Best bike for a Beginner
- Thread starter Sniffs
- 64 comments
- 4,639 views
- 5,014
- Panama City, FL
What to start with bike-wise, or learning-wise?
Do NOT get the coolest, fastest bike you can find to learn to ride on. Get a used twin somewhere, no bigger than a 400 or 500, already beat up cosmetically so it doesn't feel so bad when you drop it (and you will.) Move up in a few months and sell that one to the next learner.
Learning-wise, take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginner course. In most states it will exempt you from the riding exam, and in some states it's a requirement for riders under a given age. Sometimes you get an insurance discount with it, too. I took it when I bought my FJR just so I wouldn't have to try to put that monster through the U-turns and stuff. I'd been riding a while, but other people's bikes, and when I got my own I had to add the motorcycle endorsement to my license.
Do NOT get the coolest, fastest bike you can find to learn to ride on. Get a used twin somewhere, no bigger than a 400 or 500, already beat up cosmetically so it doesn't feel so bad when you drop it (and you will.) Move up in a few months and sell that one to the next learner.
Learning-wise, take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginner course. In most states it will exempt you from the riding exam, and in some states it's a requirement for riders under a given age. Sometimes you get an insurance discount with it, too. I took it when I bought my FJR just so I wouldn't have to try to put that monster through the U-turns and stuff. I'd been riding a while, but other people's bikes, and when I got my own I had to add the motorcycle endorsement to my license.
- 2,568
- we're waiting for the PS4
- fishtailrook1 (?)
*smirk* i didn't drop a 750 when I rode it for a little bit.
i was thinking more like a 200 or 250 at the most. I'm looking for something to putt into town with on occasion to take care of business. I'll have to figure out if you can stick something like a soft saddlebag on, or if I should just use a backpack like I did on a bicycle.
i was thinking more like a 200 or 250 at the most. I'm looking for something to putt into town with on occasion to take care of business. I'll have to figure out if you can stick something like a soft saddlebag on, or if I should just use a backpack like I did on a bicycle.
- 5,014
- Panama City, FL
There's a few good 250s out there. A cruiser-type would give you more options for rack and saddlebags, I think, but a 250 cruiser? Ew-w-w-w-w! If a sport-bike is more to your liking, Kawa actually has a nice-looking Ninja 250. Probably too new to find a used one anywhere, and I don't know if you're looking to drop change on a new bike.
(Actually, I picked that one because there's a guy here at work rides one. Nice little bike, and he's found some carrying options for it. He's been on the highway with it, but bonzai-mode max downhill speed is about 75 or 80, he says.)
(Actually, I picked that one because there's a guy here at work rides one. Nice little bike, and he's found some carrying options for it. He's been on the highway with it, but bonzai-mode max downhill speed is about 75 or 80, he says.)
- 2,568
- we're waiting for the PS4
- fishtailrook1 (?)
a rural zone kinda precludes some of the road bikes. I was thinking something more in the "multi" area...the ones that look like dirt bikes with cladding on them.
i grew up catching glimpses of stuff in the nature of Honda CB's, and my step-father always two-wheeled on a GoldWing.
i grew up catching glimpses of stuff in the nature of Honda CB's, and my step-father always two-wheeled on a GoldWing.
- 5,076
- GTPLoon
- D1 Loon
I couldn't think of a better title, but what would y'all, motorcycle junkies, recommend as the best bike to try and learn with?
My step dad is really into bikes, crotch rockets, and he wants me to get my motorcycle license and a bike so we can ride. I have no idea what would be a good bike, and I don't really think he has a good handle on it either.
I'm not looking to buy right now, I just want some things that I should look out for and whatnot.
My step dad is really into bikes, crotch rockets, and he wants me to get my motorcycle license and a bike so we can ride. I have no idea what would be a good bike, and I don't really think he has a good handle on it either.
I'm not looking to buy right now, I just want some things that I should look out for and whatnot.
- 5,014
- Panama City, FL
- 4,445
- Colorado
- GTP_UnoMOTO
Well...It might be that we have already said it a bunch of times
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=93760&highlight=motorbike
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/t-17751.html
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=91220
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=79382
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=95444
It's not that we don't care or don't want to be helpful but click away and If you don't find what your looking for then please hit us up with some spacific questions.
- 3,329
- Ballz McVinegar
You would get eaten up on the freeways around my area on a 250. I think riding position is really the factor in a good starter bike. That means no clip ons,an upright seating stance. Gives you a better chance of learning shifting and steering without worrying about your back and forearms being soar from being hunched over a sportbike. I also think the resale value of a learner is important. Getting a season or two under your belt on an SV650 and being able to sell it for as much as you paid to go toward a bike to your liking.
After all that...it also depends on where you live. In the US its easier to get on a bigger bike than UK. It also means in the UK they get a TON of great bikes to start on like the Hornet. US doesnt get a few great european only bikes.
I like the basic Suzuki's and Honda's. 4 grand is really nice for a runabout. Wouldn't one of those be good for a beginner?
- 2,568
- we're waiting for the PS4
- fishtailrook1 (?)
I've only just started using my GTPlanet forum account again, so I'da missed em anyways
vr6gti72: some of us are rural, and you don't need a cruiser sized around here.
we have at least 5 bike shops around, but the nearest is, inevitably, the Harley shop. the other's are all at least 10-20 miles away.. it's a half hour trip to a Honda, kawasaki or Yamaha dealer. and the Yamaha dealer told me it has to be credit approved. figures.
- 3,329
- Ballz McVinegar
I've only just started using my GTPlanet forum account again, so I'da missed em anyways
vr6gti72: some of us are rural, and you don't need a cruiser sized around here.
.
The bikes I mentioned arent too big. I wouldnt classify them as a cruiser either. They were just ideas for a beginner bike, not specifying what conditions it would be used in. If I were rural Id get a trail bike like a kawi versys or the like.
- 4,445
- Colorado
- GTP_UnoMOTO
- 2,568
- we're waiting for the PS4
- fishtailrook1 (?)
mabey I shoulda said "small town" type rural. I meant the kind of bike you don't have to go get a stranger to help you pick up and move if you gotta mow the lawn or something. I was actually thinking a Yamaha TW. that's more than enough for me, fast enough to avoid getting your butt run over on a two-lane, but dirt capable enough to take a dirt road or a tar and chip while dodging buggies and tractors
oh, for me, anything over 500 would be too much weight to handle. I'm only 5'8". 'sides, I get tired of seeing either Hogs or huge GoldWings.
- 793
Suzuki SV650........no better starter bike.
- 6,980
- old-guy64
I don't know if any companies make "big" singles anymore.
But my choice, if I were to start riding (and was half the size) would be the (old)Yamaha 500 Single.
It isn't too heavy, has a good seating position, and plenty of power to start out with.
It's also narrow with the single cylinder design.
I would also consider a V-twin in smaller displacement for the same reasons stated above.
For my size, I would have to start with something in the 750 CC range.
For someone more "normal" sized a 500-600 would be good.
But my choice, if I were to start riding (and was half the size) would be the (old)Yamaha 500 Single.
It isn't too heavy, has a good seating position, and plenty of power to start out with.
It's also narrow with the single cylinder design.
I would also consider a V-twin in smaller displacement for the same reasons stated above.
For my size, I would have to start with something in the 750 CC range.
For someone more "normal" sized a 500-600 would be good.
Eric.
Premium
- 8,515
- GTP_Eric
- Ebiggs
mabey I shoulda said "small town" type rural. I meant the kind of bike you don't have to go get a stranger to help you pick up and move if you gotta mow the lawn or something. I was actually thinking a Yamaha TW. that's more than enough for me, fast enough to avoid getting your butt run over on a two-lane, but dirt capable enough to take a dirt road or a tar and chip while dodging buggies and tractors
oh, for me, anything over 500 would be too much weight to handle. I'm only 5'8". 'sides, I get tired of seeing either Hogs or huge GoldWings.
We had a TW200 for a bit, I think it was a 2003 that we bought new. I really didn't like it that much. It would just manage to do about 70 or something and the gearing was way too short for the roads but too tall for woods riding. The XT series (I haven't kept up with bikes in a long time, really) would be a much better bet, I'd think. That 200 sounded pretty awful, also.
I learned to ride when I was like 9 on an XR70 and then we bought a CRF150 when I was 13, which ended up being the first bike with a clutch I had ever used. That thing was perfect besides being just a little too high for me at the time. We clocked it going about 60 on a back road and actually had plans of converting it to be street legal. The only pure street bike of ours that I have ridden was a 2001 Honda Shadow Spirit (750cc V-twin). I LOVED THAT THING. Awkward handling at low speed, but so good any other time. Even extremely stable on bad gravel roads, probably more so than the CRF ever was. My dad realized he should have kept it for me...
- 1,151
- AmuseR1
