this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2024
118 points (99.2% liked)
Motorcycles
2491 readers
1 users here now
Here we discuss everything related to riding, maintenance and gear.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Hey guys I'm just about saved up for a motorcycle course so I can get my license and just ran across this thread while browsing Everything, and thought this might be a good time to ask what a good bike would be to get as someone new to riding?
How tall/big are you? It makes a difference.
What style bike do you like?
I'm 6'2" 170 lbs. Tall and skinny. I think crotch rockets look cool, but so do (pardon my ignorance) those Harley type of bikes that go badoombadoombadoom.
The former looks fun while the latter looks more comfortible for going down the highway to another city, and getting stuck in traffic along the way.
I'm embarassingly ill informed but have always wanted to get on a bike, and thought it was funny that a community named Motorcycles doesn't seem to like Harley Davidson. (Most people I know who ride own Harleys, so I just kinda thought that's the kind you get)
So please, change my mind, inform me on what ever the hell you want me to know
Harley-Davidson motorcycles are more of a brand than a bike, so they're not known for being reliable or comfortable to ride compared to a lot of other bikes. That being said, they're perfectly fine if that's what you want, and you understand that you'll have a higher likelihood of something like a persistent oil leak, or annoying electrical issue.
The local motorcycle school by us uses Yamaha dual sport bikes for taller riders, they're pretty inexpensive compared to other bikes, they can take a beating, and they're pretty easy to buy and sell used.
I have a tall buddy that got a Honda NC700X as his first bike and he's been riding it for years on pretty long road trips. It has an automatic transmission and ABS brakes, so compared to a lot of bikes, it has a surprising amount of safety features.
Of course, get what you like. The old saying is it's better to buy a bike you'll grow out of, then to buy a bike you'll grow into.
Fucking fantastic summary! I appreciate your warning about Harleys, as I had no idea.
Sounds like Yamahas and Hondas are the two main go to's at least in this thread, and I've even seen a Yamaha that looks like a Harley before! Just wasn't sure if that was the way to go, as the owner described it as a cheaper version of one. Definitely don't want to pay more for just a brand, if the thing if gonna fall apart like that.
If you want both fun and comfort, try a naked bike! You get fairly upright ergonomics, but sporty street performance. Good beginner bikes would include the Yamaha MT-03 and Kawasaki Z400.
If you like crotch rockets, a beginner sport bike is a great choice. They're even sportier but still not very uncomfortable like the 600s. The Yamaha R3 and Kawasaki Ninja 400, or one of the older Ninja EX500's are my beginner recommendations.
If you like the big cruiser V-twins (that's Harley's thing) instead, something like a Honda Shadow 750 or Suzuki Boulevard C50 gets you that experience without paying Harley prices.
Speaking of prices, I highly suggest you buy a used bike as your first, because you may drop it while getting the hang of things and you avoid most of the depreciation of a new bike. Then, you can see what kind of riding you really want to do and upgrade from there!
Hell yeah, love the info. So if I understand it correctly now, cruisers are the sons of anarchy kind of bikes, and sport bikes are the leaned forward racing looking ones, and naked bikes look to be somewhere in between?
That being said I think I'm really excited about the cruisers
Yeah, although naked bikes usually look a bit more like sportbikes (they were originally sportbikes without fairings, hence the term naked bike) than cruisers.
Honda also makes the Rebel cruiser bike, but they look less like a "sons of anarchy" kind of bike than the Shadow or the Fury, although I wouldn't recommend starting on a bike as big as the Fury.
I just searched all 3 of those and I see what you mean about the Rebel.
I can see myself enjoying any of those 3 bikes, this is awesome
A Rebel 300 or 500 makes a great beginner bike!
Also, don't be afraid to look at the used market for other metric cruiser bikes, they're plentiful and cheap. The 4 main companies are Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Suzuki. Heck, I started on a metric cruiser, the Suzuki GZ250. It was kinda slow though, I'd recommend something with a bit more power than that.
Make a new post. But I always suggest a 400 if your going to sell it after a season or a 600 if you want to keep it for a while.
I wouldn't recommend anyone starting on a 600 supersport of they haven't ever ridden a motorcycle before. Too much power, too aggressive ergonomics. 400s are still plenty fast to 60mph. My recommendation is 300cc-500cc for a sport or naked bike, or up to 800cc for cruisers (where you really gotta watch out more for high weight than high power)
I started on a 600 🤷♂️
I know people IRL who start on 600s, and they are usually fine (although survivorship bias plays a role there). If you have a good grasp on how to ride motorcycles now, you're good, but it's risky for a noob to start on such a powerful fast bike.
What make are those models?
They're referring to engine displacement. 400cc and 600cc. You'll find manufacturers tend to make roughly the same engine sizes for different bike types. Like 150cc, 250-300cc, 500cc, 600-700cc, then 1000-1300cc. Since you're starting out, a good idea is to start small like somewhere between a 300-500cc bike. Typically, the larger the displacement, the more power the engine can produce. Practice your skills and get a good foundation for actually controlling the bike at slow and high speeds. A Honda Rebell 500 (cruiser) can go 90mph no problem and is light, nimble, relatively easy to work on, and easy to control at slow speeds since it has a low center of gravity, so it's a bike you can start with and keep for a long time. Honda uses the same 500cc engine in different styles of bikes but with different tuning, like the cbr500 (sport), CB500 (standard), NX500 (dual sport). Eventually if you decide you actually like motorcycles and want to "upgrade," you can get a bigger displacement bike somewhere between 600-1000cc, depending on your needs/interest. What kind of style do you like? Cruiser, sport, standard, etc. You can't go wrong with Honda, Kawasaki, or Yamaha to start off with. They tend to have decent maintenance intervals and are easy to work on.
Ahh thank you, that was very informative! I might think about getting a 500 as I do want to go on the highway.
I kind of want a Harley type of bike (what ever that kind is called? The kind that sounds deep and rumbles). They look comfortible. Which is why I decided to ask this question in this thread, because I thought it was kikd of funny to see a community called Motorcycles shitting on Harley Davidson, and I thought that was like the Kleenex of motorcycles. Like, the standard. The kind that you get if you want a good bike.
Obviously I'm clearly very ignorant about a community I'd like to join... Lol
The Honda Shadow 750 looks and sounds quite like a Harley while avoiding Harley's high prices and gaining Honda's great reliability.
That's really fucking cool, and while I wasn't sure if Honda was known to be good for bikes before, I think that's a direction I could consider now
Honda has been making all sorts of bikes for many decades now, and they generally are inexpensive and reliable, if slightly boring compared to competitors. The Shadow is a great option for a classically styled cruiser bike.