Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Nalian wrote:I'd say its an ok starter bike with some previous dirt bike experience. But it can certainly get away from you very quickly if you aren't sure what you're doing. Its more forgiving than some bikes out there, but not the best first bike. Learning will be easier and quicker on an ex250/ex500/gs500.

I'm going to have to agree with Nalian on the dirtbike bit and the fact that it's more forgiving than most.

And with Sev on the top heavy bit when pushing it around. Though once it starts moving under it's own power, you don't really notice.

PS - Three 650R owners posted in a row, you 599 kiddies better start looking out Even if the other two got the slow color

Thanks for all the great advice. I think I'm probably going to get the gs500 cause I've never even been a passenger on a bike. Even though the 650r looks sooooo much nicer than the gs im going tho put looks aside for the first year or two while i get comfortably riding.


Is the gs500 a good platform for mods if i want more power in a in a year or so or would it just be better to sell it and get something more powerful?

Dragonhawk wrote: A Ninja 250 isn't underpowered either. In fact, all of these bikes are likely faster than any car you've ever driven. A Ninja 250 is the slowest of them all, and it does 0-60 about as fast as a Ford Mach 1......

Have you ever ridden one and tried to pass a car on the highway? How about pushing in to a wind or riding hills at highway speed?

Have you ever ridden one and tried to pass a car on the highway? How about pushing in to a wind or riding hills at highway speed?

Do you think the gs500 is too powerful? If you have any other suggestions besides the ninja 250 or 500 it would be great.



And Thanks for all the feedback. this forum is GREAT!!!!!

The GS500 is a proven starter bike. It's a good choice.

Nalian, i checked out your vids on livevid. Messed up what happened with that stupid driver. I'm really sorry you had your first fall, but you know what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I read in the announcements that you got a Ninja 650R. God i envy you. How does it ride, think its too much for a noooob like me?

TKDean wrote: Do you think the gs500 is too powerful? If you have any other suggestions besides the ninja 250 or 500 it would be great.

Absolutely not. The GS 500 would be a good starter bike. I do feel that the 250s that most here blindly recommend need to be limited to smaller riders who don't plan on doing much time on the highway. I don't have a problem with the Ninja 650 personally either if you have the body strength, coordination and size for it as well.

High_Side wrote: I do feel that the 250s that most here blindly recommend need to be limited to smaller riders who don't plan on doing much time on the highway.

I like to recommend the 250 to the sv 650 as a decent range. I've been riding bluemonkie99's 250 on 495 where traffic averages 80 miles per hour. It's not hard to get it there even uphill against a headwind. I hit my chicken factor at 105 because I'm used to seeing a bigger bike under me. This was like riding a pocket bike in comparison. to my Vstrom. At 80 mph the acceleration isn't great compared to my strom, but it's better than my jeeps.

I don't have a problem with the Ninja 650 personally either if you have the body strength, coordination and size for it as well.

If you have some form of experience (MSF isn't really enough in my mind) or you are very mature and coordinated then I'd say the 650 is something to consider for the top of your range. However, I really don't think it's a good beginners bike. In my mind it's more of a grey area bike than the sv 650 and not by a close margin.

I don't have a problem with the Ninja 650 personally either if you have the body strength, coordination and size for it as well.

Well I'm no hulk but i do work out every day, I'm 5'10" and weigh like 190 w/o a gut ( i got huge calves and thighs thanks to martial arts). I like to think I'm well coordinated due to the MA, but when it comes to bikes I'm not sure.



Ahhhhh. Man, is choosing your first bike always this hard. I keep going back and forth, GS500 no Ninja 650 no GS500 no Ninja 650.

Anyway i go thanks for all the help.

TKDean wrote:Nalian, i checked out your vids on livevid. Messed up what happened with that stupid driver. I'm really sorry you had your first fall, but you know what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I read in the announcements that you got a Ninja 650R. God i envy you. How does it ride, think its too much for a noooob like me?

Yup - gotta get up and dust yourself off after a fall (assuming you can. ).

As for if its too much bike for you..I don't know you, so I don't know - it really depends. The danger from getting a bigger bikes has to do a lot with the bike getting away from you. For example: Lots of new riders will find themselves holding the handlebars in a deathgrip - something that if you're on a more powerful bike and you hit pothole - could cause you to launch yourself very quickly somewhere you don't want to go. If someone on a ninja 250 does the same thing, it'll likely be a "whoops - that was close!" moment. When Veda went and got her ninja 250 a month ago, one of the first things that happened was she almost launched herself into traffic just getting used to the controls. If she had been on a bigger bike - she definitely would have gone straight into traffic. What would have been a bad wreck on a bigger bike was instead a wake up call on the little one.

The 650 has a decent amount of torque and if you twist the throttle it'll definitely respond quickly. It's not a supersport, but it is definitely no slouch. Keep in mind that this is your first bike and you'll have a ton of bikes after this one.

Have you sat on the bikes you're looking at? Sometimes your body size/shape will determine what bike you're getting. I ended up choosing the 650r over the honda 599 because it was a more comfortable position for me outright. The fact that it was cheaper was a bonus.

I went to the 650r from a harley sportster - a bike with about 20 less hp (but more torque) and almost 200lbs heavier. So this bike seems light and very very easy to me. I definitely don't have the best perspective of how someone brand new will react to it.

If you like watching videos, another member here, Rideyourride, made some videos recently talking about first bike choices. I think he articulates some of the dangers as well as what riding a new bike is like pretty well. The start of that series is here.