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Suggest beginner bikes

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 10:44 pm
by WanTeD
Hi,
I'm new to the motorcycle community, and I found this forum while browsing the net to get more information about bikes.

I read the beginner's thread which suggested to get the Suzuki GS500F. What I'm asking here is for you to list some other motorcycles that fit into the same beginner category.

Thanks for your replies

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 4:19 am
by Scott58
Standard questions.

1. How much do you weigh?

2. How tall are you?

3. What's your inseam?

I always recommend the Honda Rebel as a first bike provided your not to large a person.

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 4:36 am
by SuperRookie
Kawasaki Ninja 500 :mrgreen:

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:02 am
by gsJack
Depends where you are headed, if you know yet. If your goal is to ride a sportbike then a GS500 or EX500 are good to start on. If you are wanting a cruiser then about any cruiser in the 500-800cc range should do if you are of average size or more. I never suggest a Rebel 250 unless it's for a person of particularly small stature.

Re: Suggest beginner bikes

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:19 am
by Jamers!
WanTeD wrote:Hi,
I'm new to the motorcycle community, and I found this forum while browsing the net to get more information about bikes.

I read the beginner's thread which suggested to get the Suzuki GS500F. What I'm asking here is for you to list some other motorcycles that fit into the same beginner category.

Thanks for your replies

like others said, how big are ya, what kinda riding do you wanna do?


But some general choices include:

EX500(ninja)
Suzuki GS500-or-GS500F
Honda Rebel 250
Honda Shadow VLX 600
Yamaha Virago 250
Yamaha Virago 535
Yamaha V-Star 650
Kawasaki Vulcan 500
Suzuki Savage 650
Honda Nighthawk 250 or 450

But give us some details and we can help ya narrow it down


JWF

hgjgh

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 9:15 am
by Dirtytoes
SuperRookie wrote:Kawasaki Ninja 500 :mrgreen:

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 12:25 pm
by WanTeD
Scott58 wrote:Standard questions.

1. How much do you weigh?

2. How tall are you?

3. What's your inseam?

I always recommend the Honda Rebel as a first bike provided your not to large a person.
I'm about 188 cm.. That's 6'2" I think.. And i'm about 80 Kilos, which is about 176 pounds.

I checked what JWF505 mentioned in his reply (Thanks by the way):
EX500(ninja)
Suzuki GS500-or-GS500F
Honda Rebel 250
Honda Shadow VLX 600
Yamaha Virago 250
Yamaha Virago 535
Yamaha V-Star 650
Kawasaki Vulcan 500
Suzuki Savage 650
Honda Nighthawk 250 or 450

And I personally liked the looks of the GS500F best, then the EX500. The others.. well.. most of them have a harley look which I hate. I guess I hate when the front wheel is way ahead of the whole body.

By the way, while looking at pictures.. I found several types of GS500/GS500F (By the way what's the difference between them?)

What I liked:
http://www.sportrider.com/bikes/2005/20 ... 00-b-3.jpg

What I didin't like:
http://www.motorrad-rubin.de/images/suzuki/gs500.jpg

In other words, I like when the front wheel is kind of under the body and not in front.

I hope I didn't bore you hehe, but remember that I'm a beginner, and the look of the bike matters to me.

Now to the technical information, I leave that for you to tell me

Thanks

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 1:21 pm
by VermilionX
the gs500E is just the standard bike.

the gs500F just has some sportsbike fairings (cover).

i dunno how aerodynamic the fairings on the gs500F are but they're essentially the same bike.

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 1:22 pm
by Sev
You like sport bikes, not cruisers, which is fair. I like the better too.

One of the things to remember is that they're going to be more cramped, and have much more responsive throttle and brake inputs. So you need to be more careful when riding them.

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 1:42 pm
by Jamers!
WanTeD wrote:
Scott58 wrote:Standard questions.

1. How much do you weigh?

2. How tall are you?

3. What's your inseam?

I always recommend the Honda Rebel as a first bike provided your not to large a person.
I'm about 188 cm.. That's 6'2" I think.. And i'm about 80 Kilos, which is about 176 pounds.

I checked what JWF505 mentioned in his reply (Thanks by the way):
EX500(ninja)
Suzuki GS500-or-GS500F
Honda Rebel 250
Honda Shadow VLX 600
Yamaha Virago 250
Yamaha Virago 535
Yamaha V-Star 650
Kawasaki Vulcan 500
Suzuki Savage 650
Honda Nighthawk 250 or 450

And I personally liked the looks of the GS500F best, then the EX500. The others.. well.. most of them have a harley look which I hate. I guess I hate when the front wheel is way ahead of the whole body.

By the way, while looking at pictures.. I found several types of GS500/GS500F (By the way what's the difference between them?)

What I liked:
http://www.sportrider.com/bikes/2005/20 ... 00-b-3.jpg

What I didin't like:
http://www.motorrad-rubin.de/images/suzuki/gs500.jpg

In other words, I like when the front wheel is kind of under the body and not in front.

I hope I didn't bore you hehe, but remember that I'm a beginner, and the look of the bike matters to me.

Now to the technical information, I leave that for you to tell me

Thanks

at your size (took me a good 3 mins to figure out what 188cm was in feet :-p) i would say the EX500 and the GS500F may be a tad bit tight but rideable. As for technical mumbo jumbo. What do you want to hear? We can tell ya horsepower, MPG, torque and many other things about many bikes. But not sure what you want to hear. I would say. Go to a dealer, find a EX500 and GS and sit on em, figure out whats comfortable and whats not. If you see anything else you like try those too. WHen you get a list of what ya like and what feels good come back and we can tell ya tons about the bikes you tell us


JWF