I’ll be very interested to hear your experiences as a beginning rider braving the New York City streets (especially the BQE…yikes!). I’ll be taking the MSF course next month in the Bronx and will be facing the same perilous streets. Mostly I’ll be riding on surface streets in slow moving traffic but occassional trips up to Connecticut will likely be a harrowing if the traffic I’ve experienced in a car on the same route is any indication.
I’ve been going through the same bike quandry as you as well. I’m not interested in sports bikes and I’m worried that although the 250 cruiser/street bikes would be great learner bikes they may be too underpowered for the demands of the BQE, Belt Parkway, LIE, and the like. This has led me to look at the “standard” bikes like the GS500 and SV650 but then I begin to worry that it’s TOO much power for a newbie. I’m a bigger guy at 6′ 4″ ~195 so I have to take that into account as well.
I’ll be looking forward to how everything goes for you. Please share any tips you (or anyone else) has for a beginner in the big city. Safe riding!
