I've been doing a lot of shopping around for my first bike, and went to the Suzuki dealership as an afterthought. The Boulevard C50T really caught my attention; great price, size, power and accessories.
Some places list this bike, and other comparable ones, as entry level cruisers, while others say that the 800cc range is too high to start with.
If I take it slowly are the C50, 883 Sporster, V Star Custom and others good for a newbie?
Any other feedback on the Suzuki bikes and the C50T in particular?
It's not too big for a cruiser IMO. CC size isn't your main concern with a starter bike, but rather horsepower. Most members prescribe less than 50 horsepower for your first biek and the 50ci line from suzuki fit that bill.
1987 Honda <B>SUPER</B> Magna
[i]Bikesexual - I like to ride it long and hard...[/i]
I own the M50, its the same engine, its not as fast and powerful as you think, after you own it after the first 2 weeks you will wish you purchaced a bigger bike, go with the S83 or the C90
2011 Toyota Tacoma 4x4, 09 Yamaha Tmax, 08 Suzuki King Quad 750
Any one can handle quick starts, but how often are you simply opening up the throttle? Riding involves a lot more than rapid acceleration, and even the c50 will out accelerate most cars on the road.
Read the stickies in this forum, they're full of very helpful advice. Take your time on a lower powered bike and really learn to use it. It's worth the time.
Honda Shadow Aero
[url=http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=10329/]Chicago Bike Blog[/url]
No the M50 wasn't my first, before that I owned a Honda CBR600, a Suzuki DRZ400, I bought the M50 cause I liked the way it looked with the speedometer was in the right place and I think I got a good price on it, April 2005 price was $5899 and I believed the lies from the salesman telling me its just as fast as the Honda and Yamaha 1100. I don't know about the C50, but my M50 the perfect, comfortable criusing speed is between 50 to 60 mph, thats when the bike runs good with the throttle backed off, in high gear and not much vibration, any speed higher than that ur going to have to fight the bike by gearing down and screaming the engine then comes the vibration and the rough handling, if you keep the bike off the roads with the 65MPH speed limit its OK to ride. Its not a good bike for the long trips with few stops and at high speeds, If you wanted that I would suggest get a bigger bike.
2011 Toyota Tacoma 4x4, 09 Yamaha Tmax, 08 Suzuki King Quad 750
the C50 would make a great first cruiser. You certainly wont get bored with it in the first 2 weeks. If anything you may want to get the plain C50 instead of the C50T and add your own windscreen and saddlebags, will probably save a few bucks that way.
Andrew78108 wrote:MotoF150, if anything I would be needing to move down on the power scale, not up. Was your M50 your first motorcycle?
Andrew78108, you may want to take MotoF150's advice with a grain of salt. With my limited time on the forum, I've seen him do nothing but bad mouth his M50. Everyone else on the forums seem to like their M50/C50 so he must have a lemon but he doesn't want to admit it. I've got a coworker at work who has the C50 and he really likes it. He just recently got Cobra pipes and a power commander and says it really kicks now. I haven't ridden his bike yet, but it sure does sound mean.
I've read that review and others a few times over. Almost everything that I read or hear about the C50/M50 is good. What's good to hear from all of you is that it's an appropriate first bike. THe only real concern from the reviews is that the front brakes are apparently a little weak. Should that be a concern?
I'll definetly give some thought to just getting a base C50/M50 and adding the accesories as I see fit.