too many bikes - what to look for

[dean owens]

are you planning on riding alone or riding the wife on the back? figure that out before you buy any bike, and before you buy any bike get an insurance quote, on some bikes you may find the insurance costs more than what you paid for the bike. I have a 2005 Suzuki M50 for sale for $2500, insurance is only $105 a year.

for the most part i plan on riding alone. i'm about 5'8 at about 220lbs. i will mostly be using it for my ride to work (about 20 miles). but i would like the option to take my wife (or someone else) along for a ride. and although my ride to work is fairly flat, i would like to do some mountain riding with some friends after i get a little more comfortable with my skills. oh, and my wife is about 140ish. so with that in mind, would the advice still be to stick with the 600cc-800cc bikes? are some of the bikes that have been mentioned better suited for shorter fellas like myself?

also, how do you go about insurance rates. do you have to call your insurance company and just start going down the list of potential bikes you might want or is there an aproximation list somewhere on-line?

oh, and thanks for the offer, but out of my price range and too soon for me to be buying.

[Shorts]

For an insurance quote, call with a potential list in mind.

[sharpmagna]

For cruiser type bikes, a bike in the 650-800cc range would be a good starter. What you really want to look for is the Hp rating on a bike, Most 800cc bike have around 50hp and that is a good number to start at. It's not too powerful to get you in trouble fast, but it is enough to keep you interested.

Think Honda Shadows, suzuki c50/m50/s50 bikes, yamaha vstar, kawasaki vulcans.

thanks for explaining the cc's as it relates to hp. now, you said to look at the Hp rating. i went into a harley store shortly you posted this. i asked them about the Hp of their bikes and was told by the sales guy that i don't need to worry about Hp but torque (i believe). is that a way to divert because they don't have as much hp as other bikes or is that something else i need to know?

The Harley guy is touting the torque because the V-twin engines they use makes tons of torque. Torque is the amount of force to rotate the wheels. High torque makes for faster take offs on the low end. Higher horsepower numbers usually means more power on the top end.

Now the CC/Hp ratings I mentioned where in reference to cruisers since that is what you are looking for. You can have a 600cc sport bike that will blow the pants off a cruiser bike of the same displacement. Their engines are designed for high horse power and low torque and love to rev to high RPMs.

[MotoF150]

for an insurance quote just go to www.progressive.com, the cruiser bikes are low priced, the sport bikes are high priced, I just hate seeing so many people first buying a new bike then getting the shock later when they find out how much the insurance costs, I know some kids with sport bikes that are paying + $3000 a year on insurance

[qwerty]

I ride a lowly 200cc Yamaha "dualsport" bike. You and your wife together are still within the carrying capacity, but I would think highway speeds would be a bit over-optimistic. Any 500cc+ bike will carry the two of you at highway speeds. The bigger the engine, the less stress on it, but get too big and weight makes in-town handling more difficult. Since you are XL, I would think any 750-1000cc cruiser would be a good start. I would buy a used one, ride it awhile, then make a decision about what else I might prefer based on experience instead of conjecture.

Insurance on my TW200 is $78/year. Insurance on a 250 Ninja would be $800/year. What you ride can make a BIG difference.

[Koss]

Yea, I think there are alot of variables in insurance, but as previously stated what type of bike can make a huge difference. I have comprehensive insurance on my 2006 ninja 500r. I pay $214/year. I don't have a spotless driving record either unfortunatly. I have one claim and two tickets on record.

+1 to the 500cc+ is big enough to carry two people at highway speeds. And I think that a 500-900cc cruiser would be a great way to get started.