500 vs 650

[rollin420]

Hi everbody! I am 20 years old and have wanted a bike my entire life. I love all aspects of the motorcyle community and the ridiculusly cool image accociated with riding a bike . I will be buying my first bike in the next few months (first i have to go through basic, i recently joined the Air Force, than i want to take the MSF course and possibly a more advanced aggressive driver course) but my question is this:

The two bikes I am looking at are the Kawasaki Ninja 500R and the new Kawasaki Ninja 650R. I am a total beginner and not terribly big (about 170 and 5'10'' although i am in very good shape). I realize that the 500 is a better bike for a beginner such as myself but I really don't like it all that much, while i think the 650R is an incredibly beuatiful bike that i would enjoy for a long time. But is 650cc too much for someone with so little expierence? Will I enjoy the 500cc for longer than a few months? Is size that big a deal when riding a bike (my size and the size of the bike)

[MrGompers]

The ninja 500 gets recommended alot around here & for good reason. The ninja 650R is a new model for 2006, so theres not alot of opinions on it yet.

People usually tell n00bs to get a first bike that has 50hp or less which the ninja 500 fits. The ninja 650R is prolly around 60hp so, that would make it a "grey area first bike" I went and sat on both bikes when I was looking and felt the 650R was far more comfortable than the 500. (I'm 6' tall)

When looking for your first bike you should really go for used. Most likely you're going to drop it (not necessarily dump it) and you'll feel like krap after doing it.

I found a nice used honda shadow 600 for a first bike & I like it alot. Of course I've already dropped it in the driveway, but didn't care much cuz its already scratched up.

I would recommend buying a new bike only after you get some riding experience. I know when I'm ready I'll be looking at that 650R again more closely.

Good luck bro.

P.S. Check insurance rates FIRST before buying any bike. You may be surprised how much it'll cost for someone 20yrs old.

[Myself002]

From my experince insurance on bikes really has to do with the year and the cost of the bike. Then it has to do with what you want on it. And then were you garage the bike.

For example a brand new SV650S would cost me like 556 for just basic insurance here in MA in the town I'm in, the same bike used say a 2003 eddition is around the same price.

Now say I want collision, fire and theft and junk. That 2006 would cost me $1618. The 2003 would be $1106.

Those prices would also go up if I said it was to be biked at my house as apposed to the college I go to. (house is in the city, college in a town)

By the way I'm also 20. I say used to since most people say you go through your first bike in one/two years. And I know myself money right now with my other expenses can get a little tight so the lighter the ins bill the better. Not to mention the initial cost of the bike.

[Kim]

I agree with buying used to start with. My bike came "broken in" so I didn't mind when I dropped it a couple of times.

[rollin420]

Thank you guys. i appreciate it a lot. It's not the first time i had heard some of these things but hearing it from an unbiased knowledable third party seems to hammer it home. Ill be looking at some older used hondas and kawasaki's in the 500cc wheight class soon. Thank you again for the advice. I let you all know how it goes but it won't be for at least another 2 months

[Myself002]

good luck!