Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I know all the experience riders are just looking out for us, but sometimes the replies just seem rude.

I am a newbie, have my MSP course scheduled for Sept. I plan on getting a vstar classic over the winter months. I see alot of riders on here beleive a 650 might be to big for a beginner, but I know quit a few experience riders say if I get a smaller bike, that I will sure what to upgrade in a year. I don't want the hassle of buying and selling a bike in a year. I ride a Yamaha 750 virago now. I'm very carefull and only ride in the park and around my house.

I understand alot of riders are just trying to look out the newbie, but not all of us have the means to buy and sell. Most older used bikes you need cash to buy and alot of us would rather buy new. Buying a used bike is just like buying a used car. No matter how well it's gone over, you never can tell what's it's been through. I guess I'm also lucky, I have many 20 plus years experience riders helping me along.

Just my thoughts. jjp

Nice. And?

I think you have misunderstood the advice here. Most of the people referring to 600 or 650 cc limits are talking about sport bikes - not cruisers.

Its not that we are rough on newbies, we just speak the truth and are pretty upfront. The reason alot of us say to buy used, and get a small, beginner-friendly bike, etc. for your first ride is because we learned from our own experiances and are trying to pass the info on to new riders. But there are always some new riders who think they are the exception to the rule and will want to go against the grain.

Personally I think the v-star 650 is a perfectly fine beginner bike. But I wouldnt have advised buying one brand new since you are likely to tip it over at least once. You might want to put a crash bar on the bike just for some extra insurance.

And I wouldnt do any serious riding until taking the MSF course. The whole idea of the course is that you start to build proper riding habits and safety training from "scratch".

I do like the that you guys are up front and truthful. I guess I have used alot of advice here over the last 4 months. Guess that's why I'm riding a 88 750 yamaha.

jjp

Personally I think the V-star 650 is too slow. It just doesn't have the grunt that it should. I say if you want to keep small look at a Vulcan 500 and if you want to go big consider up to 800-900ccs for a cruiser.

Ian said it well.

As for buying new/used, I don't go for that bologna about why someone "needs" to buy new. I have never bought a new vehicle or bike in my life and every single one of them has been tremendously reliable, and for what I do to them, extremely faithful. I have a hard time letting my rides go. The point is to know what you're looking for. If you don't find out before you go or listen to people who already know.

btw there is no crying in motorcycling

I personally think the vstar 650 is pathetically slow. Around here, one of the most prominant volume of ads in the bike trader is for Vstar 650s. Most cruiser riders get sick of a bike with 40 horsepower. They quickely want more. Better to get something a bit bigger and treat it with utmost respect while learning how to handle it. Not an R1 or anything, but for a cruiser, you could go bigger.

I have to go try out a V-Star 650. It's supposedly the successor to the Virago 535, but I have no problems at all with my Virago in the speed department. It's on the interstate at 75 mph every day with no problems and plenty of acceleration left. I've taken it up to about 93 on a long, straight, empty stretch of highway before I got paranoid about cops and dialed it back. I go into 5th gear around 55-60. I can't imagine that a newer bike with a 20% bigger engine is slower than my bike, so what's the real problem?