1st bike idea, sugestions please

[Jamers!]

I am a 17 year old male who has never ridden (that right word?) more than a 250cc dirt bike. Time has come for me to get something to go to college and stuff with. I was thinking the Suzuki SV650s or the kawasaki zzr 600. Both might be a little more powerful than i need but are good sized bikes for me and fit well when im was on them at the dealership. I plan to take a MSF course next month but still dont want to have a bike that may not be the best fit for me. I will be riding it to and from friends places and college mostly so it needs to be able to do some highway speed but nothing extreme. Any comments on those 2 bikes or sugestions of bikes would be appreciated. Thank you

JWF

[icariz83]

Check out the sticky blah blah blah....

Okay if you have no experience the SV might be too much for you but if your head is screwed on straight you will be okay.
Many people start out fresh on bikes much worse than the 2 you chose.

[swatter555]

Be careful, your lack of experience on 4 wheels is going to put you at a serious disadvantage on the road, especially X 10 in LA. Make sure you take it real easy.

If you feel comfortable on a bike smaller than an SV650, dont discount those until you check. I would say the ZZR600 is a handful to try and learn on.

[cuyose]

I agree with the last post, you lack of driving experience in general will have more to do with your choice than how powerful the bike is. The ability to be comfortable on the bike is huge, but more importantly to anticipate and decide what to do to avoid situations BEFORE they occur is even more important.

If you have had any accidents recently in your car, just imagine how they would have been on a bike. The power comes into play when an inexperienced rider attempts to make those decisions and does not execute correctly. A sport bike has no clue you may not know what you are doing and when you twist that throttle to avoid something, IT GOES, wether you are ready or not.

I started out on a 1200 Bandit and have had no problems, however I have been driving for almost 20 years without an accident in a car previous.

It is relatively easy to sell a smaller bike and upgrade, so you might want to go with something that will forgive your inexperience a little more, and go up to a bigger bike when you feel very comfortable.

My best suggestions is to go with what feels good, DON'T SHOW OFF no matter how exited you are to have a bike, and get out a lot early in the morning with no traffic and practice, practice, practice.

[Jamers!]

lack of experience on 4 wheels is going to put you at a serious disadvantage on the road, especially X 10 in LA. Make sure you take it real easy.

i have driven my parents cars a whole lot, driving experience is not lacked, well not to much anyway, what i meant but something to go to college and such with was something of my own. Sorry that wasent clearer

so what im getting is that both of those are two powerfull, the SV being the better choice of the two.

So ive heard a few named throwen around, but sound a lot like just buy an older smaller and upgrade later, and the sticky just renforced that. Sounds good to me, how small is small? and what should i be looking for when i go shopping? Thank you

[swatter555]

Im not trying to down you or anything, but you do lack alot of driving experience. As you get more experience, you will have more awareness and a better anticapation of what other drivers are going to do. What this means for you, in concrete terms, is that you will need to drive defensively and try to be more aware than people around you. This only becomes more important when your on a motorcycle.

Not to mention, teenagers tend to have a lead foot, I was one of them. Your going to have to leave that behind while your learning.

Normally, I wouldnt have a problem recommending an SV650 for a newb to learn on, if they have their head screwed on straight. I hesistate in your case, because you have that disadvantage of road experience on top of all the other challenges of learning to ride.

What bike should you get? Get a bike you feel absolutely comfortable on. I would sit on a 250cc bike first, then a 500, and then the SV650. At that point it should be pretty clear where your comfort level is. The SV650 is bigger and is going to have alot more power, it will be trickier to learn on.

Plus, your 17 and just starting out. Take it one step at a time, you will be on your dream bike before your 20.

[flynrider]

i have driven my parents cars a whole lot, driving experience is not lacked, well not to much anyway, what i meant but something to go to college and such with was something of my own.

With all due respect JWF, you're 17. Driving experience will come over time (like maybe in 5 or 10 or 15 yrs.), but I can just about guarantee you that right now, you only think you are an experienced driver.

I think the point that folks are trying to make here is that you've barely scratched the surface of "stupid motorist tricks" that can get you in trouble on four wheels, so you need to be aware that those same tricks will be twice as deadly on two.

A couple of years ago I lost a friend to a traffic accident. Her daughter (18 and a "good driver" was driving). Someone cut them off on a highway, but ultimately, her daughter's inexperience in dealing with high speed manuevers caused her to overcorrect and roll. I got the same lesson after I'd been driving a few years (fortunately with no deaths) and aside from a performance driving school, it's the kind of stuff you learn over the years by (hopefully) avoiding things that come your way.

In flying we have a saying that you start out with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck is empty.

[Jamers!]

well, i will most definatly being extremly cautions. Not looking to be 'cool' or show off with a bike, just an economically sound way to get around, not to mention its a little fun. I like the sound of going to a dealership and seeing what fits and what not. Definatly gonna do that. Got two last questions. I was looking at now a yamaha xt225, looks alright, cheap enough and seems to be 'slow' enough to handle. Was wondering if that type of bike would have the storage area that some bikes do under the 2ed seat. Like the GSX-Rs do. I dont think that the xt225 can hold two people, which i would like to be able to do in time but oh well. Helmets, whats the difference between the open face, the dirt biking, and the sporty lookin ones, what are the advantages and disadvantages. Well i lied, got a third q. If i can id love to save some cash and buy an older bike, though i dont have much knowledge, well any actually of 80s 70s bikes. Any older, preferably 2 person bikes that you folks like? Or any place i can read up on such bikes.

Thank you for your help and entertaining the querys of a n00b

JWF