Who owns a motorcylce? I need help.

S

scott//

Poster
Joined
Dec 12, 2010
Messages
173
Hey everyone,

I am thinking about getting a motorcycle this summer, hopefully taking the MSF course at the end of the school year.

I started to look at the Kawasaki Ninja 250R late last year and I went to my local Kawasaki dealership and sat on the bike, the 250R is so small! So in the beginning of this year I started to look at the Kawasaki Ninja 500R, I have not seen it or sat on the bike yet. I have not researched any other brands of bikes or any other sizes besides the 250R or 500R.

So I need some help, I am 5'8" 145lbs, never have ridden a motorcycle (only very brief times on dirtbikes/quads) and want to ride this summer!

Thanks for all of you help :)
 
First off, Buy American! Kawasaki's are nothing compared to a real hog, For example my bike is a 1998 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic, in black. Here's a pic

0806_hbkp_15_z+2001_harley_davidson_heritage_softail+back_left_view.jpg


Now THAT'S a bike!

Note: Thats not a picture of my bike, which is not as cleaned up as this one.
 
I've never personally rode one, but I talk with a lot of motorcyclists due to my interest. They have always said to star with a 250. I've also heard sport bikes require high RPMs to drive so it not good for beginners.

Don't hold me to this, no one has ever let me drive one because I can't shift and I'm 15. Those are just some things I've been told by people.
 
My first bike was a 400... As for the high RPM's I can understand. When your sitting at the light a lot of new riders stall out there bikes because they are not use to keeping the revs up.

Also riding a Harley at first feels very weird because I was never use to riding with my feet forward.
Another downside to Harley are the prices for them...

Really any bike you pick out...The more times you ride it, the more at easy it will feel to control.

I wish cutting traffic here was not illegal in this state :P
 
If your gonna take the plunge and get a bike, get one the chicks dig, and the chicks dig a hawg!
 
ralphnader said:
If your gonna take the plunge and get a bike, get one the chicks dig, and the chicks dig a hawg!
Click to expand...

That's when it's running, and your not on the side of the road pushing it cause your hawg broke down...
 
I do not really want to get a Harley or a cruiser for my first bike. I am leaning towards a small sport bike, any suggestions?

Thanks for the input already :)
 
I don't know much about motorcycles but I will say this.. My bud just did the course and they were using 250s for learning and for the test. They recommended lower cc for beginners because it takes more experience for bikes with Higher rpm, they are heavier and harder to control and whatnot. My bud went out and bought a Honda CBR 125cc for 2500$.. He's 5,9 and about 160lbs. The bike is a fantastic starter bike because again, its very light, easy to control, does not rev high, very forgiving with the shifting. I am also going to take the course and get a bike before summer's end. I'll be going with a 250 because I'm a bit bigger then him. Once I have experience riding with the 250 then I'll be upgrading to something like an ninja 650.. but I don't recommend starting there.. That's how inexperienced drivers get seriously injured or worse.. Just my 2 cents.
 
Krisis said:
I don't know much about motorcycles but I will say this.. My bud just did the course and they were using 250s for learning and for the test. They recommended lower cc for beginners because it takes more experience for bikes with Higher rpm, they are heavier and harder to control and whatnot. My bud went out and bought a Honda CBR 125cc for 2500$.. He's 5,9 and about 160lbs. The bike is a fantastic starter bike because again, its very light, easy to control, does not rev high, very forgiving with the shifting. I am also going to take the course and get a bike before summer's end. I'll be going with a 250 because I'm a bit bigger then him. Once I have experience riding with the 250 then I'll be upgrading to something like an ninja 650.. but I don't recommend starting there.. That's how inexperienced drivers get seriously injured or worse.. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

Hmm. I will have to see how comfortable I feel while taking the MSF course, and a 125cc is super small.


ralphnader said:
OK not a hawg, but at least keep it in America bro.
Click to expand...

I never even heard of Buell until I Googled: American Sportbike.

And I don't really care if it is American or not :)
 
I ride a 600cc Honda dual sport, and I can't tell you how much I recommend dual sports as a first bike. Mine is older than me ('86) and takes a lot to get going due to its age, but once you do, it'll never kill your back to ride and you can trail ride all you want.

If you're set in your ways though, get the 500cc, it's no problem to start on that, like I said, I started on a 600cc. And a passing semi won't blow you off the road, seriously, on a 250 you will never be able to go on the freeway.

This is what I have
12415_0_1_2_xl%20600%20r_Image%20credits%20-%20John%20Graham.jpg


EDIT: I'm 5'9" 150 lbs

EDIT #2: You might also check out Triumph, they make a wide range of solid bikes. Dealers are more rare than, say, Kawasaki, but give them a look.
 
Last edited:
J_landry said:
I ride a 600cc Honda dual sport, and I can't tell you how much I recommend dual sports as a first bike. Mine is older than me ('86) and takes a lot to get going due to its age, but once you do, it'll never kill your back to ride and you can trail ride all you want.

If you're set in your ways though, get the 500cc, it's no problem to start on that, like I said, I started on a 600cc. And a passing semi won't blow you off the road, seriously, on a 250 you will never be able to go on the freeway.

This is what I have

EDIT: I'm 5'9" 150 lbs

EDIT #2: You might also check out Triumph, they make a wide range of solid bikes. Dealers are more rare than, say, Kawasaki, but give them a look.[/quote]

I've been interested in the BMW dual sports for a while. They look very nice. :drool:
Click to expand...
 
Please god, before you buy a street bike, go find a dirt bike and do some trail riding or at the very least go learn in a BIG empty parking lot with the smallest bike you can can get someone to loan you. Once you've mastered this, then step up to a bigger bike.

Telling a guy to run out and by a big heavy hawg and he's never even set foot on a bike before, sounds like giving a 12 yr kid a loaded gun (with no firearm safety training)
and say, here, go bring home dinner.

Bad advice. Guys he's a first time rider and never riden before at all.

As much as I love a hog, they are not for everyone, they are heavy and expensive and frankly compared to a rice burner, ride like a truck with broke springs.

Honestly, that little 250 is probably more like what you need until you become more accomplished, you'd be surprised how fast that thing can reach 70 mph, from a dead stop. Its easier to handle, gets better gas mileage and will be more enjoyable. The down side, on the highway it will feel like people are blowing you over as the trucks go by, I would not buy it because you will quickly outgrow it. I would look for something USED in the 500- 600cc range. This is probably a good compromise.
 
I started riding 3 years ago and was in the same boat you are, never been on a dirt bike and only rode 4 wheelers a few times at friend's houses. I started on a 2000 Suzuki Bandit 600S in a empty parking lot at the local ball diamond and that was a great way to start in my opinion. It will take awhile before you are even close to being ready for the open road. There are MANY factors that go into picking a bike, but if you are looking at the sport bike style you may want to look at the sport-touring field as well. It has the same sporty look, but you aren't laying on your stomach the whole time killing your back and wrists. Much better option if you are going to be making trips of any distance at all. If it's just cruising around town and that's it, then a crotch rocket would work fine. The 650cc range is going to be very rough starting out with the gearing of a crotch rocket because they are not very forgiving to mistakes, which you will make! I am very conservative and can not be worked up to do a wheelie or anything stupid, so a 600 was fine for me, but can get you into trouble very fast if you're being stupid.

I have a hard time recommending a 250cc even though they are great starter bikes and easy to control because you will out grow it and be wanting to up-size in about 2 - 3 months time. They are what most safety classes use or even a little smaller and the class is essential for being a great biker! I highly recommend the class and I have even known friends that go back and take the class every couple years as a refresher. There are a lot more things you have to be conscious of while on a bike and the class is very good at preparing you mentally for what you need to be doing and to be thinking for when that idiot teenager driving with her foot talking on her cell phone while putting makeup on in her vanity mirror swerves over into your lane and tries to take out your front tire. (Yes, this happened to me.) Luckily I saw what she was doing and that she wasn't paying attention and I was prepared enough to avoid the accident. Main thing to remember is to drive defensively and know that most bike accidents are caused by other motorists and by new riders going into turns too fast.

I personally do not like the cruiser hog styles myself, so I know where you are coming from on this. A few of my friends have them, they are comfortable for longer trips and absorb the road more for you, but were too doggy for me after riding my bike. I want the torque and the instant acceleration at my fingers no matter what speed I'm at to get me out of bad situations fast. My friend bought a 2008 Kawasaki Vulcan Custom Special Edition 900cc and I was cruising up the interstate, had a car right behind me and had another car come over into my lane. I cracked the throttle and it didn't go anywhere and I went off the road and almost hit the guardrail. If I was on my bike when I cracked the throttle it would have thrown me in front of the car in about a second and I would have been fine and never had to leave the road. Sport bikes are far more responsive in speed and handling for the most part, but hard to manage at slower speeds until you have a lot of practice at them. Doing the serpentine cones for the DMV test on my 600cc took a LOT of practice while my friend started on a 2005 Buell Blast and could do it after about his third try. So if you can get a lower end bike cheap and feel confident you can sell it again real soon without trouble I would go for it, but have a bigger bike on standby because you will be wanting it really quickly! Just don't get over confident of your abilities and jump to too big of a bike too soon.

EDIT: Oh, yeah. And as crackdaddy said buy USED!!!! You WILL drop, scratch, ding, or somehow mess up your first bike! Do not buy brand new what you think you want to ride full time as your starter bike. Buy that after you have been riding for a couple years!
 
Last edited:
BTW- My mailman of 46 yrs old was just killed on a motorcyle last week, we buried him 2 days ago. He had been riding for 30 years. Which brought up an interesting conversation just last night about motorcycles. The older bikers are almost never at fault when they wreck. It's either some young kid that thinks he's going to live forever, doing something stupid on one, or some other driver not paying attention. Old bikers don't get to be old without being very suspicious of every car they meet on the road. If your not the type of person that loves to LOOK all the time while going down the road. A motorcycle is not for you. I'm in my late 40's and have owned bikes my whole life until I moved to a large city and people tried to run me over 3 times a week, I had to give up road riding. I enjoy dirt riding more. It a lot more relaxing, and to me that's the best thing about riding.

One more important point, if you buy used, you will not lose that huge depreciation that you will get when you buy new. Find one garage kept 3-8 yrs old with low mileage on it. IMO low miles on a bike is about 5-6k a year. GL

The advice from Viper is 100% correct. I personally like the cruiser bikes myself, yea give me the full fairing, windshield, radio everything. Although I give up a little acceleration due to weight. It makes up for it in comfort, especially if its your primary transportation. I avoid them situations he listed above by just slowing down and giving the idiots lots of room. Then when it opens up, I open up. But yea, I've laid a bike down a couple times in my life fortunately only got a lil road rash and a leg burn. That's the thing, you dont hear of too many bikers talking about their accidents, because most of them are dead. Bottom Line: Be Careful!
 
If I only could buy one bike and I had access to nice trails and just local road riding of less than 20 miles, the enduro type bikes, like the dual sport above, is a fun and easy to ride bike.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top