Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I'm looking at getting my first bike. I don't have a lot of money saved up. At most, I'll have $2000 for both the bike and the gear (Insurance costs have their own pile of money). Originally, I was looking at some older bikes (early 80's and a '78 ) that would need some minor TLC - replacing the fork seals, replacing some switches, etc.


All was good and well until my Landlord decided that he's not going to rent me the garage. This presents a serious problem, as I can't really work on a bike in the middle of the street, and the alley behind my duplex is in pretty shitty condition. So any serious wrenching is out the window.

So, I was wondering what kinds of bikes should I be looking at? I wouldn't mind taking it in for the occasional tuneup, but it's pretty much a given that I won't be able to a decent amount of wrenching myself (And I won't be able to afford paying for a repair shop to take care of a lot of minor things). I'm looking for a smaller/'weaker' bike (500cc or smaller, MAYBE 750 if it's from the early 80's). I find naked bikes the most attractive, with older sport bikes coming in second. I find cruisers extremely unappealing (which is why I passed up a 2000 Rebel), so uh, keep that in mind. I'm also 5' 7", which presents some problems.

I guess the questions I want answered are: What years should I be looking at? Will a bike that's 15-25 years old (and was properly-maintained by its previous owner) be able to go 3-4 months between tuneups? And uh, if you live in the St. Louis area, would you be willing to sell one to me?

Thanks,
Morwan.

My kz650sr has been very reliable for the year I've owned it. Just tires, plugs, plug wire caps, and a new battery when I first got it. Oil changes, like any bike. I put a new chain and sprockets on this spring, but my bike had 45,000 miles on it and no service records...the rear teeth were a little worn, so I just did it to start with a known quantity. I rode about 10,000 since last September, including one short ride in 13 degree weather. I can't speak for other bikes, but the kz line has great support on the kzrider website. So I say, yes it's possible, if you do your research before you buy. As far as I've read, they are all pretty good if you run them alot, and take care of them.

The 80s vintage nighthawk 650/700SCs are a good choice for low maintainance.

they have hydrulic lifters which do not require adjustment, and shaft drive as well which requires a lot less maintainance than chain. And they are what you could now call a "Naked" bike (known in that era as a UJM).

Morwan wrote:I'm looking at getting my first bike. I don't have a lot of money saved up. At most, I'll have $2000 for both the bike and the gear (Insurance costs have their own pile of money). Originally, I was looking at some older bikes (early 80's and a '78 ) that would need some minor TLC - replacing the fork seals, replacing some switches, etc.

I'm not sure how insurance is in your area, but liability for my 87 ninja 1000 is only 30 a month...and 60 for full coverage, but progressive required it to be garaged at night to be eligible.

I haven't taken an msf training course yet so I don't have that discount...so I'm surprised really at how cheap it is for a 22year-old newbie to ride a 1000cc sportbike that can reach 160mph in less than 1 mile and cover the quarter-mile in just over 11 seconds. Then again I have a spotless driving record for both traffic violations and accidents so that definitely helps.

Can I just say here... anything without a fairing (the plastic covers) is a good idea. You will inevitably have to do a little maintainence, but it is a lot easier on unfaired bikes

Cruisers also tend toward the lower maintainance side of things. A shaft drive metric cruiser is probably about as low in maintaince as your going to get on a bike.

Forget a sportbike in that price range...unless you want someone elses whooped piece O' crap.

The aforementioned NightHawk series is a good start, as is the Kawasaki line mentioned. Don't forget the Suzuki GS series of naked bikes (UJM).

At 5'7" you have a lot of choices including some of the dual purpose bikes out there. Please, what ever you do, don't try to find something at a dealer! You'll walk in with your 1000.00 in your hand and they'll try to talk you into using it for a down payment on a "Crotchfire 1800" or some other overstuffed bike and then the insurance alone will cost you a hundred a month....

on the wrenching and maintenance side of things

I found


If i leant the bike just right, I could squeeze it through the front door in to the lounge room of a unit i was renting that had no garage or suitable place to do work on it


just put something down on the floor, oh and my wife used to get a bit annoyed with that too, but i did have a 302 windsor on an engine stand in the laundry too at the time

I remember changing out brake pads on my NightHawk one afternoon when it started raining. I ended up rolling the bike into the kitchen of my apartment and finishing it up in there! The kids got a kick out of it.

bikeguy joe wrote:Forget a sportbike in that price range...unless you want someone elses whooped piece O' "crumb".

Well, I don't really mean something like a 600. Something like a GS/GSX750 would be a sportbike I would be thinking of.