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The funny thing is I really liked the look of sportbikes when I first started, but I definitely appreciate the looks of a cruiser now. I would love to get my hands on a vulcan 500, I think they look absolutely gorgeous!
Let us know how the nighthawk turns out
And don’t ride it in the snow! haha!Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminI’ve watched the long way round and I absolutely loved it! It really made me want a BMW thats for sure. The funny thing is that KLR wouldn’t sponsor them because they didn’t think they would make it, but now BMW has a great advertising tool.
I can’t wait to watch the long way down
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminI agree with matt, it looks like you aren’t asking which bike you should get, you are instead asking for validation that you can start on a 600cc bike.
Let me get this part out of the way first: You can start on a 600cc, a 750cc, 1000cc, or even a 1200cc bike, nothing is stopping you. Generally though, riders that start out on a 600cc inline-4 or more tend to be ‘worse’ riders than those that stick to a ninja 250 or 500 for a year or so. They are worse riders because they don’t learn to carry their speed into turns, and when the crash (which ALL motorcyclists do, regardless of the bike) they often crash at greater speeds which will end up totaling the bike or at least cause an expensive trip to the mechanic. The standard advice is to stick to something below 600ccs for your first bike, but like I said, that is just a general rule.
You said the primary reason you want to get a 600 right away is: “My dilemma is financially I must buy somthing that will keep me happy for a few years.
Well I have good news for you! The Ninja 500 as well as the ninja250 all have a really high resale value. I have heard dozens of stories of people buying a ninja 250 used for like $2000 and selling it a year later for the exact same price, or maybe 1-3 hundred less then that. My first bike was a 2002 GS500 which I bought for $1800, but I ended up selling it a year later for $2400, I actually made a profit. Talk about keeping a high resale value
The financial argument just doesn’t work when it comes to first motorcycles. I also find that people who use that argument because they ‘want to stick with a bike for a few years’ end up selling the bike a year or so later because they HAVE to get the new kawasaki/honda/yamaha/ducati that just came out. Again, that is just what I have seen in my experience.
If you are buying new, then I would highly recommend you NOT do that. Buying used is always a much better option and will save you thousands of dollars. http://www.craigslist.com is in every major US city and is the best way to buy motorcycles in my opinion. The other bad thing about brand new bikes as a first bike is you are going to drop them. Usually it will be low speed, or even standstill drops, but you are going to drop them nevertheless. I personally dropped my first bike 3 or 4 times (yay naked gs500! no damage!). If you get the brand new buell then it is going to be that much more painful if/when you drop it.
It is your decision of course. Whatever motorcycle you buy make sure you put at least 500-700 aside for motorcycle riding gear. The pavement doesn’t care if you are on a 250 or a 1000cc bike, it will all feel the same at 70mph.
One more quick thing, if you are dead set on getting a bigger bike, maybe check out the suzuki sv650.
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin
And don’t ride it in the snow! haha!