Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hello all

I just want to say thank you for contributing to such an informative community. I have learnt alot from surfing around this site.

I'm looking to buy my first bike this season. I live in Ontario, so the bike season for us Canadians isn't exactly the same.

I was hoping for some suggestions on newer bikes to look at. I'm hoping not to buy new, rather one that is a year or two old. Currently I'm looking at the 06 Yamaha V-stars (1100s) or the 06 Kawasaki Vulcan 900s.

I'm 5'11, 210lbs with short legs (31"s) for my size. Obviously, I'm looking at picking up a cruiser, I feel I'll be more comfortable on one because of my size.

Any suggestions on what bike(s) to look at or the bikes ive listed above? I'm looking to spend no more than $10K (yeah, i know thats what these bikes are new, but im giving myself room to "move")

Thanks for any and all help!

Ben

Check out H-D. Sportsters are nice bikes and are in your price range.

Suzuki and Honda have a couple of nice cruisers too. Check out the Shadow and Boulevard lines.

I've done the saftey/cert. course in Ontario, and my only experiance would be the Maurader (spelling) 250 that I used during the course.

Ive looked that the H-D sporters, but I'm really liking the Kawi or the Yamaha. Are those good choices?

Thanks for the quick reply!

Ben

BTW, get a used bike as your first bike. That way, you won't be upset when you drop it and you won't be afraid to tinker with it and fix things yourself.

You are almost certainly going to drop your first bike at least once. You might as well get the scuff marks on the chrome of a $2000 bike from 1990 that you can use for a year or two and sell than to get them on the chrome of an $8000 bike you plan on keeping for many years.

You can sell a used bike for almost the same as, if not more than, you paid for it.

And, yes, those bikes are all good. Apparently it's quite difficult to buy a stinker these days when it comes to cruisers.

Personally I'd take any one of the big 4 (Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda or Kawasaki) before a Harley. They all make great bikes, head out there and sit on them until you find one that is most comfortable.

If you're near Toronto:
http://toronto.craigslist.org/mcy/

I see some nice bikes there. Shadows, Viragos (predecessor to V-star), you name it.

I second the notion of getting a bike you aren't afraid to drop once or twice and then reselling it after you've got some skills developed. Buy one that already has a few scratches - develop your skills a bit and then resell it for what you paid for it - there's always a market out there for experienced learner bikes.

I got my brother into biking recenlty and picked up a used but decent BMW K75S for him for $1700. Even with that and my constant reminders that we got him a $1700 bike for a reason, he's STILL completely paranoid about dropping it.

I know several people who decided to take up riding and buy nice shiny new bikes. Neither one of them ever rode more than 200 miles because they were always afraid of dropping their bikes. They both have some very nice garage art now.

Thank you all very much for your ideas. Can't say im not affraid to drop the bike, but i know its going to happen one day or another.

Thanks for the craigslist link. Im going to go browse it now.

From all the messages, no one seems to say a 900 cc bike is too large of a bike, would that be because of my size or does no one feel like repeating that over and over?

thanks again!

Ben

benjydog wrote:Thank you all very much for your ideas. Can't say im not affraid to drop the bike, but i know its going to happen one day or another.

Thanks for the craigslist link. Im going to go browse it now.

From all the messages, no one seems to say a 900 cc bike is too large of a bike, would that be because of my size or does no one feel like repeating that over and over?

thanks again!

Ben

Eh, when you're talking about a V-twin cruiser, I don't think it's that big of a deal. The first bike I ever sat on was an 883cc Sportster. I was riding it all over town and the highway by the end of the day. This was before I knew anything about bikes and engine size or anything. It just wasn't an issue really.

Inline 4 engines in race replica bikes and heavy cruisers and touring bikes are where you really need to get some good experience before attempting.

With a 900cc V-twin, I think that if you're comfortable on the bike and can relatively easily handle its weight, then you're fine. I'm a 535cc V-twin, but I'm a much smaller guy.. and like I said before, I was comfortable on the Sportster, even with a passenger.

jonnythan

thanks for all your posts. im finding some nice looking vulcan 800s on craigslist. I'm probably going to get my buddy whos and experianced rider to come look at the bike(s) with me, possibly give them a ride for me too. My only experiance is around a parking lot and i wouldnt want to drop a bike while test riding it. Of course ill give it a feel to see if its confortable.

Thanks for all the help and advice!

Ben