Reviews, Tips and Beginner Guides for New Motorcycle Riders

The new bike was showing about 160 miles on the odometer at the start of the first weekend of riding, as a result of the three 50'ish mile first impression mini test rides that I'd managed to squeeze in during the previous evenings after work.. Fresh oil had been put into the engine at that early mileage mark in an effort to ensure any initial break-in impurities were removed....read more

Like a one-two punch I am releasing part 3 of this review just a day after part 2. During this ride Gary throws off his rose colored glasses and looks deep down for any problems with the brand new 2008 Ninja 250. Will these new found 'nits' outweigh all of the benefits of the new ninja? Only one way to find out!...read more

Now is the long awaited second part in the 4 part review of the all new 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250. Part 1 was more of an easy going ride, but we all knew that wouldn't last long. For this ride Gary starts to open the bike up a bit more and tests the limits of the suspension. Stay tuned for Parts 3 and 4 where Gary takes the bike to even more extreme lean angles and higher rev limits!...read more

New to motorcycles? Don’t know which one is right for you? There are a lot of great reasons to start on a 250cc bike when you are just learning to ride, from the cost of ownership to the ease of learning. Whether you are brand spanking new to the hobby of motorcycles or maybe you rode a decade ago, either way a 250 is the best tool to start your riding career. ...read more

The 2008 Ninja 250 is the bike everyone is talking about this year since it has received a MAJOR face lift from the engineers at Kawasaki. Best Beginner Motorcycles was lucky enough to catch up with Gary Jaehne, the author of Sportbiking- The Real World: The Advanced Riders Handbook and Sportbiking - The Real World 2: Rider and Bike Tuning Handbook. Gary Recently purchased one of the '08 Ninja 250s and has written a 4 part ride report of his experience....read more

This is the story of Chris Young who suffered a really bad crash and survived. I think it is a good example of a lesson learned, although a painful one at that. Enough description, on to Chris' crash! ...read more

There are a few things that it will take you a few months to learn once you finally get your motorcycle and you start riding regularly. If you are lucky you will have a riding mentor with some experience help guide you and tell you some of these tips, but if you don’t then feel free to study this guide. This is a lot to remember at first so when I started riding I would only concentrate on doing one thing really well for the whole ride, like looking through the turn for example. Eventually this becomes automatic and you can concentrate on building other good habits. ...read more

When you crash on a motorcycle there are a lot things that can happen, all of them are bad. Unlike when riding in a car you aren’t protected by safety belts and a roll cage, instead you are ejected from the vehicle. Here is a list of some of the things you can expect if you crash on a motorcycle, especially if you don’t wear protective gear....read more

Although I love my Chrome Messenger Bag, I found that sometimes I just don’t want something on my back when I am riding my motorcycle, especially if I am carrying something heavy or something that needs to be transported horizontally (like food!). I looked around for an inexpensive but good quality solution and came across the Cortech Tailbag....read more

For a long time my only riding jacket was a First Gear Mesh jacket, and it held up pretty well in all weather conditions. After trying on my friends leather jacket and seeing how much more protection it offered, I decided I needed to get some leather of my own. There are a lot of brands out there to decide from: Alpinestars, Joe Rocket, Icon, Vanson, Teknic and dozens of others. While surfing various motorcycle forums I heard some really good things about Shift Racing jackets so I decided to check them out....read more

I really love my Shoei helmet, it is comfortable, has a removable liner, and I can switch out the face shields easily. The one thing that it gets a C grade on is vents! For some reason my helmet fogs up more than my friends helmets, even if they spent less money on theirs. Since winter is coming it has been getting colder in the mornings when I ride to work. At these cold temps I have noticed that my helmet even fogs up when I am going 20mph or so in traffic! I finally decided to do something about it, and Fog City is definitely something I would recommend....read more

A lot of people when buying their first motorcycle spend every cent on the bike itself, but leave barely any left to buy some decent motorcycle gear. This article will show you that you can get some good gear for only a few hundred bucks....read more

I haven't owned a car in over a year, so my motorcycle is my only mode of transportation unless I feel like walking or riding my bicycle. That means I ride to work, to the movies, and to the grocery store. The last location provided me quite a bit of a problem at first, it's kind of hard to fit a 12 pack of coke and bread in a backpack! I looked around for a bunch of different solutions and I eventually decided on a Chrome Messenger bag, specifically the Metropolis size which is a step down from their largest size, the Kremlin....read more

When I first got into riding it was summertime in California, and like most Californian summers it was VERY HOT! I couldn't picture being couped up in a leather jacket for the next few months, the thought just seemed way too suffocating. My riding mentor at the time recommended getting some sort of mesh type of motorcycle gear, and the Firstgear Mesh Tex jacket is what I settled on....read more

There are a lot of things that are great about the USA: The constitution, action movies, and our love of all things powerful. Unfortunately sometimes the American way can limit some of the things that we get access too, one being smaller displacement motorcycles that actually look good! The Honda CBR 125R is one example that can be found in Japan, Europe, and Australia that has me wishing we didn't love everything so big 'n bad in America....read more