I want to buy my first motorcycle... what should I look towards first?

Answer 1

I second the recommendation to take the motorcycle riding class, whether it's from the MSF or Harley dealership. This will get you some exposure to different categories of bikes and some very important lessons on how to ride it.

My biggest rule is that you'll want to stay with 50 hp or less for a first bike. A bike is a very different animal from a car, so you will want one that's easy to learn on for your first bike. You can always sell it in a year and get something more powerful if you want. Here are my other rules for what makes a good first bike:

1. It's light enough that you can pick it up if it falls over.
2. It should be low enough that you can get both feet flat on the ground when you're in the saddle.
3. It needs to fit you. You shouldn't find yourself stretching into uncomfortable contortious to put your hands on the handgrips and your feet on the pegs. The riding position needs to feel right, and you ought to get one that looks the way you feel a motorcycle should look.

There's several different types of bikes out there. They come in standards, dual sports (sort of like a street legal dirt bike), sport bikes, and cruisers, and all of those types have a few sorts that are suitable for beginning riders, but their riding positions and personalities are very different. All the major Japanese manufacturers, Harley, and BMW make good quality bikes these days, so you're only really taking a risk if you start playing around with Communist Chinese bikes.

I ride a Suzuki GS500F myself - it's a great first bike if you like sport bikes.

Answer 2

First, I second the motion that you go take the motorcycle license course first. Where I live, if you pass the MSF course, you automatically pass the motorcycle driving portion of the exam. The course takes one weekend to complete (where I live).

Okay, after you've got that under your belt, now you need to figure out what type of bike you want. If you're a teen, and not overweight, maybe something like a Kawi Ninja 250 (sport) or a Honda 250 Rebel (road) would be a good start. Both of these bikes are inexpensive and parts are readily available.

And if you buy one of those used, it retains it's value pretty well; so when you're ready to upgrade, you can probably get a major portion of what you paid out of it.

I am 180lbs and can ride my son's Ninja 250 on the freeway with no problems.

Answer 3

Before you buy the bike, take a motorcycle safety course. If you pass the course, get your license and then you can buy the bike.

Answer 4

depends what you want to do with it... street? dirt? dual sport?

Answer 5

the question is what do you like??????