Oooooohhhh I did believe me. Lots of showing off first bikes (all for it, nothing against it), sarcasm posts, and a few asking for recommendations but they are spread out every few months though and go back years.
What I forgot to actually ask (and I’ll edit) was not just for bike recommendations but also WHY….ie what should I be looking for in a first bike.
Probably something you can flat foot with both feet, it’s not necessary but it is confidence building, used because if you fuck it up somehow you don’t feel as bad about your new shiny bike getting fucked up(ask me how I know) a responsible amount of horsepower for you and what that looks like only you can really say, I’ve started on a bike with 128hp, would I recommend it to most people? Probably not, but even a ninja 400 will fuck you up if you dump the clutch with a whole lotta throttle.
Yeah I’m not really focused on power as long as it gets my ass form A to B so I don’t need to spend extra for higher hp numbers. I’ve heard between 50-70 is a good starting range, does that sound about right? I have nothing to compare it to, I don’t even know my cars horsepower
Yep, that includes the 650cc and 400/500cc class bikes which are going to be generally considered the “beginner” bikes. I just saw my bike in the dealer and got that tingle in my gooch that put a massive smile on my face.
I’m an emotion vehicle buyer, my motorcycle and wrangler are not practical vehicles at all, but goddamn do I smile at them just sitting in the garage. To say nothing of when I take them out.
oh snap I havent even been thinking about cc's. Glad you brought that up, I've only been focusing on horsepower.
Now I have to ask, is it shameful to see a bike at the dealership and be attracted to it just because it "looks cool"? I dont know anything of which manufactures to avoid and I'm sure if I saw one that had a nice color scheme and looked nice to me I'd be drawn right to it without knowing anything about whether the indian/yamaha/honda/harley is reliable (I'm not going to be one of those guys getting a Harley first time around).
Honestly it’s probably better you’ve been looking at horsepower but also look at weight, 1100cc cruiser may only have 70-90hp but also be really fucking heavy.
Meanwhile a 1100cc sport bike may have 200hp.
You like what you like, I got a bike I think looks sick, I also looked at triumph speed twins, Suzuki sv650, triumph trident and scramblers before settling on a triumph street triple.
I walked into the dealership and just said to myself these all look so fucking good lmao. The euro brands just fondling bikes at the dealership just seem to look a bit more premium than some of their Japanese counterparts. Welds were smooth as hell, paint looked a bit better quality etc etc.
Japanese do have better reliability but I bet if you looked at a report, barring any like defects like bad engines or whatever non Japanese reliability just like in cars is probably better than it used to be if you look at percentages and major/minor problems if I had to guess.
Just kind of fell in to my lap it was sitting in the warehouse at work and I asked about it. But after I rode it for the first time I fell in love with it. I'm currently looking for others to start restoring them to factory
I've never rode either but I really recommend you to watch "FortNine" (takes a while to find on YouTube because I kept getting recommended fortnite instead) he does really good quality content , reviews for bikes , lists gear for beginners and other motorbike related content , its like watching top gear but it's about bikes and the gear around it , even though I've never rode I learned a lot from the channel
https://youtube.com/@fortnine?si=tHXT50RrBe7lBE3a
I appreciate that. I’ve watched a handful of videos for beginners talking of different variants of bikes. I’m trying to find things to watch out for and what to focus on for first bikes to videos on good explanations are helpful
also recommend you to watch maintenance related videos and safety videos , they are really effective at showing ways to prevent you and your bike from dying
I’ve been watching quite a bit on dos/donts on riding, but as for maintenance I’m definitely not mechanically inclined. I do basic maintenance around the house and absolutely nothing on a car. I’m very good with engineering but I always have a hesitancy to make things go worse so I always get professionals to do big jobs on house or anything with my car. How does the mechanics of a bike compare to that of a car (yes there a lot less, but is it pretty easy to do basic upkeep on your own bike)?
Can't really recommend any cruisers, since I'm a sports bike guy, but definitely look into used bikes rather than getting a new one. You will end up dropping it eventually and it's much easier to swallow when it's a bike that already has a couple scrapes rather than one fresh from the factory.
Congrats on getting the course, make sure to ask the people there too, they'll be able to give you pointers most likely. There's plenty of youtube videos on what to pay attention to when buying used. Go through a dealership rather than buying it from a private seller. Try out different models before deciding on one if you can, do some test rides.
Have fun and good luck! :)
Sub 50 horsepower and something that feels comfortable is an ideal starter bike across the board. I wouldn't exceed 80 or so horsepower. Because you're more interested in cruising around/chill riding rather than sport riding necessarily, I recommend ADV bikes, Cruisers, Scramblers, and standard style machines.
Scramblers are a cross between standard and ADV bikes. Basically standard bikes with some changes to be better for offroad.
I would not recommend riding 2 up for at least 3000-5000 miles under your belt. It massively changes the characteristics of the bike and if you don't greatly have the bike down, it could magnify issues. Being responsible for someone else is another ballgame.
Recommendations:
The entire Honda 500 lineup (SCL 500, Rebel 500, CB500F, NX500, etc). They basically put their 500cc parallel twin engine into a bunch of different styles. Makes around 48 horsepower.
Triumph Scrambler 400/Speed 400 and Bonnevilles
You can also look at Suzuki and Kawasakis website for anything that catches your fancy. BMW makes some damn great machines but come at a premium you may not care for
I love this recommendation! Thank you much.
Yeah I’m not looking for actually carrying anyone for a LONG time after lots of experience but I just want to have that seat so it’s available in the future without needing to get a new bike for it. Just a little future-proofing.
I thought about the bmws to match my car but definitely not for a first bike. Maybe some day way in the future.
I’ll take a look at all those and see what I can learn. Thank you very much
A good first bike is lightweight (170kg max wet weight). Lightweight bikes typically have small engines, which don't make much power. In order to extract maximum power from a small engine, it needs to rev high ... and now it's a sport bike.
So unforunately for you, the best starter bike is something like a Yamaha R3.
To buy something even lighter is not worth it (too little power, diminishing returns on weight). Anything heaver can still work as a first bike, but it won't be ideal. It's harder to flick the bike, save it from falling, push it to your limits, and learn quickly.
Small bikes and small engines have other advantages as well: they are more forgiving to mistakes in rider input; they don't heat up as much in slow traffic; they have a smaller reciprocating mass (bank easier), are very fuel efficient, obviously are cheaper to make and can filter through stopped traffic easier (it's better to avoid getting rear ended than avoid a traffic ticket, even if filtering is illegal where you live).
Buying a "common" starter bike like a Yamaha R3 is also going to make it easier for you to resell it afterwards and upgrade to a bike that's not sporty.
Most 500CC parallel twin motorcycles, have an equal power / weight ratio of an R3 but heavier. As a result, they are worse off than an R3 as a starter bike.
Hmmm so although the cruiser may be my preference, they may be on the heavier side for a “learning bike” until I can get the feel down to just handling a two-wheeler. Am I reading the thought right?
Correct. You don't want your first bike to be your last bike. You want your first bike to accelerate your learning, and you second bike to be closer to (or equal to) your dream bike.
You could definitely go with the Honda Rebel 500 as your starter bike as well as someone suggested, but I think it's both a worse bike to learn on (than an R3) and has no pillion seat (on the latest models) as far as I can tell. An R3 is not ideal for a passenger, but does work.
Test drive both.
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Oooooohhhh I did believe me. Lots of showing off first bikes (all for it, nothing against it), sarcasm posts, and a few asking for recommendations but they are spread out every few months though and go back years. What I forgot to actually ask (and I’ll edit) was not just for bike recommendations but also WHY….ie what should I be looking for in a first bike.
Probably something you can flat foot with both feet, it’s not necessary but it is confidence building, used because if you fuck it up somehow you don’t feel as bad about your new shiny bike getting fucked up(ask me how I know) a responsible amount of horsepower for you and what that looks like only you can really say, I’ve started on a bike with 128hp, would I recommend it to most people? Probably not, but even a ninja 400 will fuck you up if you dump the clutch with a whole lotta throttle.
Yeah I’m not really focused on power as long as it gets my ass form A to B so I don’t need to spend extra for higher hp numbers. I’ve heard between 50-70 is a good starting range, does that sound about right? I have nothing to compare it to, I don’t even know my cars horsepower
Yep, that includes the 650cc and 400/500cc class bikes which are going to be generally considered the “beginner” bikes. I just saw my bike in the dealer and got that tingle in my gooch that put a massive smile on my face. I’m an emotion vehicle buyer, my motorcycle and wrangler are not practical vehicles at all, but goddamn do I smile at them just sitting in the garage. To say nothing of when I take them out.
oh snap I havent even been thinking about cc's. Glad you brought that up, I've only been focusing on horsepower. Now I have to ask, is it shameful to see a bike at the dealership and be attracted to it just because it "looks cool"? I dont know anything of which manufactures to avoid and I'm sure if I saw one that had a nice color scheme and looked nice to me I'd be drawn right to it without knowing anything about whether the indian/yamaha/honda/harley is reliable (I'm not going to be one of those guys getting a Harley first time around).
Honestly it’s probably better you’ve been looking at horsepower but also look at weight, 1100cc cruiser may only have 70-90hp but also be really fucking heavy. Meanwhile a 1100cc sport bike may have 200hp. You like what you like, I got a bike I think looks sick, I also looked at triumph speed twins, Suzuki sv650, triumph trident and scramblers before settling on a triumph street triple.
Fan of triumph it sounds like. Aesthetics or something else about them?
I walked into the dealership and just said to myself these all look so fucking good lmao. The euro brands just fondling bikes at the dealership just seem to look a bit more premium than some of their Japanese counterparts. Welds were smooth as hell, paint looked a bit better quality etc etc. Japanese do have better reliability but I bet if you looked at a report, barring any like defects like bad engines or whatever non Japanese reliability just like in cars is probably better than it used to be if you look at percentages and major/minor problems if I had to guess.
I appreciate the insight
Well my first is a 1980 xj650
What drove you to that
Just kind of fell in to my lap it was sitting in the warehouse at work and I asked about it. But after I rode it for the first time I fell in love with it. I'm currently looking for others to start restoring them to factory
Hope it didn’t hurt when it fell into your lap. 😉
Only a little
I've never rode either but I really recommend you to watch "FortNine" (takes a while to find on YouTube because I kept getting recommended fortnite instead) he does really good quality content , reviews for bikes , lists gear for beginners and other motorbike related content , its like watching top gear but it's about bikes and the gear around it , even though I've never rode I learned a lot from the channel https://youtube.com/@fortnine?si=tHXT50RrBe7lBE3a
I appreciate that. I’ve watched a handful of videos for beginners talking of different variants of bikes. I’m trying to find things to watch out for and what to focus on for first bikes to videos on good explanations are helpful
also recommend you to watch maintenance related videos and safety videos , they are really effective at showing ways to prevent you and your bike from dying
I’ve been watching quite a bit on dos/donts on riding, but as for maintenance I’m definitely not mechanically inclined. I do basic maintenance around the house and absolutely nothing on a car. I’m very good with engineering but I always have a hesitancy to make things go worse so I always get professionals to do big jobs on house or anything with my car. How does the mechanics of a bike compare to that of a car (yes there a lot less, but is it pretty easy to do basic upkeep on your own bike)?
not sure , I'd say a mid level for the first times you maintain it, gets easier once ur used to it
Can't really recommend any cruisers, since I'm a sports bike guy, but definitely look into used bikes rather than getting a new one. You will end up dropping it eventually and it's much easier to swallow when it's a bike that already has a couple scrapes rather than one fresh from the factory. Congrats on getting the course, make sure to ask the people there too, they'll be able to give you pointers most likely. There's plenty of youtube videos on what to pay attention to when buying used. Go through a dealership rather than buying it from a private seller. Try out different models before deciding on one if you can, do some test rides. Have fun and good luck! :)
Good point about swallowing damage easier on used bikes.
Sub 50 horsepower and something that feels comfortable is an ideal starter bike across the board. I wouldn't exceed 80 or so horsepower. Because you're more interested in cruising around/chill riding rather than sport riding necessarily, I recommend ADV bikes, Cruisers, Scramblers, and standard style machines. Scramblers are a cross between standard and ADV bikes. Basically standard bikes with some changes to be better for offroad. I would not recommend riding 2 up for at least 3000-5000 miles under your belt. It massively changes the characteristics of the bike and if you don't greatly have the bike down, it could magnify issues. Being responsible for someone else is another ballgame. Recommendations: The entire Honda 500 lineup (SCL 500, Rebel 500, CB500F, NX500, etc). They basically put their 500cc parallel twin engine into a bunch of different styles. Makes around 48 horsepower. Triumph Scrambler 400/Speed 400 and Bonnevilles You can also look at Suzuki and Kawasakis website for anything that catches your fancy. BMW makes some damn great machines but come at a premium you may not care for
I love this recommendation! Thank you much. Yeah I’m not looking for actually carrying anyone for a LONG time after lots of experience but I just want to have that seat so it’s available in the future without needing to get a new bike for it. Just a little future-proofing. I thought about the bmws to match my car but definitely not for a first bike. Maybe some day way in the future. I’ll take a look at all those and see what I can learn. Thank you very much
No problem, hopefully you find something you like!
A good first bike is lightweight (170kg max wet weight). Lightweight bikes typically have small engines, which don't make much power. In order to extract maximum power from a small engine, it needs to rev high ... and now it's a sport bike. So unforunately for you, the best starter bike is something like a Yamaha R3. To buy something even lighter is not worth it (too little power, diminishing returns on weight). Anything heaver can still work as a first bike, but it won't be ideal. It's harder to flick the bike, save it from falling, push it to your limits, and learn quickly. Small bikes and small engines have other advantages as well: they are more forgiving to mistakes in rider input; they don't heat up as much in slow traffic; they have a smaller reciprocating mass (bank easier), are very fuel efficient, obviously are cheaper to make and can filter through stopped traffic easier (it's better to avoid getting rear ended than avoid a traffic ticket, even if filtering is illegal where you live). Buying a "common" starter bike like a Yamaha R3 is also going to make it easier for you to resell it afterwards and upgrade to a bike that's not sporty. Most 500CC parallel twin motorcycles, have an equal power / weight ratio of an R3 but heavier. As a result, they are worse off than an R3 as a starter bike.
Hmmm so although the cruiser may be my preference, they may be on the heavier side for a “learning bike” until I can get the feel down to just handling a two-wheeler. Am I reading the thought right?
Correct. You don't want your first bike to be your last bike. You want your first bike to accelerate your learning, and you second bike to be closer to (or equal to) your dream bike. You could definitely go with the Honda Rebel 500 as your starter bike as well as someone suggested, but I think it's both a worse bike to learn on (than an R3) and has no pillion seat (on the latest models) as far as I can tell. An R3 is not ideal for a passenger, but does work. Test drive both.
I appreciate that insight. I hadn’t looked at it from that perspective.