Now this question comes up again and again, and over the years I've came up with my own conclusions.
There are three types of riders
The ones that
- Will go out and buy a bike without ANY research
- Will do research and buy the bike they want, instead of the bike they need, ignoring everybody.
- Will do the research, listen to smarter riders, go and buy a bike that they CAN learn on
The first type, has a VERY slim chance of living long, or staying in one piece, seriously.
The second type, has a VERY slow learning curve, an unstreetable bike, which is most likely new, that they drop and spend thousands on repairing
The third, takes it smart, buys the gear, older used bike to learn on, learn REALLY quick, ride safer and BETTER then the first two types, passes them (#1 and 2 type) in the corners, on a SLOWER bike even though they (#1, 2) have "pretty, new machines"; then in a season or two buy the bike they really want and ride happily ever after.
Decide what type you are now.
If you are reading this you most likely are not #1, if you're #2 and not going to listen to me, dont bother reading the rest, just go out and buy that pretty new bike you had your eyes on. If your #3, I invite you to read on, you've made a wise choice.
First set your budget.
You will need about 5 or 5.5 thousand dollars to start on a "Decent" bike. Lets see, buy a 4K$ bike, pay insurance, pay tax (about 400$ tax ALONE), buy gear, (You will want gear, helmet at least) is another 500$ +
So plan accordingly.
Secondly, time to chose the bike you will get.
For starters, remember all those pretty new 600CC bikes all your friends just got? Forget them completely. They are NOT beginner bikes. They are race machines with blinkers. This is NOT the safe/smart way to start off. Would you want a Formula 1 car as your first car? NO! Why? It's rough, you cant ride long distances, its noisy, its very expensive, its not safe, it has WAY too much power then you can handle, its cramped, you're afraid of messing it up. Guess what, this applies to bikes as well.
Yes there are people that "can get away" with starting on a new 600cc bike, and "survive". But the odds are against you, and you should know not to play against the odds. For every one that gets away with it, there are 12 in hospital beds. If I could put money on people who get those bikes, that they will drop it and or injure themselves, I would do it EVERY time.
So new 600's are out of the question. If your in #3 type, you will listen to me, if your in #2 type and for some reason still reading on, at this point you will be thinking that I'm an idiot, I do not know you, you're thinking that you can easily handle a 600cc bike, and you will go buy one. Good, now stop reading.
#3 still there? Allright.
Back to the bikes. There is a simple major difference between bikes. There are Inline 4's, or "I4", which are the noisy little things you hear everywhere, and there are V2, or "twins" as they are called. 2 cylinder bikes, like harleys and some tourers. (I am excluding Goldwings (v6) and Boss Hoss's (v8).
The difference? Twins are tourqy, make a very well respected "muscle car" sound (comparatively), lighter, and make a bike more balanced. I4's do not make any power untill you are at about 8K RPM depending on the bike.
If you want a real cheap first bike then a ninja 250 would be perfect for you. They are about 2.5K brand new, and even cheaper used. They are "perfect" begginner bikes, and the ONLY reason people do not buy them is because they "do not look cool", yes they are somewhat dated in looks. But if your in this sport for looks alone, step away now, you will hurt yourself showing off.
If you do not like the 250 because of its lack of power (250's will still beat nearly every car on the road), there is identical looking ninja 500, with more power.
A more "modern" looking street bike that would be a good starter is a Suzuki Kanatune AKA Can-o-tuna, as they are sometimes refered to. They are on the heavy side, but have a bit of balanced power and good starters.
If you want to go honda, CBR F2, and F3 are your friends. F4 falls into a "new 600cc" category... not friendly. The F3 and F2 were top of the class bikes back in the 90's. They were THE machines to have, there was nothing faster, so don't be fooled by them being older, they are still 11 second OR faster machines. (1/4 mile wise).
For the Twin fans, there is the SV series from Suzuki, and one of the TOP picks for the first beginner bike. They look modern and they are modern. The 1st gen, has more of a "curvy" style to it, the 2nd gen is more of an "angled" type. They both come in naked and the half faired "S" verison. For both there is additional lower fairins that you can buy that will make it look like just like any new sport bike out there. These bikes are cheaper, easier to ride, still have the balls (will keep up with most 600cc bikes untill you get into triple digits) but since they are twins they have less power, but more torque, and a much better power delievery curve.
That is all I can think of for now, if somebody wants to add stuff or provide picture examples of some of the bikes I listed I'd greatly appreciate it. I'd upload them but I am on 56k, thats all i got for now.
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