[Sourcecode]

Like a lot of people. Learning to ride a bike has been something I've always had on my checklist.

Now I've gotten to the point where I've checked off all my other things and want to pull the trigger on something new.

How does one go about learning to ride a motorcycle?
Did you go to a school? Learn from a friend? ect

What is a decent bike to start off with?
If you start too small..Whats the process of upgrading to something better?

The purpose of me owning a bike would be mostly commuting to and from work and the occasional distance trip ( Couple hours..not cross country) I already own a SUV..and Id like to cut my gas cost down by driving a bike to and from on top of having some fun in between

Personally Im not a loud Harley fan..and with safety in mind..I don't care for high speed sports bikes. I've seen to many people go straight to 600+ sportsbikes and never use them to potential.
Ive also always been into offroad type stuff.

For this reason.
Im drawn to Dualsport and Adventure bikes like

suzuki DR650SE


or suzukiV-Strom 650 ABS


bmw G650GS

[poly_72]

I actually had to attend a driving school to get my M1 since I'm under age (I'm 19 but in ca you need to be 21 and over to acquire a M1 without school). So if you have the extra dough take a course.. my school was two full days of driving then I was granted a 7 month permit but this month I get my o.g. license.

When it comes to bikes theres so many to choose..
Right now I own a 76 honda cb 550. It was a project bike but its up and running now..

But yes I recomend starting off with like a 550 or 600 . It s right in the middle of power and control..

[Bluesexplosion]

Welcome to the team, motorcycles are fun as hell and if you ride them with responsability you'll never regret buying one. This website covers a lot of things you should know before your purchase: http://motorcyclebeginnerguide.weebly.com

[roberto]

Honda Africa Twin. Gorgeous bikes. 750 or 650cc models depending upon year.

[Vroom]

IF you're really into the adventurer style, BMW would be right up there, but you could do worse than check out KTM. They have an offroad pedigree, although the best of their range is bigger engined (~1200cc) so will probably be a bit too much for a beginner. Also it will consume as much fuel as your SUV.

Are there any restrictions on what capacity bike you can get in your area?
Can you afford a brand new bike, or are you looking for something a bit older?

690 duke



1190 adventurer

[TonySandos]

some useful knowledge about the motorcycle world that wont be obvious upfront, but useful to know is that as a culture riding is one of the great bastions of masculinity that hasn't been annihilated yet. youll meet a lot of guys out there who can show you a fair amount about working on your bike, smart purchases, when to buy new vs. used, biker clubs, group trip ideas, nice places to ride and so on. I recommend starting with a cheap used, smaller cc bike instead of burning money. you can dog out and drop that ran horse all you want on your way to mastering it before moving on to the next best thing.

that ktm Africa whatever model inspired a great idea. after you get experience on your bike, look into rates to cart that thing overseas and take a cross country trip in a foreign land on your horse. I don't know what the reaction would be, but American women at a rate of 1 out of 3 will ask to hop on when they see you pull up, even if your bike isn't a pageant winner on looks. the image alone is pretty powerful from my experience.

[Sourcecode]

(03-15-2014 10:13 PM)Bluesexplosion Wrote:  

Welcome to the team, motorcycles are fun as hell and if you ride them with responsability you'll never regret buying one. This website covers a lot of things you should know before your purchase: http://motorcyclebeginnerguide.weebly.com

I will read through that site today.


Mileage is also a factor. Luckily bikes seem to get great mileage compared to my 16-20mpg SUV
I'm in the states..There no really limit or anything in the range of bike that I would be looking at.

Age of the bike doesn't necessarily matter, but I would prefer something made in this decade.
That being said..Once I get into something..I tend to sit in from of it for hours just reading books and manuals to figured out how it all works.
I'd prefer a more recent model to start fresh and take care of. (not necessarily new though)

I can afford a new bike...I would like to spend less than 7k one though. 5k would be my perfect budget
Hell. I only spent 5k on my jeep.



I really like the adventure style though..its different..more useful.
The market is saturated with people riding Ninjas and GSX-Rs.

[Laner]

Good idea in going with an enduro type model.

I got my first dirtbike for my 5th birthday and I have been riding ever since. I even taught bike lessons for a summer when I was in college. One of the things that we noticed and promoted is that those guys with dirt riding skills and backgrounds were much better street riders. There is a certain "heads up" riding style that they have naturally.

I see riding classes all over now and they start their students out on SuperSherpa 250's. These are far too small for a man, but yeah they are good learner bikes.

I go by the mantra of "its better to have the power and not use it, then to need the power and not have it". Most tight situations on motorcycles are overcome with a flick of wrist rather than hammering on the brakes. Cars stop twice as short as bikes, but bikes have triple the acceleration.

So far all the bike posted on here are excellent. KTM is perhaps the funnest bike I have ever ridden. The BMW is a great bike and is proven year after year on the adventure riding circuits.

The Vstrom does it all decently. If you are going to be on the pavement mostly, this bike is great.

DR, Africa Twin, etc are made more for double track dirt and gravel.

At the moment I have a DRZ 400 that is light with a lot of power to weight ratio. Perfect for the steep rainforests of British Columbia.

[monster]

I learned to ride by taking a motorcycle safety course over one weekend. It was like $200 including bike rental. You also get to bypass the DMV written test when you show your graduation cert. Just google "motorcycle safety course <your state>" to find out who puts them on, they're everywhere.

[___]

(03-16-2014 04:13 PM)monster Wrote:  

I learned to ride by taking a motorcycle safety course over one weekend. It was like $200 including bike rental. You also get to bypass the DMV written test when you show your graduation cert. Just google "motorcycle safety course <your state>" to find out who puts them on, they're everywhere.

I took the MSF as well back in '04 - well worth the cost....the insurance discount is nice as well.

starters FWIW (depending on your height/weight):

used - old ass kawi zzr 600 or ninja 500, suzuki gs 5/600
new - honda cbr 500

^^ those are the "sensible" choices. I've seen cats learn on liter bikes and survive to tell the tale also (not recommended).

Good luck.

[DJ-Matt]

For shits and giggles about 5 years ago I acquired one of these at auction dirt cheap:


It's a scooter so the laws are different and you can ride one without the motorcycle license, plus get some experience. And since it goes at like 35 mph maximum it'll make you want a bike

[el mechanico]

Buy my trike
http://tampa.craigslist.org/psc/mcy/4378035145.html

[Santoro]

Depends on the money you wanna drop. In FL they make you take a motorcycle class to get your license.

Virago 250's are a cheap way to get into it, very reliable and dirt cheap in most towns (about $1,800-2,500 for a decent used one w low miles). Great way to learn and figure out what you like before dropping big coin on something else.

[thirty-six]

Don't discount supermotos. If you're not going off road (and really, even if you are a bit) they might be a good choice. Suzuki DRZ400SM or Yamaha WR250X should be bulletproof. Ducati Hypermotard or one of the other Europeans if you really want to have fun.

[TonySandos]

no need to hate on ninjas and suzukis. I'm a fan because since so many people own them, it makes it very easy to own two or more bikes because you can have a cheap fixer bike of either of these brands at a relatively cheap price for repair or getting it road ready after purchase.

aside, I agree with everyone else on the hybrid bikes. the capability to go off road with a road worthy bike sounds enticing

[jamaicabound]

I remember when I first got interested in getting a bike it was like a catch 22. You can't rent a bike to find out what you want to buy or learn to ride until you have a license but you can't get a license until you know how to ride. Not everyone has a friend with a bike to learn on so it's like where do I start?

I have kind of a funny story about me learning to ride. I think I owned like 6 bikes before I knew how to ride one. I was in college didn't have a lot of cash but wanted to get a bike. My gf's dad had an old barn with a bunch of "barn find" bikes. For $350 he sold me 2 1972 Honda CB750's, a first production year Honda Goldwing, and a 1974 Honda 450 it was like a dirtbike streetbike combo, I really wish I woulda kept that one. Anyhow, planneed on fixing them but seeing as how I didn't know how to work on bikes I wound up flipping them on cl and making a decent profit.

Then bought a Suzuki GS500 cafe racer style bike. It ran and drove but had bad tires, needed a new clutch cable and brake cable. I tooled around the neighborhood for a few weeks but never really trully learned to ride. Then bought a Kawasaki KZ550 for like $500, same deal there. My biggest advice is don't buy some crap cheap bike, save money and buy something decent. If your learning to ride it only makes it harder when you have a bike that skips a gear or something just makes it that much tougher.

I finally decided to buy a more expensive bike. Actually went in to buy a Suzuki GS550 sportbike but it was sold, they had a 1994 Suzuki Intruder VS800. Only had like 1200 miles and they wanted $2000 for it. For a 14 year old bike it had no miles. Wound up buying it. 800cc is a bit big to start on, however with a cruiser its okay, woudln't recommend doing that with a sportbike. I had my gfs brother teach me on backroads. I stayed on backroads and parking lots until I was very comfortable and then ventured off onto the streets.

I'd really recommend the motorcycle safety classes. Its normally all day saturday and sunday, only 20 bucks or so, they provide pretty much everything minus gloves and boots but they provide bike and helmet. At the end of class on sunday a guy from dmv comes and gives you an easier test than the real test. If you pass you get a slip to take into dmv to get license without taking the test. The test in my area is really hard on one section weaving through cones. I have a bike with a larger wheel base and it's almost physically impossible to complete the test on my bike. I finally learned you only lose 2 points for missing a cone but you fail if you put a foot down so I skipped the first 2 cones went through the rest and finished rest of the trest perfect and passed.

I found the hardest part of learnign to ride was wrapping my head around shifting. It's frustrating because you ask people and everyone says...you'll know when to shift. Of course you've never ridden a bike before so its like no I don't know hwat to feel for I've never ridden lol. Once you learn you understand why people say that but its tough at first.

I think a good lesson for beginners is 0-20 mph first gear, 20-30 2nd gear, 30-40 3rd gear and so on. It's not necessarily the proper way to ride but its a good guide to usee and once you start riding you'll start to feel when the engine is working harder and when you need to shift.

One other thihng I had a hard time wrapping my head around was this. With a car each gear has its own placement ie first gear front and left, reverse back and left, third up and right, fourth back and right. With a bike its not like that. With a bike First gear is a click down from neutral and has its own place so to pseka. neutral is up and has its own place, and second gear the peg is sorta in its own slot. for 3rd gear all the way up its more like a wratchet. its not as if 3rd gear is an inch higher than 2nd and 4rth is two inches higher than third. its more like a wratchet so if you click up you switch gears but the peg doesn't exactly move or fall into a new slot. That's one of the trickiest things I had a hard time wrapping my head around.

[Pacific]

What's your inseam?

I would suggest going to a dealership and try sitting on a bunch of different candidates and see how you like the height and weight distribution. I personally have a relatively shorter inseam and some of those enduro bikes have a very high distance from seat to ground, making it harder to control when coming to a stop if you have to be on tip-toes (especially if there water on the road or pot holes, etc).

[Sourcecode]

Well Im 6'1
It wont be a problem of me not fitting a bike of my choice..as long as it isn't some kids 80cc bike
Since Im slightly above average height..and would use the bike mainly as a commuter...I would like to be able to sit up and not be leaned to far over.
In the same event..I would like it to be a little higher off the ground..If everywhere i live has a lot of room to roam and forest.a higher clearance seems better for shortcuts through the forest

The search continues.
What is a good mileage indicator for a bike?
Ive seen bikes with 12k and 41k at the same prices.


As said above..Im gonna have to get out and sit on a couple bikes to be sure.

Something like any of the bikes below should cost me no more than 6k right?
Could I lowball and offer something like 4.5k for a bike? it it has more than 15k miles on

But im really leaning towards the BMW series

2006 BMW F650GS Ive also found a 05 just like this


2013 KLR 650

[el mechanico]

No on those big thumpers! They're an acquired taste.

[Laner]

(03-19-2014 08:39 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  

No on those big thumpers! They're an acquired taste.

Yeah, if you are going to be doing any commuting or long distances on interstates they will vibrate you right off.

They are awesome on the dirt and gravel though. Lots of torque and snap.

[Vroom]

The only BMW i'd ride myself is the S1000, but it's not for beginners.



For a beginner friendly bike with some interesting styling, you could look at the honda dn-01. Not sure how a bike with auto-transmission plays out, but I do like the look.

[jamaicabound]

(03-20-2014 04:57 AM)Vroom Wrote:  

The only BMW i'd ride myself is the S1000, but it's not for beginners.



For a beginner friendly bike with some interesting styling, you could look at the honda dn-01. Not sure how a bike with auto-transmission plays out, but I do like the look.

thats a cool style of bike. honda has something similar called the honda vrod, harley also has a vrod and i think that other american bike company cant think of the name at the moment but the one owned by polaris has a few similar style bikes. i think hyosungs cruisers kind of share this style as well

[RexImperator]

Too powerful and expensive, but I really liked the feel/fit of this bike when I sat on it in a showroom:



Honda CB1100

What would be similar to that but cheaper and good for a beginner...maybe a used Triumph? (I think an old Honda CB450 or something might have too many maintenance issues.)

[el mechanico]

Quote:

I think an old Honda CB450

They're one of the most bulletproof machines ever produced on the planet.

Suzuki 800 intruder is a good learner bike that's not slow and cheap.

[RexImperator]

(03-20-2014 10:49 AM)el mechanico Wrote:  

Quote:

I think an old Honda CB450

They're one of the most bulletproof machines ever produced on the planet.

Suzuki 800 intruder is a good learner bike that's not slow and cheap.

Thanks El Mech