First Bike for an Old Fart

[Gummiente]

What should I expect the differences to be if I went from the 250s used in the classes to buying a 500 to 750cc?

A lot depends upon what style of bike you'll be getting. If you're looking at a sportbike, you'll find the handling much quicker, the brakes touchier and the acceleration a lot quicker than what you'll experience on the course bikes. If you go for a standard bike or even a cruiser, you'll find the handling characteristics familiar but with (usually) more power and better brakes. Whatever bike you purchase, the best thing you can do for yourself is to practice what you'll learn on the course in an empty parking lot to get familiarised with it. Ideally, you should purchase a bike as soon as possible after the course so you can practice the skills while they're fresh in your mind.

There's other things to consider apart from handling and performance, such as what purpose the new bike will be used for. Commuting, touring, weekend canyon carving, dual-sport adventures and so on each have their own unique characteristics - a cruiser will not be a good choice to go chasing sportbikes down the Tail Of The Dragon, for example.

Do you have a particular style and make of bike in mind yet?

[slider03]

Good question. A mid-sized cruiser is what I had in mind, but I'm not familiar with the various makes and models to have a preference. Since I'm looking for a used bike, I'd like to find a model that's known for it's durability, since I want to learn to ride, and not learn to be a bike mechanic. I'd also like to find a model that I would be comfortable on, since I'm rather tall, and would not want my knees up over the gas tank.

[ZooTech]

I stand behind my frequent recommendation of the Suzuki C50. But another bike that I personally was considering before I purchased my Meanie is the Suzuki S83. The internet doesn't do it justice, you have to go see it in person. It has a bit of hot-rod style and should be a real kick to ride.

[Gummiente]

A mid-sized cruiser is what I had in mind, but I'm not familiar with the various makes and models to have a preference. Since I'm looking for a used bike, I'd like to find a model that's known for it's durability, since I want to learn to ride, and not learn to be a bike mechanic. I'd also like to find a model that I would be comfortable on, since I'm rather tall, and would not want my knees up over the gas tank.

Pretty much every bike made these days is reliable, they have to be or the company wouldn't stay in business. But as you'll be looking for a used bike I'd suggest you search for something built within the last five years; the mileage on most bikes this age will be fairly low, they're more likely to have been maintained better, parts will be easier to obtain (I had an '80 Honda CB650 project bike a couple years back, the only parts I could get were from salvage yards), mechanics will be more familiar with them come servicing time and you'll probably find a better assortment of aftermarket goodies for them.

Having said that, there are many bikes I could offer up as suggestions but in the end it's you that has to decide. But based on what you've said about yourself so far, I'm thinking you should look in the 650-750 range as these bikes tend to be physically larger than the 500's and better suited to your height. Bikes like the Honda Shadow Spirit 750, Yamaha V-Star 650 series, Kawasaki Vulcan 750 and Suzuki Intruder series are good bikes to check out. To get a feel for these kinds of bikes, you can visit all your local dealers and spend some time sitting on the new models. Most dealers usually carry a good stock of used bikes, too.

[scan]

In the cruiser class I think the 750cc or something around that is a good next step. They are not too big and hard to handle as the 1100 and up bikes. I will say though if you are a cautious rider and learned a lot in the MSF you may be able to handle a larger bike as well. Just spend the time practicing as you said (parking lots, low traffic areas). The biggest surprise in the cruiser class will not be too much power, but too much weight. In the sport class the biggest problem IS too much power even in the lower CCs. In the cruiser class there are exceptions as far as power goes (V-max, Yamaha Warrior, VTX1800) but most of these are well known for power and look the part.

I ran around on a Honda Rebel 250 for a couple months. I sold it for about the same price I bought it and that is a great feature of that bike. I made a big jump from there myself, but I'm glad I spent a couple months getting use to the controls. To each his own though. To this day I still practice swerving, braking, and slow speed manuvers in parking lots. You can never practice for control too much.

[Gummiente]

However, catering to the lowest common denominator is, more often than not, a grave disservice to those who do not fall into that category. That is why I suggested the two-step course, because I understand that the 250cc bikes do serve a purpose for a small fraction of the populous.

I understand and, for the most part, agree with what you're saying. But these courses run on a limited budget and the cost of maintaining two sets of bikes - one for complete newbies and one for partially experienced riders - just wouldn't be feasible. In my experience as an instructor, the majority of students were complete newbies or had very little prior riding experience. We never had any complaints about the bikes being too small from them, but we did have a few "returning riders" that found the concept of having to ride a little Suzuki GN125 around while their big Nomads, Road Stars, Fat Boys, Gold Wings, Hayabusas, etc, waited out in the parking lot to be a bit degrading.

But the important part is that everyone learned the basics of motorcycle riding and applied those basics to their own rides afterwards. I've had lots of feedback from former students over the years and have yet to hear one of them complain about the inadequacies of the course bikes (other than that some of them looked like pieces of cr*p from years of abuse). Many did state they wished there was more "real life" training to the coure, ie: taking them out on pubic roads instead of being confined to the controlled course area, but the safety and liability policies of the college grounds where we teach prohibits that sort of training, unfortunately. That, to me, is the real issue with the training.