Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I am a very new rider. My experiance so far has been riding my Yamaha Zuma around town (you got to start somewhere)!

Now I am trying to decide between a Suzuki GS500 and a Ninja 500 for a first bike.

Then i sat on a GZ250 Suzuki and i liked the relaxed feel of that too.

Any help would be much appeciated.

from what i've seen... the ninja 500 is a little bit more powerful than the GS500.

i rode a GZ250 in the MSF... not my style.

anyway... both the ninja 500 and GS500 have great reviews so just pick one that looks better to you.

if you wanna go cruiser... the GZ250 is ok but the more popular 250 cruiser is the honda rebel.

also, for cruisers... even an 800cc cruiser bike is still cool as a beginner bike.

have you taken any formal motorcycle training, or just ridden the Zuma?
One of the best things you can do for yourself is take a motorcycle training course which will teach you a lot of very important things about riding, as well as let you try out a few different bikes to see what works for you.

I have not taken the MSF course yet. I am going to try do it this summer. Yes the only experiance i have really had is driving my Zuma around.

The cruiser bikes just dont do it for me. I like the feel of them but the look doesn't get me excited like sport bike do.


I have sat on alot of bikes and both the GS and the Ninja feel very comfortable.

I know how to drive stick shift cars so the gears and clutch shouldn' t be too difficult.

Thanks for your input.