First Bike

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Santoro · #1 Unread post by **Santoro** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 12:45 pm

Well..In May I take some classes because I want to get a motorcycle. So the question is, whats a good first bike. I would prefer something brand new and along the lines of "crotch rocket"

I was actually looking at a Yamaha R6, but then found out its way to advanced for me. So I thought I'd ask you guys for suggestions. Suzuki has some nice bikes, like the GSXR600.

Well just let me know what you think!

Toyuzu · #2 Unread post by **Toyuzu** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 2:16 pm

Welcome to TMW Santoro!

Please stay away from any recent model sportbike 600 CC's or Larger. That GSXR 600 is about the same in terms of performance to the R6.

If you like Sportbikes, a better first bike would be something like a Suzuki SV 650S,(It is 650 CC's, but it's a V-twin, and at a far more forgiving tune rate than the 600 supersports.) a Kawasaki EX 250 or 500 Ninja, etc.

There is some more advice for first-time riders and other good beginner bikes in this thread: http://totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopi ... 00&start=0

boingk · #3 Unread post by **boingk** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:54 pm

I would prefer something brand new and along the lines of "crotch rocket"

when i think of crotch rockets, i can think of nothing better than something like a Honda CBR250RR, or some variety of two-stroke sportster. In the way of two strokes though, i'm not too sure whats about at the moment, but Honda (again) has the NSR series, specifically the NSR 150 & 250. Pretty revvy and powerful, the 250 kicks the 150 like nothing else, but you'd want to be careful if you're thinking of it as a first bike. The 150 on the other hand, would be tremendous fun, not too high performance for a learner either. The 150 also retail for around $7000 Australian brand new, so thats something like $5500 US. Have a think about it, and have a sit on it and if possible road test one if you really are thinking of buying. Good luck, hope you find something that suits you!

#4 Unread post by **Skier** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 7:29 pm

You really don't need to start off with a bike of that caliber. For the ham-fisted newbie, it's just too much of a risk. It's a much better idea to buy an inexpensive 80s UJM (universal Japanese motorcycle), log a few thousand miles on it, get an idea of what kind of bike you want, sell it for about how much you bought it for and THEN buy a different, newer bike.

Why?

Dropping that UJM isn't going to run you a couple grand to fix all the plastic and other bits on it. It won't be an uncontrollable beast to your inexperienced hands. If you get a smaller one, it will be more nimble than the new 600cc bike, anyways!

All in all, it's much, much cheaper and a lot safer to not start on a newer crotch rocket.