Newbie to motorcycles has a couple questions....(may have found a bike, what do you think?)

[vi edit]

The girlfriend and I are really interested in getting a bike. I would mainly use it get back and forth to work 3-5 months out of the year, as well as use it to cruise the two of us around the country side on Saturdays and Sundays. We really don't want to spend much more than $4000 if don't have to.

I have a 15 mile(one way) trip on two lane country road to get to work. It's pretty much flat, with very few curves. Most of the road is in pretty decent shape, but there is one stretch that has some pretty bad bumps in it.

I'm interested in getting a bike for the following two reasons - fun, and economy. I normally drive an SUV so that really doesn't make for much "spirited" driving. It also doesn't exactly make for the most economical transportation either.

There is a class coming up next month at the local JuCo that is run by the Motorcycle Saftey Foundation. I'd be taking that.

Here's my questions -

1) What sort of bikes do you reccomend for a "newbie". I go 6' and a little over 200 pounds. I'd also be wearing a backpack to carry stuff for work. My girlfriend also wants to be able to hop on the back and go for a ride at times, so the bike would have to be able to accomidate around 330 pounds or so with the two of us. A 250CC wouldn't do the trick here would it? Would a 600cc?

2) What costs are associated with a bike? I know that licensing here in Iowa is around $20 a year, and then you of course have to factor in insurance. What sort of maintance costs would I have to worry about?

3) How fuel efficient are a lot of the bikes? I've heard some people say that their bikes get about 50-75 miles to the gallon. Is this accurate? I know it depends on how big the engine is, and how much you are weighing it down. I'm more or less concerned about milage when it's only me riding.

My preference is for more of a "sport" bike, like a ninja or a katana, but I don't know if those will be suffiencient in moving the two of us around town.

I've done a lot of non-motorized bike riding over the last 12 years and have also drove a five speed transmission for 6 years, so the balance thing and the shifting aren't totally new. I know that it's a lot different than either of those two, but I would assume that they would help some.

Feel free to add any other comments if you wish
Thanks for your time!

 

[warcleric]

katana's are great beginners bikes, all the reviews will say they are too heavy, but ignore them, heavy=stable and that is exactly what a beginner needs. Get at least a 600, if you are planning to ride the bike together I would look for a 750.

 

[vi edit]

Thanks for the info Hmmmm...a 750 would push the price and the insurance premium.

For a begginer, is 750 quite a bit of power between your legs?

 

[Mister T]

vi_edit,

I see your a sport bike man - nice.
I was initially going to recommend a cruiser, but I can sympathize with you cause I ride a NINJA myself.

My bike is a 94 Ninja 500cc. Let me give you the lowdown on it:

Things I love about it:

-- It is lighting quick... 0-60 in about 4 seconds.
-- Does about 50 miles a gallon and has a 4.8 gallon tank... It may get more, but I always gun it
-- Positioning is not that bad for a sport bike. Usually sport bikes force you into a crouched position - not so in my Ninja. 1/2 the time I ride it like a cruiser.
-- Plenty powerful to support 350 pounds. I weigh about 220 + GF is another 105 + gear(Tank and Saddle Bags)... I had it once up to 115 MPH with the bike fully loaded.
-- On the curves, I can stay with SPORT bikes with twice the size of the engine because of the cornering ability of the bike.

Things that annoy me:
-- Engine vibration... On long trips you better be wearing gloves.
-- If you have long legs, you are going to hate having your knees bent... I am 5'9'' with a 32 inseam and
it gets really annoying after about 2 hours or so.

I would recommend something in the 600-750cc range. Look at Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda.
Get on them all and see what you like - seating position, price, color, etc.
I think 900 would be tops. 1100 cc bikes are just for showing off and doing 150 MPH +

I would also cosider look at Ducatti's -- great bikes. They keep their value better and have less
vibration that japanese bikes. Excellent sporty bike for crusing and handling.
Better resale value too! Don't worry about jumping up to a 700-900cc on a Ducatti since
they are very torquey bikes.

 

[Mister T]

Katana's are decent bikes.
A friend of mine and I rode from Boston to Harrisburg, PA last summer.
I was on my Ninja and he had a Katana 600.

My Ninja 500 could beat his Katana 600 on acceleration if I maxed my bike out.
Something that is really annoying about Katana's is their tiny gas tank. I don't
know if they still have a tiny gas tank. His range was about 150-170 while mine
was about 250-260.

 

[ArkAoss]

Well, welcome to the bike newbie club. You'll probly find that bikes, (if they where properly maintained by the previous owner) are usually pretty light on the maintenence needs. You can usually get good MPG on the street bikes your interested in. My dad who weighs about 200, and my mom.. who I'll put at 150, used to cruise on his 500cc Kawasaki. Heck I even rode with him once or twice on the thing, and I'm a good 250lbs.
A back pack shouldn't matter too much, as most bikes are pretty steady once you get them going.

The one thing I noticed, is he had to take the carbs apart, and clean the jets once or twice a season. he rode it to work and back, about 5-10 miles, thru city, sometimes high way.

Oh and make sure you have decent storage, at both ends of your trip. We squeezed my dad's into a section of our garage, but one time it fell over mysteriously. (My dad said he thought my little sister had probly just been messing with it.)

A good bike with a large engine, if it gets over on its side, can be very hard to set back upright. But you probly shouldn't have a problem. I.e. if your cruisin out on a country road where no one travels, and you don't have a cell phone, and say you loose control, and whipe out, and the bike's ok enough to drive, but your a little sore, you'll probly hafta try to get it up again and get yourself back to civilization while you might still be hurtin a bit.

Driving with a passenger is an art, the passenger has to know to lean with you, When I rode with my dad, I'd sometimes subconciously counter balance as he went into turns, and I'm big enough to negate all his turning effect.

Just get used to driving alone, then try it with a backpack, and always wear a helmet.

Start slowly, never try to show off in your first month! And if you know of an expierienced rider, talk to them, you can practise watching him in a parking lot.

And a salty story to season my advice:
My aunt went to get her 7 yr old off the bus, and someone came out of a trailerpark next to her house, on a motorcycle, (his wife was pulling into the park) he gunned the gas, and instead of grabbing the clutch to upshift, he grabbed the front brake (I dunno how he coulda done that) and well he ended up looking like he'd tried to use his brains as chalk on the pavement.

 

[vi edit]

Thanks for the excellent info Mister T. The longest I really plan on riding the bike at any given time would be about an hour. Any more than that I think I would start to cramp up bad from being hunched over. I can make my commute to work in less than 15 minutes, so that won't be much of an issue.

I don't plan on "gunning" it for a while, so a 4 second 0-60 won't be neccessary...at least for now

Mister T, you and I roughly the same age I believe. I'm 23. How much does your insurance run a year on that bike? I know that your rates there in MA are probably sky high compared to what they are here in Iowa, but it would be nice to have something to go off of.

 

[Zapster]

I would suggest that you get a 5 or 6 year old Honda, Kawasaki, or Yamaha. The Japanese bikes have lower maintenance. Get something like a 1994 Honda VF750 Magna. A good heavy duty all around street bike.

 

[Mister T]

vi_edit

Yea, I am 21. Here is MY deal on insurance. The guy I bought the bike from is a good friend of mine.
He gave/sold (long story) me the bike but his name is still on the title. It is still registered under
his name, so he pays for the insurance. He is 28 and has the biked insured as a second vehicle in addition
to his dodge dakota pickup. I split the insurance with him since he likes to ride the bike every now and then.
So, I pay about 110 a year. The bike has minimal insurance since its only probably worth 1500 or so.

This probably did'nt help you much though...
I imagine comprehensive would easily double what we pay.

In the last two years under this arrangement, neither of us has laid down the bike
<---- Knocks on wood

 

[vi edit]

Cool. I was hoping to keep it under $300 if I could. It will be in addition to 2 other vehicles and I'll certainly be keeping the bare minimum coverage on it.

 

[The Stigenator]

I would stay away from the Katana for one reason its positioned like a crotch rocket, if your going doubles then something like the Bandit 600S or maybe the Ninja 500R (a good bike) or maybe the GS500E (more than enough power) or if you really want to go riding in the country with your wife.
Aprilia Futura 1000
Futura 1000 RST

As for insurance it would be a lot cheaper in Iowa than out here in Los Angeles.
PM me and I will give you a few places to check out for insurance, one is called Pacific Speciality and I got a decent quote for a non sports bike. Gieco is also good (I got a $700 quote for the Ninja 500 in LA).

First settle on a bike and then go insurance shopping and then buy the bike. Also go to a few dealerships and sit on a few bikes that will allow you to feel them. Its good your taking the MSF course you can use it as a discount for the insurance.

PS: Buy a good Shoei or Arai helmet with DOT and SnellM2000 ratings.
Might cost you abotu 300-400 a helmet but its worth it, just tack it on to the finance of the bike and you wont feel it.

Happy Riding.

 

[The Stigenator]

Damn MisterT I didnt know the Ninja 500R would do 0-60 in 4 seconds.
I would be soiling my pants :Q

Anyway I still have to get my bike waiting to complete my IRS stuff and with that money it goes to my bike.

 

[palad]

I've only owned one bike, and it's a cruiser, so I can't tell you much about the sports bikes.

What I ride is a 1981 BMW R100T, it's about 1000cc, somewhere around 550-600 lbs unloaded (which was a bit much to get used to on a first bike). One of the things I like about it is the dual-feed gas tank. I have a petcock on both sides, they can both be on, or I can close one and the other will feed both sides. (Due to the shape of the gas tank, this allows a bit of 'reserve'.) In addition, it has a specific reserve, so if I ever do happen to run dry, I can switch over to the reserve tank and hopefully have enough to get to a gas station. Nice large seats, full wind screen (if you're gonna be cruising in the country, that will come in handy, you definitely do not want to get popped by a piece of gravel at 60 mph). Hard-side side containers and a trunk, taking off the sidebags gives the bike a pretty sleek look, having them gives plenty of space for a quick grocery run. Probably about 45 m/g. Probably the best investment I made was a good helmet with a full face shield and good cooling vents.

 

[vi edit]

The_good_guy, a quality &quot;brain bucket&quot; will be one of THE LAST things that I'll ever go cheap on. My aunt used to work in the trauma ward at a hospital. I've heard far too many horror stories of bike riders using their face for breaks. :\ No thanks. I'll sacrafice the &quot;wind in my hair&quot; feeling to save my mellon.

 

[Mister T]

The_good_guy,

I have seen numbers on 0-60 as low as 3.7 seconds. There is no way in hell I could
even touch that number since its probably a perfect launch. I ran it a few time in
a parking lot and think I probably run it in the low 4's ~ 4.2 seconds.

Technically is not a 500R, its called an &quot;EX500 D1 Ninja&quot;

******************

vi_edit
Also, I forgot, another pet peeve about my bike it its tiny ferring.
If you are going to be highway driving to work, definitely invest in
an aftermarket ferring that give you a little more protection.

 

[The Stigenator]

I know its teh EX500 (D1 I am not sure) however the one I am getting (still undecided for some reason) is the 500R model.

Actually I am waiting for the prices to drop when the new models come in next month.

Edit:
By the way my $700/yr insurance with Gieco is for full coverage.

 

[Mister T]

I am trying to decide on my next bike.

Either a Honda ST1100 or a Valkyrie Tourer...

Sport Touring bike vs. a cruiser.

nice bike huh:

Valkyrie

 

[MajesticMoose]

I've heard that motorcycle clutches are harder to work correctly than car clutches, is that true? I'm sure that its just a matter of getting enough practice though. When i get a job, i think i'll look for a wrangler and a nice sport bike. That would be the best of both worlds.

m00se

 

[Mister T]

Moose,

The clutch on my Ninja is smooth as silk compared to a typical clutch on a Ford F150

 

[palad]

My clutch is pretty smooth. In fact, I could not, for the life of me, understand how to shift a car until I had ridden a motorcycle. Something about the different coordination it requires.

 

[Johnlee]

I've never had a problem or considered it any type of learning curve regarding the clutch on a bike. I've owned 5 so far. 2 sport bikes. One was a GSXR1100, the other a Katana 600. Both got stolen. Here in L.A. they are hot property.

I'm about to get a used Honda 900RR. Great bike. My GSXR1100 was heavy as hell and had crappy stock brakes that wore out quickly. (it got stolen before I had to replace them) The Katana only last 9 NINE! days before it got stolen. Needless to say, I am locking the new mofo down tight!!!

For 4k you aren't gonna be able to afford a Ducati. (Unless it an older Paso and even then, the repairs are expensive) Are you talking brand new? Can't get much for 4k brand new in the sports bike arena. Especially if you want 600cc+.

Good luck on the buy. I should have mine in around a month or so. Damn, I'm stoked.

Good_Guy-what part of L.A. do you live in? Maybe we could ride sometime.

laters

 

[vi edit]

I'm definitely going to be cruising the used market. Probably somewhere in the '93-'97 range.

I think about the only new bike I can get for that range is a 250 or so.

 

[Johnlee]

ah, that's cool. I was reading thru the posts and I was like, wait a minute. hehe.

Anyway, you should be able to get something pretty decent for 4k.

Have you checked the cycle trader yet?

The new issue comes out today (every thursday) at least here in L.A. Also, Cycle Buys I think. They are both .99 and full of good stuff. Now that I think of it, a great bike for you might be a 93/94 Honda 600f2. Extremely reliable bikes with decent seat position (much like the older Ninjas), good looking, and nice resale value. You can also get a newer Kawasaki for that price. ZX6 or whatever they are called.

Anyway, let us know what you get. Pretty exciting stuff. Be careful! (did I already say that?)

 

[Johnlee]

Crap, one more thing. If you're new, I'd definitely take the course the college offers. Very informative. They will have you driving slow and careful...in the begining at least.

 

[MajesticMoose]

Thanks. I guess the fact that you can use the brake helps too.

m00se