched over like something from brokeback mountain and I'm all kicked back with the wind in my hair and bugs in my teeth.
LOL I had some moron on a 650ish looking bike try to race me... He had it in 5th with the little motor screaming like a deranged weed eater. and I was just putting along in fourth. I guess he thought that plastic stuff that keeps you from getting to the engine would make his bike faster than mine. When I revved my motor, I think it scared him. My bike's sound can drown out a Harley.
Just cause I have a raked out front end and chrome doesn't mean I have a slow bike. Besides, my bike's motor is more than twice the size of his.

Most cruisers are too fat and the owners put waaay too much crap on them.
Sport bikes are bad enough with all that plastic fairing stuff... but a 6 ton windshield and saddle bags you can park a car in?
I'm really debating yanking the turn signals off mine. my bike's more of a chopper than a true cruiser. I ONLY have forward controls and those ugly batmobile looking exhausts have been switched out for drag pipes. Yes the carbs are jetted and unplugged. I don't think it's street legal in other countries.

Man, I can go on all day talking about motorcycles.....
I dunno. A crotch rocket looks like alot of fun to ride, but when I think of traffic jams and low speed gridlock on the freeway, I imagine they can get a bit uncomfortable. plus those things can be real high maintenance.

Who the hell gets gridlocked when riding a bike?, thats one of the bonuses of having a bike, avoiding all the jams.

As for maintainance, even my Italian sports bike only has a service every year.

Quote from danowat :

Who the hell gets gridlocked when riding a bike?, thats one of the bonuses of having a bike, avoiding all the jams.

As for maintainance, even my Italian sports bike only has a service every year.

You've never been on a freeway in the US then. If you try to squeeze between lanes, people will literally curve in on you. some nutcases will open their doors as well. Sometimes you can blast through, but when there's like a wreck or something and you're in rush hour.... It sucks.

I seen an Aprilla at a used bike shop a while back. I don't know what model. But I could tell the previous owner was a kid or very inexperienced. It had been laid over and the exhaust smoked some and the chain was loose. It looked like it could've been a nice bike and was at one time.
I have a pipe dream about building a bobber chopper, I don't want a Harley engine, unless I can somehow find a knuckle head that's affordable. I was thinking more like a KZ1000, or more likely a Honda 750 but how does an Aprilla look polished? LOL could you imagine an Aprilla hard tail?

I was thinking of putting these on my bike



But for the price of that kit, I can get started on building a bike

nice nice....I want something like that.

However a chinese guy on a bike like that would look like a joke.

Why?

Quote from danowat :

Good god, not a cruiser............

Cruisers are for those of us that want to be able to walk after uncramping the legs after sitting on a sport bike for a few hours.

I say "Good god, not a sport bike....." It's not all about how fast you can go or how hard you can corner. The speed limit is the same no matter if you ride a sport bike or a cruiser. Safe cornering on public roads is the same no matter if sportbike or cruiser.

My bike was concidered a standard. My legs were neither stretched out like a cruiser nor cramped up like on a sportbike. After an hour or so on the bike, with my bad knees, I was really cramped up.

For comfort and pleasure riding, a cruiser is by far much better than a sportbike. Just on the half hour commute from his house to my house, my brother-in-law tells me that the leaning over and holding up with his arms on his R6 hurts. That's definitely not my idea of fun.

Quote :

Who the hell gets gridlocked when riding a bike?

Those of us for whom it would be illegal to lane split. And for the reasons that RacerY states, people in cars see it in their mirrors and it's been known for them to open their doors or turn their cars in to block. I believe it is legal in LA, California, but haven't known for it to be legal any where else. It's not legal in PA, where I am (AFAIK).

Cruisers FTW!

Just another in a long string of reasons why I never want to visit the US of A

Quote from danowat :

Just another in a long string of reasons why I never want to visit the US of A

eh... you'd probably ride on the wrong side of the freeway anyhow

Speaking of bikes, I can't get mine to start. I'm not getting any spark. I replaced the plugs. Just in case I screwed up the test and actually was getting spark, I cleaned out the back carb. It wasn't bad to begin with, but I figured since I got the bike all taken apart, may as well. As of this post, I got a charger on the battery, hoping that it might just not have enough amps to make a decent spark. If that doesn't work. I'm throwing in the towel and finding a REAL mechanic.

@ Mr Rodgers: You're right. Doing that is illegal just about everywhere.

Also, the problem with standard bikes these days is they newer models seem to be basically crotch rockets with weaker motors... The Suzuki Bandit comes to mind. It's a good bike and all, but it's kind of like a I dunno kind of like a castrated Hayabusa.
Plus you're right about sport bikes as well.... when you get older, riding like that gets to hurting after awhile .


JJ72 nice nice....I want something like that.

However a chinese guy on a bike like that would look like a joke.

What? Nah. There's a Japanese Biker that makes custom bikes... Noone thinks he's a joke.

I went to school with a Chinese guy. He rode a Suzuki Grass Hopper. Him being chinese and the bike he rode earned him the name "Grass Hopper".
Now HE did look like a joke. But that's cause he was a stoner and always doing something totally stupid on that bike.... Like the time he took a few pills and decided to try to ride it up a tree. Yes, he tried to climb a tree with it, telling us he did it before..... He's probably dead by now.

Quote from mrodgers :

For comfort and pleasure riding, a cruiser is by far much better than a sportbike. Just on the half hour commute from his house to my house, my brother-in-law tells me that the leaning over and holding up with his arms on his R6 hurts. That's definitely not my idea of fun.

If his arms hurt and he's holding himself up with his arms, he's doing it wrong. Not only does it hurt, you have less control over the bike when your arms are stiff. If that's his current ride, tell him to hold himself up more with the pegs, maybe with his knees on the tank, too. Hard acceleration tends to take some weight off the arms, too.

My current ride (EX500) has a fairly standard riding position for a sportbike (only slightly more aggressive than my old Super Sherpa, granted I sat pretty far back on it to get a more aggressive position), and I've also ridden a race-prepped R6 without problems.

Quote from BAMBO :

Don't do it, get an Ariel Atom or a Radical , it's the same thing with no drawbacks of a bike.But if you really want a bike, I suggest you get something cheap, second-hand and under 500cc because you will fall of it sooner or later.

LoL typical.

BAMBO: Try dragging a knee at any speed and tell me it's the same. Hell, just lean over a bit at any speed. If that doesn't give you a thrill and doesn't convince you that there is no comparison, there's something wrong with you.

I could go on about the simpler pleasures of not being enclosed, or the feel of the road under you with only 2 wheels, too.

Quote from danowat :

Just another in a long string of reasons why I never want to visit the US of A

It's legal in any lane here in CA. Just not at stop lights, but people will still move over for you!

@ OP: Shouldn't one keep one's knees on the tank in corners?

And remember that power isn't everything. It's nice to have a light bike, too...

Damn, I'm still stuck with 4 wheels for a bit longer. I took my bike to the mechanic.... It looks like the igniter coil for the back piston. I'm hoping this mechanic will get suzy going before I go on vacation in a couple of weeks. I want to go to Louisiana and gamble some.... ugh they have a helmet law. Gotta go dust that thing off and find another one for the wife. And before y'all even start... My friends parents were both wearing helmets when the drunk driver nailed them. The helmets protected their heads wonderfully.... trouble was the force of the impact decapitated both of them. I think it took off their arms and legs too. I just don't remember. I wonder how fast that driver was going? Usually when a Harley gets hit on the side it gets banged up real bad but doesn't disintergrate. This one did.

To the original poster... How's the bike thing going?

I've been riding and racing on two wheels since I was 12. A LONG time ago now... (38 yrs)
I don't advise anything smaller than a 500 street bike. Just not enough motor to get out of trouble with traffic on busy highways.
Based on your age and size you'll be very happy with the performance and handling of the new Kawasaki Ninja 650R. This is the twin cylinder model not the racing one.

Also, the Suzuki SV650 is hard to beat with the "V" Twin cylinder arrangement it will have more real life tourque than the Ninja with it's parallel twin. They have been around for about 10 years with many upgrades and improvements. A good used one would save some money and still serve you well. Both machines will give you plenty of thrill and economy.


My current ride is a 2004 FJR1300.

Quote from nmanley :

Based on your age and size you'll be very happy with the performance and handling of the new Kawasaki Ninja 650R

This is what I have. It could be too much power for a new rider, but at the same time if you're careful and have a healthy fear of death, you will be okay. It's a lot better than starting off on an all out sport bike. And the riding position is very good for practicing low speed riding too. Not an intimidating bike at all. I started on this bike and am happy with my decision. I keep playing with the idea of getting something with more power now, but to be honest this is plenty and I would get more satisfaction going faster by improving my riding than getting a quicker bike.

IMO, the best bike to learn with is an Enduro. You can go offroad with it aswell... and i don't mean you should go and try to do jumps with it. But slow offroad maneuvers can teach you a lot (driving on dirt, gravel, sand).

If it has to be a sports bike, fine. That's still better to learn than a cruiser.

I ride a 07' Night Train. It's a very comfortable bike, and i never arrived as relaxed on any other bike i had before. My arse never hurts, no matter how long the ride is. But on the other hand, i wouldn't really want to experience a "slide" (rear or front wheel loosing grip and then having to catch it) or something similar with that bike. Happend to me once (it was wet and the rear wheel lost grip and slid out (thanks to my experience with other bikes, i still managed to recover)), and compared to the same situation on a dirtbike, it was rather scary.

Best to learn: Enduro/Dirtbike
Best handling: Enduro/Dirt- or Sportsbike
Best comfort: Cruisers/Choppers
(IMHO)

Quote from Michael Denham :

This is what I have. It could be too much power for a new rider, but at the same time if you're careful and have a healthy fear of death, you will be okay. It's a lot better than starting off on an all out sport bike. And the riding position is very good for practicing low speed riding too. Not an intimidating bike at all. I started on this bike and am happy with my decision. I keep playing with the idea of getting something with more power now, but to be honest this is plenty and I would get more satisfaction going faster by improving my riding than getting a quicker bike.

I have an SV similar to the one above, and I like it for the same reasons you like your ER6/Ninja, although mine is not so comfortable with its lower clip-on bars.
I will have been riding for 2 years in October and I've ridden several faster bikes, including a ZX10r. I still consider myself a novice, but I'm occasionally tempted to get something more potent, yet whenever I ride my SV I feel happy with what it has to offer. Some decent fork springs and a GSXR shock turn it into a cracking handling and agile bike, not that it's at all poor as standard, and the motor is punchy, gutsy and yet still loves to rev. They sound great with an aftermarket can on too. I don't need to be speeding to enjoy the motor either. If you are using a litre sportsbike engine, ZX10/R1/Blade etc, then you're speeding. They do 100mph in first gear and make the power at the top end. It's like their natural state of rest is 3 figures plus, you have to put a brake on them when you park them or else they just somehow gravitate towards 100mph+ and you'll never catch a runaway .

I found you have to ride them with such restraint, and if you do what's the point? To use the low down grunt all the time and never let it really loose? Just doesn't seem like fun. I'd rather have something of more limited ability and use more of it. Not that I'll never own a litre sports bike, but I don't have any need for extra straight line speed at the moment, and my SV is fun enough for B-road scratching.
Nice to see them ridden properly, too, although that's not very often. They usually whoosh past, brake a calendar month too soon and eventually wobble round the corner after having 3 or 4 attempts at turning in whilst awkwardly attempting to force their kneeslider to the ground with the tyre just approaching the inside edge of their 3 inch chicken strip
I swear most people buy them (and the colour coded leathers at the same time) because they think it will turn them into a great rider overnight.

I agree sinbad... I rode a new GSXR 750 recently, and with a little less weight and more than twice the power of my bike, it was quite the experience. Obviously the acceleration was impressive but something else I noticed was that a comfortable cruising pace on the gixxer was quite a bit faster than on my bike. I would look down at the speedo, and be very surprised how quickly I was going.

One part of me really loved that bike and I could see myself having one some day because of how focused it all felt, and how enjoyable it was to ride, but really I would end up doing stupid speeds without really pushing the bike... like you I'd rather have something a little less powerful and enjoy getting a little closer to its potential.

I actually happen to be in the market for one of these. I've been considering the SV650 for many years (and the 650R for a little less). Any reasons why I shouldn't go with a Ducati 620/695? Unlike the OP, I am licensed and buying a new or used bike within the week (experience is not as much of an issue here—in need of transportation is more like it).