Newbie Looking for Advice on Getting a Sportbike as a First Bike - PLEASE READ - Motorcycle-Journal Forums

wookie · 07-22-2006, 01:54 AM

To newbies looking for advice on getting a sportbike as a first bike

First of all, welcome to this board. The majority of the board members (and myself) will do our best to answer your questions and to give you our sincere and heart-felt advice to your question.

Having said that, I'd like to ask you to please answer this question honestly before you read any further:

Am I ready to accept or at least listen to the advice on a first bike, even if the answer is not one of the following:

Gixxer (in any variations, 600, 750, or 1000)
The Hayabusa
CBRXXXRR (where XXX would be 600 or 1000)
YZF-R (1 or 6)
Ninja ZX-6R, ZX-6RR, ZX-10R, ZX-12R, or ZX-14
Any of the Italian race replicas (such as a Ducati 749 or 999, regular, S, or R version)

If the answer is NO, then please do us a favor: Just buy what you want and save you and us the trouble. And may the force be with you, because you're going to need it.

If your interest is in cruiser or if you live outside of the US or Canada, I am sorry I don't have much experience other than a dinky little GZ250 nor knowledge in bikes in other markets, so I really cannot say anything useful to you.

Still here ? Good. The "counter" question I'd like to ask is

"How much riding experience do you have ?"

This would mean STREET-riding experience (and no, backseat experience does not count). It's good if you have dirt-bike experience; however, most of the senior board members (not me. A. I am not a senior board member, and B. I don't have dirt-bike experience) would consider that dirt-riding and street-riding to be so different that dirt-bike experience is almost considered as a different sport.

If your answer is between 0 and 5,000 miles (the number 5000 is somewhat arbitrary, I will elaborate later), I'd recommend that you take the MSF Basic Class before you even buy a bike. Then, I would recommend that you start with something like a 250-cc machine, preferrably a used one so that when you drop it (not "if"; but "when"), both you and your wallet will not hurt as much as say dropping a race-replica machine. Some of the 250-cc machines are:

Suzuki GZ250 (more like a baby cruiser)
Honda Nighthawk (somewhat sportier) or Rebel (cruiser)
Ninja 250R (sportiest of the bunch) or Eliminator (actually 125-cc, not California highway legal)
Yamaha (Virago 250 V-Twin, thanks to vhmike73)

Now getting back to the 5,000-mile question. The 5,000-mile mark is the number recommended by a senior member, Gixxerdale. This number assumes that you do plenty of canyon runs, twisties, track-day runs, streets, highways, or combinations thereof, at a rigorous pace. Of course if you do absolutely nothing but running twisties, canyons, track-days, and are dragging various parts of the bike or knees, and you're still accident free, then you may have had sufficient skills (different from attitude) to ride the aforementioned R-machines in less than 2,000 to 3000 miles. On the other hand, if all you do is highway cruising, then you might need 10,000 miles. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY. The point is that by then you'd have enough skills, maturity, and respect for THE power between your legs so that you don't let the other power between your legs (sorry ladies) do your thinking for you.

Some of you might say "But I am 6-foot tall, 250 lb, play football, and I think a 250 is too tiny for me." In that case, I'd recommend something like a 500-cc machine. The followings come to mind:

Suzuki GS500
Kawasaki Ninja 500R

And believe me, these 500-cc machines have more than enough power to get you into trouble before you can say "holy *#&$", if you don't have the skills to ride them, as a Kawaski Ninja 500R will do 0-60 in 4.6 seconds. That's how long it will take a $50,000-BMW M3 to accelerate to 60 mph. Think about it.

If the number 600cc means that much to you, then the followings can be considered, but with extreme caution:

Suzuki SV650 (naked or S with fairing available for purchase)
Kawasaki 650R (comes with fairing)
Honda 599 (inline-4, no fairing)
Yamaha FZ6 (inline-4, a mini upper fairing. Thanks Rowdy for pointing out)

For someone with no street experience, this would, IMHO, be the limit of what you should buy as a first bike. Just to satisfy your curiosity (not that it means anything significant), an SV650 will do 0-60 in under 4-seconds. That's faster than anything this side of a $130,000 Porsche 911 Turbo.

Some board members may recommend a Katana, either in 600 or 750. I'd be a little more cautious about a Kat because a Kat is heavier than any of the machines I've mentioned above by about 100 lb. As a newbie, you will want to get a machine that you can right it up, after you've dropped it. A general rule of thumb I use is that the full-up gross weight (minus the rider) should not exceed 3 times what you can lift. Also, more weight translates to more inertia and less manuverability.

How about a used or an old race-replica ? I don't have a good answer for you on this one except that maybe try something older than 1995.

And here is a disclaimer: All of these are my personal opinions. And opinions are like a$$h0les: everyone has one and everyone else's stinks.

One other thing, you might say "But my friend started on a Gixxer and he's still alive." Well, as board member "inspiron" points out (and I quote here):

Quote:

Maybe your friend is an exceptionally lucky person, or maybe he has incredible self-discipline, or maybe both. But you are not your friend, and for every "friend" who started on a Gixxer without incident, we can name 3 people who weren't so lucky.

That's all. Again, welcome to the board. Live long and prosper.