Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I have never been on a motorcycle before and I'm taking the plunge, so I went to the local shop and they happen to sell yamaha, honda and kawasaki. I explained to they guy that I have never ridden before and needed some advice to point me in the right direction. I'm 6'2" and weigh about 320. the first bike he shows me is a nice red vulcan 800 classic for $7,000 its a good size bike that fit me ok it was also next to a shadow spirit 750 I sat on that and the seat was a little higher but the overall bike wasnt as long but still comfortable. the sales person said it was to small and the next thing I know he has me on a vulcan meanstreak 1600. I asked him if this might be a bit too much for a first bike and he told me that no matter what I bought I would have to get used to it and it woud serve me a lot longer than the 800 or even a 1100 ( shadow sabre that I also sat on)the thing is the mean streak felt about the same comfort wise as the 800 classic. I have read that a smaller bike is easier to maneuver than a larger bike but what if the bikes are pretty much the same size and its just the engine thats bigger or would smaller still be better

Q: How do you know when a salesman is lying?
A: When his lips are moving.....think about it- why would a 1600cc bike "serve you longer" than an 800cc bike? I've been riding for 35 years and my 805cc Volusia is more than enough for all day two up riding. I also own a 50cc scooter and a 100cc "standard" of sorts- see my avatar. I just gave my Dad my 360cc Honda, and he rides that thing everywhere.

He was trying to sell you the most bike he could so he gets a bigger commision.

Stick around here and ask a lot of questions here, you'll get better, more accurate info here than from any dealer.

Now having said that, I'd suggest that you get a bike that's around 500cc's and start with that. There are a lot of good used bikes for a person to get started on. Besides that, would you really want to spend that kind of cash on that kind of bike, only to realize 6 months down the road that you'd rather be riding a sportbike, touring bike, or God forbid, a standard?

Bike (and car) salespeople have one primary goal. To get you to spend the most money possible before you leave. That would be my last choice for an honest, unbiased opinion. I've been to several dealers in the past few weeks, helping a buddy find a new ride. Frankly, 9 out of 10 of these sales guys don't know squat about motorcycles. Most of what comes out of their mouths is just plain wrong.

If I were you, I'd consult with friends who ride and sample lots of opinions on boards like this one.

no doubt they are there to sell the most expensive bike they can to make the commission off it. the bigger the bike usually the more it costs so of course they will push the bigger more expensive bike on you.

One of the basic rules all successful vehicle sales people adhere to is to sell up, meaning more expensive, whenever possible. Makes more money for the salesman, and more for the house, too. You, the customer, are expendable. There are many more where you came from.

Lol, when he started the post saying the salesman showed him a 750 or and 800, I thought he might actually have ran into an ethical sales person. Of course, once you show a new rider a 1600cc bike, ethics arent high on his list.

The guy is pretty big though, I think a 500 would be too little, especially for the type of bike he was looking at. A 500cc cruiser wouldnt have anything more than 30hp, would it? Thats too little for a 300+ guy, at least in my opinion. Wouldnt that just be way too sluggish?

I wouldn't think it would be too sluggish, afterall the weight of two up can easily be higher and people ride two up on small bikes like 350's.

Good 0-60 times are best left for the intermediate rider.....

I was with blues2cruise when she was looking for her first bike. Finding a salesman that would even deem to talk to a woman was tough, but there was this one guy that would have sold her anything just to make a sale. he was pointing her in the direction of litre+ bikes and she was a first time rider. I'm glad she found Patrick at Pacific Yamaha in Richmond BC because he was truly a competent, and professional saleman. He directed her towards a 650 VStar as the biggest bike she should be looking at for her size and experience. Blues is a bit on the taller size and the VStar classic was a perfect fit. Now she rides almost like a seasoned pro, thanks to great instruction and good advice as to a first bike. (Now if she can only keep her mind off of that bright yellow Victory... lol)

Usually you have to pry the truth out of a salesman (I should know, I'm selling cellphones to make the money to buy my bike lmao). I work at a cingular store and depending on what a customer says about the phone they want we completely change which phones we say are best and all of that. In the end it is truly just trying to sell the one with the biggest commission, unless they are the owner of the store, in which case they try and get the highest profit margin. My advice is to try to talk to the owner of the place if at all possible. When me and my friend went down to a dealer today looking for beginner bikes, the only person giving us straight answers was the owner because he has nothing to gain from getting a prospective long-term customer killed lol.

OK...so here's my story.
I don't have a bike yet, slowly saving my beans to buy one.
But I went to a dealer about two years ago to look around. Explained to him that i've never ridden before, what should i start w/.
This was before i started doing any research so i didn't have a clue about anything motorcycle related.
I told him i would like to get a used bike to start. He tells me i'm a big guy and points me towards the vstar 1100. (i'm 6'2, 220lbs).
Then he starts going through his whole routine and asks me how i was planning on paying, because i could finance it w/ them and drive out of there today. I reminded him again that i've never ridden before and dont have a lisense. He tells me thats not a problem.
The majority of people he sells bikes to dont have a motorcycle lisense, just a drivers lisense. He said that in NY you will only get a ticket for driving w/ the wrong class of lisense.
I walked out of the place feeling uneasy about the whole thing, actually questioning if i should even get a bike or not. Luckily i started hitting the internet and found a bunch of message boards to get some real information.
How scary is it that people like this actually exist.

Also, i have a friend that worked for a motorcyle dealership this past Spring and quit because he didnt want to be a scumb bag. They would get mad at him for not selling gigantic sport bikes to 18 year old who are probably going to kill themselves. So, he had a concious and left after about a month.