Please help us in choosing bike

[Unimerwolfwing]

Hi, my fiance and I are looking to getting a Cruiser motorcycle, we're going to be living rather far from his job so we need something with good mpg. He just got his endorsement so this is going to be his first bike, he is 5'6", 140lbs, and inseam 28" , Mr. Stubborn here insists he can handle a Kawasaki Vulcan 800cc or a Honda Shadow 750cc but I have my doubts because as far as I know lifting 500lbs is not easy and last thing I want is for him to get hurt or both of us to get hurt since I'll be holding on to him. Unfortunately we are short on cash so Craigslist budget of up to $2000. Can you guys help me out, make some suggestions on what bike to get? Something similar in looks to a Vulcan or Shadow so Mr. Stubborn can look , that's not too heavy but that can handle both our weights (I'm 115lbs) and won't leave us broke. I know it's a lot of specifics but I'd really appreciate some help.

[Johnj]

Kawasaki Ninja 500, Suzuki GS500 both can be had for 1300 to 1700.

[agraebner]

Let me be the bad guy here this time........ A good many of riders here will recommend not riding two up for a while till he has a bit of experience. I would also recommend that you both take a safety course even though you may not be driving you should know the basics if you are getting on a bike. That all being said Honda VLX I just sold was a good looking bike with plenty of power for riding two up. I believe more miles on it were ridden two up than just me. It also got about 70 MPG with premium and a couple cheap simple mods. In my opinion it was very user friendly bike. The price on a decent one should be in your budget. There is a lot to be said for a more universal style bike. Once I rode my 91 nighthawk for a few days I had little reservation about selling the VLX as the standard is more comfortable for a passenger, carries more and has more room. I am undoubtedly a better rider since i have had it. There does seem to be plenty of good reason they use nighthawks for safety courses. The bikes of this style can be picked up fairly easy and sold for what you paid for them. In the long run a years experience on a starter bike will be priceless in the skills you can build, then you get your money back on the bike. This also leaves your pretty new ride for after those first few oops-es. As to the comment about HANDLING a bike I customer of mine is a safety instructor for the state of MD she is 118 lbs soaking wet and rides a full dress Goldwing. Handling any bike is about SKILL not strength so it is LEARNED. Be safe and enjoy a long happy life of riding. Welcome aboard.

[Wrider]

Yup you should definitely wait for 2 up until you have a bit of experience under your belt. Personally I started on a Suzuki Volusia, which is an 800cc cruiser. But I'm a pretty big boy and even I had a few little "whoops" type surprises where I felt the weight of the bike.
Honestly even a VStar 650 should handle 2 up on the Interstate without too much trouble.

[Thumper]

Mr. Stubborn here insists he can handle a Kawasaki Vulcan 800cc or a Honda Shadow 750cc

Either of those is not an unreasonable first bike...both fit into the general under 800cc rule of thumb for first cruisers.

BUT

He should probably have about 6 months-1 year experience before taking a passenger. When I bought my first bike, the advice I got was 6000 miles minimum (from the sales guy, no less, who also didn't want to sell the Spouse Thingy gear so that he could ride with me just to remove the temptation...other riders backed him up on that...)

agraebner mentioned the Honda VLX...that, too is a decent first bike and will ride 2 up. It's buzzy and I hated the one we had for that reason, but for a first bike, it's a good choice.