Big beginner, cruiser bike choices?

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#11 Unread post by **ZooTech** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 5:49 am

Sevulturus wrote:A new one is going to lose a fair bit of value soon as you drive it off the lot...

...and slam it into a guard rail!

(sorry, couldn't resist!)

VermilionX · Sun Apr 09, 2006 5:53 am

hey! i knew from day1 that i wasn't gonna sell my bike.

so im not worried about it losing its re-sell value.

#13 Unread post by **Sev** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 5:55 am

ZooTech wrote:
Sevulturus wrote:A new one is going to lose a fair bit of value soon as you drive it off the lot...
...and slam it into a guard rail!

(sorry, couldn't resist!)

Hey, I dodged teh guard rail and hit the pavement, leave me alone, lol!

Dragon on Wheels · Sun Apr 09, 2006 6:28 pm

VermilionX wrote:

hey! i knew from day1 that i wasn't gonna sell my bike.

so im not worried about it losing it's re-sell value.

If one does this, is it still considered a bad idea to buy new?

KroSha · #15 Unread post by **KroSha** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 8:53 am

If you are sensible when you buy your first bike then a couple of things are taken as given.

1) You're gonna drop it. Whether some nutter in a cage clips you, or you just lay it down gently in the road, the learning curve says that you'll kiss the tarmac sooner or later.

2) You'll want a bigger one. I actually started chaffing for a bigger bike doing lessons! Most direct access courses in the UK teach on 500s. I bought a 450. I want a bigger one.

3) It's gonna be 2nd hand. And probably quite old. Face it, they are cheaper to buy and cheaper to insure.

So at some point, you'll want a newer, bigger and shineyer one. If you choose a decent learner bike, it'll still have most of what you paid on it when you move up. Someone gets a solid bike to learn on and you get most of your cash back. Everyone wins

flynrider · Mon Apr 10, 2006 3:46 pm

sandnessmj wrote:
sandnessmj wrote: Anyone have any input on these? There's a nice XV1000 for sale locally that I might be able to get for less than 2 grand, which is ideal, really.

As long as you're prepared to deal with the maintenance issues on a 20 year old bike, I don't think it would be an extremely bad starter bike. As cruisers go, the middleweights will be easier to handle as a new rider, but sometimes you just have to go with what's available in your price range.

I used to ride the XV920 (only 60CC smaller than the XV1000), quite a bit back in the mid 80s. It doesn't have an overwhelming amount of horsepower, but it's a bit top heavy and the bars make it slightly unwieldy at low speeds for a new rider. Overall, it's a decent bike. Built for the open road, a little less fun in close quarters.

jmillheiser · Mon Apr 10, 2006 4:19 pm

most of your metric cruisers will be pretty reliable and 1000cc and smaller should be fine to learn on, weight is more of an issue with cruisers than power.

shame you dont live here. cruisers are easy to find used here, even in smaller displacements. For 3000 you could easily find a 750cc or so cruiser of about late 90s vintage

sandnessmj · Tue Apr 11, 2006 2:23 am

I wish I did live around there! It's pretty difficult to find affordable used bikes in this area (New England). That XV1000 sold so someone else, so I'm still on the lookout here.

I'm thinking I'll wait until after I take the safety course to purchase a bike, so that I'll have a little more knowledge of what I'm looking for.