Total Motorcycle Community Forums

i recently got issued my m1 and looking for a bike to learn with. i have a modest $5000 CDN to invest in a bike and insurance. i would like to know your opinions on which bike would be best suited for a beginning rider and good places to look for bikes.

p.s. i live in toronto (canada)

I took my MSF course at an H-D dealer where they use the Buell BLast, so I bought a used Blast.

It is an excellent learner but not a long distance highway bike. I could get it up to 87 MPH. It feels every bump in these lousy Missouri roads.

After about 1600 miles my wife decided I was having too much fun, took the class, and then took the Blast for herself. She is still riding it because of the low weight and low center of gravity.

Some people hate them, but we have had a lot of good time with it, and it is nearly zero maintenance other than oil. They can be had fairly cheaply.

There are lots of other bikes people like as well. I think my sister is riding a Ninja 250.

Try www.autotrader.ca. No guarentees, but it's a start. They do bikes too, you just have to select for them.

Depends on what you can find. If you are going to LEARN, as in from the beginning I wouldn't buy a bike at all. See if you can spend some dough, take some lessons from a place that supplies the bikes. That way you can try a 125, 250, 500 when you have progressed. It's better than buying a bike you don't even know you don't want.

After a few set of lessons I was so bored of 125's and 250's that I almost never want to see them again. However, when we got on the CB500 I realised I could buy one of those and enjoy learning even more on it for a few years.

Would I recommend a 500 to you now? No. After you had tried one in a safety conscious environment and you had the knowledge to decide? That would be for you to decide, but I wouldn't call you crazy....

Are you more interested in a sport bike or a cruiser?

Or something in between?

Go to a variety of dealers and sit on all kinds of different motorcycles. Get a feel for what you might like.

There are other posts that debate the size/power/torque issues for beginners. The Learn To Ride A Motorcycle page, which is downloadable in PDF format (Created and maintained by Dragonhawk), has some very good advice for people looking to purchase their first motorcycle.

I'm sure some of your felllow CA'ers will chime in on places to look for bikes in your area.

Stay Safe Out There!

hey johnnythan im looking for a street bike.

i looked up the ninja 250 suggested by dustyjacket. that seemed good.

and fast freddy how much do lessons usually run for?

tyfriend wrote:hey johnnythan im looking for a street bike.

i looked up the ninja 250 suggested by dustyjacket. that seemed good.

and fast freddy how much do lessons usually run for?

Sportbikes and Cruisers can both be classified as a street bike. What we need to know is are you looking for more of a hell's angel type bike, or a race bike?

Get a Suzuki Hayabusa or a Yamaha R1. Those are fast, good bikes for beginners.

Just kidding.

Seriously, I have a page I made for folks who are starting out:
www.CaliforniaBikeNights.com/learn

It covers a lots of USA specific stuff, but it still has lots of prudent advice for someone in Canada. Check it out.

hey sevulturus im leaning towards a sport bike. im not the hells angel type.

Time to spend a while familiarizing yourself with models.

Off the top of my head:

ninja 250
ninja 500
sv650
gs500
ninaj650