MotoF150 wrote:Before you purchace a crotch rocket I highly suggest that you get an insurance quote cause I know some younger guys that are paying above $2000 a year on insurance. Insurance rates are thru the roof on crotch rockets and are cheap and inexpensive on all other bikes.
Um, it depends. There are more variables than just the bike itself.
For example, I have a '06 ninja 500r, im 23, two tickets, fiananced, one accident in my car (other persons fault), full coverage, theft, 1,000 deductable, uninsured motorists insurace, bla bla bla bla etc etc etc
And Its like $235USD for a year under Progressive online.
But to give some advice to the OP, don't worry about the air-cooling. The engineers made sure that the engine was built to specs where the air-cooling effect was plentiful to maintain functional operating tempertures. If the engine dosn't need liquid coolant, it just dosn't need liquid coolant.
Ive heard the ninja 500r may be better in some aspects, but personally ive never ridding a gs500 so I can't say for sure. But both are great bikes... pick the one you like the most. If looks are more important then thats ok. At first I didn't like the looks of my bike, but its grown on me considerably... plus all bikes look WAY better in person anyways.
The gs500 is a great bike in its own right, so you can't go wrong with it. You did good in choosing a 500cc class bike to start with, they are great all around motorcycles.
Edit:
P.S. I forgot to add, but have you sat on either bike yet at a dealership? It would be a good idea. I think how you feel on the bike is more important than cold hard statistics, looks, or anything else you could think of. Make sure to sit on one for half an hour. Even if you are gonna buy a used bike, which isn't a bad idea. I didn't buy used because in my area Ive looked in all sorts of sources for used gs500's and ninja500's for a year and a half... no luck. Then again I live in Harley Davidson country, we have Barnett Harley Davidson here... so its always nothing but cruisers.
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