Best first motorbike for a woman? Not too heavy etc?

Question

Duh, I should have known better than to ask a Q and expect an intelligent answer. Typical men, got to show off to the other blokes by putting women down.
Anyway, thank you to the people who are not trolling.

'Llordlloyd'? Yes, I'm in the UK.

Answer 1

Hi Girly Biker. If you have passed your test try a Honda CB500. That was my first big bike. Lovely to handle, dead reliable. Incidently I'm 5' 4" and 91/2 stone no problems with bike weight. If not, a Honda CG125. Happy biking Cheeky Monkey Biker Babe

Answer 2

OK a fair and serious answer

First point to consider is the type/style you want. If you are going for a sports bike then there are endless to choose from and assuming you are talking with a full licence then perhaps GSX or GSXR Honda CBR maybe a 600 or even a sport tourer Bandit or the like

If you are looking at a cruiser style then I think that the Honda VT Shadow is quite low seat height if you have a shorter leg plenty on the market and price not too bad. Smaller Harley range 883 Sportster and as you said not too heavy I am assuming you might be of smaller build that a heavy bike could be too much

I am waiting for a new Harley to be delivered and was riding a Goldwing until some plum decided to rear end me and I have just bought a VT750 Shadow to keep me on the road and it is a light ride and easy to handle

Now the rest is up to you. Visit plenty of dealers and keep your money in your pocket til YOU find the right bike for you. All the sales staff will want you to buy so make them work for it, make them understand that your money will go to another dealer if they can't or won't get on your wavelength. Once you have got them to understand that you will get their respect and attention.

Good luck with your new purchase and hope to see you on the road sometime

Keep the riding safe and enjoy it.

Answer 3

I would suggest a Kawasaki Ninja EX250 or EX500. cheap, not too heavy, and if you can find a used one with some scratches on it, that would make a perfect beginner bike. However, since you're in the UK, you have a lot more variety of smaller bikes like CBR250's and CBR400's that we don't get in the states, so there may be other good choices available to you that I'm not aware of. I suggest getting one with at least some scratches because, you will probably drop it at some poing learning, so save the money and but a decent used one. Even if you don't plan or liek to think about dropping it, you should take it in the grass and lay it down and practice picking it up, just so you have piece of mind that you can pick it up, and you won't panic should you drop it in the street or where ever. Once you're mor confident you can sell it for just about what you paid for it, even if you put a few more scratches on it yourself, and then move up to something larger/better.

Answer 4

Hi there

Just about to take my test, I will however be restricted to 33bhp though. If you are 21 or over this will not apply to you, otherwise its something to think about when searching for a bike.
I'm going for the BMW f800s. The BMW is expensive (for a middle of the range bike) but the customer service should be good.
I THINK you are probably best off going for something like a suzuki sv650, honda cb600f hornet, pre-2003 yamaha fazer 600. These options have already cropped up, but thats because they are all popular with us newbies.
Definetly check out the BMW f800s though, its a cool bike and cheaper to insure than most japanese 4 cylinder 600's.
Take your time, and don't fully trust dealers as i've been fed crap by some before.

Good luck

Answer 5

Go Girl it's great to see a girl grtting into bikes and the more more people riding the more the Gov will have to listen to us. Anyway enough of me on my soap box. Seeing as your in ol' Blighty my next question is have you got a full license?? If you have I would stick to something small and nimble. A nice CBR400 or VFR400 from Honda. The Suzuki SV650 or the Yamaha Fazer600 are all good for the first timer and are fairly low to the ground so if your a bit short in the leg department. Great bikes

I hope you enjoy the bike and just remember

The Summer is almost Here. Bring it on

Answer 6

Whoo hoo!!! Another biker chick enters the fold! Welcome!!

Choice of first bike is same as for a guy.... depends on how long your legs/arms are and how much you weigh.

Also, depends on if you want a cruiser style or a sportsbike. Either style is good for a newbie. Both have starter bikes.

Upper body strength has NOTHING to do with riding a bike. I've seen experienced 5 foot sexy ladies riding Road Kings better than inexperienced 6 foot musclebound trollheads who got a bike too big for them as a starter.

If you go with the cruiser style.... pick a bike in the 500-900 cc range. Anything less and you'll outgrow it in a year. Anything more and you might be too afraid to ride. (see note about trollheads above)

Best cruiser bikes in this range are: Harley Sportster, Honda Shadow, Yamaha Virago, Kawasaki Vulcan

Sit on them and see which fits your body best. Minor adjustments to seat height and handlebar angle can be made to all of them.

As for sportsbikes... I've never owned one so I can't give you suggestions of specific sportsbike models.

Answer 7

Are you actually in Britain 'Welsh Dragon'? Because bike culture in the UK is very different to the American culture implied by these answers. Don't get a cruiser because they are long and handle like a river barge. You need something light-ish, maneuverable with a flexible engine- ie, one that makes power evenly through the rev range and doesn't care what gear it's in. And reliable: that means Japanese.

Assuming you're in a country where there are no licence restrictions (er, that would be America):

Kawasaki GPX250s, Suzuki GS500, Kawasaki ER500, Suzuki Bandit 600, Yamaha XJ600 are all excellent.

make sure you look in lots of dealerships, sit on and, if possible, ride as many bikes as you can so you get a feel for what different ones are like: especially pay attention to engine configurations (ie, capacity and number of cylinders) because these really affect a bike's feel.

My gal has a Honda CB600F Hornet and she loves it: and it will ride rings around most sportbikes.

Answer 8

Hi - not sure if you're already licensed to ride the motorbike. If you're still learning/about to learn/just passed, I'd say a Honda 125cc which is what I learned on. Unfortunately I never kept the riding up and started driving cars instead.

Anyway, a few suggestions:
- go to a few motorbike dealers and ask for advice. Many have female riders working in them. Many allow you to test drive the bike. See as many as you can and listen, noting down the features you think you'd like and those you don't want. With each visit, you'll be building your knowledge up so it may be easier to talk to and sort out the bull **** from subsequent dealers.
- have a look at online review sites for bikes (I only had a brief chance to find the one below but you get the idea...
http://www.reviewcentre.com/products2279.html
- talk to as many riders as you can, especially female ones.
- try out as many as you can
- once you've decided, go online again and look for the best price for the actual bike you want.

Good luck with it...

Answer 9

Hi there. As with other responses, I think it depends on your taste, height (to an extent), budget and whether it is an L plate bike or if you are doing Direct Access. I only know about bigger sports bikes and tourers. A friend started on a cheap Kawasaki GPZ 550 which she found easy to control and good for her height. My first bike was a Suzuki GSX600F which was great for consolidating my training. Honda Hornets, Suzuki SV 650 and Bandit are all a good bet for a starter, but basically the world is your oyster! Good luck and enjoy!

Answer 10

Dont get a dirt bike....get a motorcycle
Not to heavy, does that mean your not to tall? Im 5'5'', an thats where most of my info. will start........Motorbike..you in England?
Triumph has one that got my attention last week, a Speedster, 2003
Looked like it had a pretty low seat, an
was a good lookin, semi- custom look,
and....800cc. Id check that one out, if you are in england. Another one thats 8-900, and has one of the lowest
seat heights out of the factory is a
Kawasaki vulcan. I have Vulcan/classic 1500, an I stop at light and my feet are flat on the ground w/
knees bent, an I imagine the smaller ones have the same technology. Good footing balances out most weight problems, after that its tecnique, thats figured out in about 5
minutes. Id go hit these two dealers an check it out, its a start, anyways.
And dont get a dirt bike, inless you want to go jump dirt-piles..........