New to.. well, everything..

[K_Swifted]

I am basically new to the motorcycle life. I have ridden my friends bikes a few times, nothing major though. I am in the market for a good new bike. I was at a dealership and was told that buying a 2007 Suzuki Boulevard c50 would be a good bike for me. It is 800cc but was told that the learning curve from beginner to intermediate is so quick that it wouldn't be worth my money to buy a lower power bike, especially considering I am 6'2 and about 230lbs. I have sat on the C50 for quite a while and it is comfortable, I like the weight of it. Just wondering on how this bike would perform as a bike for someone who hasn't owned one himself and only ridden friends bikes a few times.

[Wrider]

Add 70 lbs and that's what I weighed when I started off on a 2001 Suzuki Volusia. Same bike, just carbeurated instead of fuel injected and pegs instead of floorboards. I found it a good beginner bike for me because it had plenty of torque, hp, and wasn't too heavy for me. I used that bike for 3300 miles in 5 months before I had to sell it. I had it at it's top speed, scraped frame on both sides, all kinds of such, and I loved the bike.
Before I bought it I had ridden a friend's Rebel 250 around a parking lot and the MSF class's Yamaha TW200. So yeah, I didn't have much experience either and I loved it! Good luck and feel free to PM with more questions.
Wrider

[Lion_Lady]

I am basically new to the motorcycle life. I have ridden my friends bikes a few times, nothing major though. I am in the market for a good new bike. I was at a dealership and was told that buying a 2007 Suzuki Boulevard c50 would be a good bike for me. It is 800cc but was told that the learning curve from beginner to intermediate is so quick that it wouldn't be worth my money to buy a lower power bike, especially considering I am 6'2 and about 230lbs. I have sat on the C50 for quite a while and it is comfortable, I like the weight of it. Just wondering on how this bike would perform as a bike for someone who hasn't owned one himself and only ridden friends bikes a few times.

Actually, it isn't worth buying a NEW first bike.

Consider: You are a total motorcycle virgin. You think you know what you want, you've heard stories and seen the magazines and those cruisers sure look cool with all that chrome, riding by on a sunny afternoon. But you have no idea what is really involved in riding one... what if you find out that you hate it?

Once you've got some experience with riding you may discover that a cruiser really doesn't fit the way you realize you prefer to ride, be it tight twisty roads, or maybe taking long weekend trips. If you finance a new bike before you have a clue, you really ARE wasting your money.

Buy a nice used cruiser to learn on. When you've got some skills and saddle time in, then you'll have the savvy to REALLY know which cruiser you want (or sportbike or even a tourer), and can get a bike that suits the more knowledgeable you.

P

[storysunfolding]

I'm in agreement with lionlady

[Lion_Lady]

A student in my class that finished this afternoon, already has a nice new 600cc cruiser in his garage. He's been putting around his cul de sac because he can't wait...

Well. He did NOT get his "M" certificate. He was shaky on all the basics, and will have to retake the riding test (you get ONE retest, then its retake the whole class). Maybe more seat time will help, but if it doesn't, then this poor guy has a $5K albatros in his garage.

P

[Nancyboy]

I'm writing to suggest you take your time in buying a bike and don't have your first one be brand new and expensive. I have ridden motorcycles off and on since I was in my 20's (I'm 63 next month). I started out with dirt bikes: a Honda 125 and a Yamaha 250 trials bike (my personal favorite that took me on some really hairy poker runs). Later I started road riding: a Suzuki Intruder 800, and a Honda Shadow 1100. My husband then decided we should get out of the cruiser business (which was actually pretty boring) and get more into "sport bikes", the first being a Honda Nighthawk 750 and then a BMW R1100R for me (which was another favorite in terms of road bikes), and a Suzuki Bandit 1200 for my husband. After that novelty wore off, we decided dual-sport riding was the way to go so we got a couple of KLR 650's. We had a great time with these as well, doing many Western states by way of the back (namely, gravel) roads, but then decided to quit biking (for some stupid reason!?). Well...now we are back into biking similar to where we started: Yamaha XT 225 Dual Sports. We (I at least) plan to do mostly dirt riding; maybe not the hill climbing I used to, but very little road and mostly trail and back-woods stuff. My rambling point is, until you try different biking venues, you won't know what you like best, in either the type of riding or the features of a bike. We were somewhat limited in our choices because we are vertically impaired (I'm 5'5" and weigh 130), and look how many bikes we went through. You'll have many more choices than we did, so do your research, try lots of different bikes where and when you can, and start out buying a used bike in good condition. Good luck to you and have a great time riding, whatever bike you choose. Nancy

[Dragonhawk]

I am basically new to the motorcycle life. I have ridden my friends bikes a few times, nothing major though. I am in the market for a good new bike. I was at a dealership and was told that buying a 2007 Suzuki Boulevard c50 would be a good bike for me. It is 800cc but was told that the learning curve from beginner to intermediate is so quick that it wouldn't be worth my money to buy a lower power bike, especially considering I am 6'2 and about 230lbs. I have sat on the C50 for quite a while and it is comfortable, I like the weight of it. Just wondering on how this bike would perform as a bike for someone who hasn't owned one himself and only ridden friends bikes a few times.

You don't actually trust and believe the advice of salespeople, do you?

You are nothing more than a commission. Dollar signs. He has ZERO interest in what is "best for you" as a bike. Only what is best for his quota.

Do your research. Then you walk into a dealership and you dictate to THEM what you will buy and what you will pay. Period. There is no compromise. There is no negotiation. You are the boss. You control the entire deal. They don't like it - you leave. Buy from someone else. Simple.

[MZ33]

From Nancy's post alone, you can see that there will always be used bikes around. And then, someday, you can sell yours to a newbie and trade up . . . once you know what you want.

Think how rotten you'll feel if you scrape up a brand-new, pretty bike! This way, if you are like me, when you pick your used bike up off the ground, you can congratulate yourself on your foresight. Not your riding skills necessarily, but your foresight.

[batstiva]

^^ +1. I spent 900 bucks on my starter bike. If it goes down, will it hurt-yes, will I be mad-yes. But I will be glad that I didn't lay down a 15,000 dollar bike. I just finished day 1 of course work in my MSF class, and one of my classmates did just that. Bought a 15,000 dollar bike and then signed up for the course.

And now he says all he can think about is how mad he will be if he lays it down.

[camthepyro]

Two important things to note here:

First, the salesman is trying to sale you bike. He doesn't have your best interests in mind (at least most of them don't).

Second, you're going to lay it down. In the history of motorcycles, I don't think a single rider has failed to drop their bike at least once. You really don't want to drop a shiny new bike. You'll feel a lot better dropping an old dented piece of crap.

Third (I lied, there is more than two reasons), don't think that because of your size, you need a big bike. This is not the case. Many new riders have the misconception that a small bike (whether that's physical size, CCs, or horsepower) won't be able to get them around. In my opinion, anything 250+ will get you around just fine on anything but a highway (which you shouldn't ride on until you're more experienced anyway).