A lot of good advice here. Some a little biased maybe, but it’s all good
I think PC bull**** can get annoying too.
But a little class goes a long way I think.
You’ll probably find that it’s people new to motorcycles or people that don’t have a motorcycle that give the old “Harley’s leak oil” and “Jap crap piece of cheap plastic” kind of thing. So ignore them.
Everybody does it at first, I’ve said some of these things myself in the past, maybe worse.
Then the people who really love motorcycles and stick with it quit repeating the old cliches’.
The longer you ride, the more riding friend’s you’ll make and they will have different bikes, it just works that way.
Why piss off a friend or somebody who may become a friend?
Some of you guys talk about “Harley riders” like they are from another planet or something. Lol.
They’re the same stiffs as everybody, they probably don’t “discuss” your’ Japanese sport bike with you because they don’t know what the fudge they’re looking at and aren’t interested in finding out
I’ve never seen a new Harley that leaks oil and they don’t break down anymore than other bikes out there.
The support for them is unreal.
I’ve got a pal who has a wide glide, but took his’ 883 on a recent 1,400 mile trip with us and he didn’t have one problem…he’s 54 . It’s not a girl bike when he rides it. A Sportster IS NOT A CRUISER BTW.
I’ll defend the metric bikes as well, most people don’t realize that a NEW Stratoliner, VTX1800, Hyabusa or the like cost $13,000 to $16,000 plus……
if somebody thinks that cheap…then well, salute?
And yes, it’s true a metric power cruiser can whoop up every stock Harley except a V-rod and a real sport bike can humble any cruiser. But Harley’s are for cruising and they’re a Harley, it’s a Harley thing, that’s what’s important to a HD owner.
As far as a twin vs in-line… you guys know this, it’s all about torque. Traditionally your’ going to get more useable torque on the street from a twin. It’ll actually be easier to ride at slower speeds.
You go through the gears to get to 70 mph on most twins (we’re not talking super bikes).
A 600 sport bike can get to 70 in first gear!!
Never ridden a Ninja 250 though, so I can’t comment on any of that.
It’s personal preference. A lot of folks have multiple bikes for this reason. I’ll bet a number of the new riders you have here will eventually have multiple bikes. I tell my wife that I’ve been building my bike “collateral” over the years and that they practically don’t cost me a thing now…… and no, she doesn’t believe it.
Buying a first bike? Start cheap, probably used. Get something you can handle and learn on but can keep up with any riding buddies you got.
If your’ still riding after a year and love it, start looking for your’ serious bike. By then, you’ll know more about bikes, you’ll know more about how you ride and what bike you’ll need to do it better.