What would you recomend for a first bike?

[gazoo]

Below is an E-mail from my friends son regarding his first motorcycle. I've already talked him out of a CBR929R, and he's responded with the E-mail below.
Mike is 19, with a suprisingly good head on his shoulders, but has very little riding experience. Thought's, anyone?



Hey Gazoo,
I have started looking around for a bike in the 600 CC range. Of the deals that are in my price range these are the ones that stick out the most.
I was wondering if you could check out the links and tell me what you think. They go in order of what I think of them. What do you think? Any that
are worth a phonecall to the owner/going to look at?

2002 Suzuki SV650 S - Asking $6000 (This is my favorite of the four)
http://www.buysell.com/root/detail/Calgary,%20Alberta/Motorcycles_500_1000cc/4815/56885519/SWEET_DEAL_2002_Suzuki_SV650_S_in_mint.aspx

2000 Honda CRB 600 F4 - Asking $6200
http://www.buysell.com/root/detail/Calgary,%20Alberta/Motorcycles_500_1000cc/4815/56948947/2000_HONDA_CBR_600_F4_low_kms_10_260km.aspx

2001 Kawasaki ZX-6R - Asking $6250
http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-2001-Yellow-Black-Kaxi-ZX-6R-6250-OBO-W0QQAdIdZ10335684

1998 Suzuki Katana 600 - Asking $4600
http://www.buysell.com/root/detail/Calgary,%20Alberta/Motorcycles_500_1000cc/4815/57002094/1998_SUZUKI_KATANA_600_34000kms_600_cc.aspx

Thanks in advance for all the help
-Mike *******

[c-lapier]

I've demoed the SV ,and thought it was a blast; it also gets great reviews in magazines, but the prices seem much too high.

[Ken]

Take the MSF and see if you can grab the Katana for 4200

[fastflyer20]

Katana or SV650 - Great bikes to learn on and grow into. The crotch rockets are not good starter bikes due to:
Poor torque
Poor road seating position (uncomfortable)
Advanced handling characteristics

The Kawasaki EX500 has always been one of my favorites as a starter bike and they can be had for not lots of $$$'s.

Other good choices in the newer models are some of the naked 600's.

[tdeboeser]

Definitely the SV. Lot of 'em out there, helps to get a good price and there are lots of parts.
And the bike grows pretty well... meaning you won't "out grow" it skill wise. And the aftermarket can make it faster as the rider gets better.

Tom de

[GRN]

Definitely the SV. Lot of 'em out there, helps to get a good price and there are lots of parts. And the bike grows pretty well... meaning you won't "out grow" it skill wise. And the aftermarket can make it faster as the rider gets better.

Tom de

+1, and the BRC.

[motomac]

By all means get him to a Basic Rider Course FIRST. Then if he gets through that, then worry about which bike to get. IMHO the Honda 599 would make an ideal first bike.

[racer1735]

Of the bikes listed I'd take the SV (but the asking price is too high). If I were to do it all over again (What? And throw away 21 years of practice?), I'd get a Honda XR400. After riding a dual sport for the past few years (in addition to the ST of course), they offer a great balance between light weight, agility and power. Very confidence inspiring. And like the ST, you can farkle away until you run out of money!

[gazoo]

Hey, thanks a bunch guys. Personally, I picked SV first, Katana second, but I have no idea on what they're worth (It's Canadian dollars, BTW).
I've forwarded the whole thread over to him. It'll be fun to see what he ends up with. All that's left is to get his old man riding again...

Thanks again,
Gazoo

[egar]

I started on a clean used Shadow 750 and sold it for the price I originally paid after two years of riding. Great bike, easy to handle. Yes, it's a cruiser but it was a joy. Then I moved up to my ST

[Geoff]

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/roadtests/cost_effective_motorcycles/index.html

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/roadtests/is_bigger_better//index.html

two great articles about the kawasaki vulcan 500...if you dont need a sport bike this is one of the best bikes to start with..I put 11,000 miles on mine, then got a shadow aero 750 and now the ST ...wanna buy a beautiful aero 750??

The vulcan is a great bike and a great price. Geoff:cool: :burnout :usflag2:

[George]

SV 650.

[stonecarver]

Kawasaki has a new model in Canada called the Versys. "Naked" bike with the same engine as the Ninja 650R. Adjustable suspension at both ends and quite light. It has a small fairing with somewhat adjustable wind screen. Quite tall though. I have a 29" inseam and had a heck of a time getting on and off it. Suggested retail is 9,000. It can be seen in the touring and street section of Kawasaki.ca.

Brian

[BigTom]

Yep. SV650 or V Strom 650 (DL, I think). Depending on inseam and riding wishes...

[Sink]

Well, if ya can't find a good used Turbocharged Busa in his price range, I'd sure steer him towards the SV!

[Sylvain]

The Vstrom is a great choice.

[Brighteyesue]

I am so grateful for this thread. My husband does not ride and of course since I want to share my life with him, I want him to join me riding. Anyway, I have been trying to explain the necessity of a starter bike that is significantly smaller than my ST.

He didnt get it until I printed this thread for him - WHEW! I am delighted that he is showing at some interest - woohoo! Besides, even with my tipover bars installed, no way is a newbie gonna ride my BlackBeauty. My heart would sink as my beloved bike and husband would go down together :eek:. This was a big help.

[sherob]

I am so grateful for this thread. My husband does not ride and of course since I want to share my life with him, I want him to join me riding. Anyway, I have been trying to explain the necessity of a starter bike that is significantly smaller than my ST.

He didnt get it until I printed this thread for him - WHEW! I am delighted that he is showing at some interest - woohoo! Besides, even with my tipover bars installed, no way is a newbie gonna ride my BlackBeauty. My heart would sink as my beloved bike and husband would go down together :eek:. This was a big help.

LOL!!! This reminds me of my wife when she said she could ride a bike. I told her she wouldn't be putting her butt on my ST until she did the BRC and rode a smaller bike for a while. The first thing she said after that was "I can ride... the left foot control is the brake and the right is the shifter!" :eek: I laughed and pointed out her mistake and said "I rest my case." :cool:

[DRAFT1]

Can't go wrong with the SV. Fun bike to own.

[UNTMatt]

SV650 or the DL650 make excellent starter bikes.

Used if possible.

I don't know that I agree with the statement of sportbikes having poor torque. Problem is their application of torque, hp, light weight, and 'twitchieness' that causes issue with beginning riders. Most modern sportbikes are just a few thousand dollars short of a full on race bike.

The following is a post made in another forum (not my own writing) on sportbikes as first bikes.

Why not a GSXR/R6/ZXR/CBR/996 etc?

Well, I am not sure that the fact that these are "only 600's" means a great deal, they are seen as "slow" by newer riders, and therefore easier to master than the 1000cc versions. Many people have said that they feel a 750 would be fine.

I guess that your idea of slow, is a fair bit different to mine. My idea of slow is something that accelerates like, say, a Geo Metro, not something that accelerates faster than a Dodge Viper.

Lets face it, the modern 600 is faster than a 750 of six or seven years ago, in a straight line, up to about 130mph.......

Six years ago the 750 class was in the middle of open warefare season, the (then new) SRAD 750 was the king of the beasts, trouncing the CBR900RR, and the FZR1000 or Chunderace) and destroying everything else in its path. Not just in a straight line either, but the 96 SRAD was a marvellous corner carver.

In its day, it was brutal - it still is, wild head shakes, inadvertant wheelies, and an utterly brutal rush beyond 10K RPM.

The latest 600's whilst just as fast, are only slightly more civilised, the power is not as brutal, but there is still a huge rush, and on the dyno they are only a couple of HP short of the benchmark.

So the power of the latest 600's is amazing, there is frankly more than 99% of people can use, and more than anyone can need on the street - on the track its a different matter, but we are talking street bikes here.....

Its not just the power either, its the power delivery.

These bikes are race-bikes with lights, or at least they are very, very similar to race bikes. In order to be competative in racing, where modifications are minimal, the engines are tuned to be very "racer friendly". The throttle response beyond a few thousand revs is instant, this is great if you are on a track, but merely OK on the road. If you are heavy-handed, it can be very dangerous. The MSF course teaches you to roll on the throttle in a curve, to a newr rider, rolling on is just that, add 1/4 turn maybe ? Well with a modern sports bike 1/4 turn is FULL throttle. Rolling on on these bikes means may 1/32nd of a turn - if that.

This is not a nice trait - you have just gone from 20hp to 80hp in the blink of an eye, and you lowsided - if you are lucky- into the scenery.

So, handling is the next problem.

These bikes are race bikes with lights, this means that they are super-fast handling. In fact they are astonishingly nervous, in order to make they turn fast, they are set-up to respond to minute inputs, and this is another major issue for a new rider. A new rider will not have the subltly of input that the bike needs, rather than push the bars, you apply a slight pressure, and the bike sails into the bends, push on the bars hard, and it becomes all nervous and unsettled, and again, the new rider may be lucky to get through the bend.

Obviously this will not be a good thing - to an experienced rider these bikes feel planted, and predictable, for a new rider, they feel horrible, and your confidence takes a hit.

Ok - Brakes

Again, these bikes are similar to race bikes. One of the few places that they differ is in the braking department. The brake pads have to last a little longer than race compound ones, so they are a little less brutal than those on a racer, also they have rubber hoses, which have a little "give" in them, making it harder to lock the fronts.

But, they are still eye-poppingly good, its possible to stand any of these bikes on its nose, at really, really high speeds, assumning you are hard enough on the brakes.

Then there is the rear brake, and again this is overly efficient, all too easy to lock it, all to easy to high-side as a result of the locked brake.

Repair costs.

As they are race replica's they comer covered in expensive plastic. Each side is $600 or more. A slow-speed drop could easily cost you over $1000 just in plastic bits. Add to that the normal "consumables" and you are in the $1300 range for a 10mph spill.

Combine all of these factors, and I hope that you see why a sportsbike is not a good first bike.

It has exactly the wrong set of characteristics for a new rider to learn to ride. Its too fast, too responsive, too twitchy, too nervous, the brakes are too sharp and they cost a lot to fix.

I'm not going to tell you that you should not get one (I'm not your mother), just that you need to bear in mind that these bikes belong in the "expert class", not the "new rider" one.

[STOnkin'aussie]

sv - universally commended and you will be able to get parts in a butcher shop.

[hondacuraworld]

Myself, the one terror for me on my first bike was inadvertently pulling a wheelie and flipping tail over teakettle and biting the pavement :eek:

While I enjoyed riding, the thought terrorized me for about my first thousand miles, hence my '82 Suzuki GS850GL. It's a shaft drive, therefore far more difficult to wheelie. Aside from a clutch dump, I'm not sure that it can!

You may want, of course, to go newer than mine, but I will say that mine was an excellent bike to learn on. Very predictable, solid, and easy to handle. It all depends on his confidence level and riding conditions.

[night stalker]

Katana is a heavy bike but can take a hell of a beating. I would go with the SV or the Honda CBR.

[brianm767]

My 19 yr old daughter rides a SV650S, it's blast to ride, it's also very easy to ride due to the low end TQ, I would recomend one for a newbie is they refuse to start off on a beater or maybe a good clean used Ninja500 first, my daughter rode her Ninja500 for a year before switching to the SV.

[Blue STreak]

I don't know about the SV. It's actually remarkably fast. It's very easy to grab a fistful of throttle and bring the front wheel up. As experienced riders, I think we forget just how easy it is to get in over your head, and how quicky it can happen. And I would say absolutely stay away from any of the 600cc (or bigger) inline fours, like the CBR, R6, or Ninja. It's just too tempting to use that power, and inexperienced riders just don't realize that their limits are far lower than the bike's.

My 18 year old son just got his first bike. I considered the SV, but ended up telling him he could get a Ninja 500 or GS 500. Both are 500cc 2 cylinder bikes, and both are more than fast enough to have serious fun on. But they're also less likely to get away from you when you grab a handful of throttle pulling away from a stop sign.

We ended up with an '05 GS 500. I've ridden it, and it's a blast. Compared to the ST it feels like a race bike, it's so light and nimble. It will easily out-accelerate any car but the fast exotics on the road, so keeping up with traffic is no issue. And it's cheap to run, too.

[Wheels of Fire]

Scar the kid for life and make him get a Honda Rebel...

[PAYogi]

Has he thought about a V-Strom 650? Talk about a forgiving bike!! and there aren't a lot of bits to break if it should fall. Same motor as the SV, but a little more torque and less top end.