Total Motorcycle Community Forums

First off, id like to express how much i enjoy reading the posts here. This is my first post as a member, but im sure you will see me on here from now on.
Well, I have wanted a bike forever, but was never allowed to get one until now. I am 21 years old, and my Dad had bikes growing up, through college etc. He never had one when he had children until the youngest was 16 or so. He bought a Triumph Bonneville, (new one) and then picked up a sprint ST last year. He was hit on the sprint, and hospitalized for a couple days, and still walks weird now. Basically he never allowed me to have anything with 2 wheels, bc he knew where it would lead. I bought a moped behind his back earlier this year and he pretended to be mad. I have Z28, that i am now on my own for insurance, (with this responsibility, comes the freedom to get a bike). I decided with gas and insurance where there at, i will keep it stored for the summer and get a bike. The things that I need out of the bike are the following
1)preferably under 3000 bc i will not have collision, and dont want to lose anymore then that amount if God forbid something did happen. 2)looks good 3)Freeway worthy, i am steering away from the 250s because I will be using it to make the 100 mile trip from college to home.
I am interested in the Katana because from what i unterstand it is a more upright ride compared to the sport bikes. Is it comparable to a smaller triumph sprint? I forsee myself taking decently long cruises on it maybe 2 hour rides. I have a lot of open 50 mile an hour 2 laners with no traffic in the area of my college. I am not afraid of getting out of control with excess power. I got my Z28 at 16, and stopped the stupid stuff a couple years, it just doesnt do it for me anymore.

My other questions pertaining to the Katana or any other used bike is how many miles is to many, i know it depends on who rode the miles but what is the general comparison to car miles. I have seen some ads for Katanas from 1999-2002 with 4000-9000 going for under 3500.
Is there a lot of maintence on these bikes. Are they reliable, or do they break a lot. I dont want a repeat of my Seadoo experience.
Also what other bikes would you suggest. I really dislinke the look of the 500 ninja, and noticed the tires seem pretty skinny which worrys me for highway use.
Sincerely
Tony

Yeah the Katana is great for long rides, but its not the fastest sport bike out there. It will still out run most cars on the street.

Well, considering this is his first bike, I don't think he should be going for the fastest bike out there. Get a used GS500 if you don't like how the ninja looks, or be cool like me and get a nice friendly Nighthawk. And anything with less then 20k miles should be fine.

The Katana isn't really a great beginner's bike though.

I would shoot for something like a Kawasaki Ninja (EX) 500 or Suzuki's GS 500.

Those are basically the top picks for beginner bikes because they have the look but won't kill you in the process.

A GSX (Katana) is more of in the grey area along with the SV650 and the EX650.

Yeah your right he should not get the fastest sport bike out there to be his first bike. I always wanted a Nighthawk. Is the 250 Nighthawk any good?

Also should of mentioned my riding experience is beginner. I have ridden a dirt bike a couple times, and a CBR 600 around side streets one time. I understand that the GSXR and the CBRs are race bikes and hard to handle. Would the Katana be hard to control, and once again im not worried about me being under control I know i will not be street racing or checking to see if it has a rev limiter. I am 6 foot 185. Not worried about the manual transmission, i found it easier to do on a bike then a car anyway.

man, this forum is fast!!! I am confused as to what makes the GS500 and ninja so much of a better beginner bike then the Katana. I see it written on every "what bike to buy 1st" thread, but no one elaborates as to why. Is it just the horsepower, or do they handle/brake/shift different

The reason a EX/GS 500 is better than a 600cc is the HP first off.

But also 600s tend to have a power band, which is where the HP spikes in a certain RPM range (read: your speed increases quickly) and it gets a lot of people in trouble in emergency situations.

'I'll be careful'
'I have self control'
'I'll take it easy'

Heard it all before.

This is a pretty classic reason how one can get into trouble:

http://sbw.sportbikes.com/showthread.ph ... adid=57461

Ok about 15 minutes into this we come to the first stop sign. Both feet down, classic noob. We were turning left from the stop sign, his first time turning from a stop. Well he took off and was turning it like a bicycle. That worked for about 5 ft and the bike started to go upright then right. Pissing his pants he tried to grab the clutch and the brake, upon grabbing the brake he gave it more gas, somehow let out the clutch for a second and spun the tire over, grabbed the clutch for a second and let it go and shot straight into a "procreating" ditch. ???

That's the problem with high-end bikes.

Is the 250 Nighthawk any good?

Sure, if you've got small feet. I'm 5'11" and the fit was pretty good, but the shifter pedal was just so close to the peg. I could barely fit my boot between the gap to shift up.

jaydubs85
PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:23 pm Post subject:
Yeah your right he should not get the fastest sport bike out there to be his first bike. I always wanted a Nighthawk. Is the 250 Nighthawk any good?

I don't know about the 250, but the 450 is perfect for me. Decent power (faster then your average car) comfortable, easy to work on, good looing, what else do you need?

I think Katanas are pretty heavy and cumbersome for a new rider, but they are not terrible beginner bikes.

Most people, like 90%, are going to recommend getting a GS500 or a Ninja 500. Its like a broken record at times, no offense guys. Sure those are great beginner bikes, but they are not your only choices. I find attitude to be an important factor in bike choice, along with other considerations. You dont come off a squid, so thats a plus.

Sounds like you have 3k to spend on a used bike. That is a great first step, you are already on the right path. A Katana is going to be great for highway riding, but there are easier bikes to learn how to ride on.

Katana is not a bad choice, especially if you want a little pull on the freeway. I probably wouldnt go out of my way to recommend a Kat to a new rider, but its not so inappropriate that I would recommend against it.