Hello all,
I am purchasing my first bike and as I don’t have much knowledge of extensive maintenance & insurance I wanted to know what experiences you all had in this.
Im hoping to hit these checkmarks.
- cruiser
- reliable
- parts are cheap and available even 3rd party
- insurance is reasonable for the bike.
- easy to maintain for newbie starting out.
I was going to go for a honda but figured to ask others their experience as they were starting out and what they have learned. Under 500 cc I believe is a good starting point, I am not trying to launch into space but if you got a reason why that shouldn’t matter let me know.
In general i definitely recommend buying used. For those criteria specifically I’d recommend looking for a used Honda Rebel.
If you’re open to naked sport bikes with a more upright riding position you could look at cb300, z300, mt-03 which should have pretty reasonable insurance rates as well.
Also kind of depends on your size as well in my opinion, if you’re 6’6 320 a 300cc may feel a bit anemic even as a beginner. Regardless I’d recommend erring on the side of smaller displacement for your first bike. While it’s true that at the end of the day it does all come down to throttle control, a smaller cc bike will provide a wider margin of error as well as being lighter and more maneuverable.
Looks like used is the way to go. I never considered sports bike but its definitley something worth checking out. Maybe i can sit on them at a shop just to see if the anemic applys to me. Then look at second hand for one that i like based on the test at the shop.
Thanks for the advice.
Like everyone stated, buy used, and probably stick to one of the popular Japanese brands (Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha). Parts are plentiful and are all going to be about the same price between brands.
When you find a potential bike you like, do a quick Google search to see if there were any major mechanical issues or recalls with it.
If this is your first bike, BE CAREFUL out there and take everything slow. Definitely take the MSF course - it’s actually great fun and you’ll learn a lot.
Good luck!
Get something second hand so if/when you drop it, it’s not an issue.
Honda or Kawasaki is a good place to start.
If you want to do new maybe look at Ryal Enfield. The Interceptor 650 is a standard motorcycle which seems pretty good. They also have a Meteor 350 cruiser and the super meteor 650 cruiser. I have no personal experience on any but I’ve read and seen good things. They also gave a 3year factory warranty with unlimited miles.
I dig the styling and pricing of those REs, but my mechanic warned me that getting parts from India can be tricky or take a long time.
