new gur looking for advice.

[Big B]

Buy a new bike and think of it as an investment, take a look at the classified section of ur newspaper, everybody wants more money for a used bike than what you can buy it for new, example in my local newspaper: 2004 Yamaha 650 V Star Custom with 3K miles $6200, you can buy a brand spanking new 2006 650 V Star for $4799. Look at what people want for used Harleys I know a guy that wants $17K for a 94 Sportster 883 that you can buy new for $6495, I suggest buy a new bike and if you don't like it you can sell it for more than you paid for it.

and the hits just keep on rolling.

[bok]

all of my buddies that do ride have said you can learn the same things form an experienced buddy in a parking lot and save the cash for some safety gear

statistically learning by yourself is less dangerous than having a buddy teach you, most likely because you will take it slow and a buddy will rush through things. (according to the Hurt report, yeah, yeah, i know it's old, but it's about all we have to go on)

I am a HUGE advocate of the MSF/BRC and the ERC and whether you are new to the sport or back after a five year hiatus, you will learn a lot more than your buddies can teach because usually what will happen is "here's the gas, here's the brake, here's the clutch...now let's hit the road".

Do everyone a favor and buy good gear even if you didn't save any money by having your friends teach you. The cost of the MSF/BRC can range from under a hundred bucks to around 300 on the high end...which is probably one of the cheapest bits of safety you can buy honestly.

if you are looking at a katana 600 you could always put some decent frame sliders on there. I wouldn't recommend it as a first bike, but there are way worse choices.

Not being in the military i am not sure, but, there may be some rules that you have to take "officially sanctioned" riding courses to be able to ride on base or to ride at all, so you may want to look into that before you decide.

P.S. thanks for serving your country /salute

[Dichotomous]

as far as having enough power to pull you, yes it does. it has more power than my SV and I weigh 225lbs, I doubt 15lbs more would matter, and yes its fast as heck. you may want to consider NOT a race replica, not because of all the normal reasons people give on this site, you've likely read those so I wont say them. what I mean is a used bandit or katana or gs500 or sv650 or dl650 (on/off road, comfier ergo's, longer fuel range, better windshield) or any of the sport standards often, have their engines tuned so that their power comes on earlier and torquier. in essence, my sv has more power than any 600 within its RPM range. and a much nicer torque spread. on the streets this is important, especially for a bigger guy like you. torque is the grunt and feel of speed, and the lower it is in the rpm range the easier it is to access. I just dont like the idea of having to rev up to 14000rpms to get 40ft/lbs of torque when my bike does it 8000rpms sooner. you mentioned 600's, so I wont go into the cruiser mode of all the power down low. but the katana will be a better streetbike than the replicas IMO. the replicas will go around a track better everyday. but used even to a very unreasonable level there wont be too much difference on the road, except that on the kat your hands will hurt less and the power will be easier to access and you'll get more gas milage and wont have to use premium. as far as a 250 goes, it might be a little small for you. after taking the course a sport-touring or sport standard 600(ish) would probably be fine

[soldier96]

as far as having enough power to pull you, yes it does. it has more power than my SV and I weigh 225lbs, I doubt 15lbs more would matter, and yes its fast as heck. you may want to consider NOT a race replica, not because of all the normal reasons people give on this site, you've likely read those so I wont say them. what I mean is a used bandit or katana or gs500 or sv650 or dl650 (on/off road, comfier ergo's, longer fuel range, better windshield) or any of the sport standards often, have their engines tuned so that their power comes on earlier and torquier. in essence, my sv has more power than any 600 within its RPM range.

First off, I really love the pics. I hope that is not disrepecting your wife or girlfriend or anything.
But anyway, I hear the sv650 is an awsome budget bike that performs. I have read that it is vey user friendly and has plenty of power to please. But one thing, call me super-ficial but i really hate the naked look. So, that brings me around to my next round of questions.

1. Can you buy fairings to fit on a naked bike. If the sv650 would suit a nebie better, than i would probably go with that if it wasnt for the naked thing.

2. What exactly are frame sliders and how much do thhey cost. EWveryoe seems to refer to them like they are a big help. I could probably guess what they were based off the name alone, But if someone could tell me it would be great.

3. And lastly, Does the 600 Katana count as a "sport-tourer"

Keep the advise coming please

[VermilionX]

1. Can you buy fairings to fit on a naked bike. If the sv650 would suit a nebie better, than i would probably go with that if it wasnt for the naked thing.

yes, you can get full farings for the SV650S.

2. What exactly are frame sliders and how much do thhey cost. EWveryoe seems to refer to them like they are a big help. I could probably guess what they were based off the name alone, But if someone could tell me it would be great.

they help reduce damage to the fairings and frame. i've seen some bikes that lowsided and the sliders prevented a lot of more serious damage.


3. And lastly, Does the 600 Katana count as a "sport-tourer"

yes, i would classify it like that.

Keep the advise coming please

here's a pic of a full fairing SV650S.

SV650S full fairings

[m1a1dvr]

And one question for you. Where are you at in Iraq. I just got back from there about a month ago. I am also with the National Guard

Thanks all for the support. M1A1dvr, i am at camp victory in baghdad. Much worse places to be. Thats what we need, some Abrams to just "do their thing"

Ive been through baghdad many times. It really is a fun place.

[Dichotomous]

yeah you can get full fairings for an SV, and you can do all kinds of things to change it entirely into anything, but it sounds like where you are really wanting to go is in the katana range, unless you dont like the swoopy and curvy look, the newer svs with full fairings is much more folded and angular instead of curvy. Though the katana is a great bike, if it had the "look" I wanted I would likely have tried to find one harder. You could also check out the kawi 650r thats out lately, great bike also I have heard, and much more comfortable than the sv.

(she'd be wicked shy and humble about it, and it was hell getting her on the bike with a camera in my hands, but the pics are small enough and she's covered and I tried to take them fairly classy. I like how shes doing the cute head tilt in the one)

[Mr_Salad]

Buy a new bike and think of it as an investment, take a look at the classified section of ur newspaper, everybody wants more money for a used bike than what you can buy it for new, example in my local newspaper: 2004 Yamaha 650 V Star Custom with 3K miles $6200, you can buy a brand spanking new 2006 650 V Star for $4799. Look at what people want for used Harleys I know a guy that wants $17K for a 94 Sportster 883 that you can buy new for $6495, I suggest buy a new bike and if you don't like it you can sell it for more than you paid for it.

In my experience it is a buyer's market out there. All the private sellers are going to put as high of a price on the ad as they can. Just because it is advertised for that price, doesn't mean they will sell it for that.

I just recently bought a used bike from a guy who had listed it on craigslist. He was asking $2200 for a bike that was worth $1400 according to an average of KBB, NADA and MCN. I thought that was ridiculous, but I thought it was a good bike that was worth checking out. So I looked at the bike, test drove it and showed him a spreadsheet of all the values of his bike and the average value. I offered him what I thought it was worth, and bought the bike for $1460.

So I wouldn't be scared away from buying a used bike just because the price is higher than the bike is worth. You can always negotiate and most guys just want to sell their bike so they can use the money to get a bigger, better one.

On the other hand, buying a new bike (if you can afford it) is a great luxury because it will come with a warranty and you are guaranteed that the bike has no hidden flaws. So do your research and I'm sure you'll find something that fits you perfectly.

[Andrew]

Not being in the military i am not sure, but, there may be some rules that you have to take "officially sanctioned" riding courses to be able to ride on base or to ride at all, so you may want to look into that before you decide.

Army regs say that you have to complete the MSF course or another officially sanctioned course, and have to ride in full gear(helmet, jacket, pants, boots, reflective vest) at all times, on or off post. If you get in an accident and you don't have all of that, you don't get any of your medical benifits or life insurance. Just ask my wife, she read the entire regulation so that if I do something stupid, she gets the money or I get medical care.

Even if it wasn't required, the MSF course is more than worth it. And when the Army will pay for it, why not?

soldier96, just don't be another one of the guys who get backand wreck within a week of returning. I get a preliminary loss report at least weekly about guys doing that.

[soldier96]

Even if it wasn't required, the MSF course is more than worth it. And when the Army will pay for it, why not?

Now thats something i gotta hear. No offense to the taxpayers out there, but how do I get the Army to pay for that course. I know that some colleges offer it as a techinical driving course or something like that but please, enlighten a young chap of this usage of Army Funding,