Gotpepsi

With 3,000 you can get a Honda F4i or Yamaha r6. Craigslist is usually littered with those bikes. I say you buy a sport bike, but perhaps you should take a riding class before. The Honda f4i and Yamaha r6 are quick enough to get you into a whole bunch of trouble. If you keep spending money on the S, your going to lose it all when you decide to sell the car (if you do). A drift car is just another money hole. With the motorcycle you should still be able to get all of your money out of it if you decide to sell it a year later (depending how good you are at negotiating).

You just need to be careful. Out of three riders I knew between the age of 18-20 wrecked on a motorcycle, one of my friends even died. At 18, its hard to have enough impulse control to not speed especially if your riding in a group and the leader is ripping through the corners. Peer pressure is a bad thing.

Instead of getting a sport bike, like a ninja 250 or equivalent, have you ever considered a supermoto? Something like a Suzuki DRZ400SM? If not, you should consider one. They are way more fun than a low CC sport bike, cheaper to insure, you can pop wheelies all day, drive off curbs, drive on dirt roads, and drive in an upright position. Furthermore, you live in Arizona Valley, I bet there are some awesome trails near by. Nothing beats a full moon in the middle of the desert.

Belkin623

I don't want a bike as powerful as the R6 to start out with. It would be nice to get my money back later down the road, but I don't really care all that much. My main focus is to have as much fun as I possibly can. I know a drift car would be A LOT more expensive than a bike, my friend told me a full set up would cost probably 15-20k for a 240, although I'm sure it's closer to 25k. But I'm 150% okay with that. I don't think there will be anything in the world, besides snowboarding, that I will love more than drifting, especially once I get good. I plan on keeping the S for a long time. I've already thrown a few grand at it to keep it healthy (head rebuild, motor mounts, differential mounts, sparks, along with other minor things).

With the bike, I know it's a very dangerous vehicle, I won't be like the typical teenage kid who always tries to push the limit to beat his friends who are obviously more skilled and have faster bikes.. I always know my personal limit with everything, and with a bike, I'll be sure to stay well below that. I've also never given into peer pressure on things bigger than a dare to ask out some hot chick.

Yes, I have definitely given some thought into the other bikes like dual sports.. but if I were to take a bike into the dirt, I wouldn't want anything besides a dirtbike (which I also really want). I love the look of sport bikes and of dirt bikes, but the combination doesn't really interest me. Mostly because it has to lose some of each on the performance level, street and dirt, to make it dual sport. I would much rather spend the extra 2 grand to get a dirtbike on top of the street bike.

Where I live, there aren't any legal riding areas very close by any more. Even if there are, they aren't good. I'm not saying that would stop me from going there, but it doesn't help the choice to get a dual sport.

Gotpepsi

By the time I was 22 I purchased 13 cars and 3 motorcycles. Out of all the modifications, parts, and misc. bits and pieces, that I purchased I probably wasted 9,000$ over 6 years. I got into cars and bikes when I was sixteen. If I had made better decisions, I would have a lot more toys then I do now at 24.

It doesn't matter what you buy, but money and resell is very important especially if you start seeking for other life milestones. Otherwise, its kind of a waste,

Belkin623

That's true, but I might really want to get into drifting, possibly as a career, or more realistically as a favorite hobby. Which, the 240 will stay with me for a long time.

I get what you're saying, but I don't think I can really go wrong with either choice.

chubbys2k

I'll tell u how I started on bikes. I always loved bikes....especially sport bikes. It was to the point where I have dreams just about every night or every other night. Lucky for me I had a good friend with the same intentions as me and same riding level, none (not even dirt bikes,scooters or atvs). He picked up a ugly 98 gsxr 600. Broken fairings, spray painted, just plain ugly. Ran somewhat good tho. We just started small, like sitting, going up 10 feet by riding the clutch and getting use to where everything was. A week or 2 later we went to a parking lot across the street and just rode around in a circle, no gassing, just let off the clutch in first and let it roll in first and go in circles and switch sides. Another week or so later, we got comfortable and went to a bigger lot and started going a little faster. I'm a very fast learner so it will depend on how fast u learn also. I did all this with my buddy without no one teaching us. Some youtube vids here and there but that's it. He got his license first and rode around. He's 5'5ish so he's short and later dropped the bike buy hitting a patch of sand on the ground while turning at 10mph or so. He ended up selling it to me for $500 and I went to get my license and went from there. Couple months later, I got sick of everyone saying how ugly the bike is with duck tape and spray paint everywhere. It was just my learners bike so if I dropped it, I wouldn't care. Anyways sold it and picked up a gsxr 1000. Alot nicer and ALOT FASTER. Honestly I've never dropped a bike. I believe that taller people have less chance of dropping the bike at a stand still because it's easier to have both feet planted to the ground. My buddy had to tip toe because he was 5'5. I'm 5'10 just like u. Every rider will have their opinion on this subject. I tell everyone who is new to riding... a 600 and 1000 are the same, if not close, to the same seat height and weight. My 04 1000 was smaller and lighter then my 98 600. Power delivery will be the same IF YOU RIDE NORMALLY. The only time u will feel the power difference is if u get on it. An example is if u get in a 200hp rsx and then get into a 600hp rsx. If u drive both of them like a normal person, they will behave almost the same.... if u get on them, then this is where u will feel the difference! What I'm saying is if u get a 300 or a 600, they will behave the same if u drive them like a normal human being. I honestly wouldn't waste my time dropping couple thousand on a 300 if I were u. I'd buy something so cheap and ugly for 500-1000 bucks ride it till ur somewhat comfortable, then sell it for what u bought it for and buy whatever u want. I just hate it when people say "don't get a 1000 because they are too fast, get a 600". They both run the 1/4 mile in 10 seconds. Like I said, doesn't matter what u get, they all behave the same if u ride like a normal person. But this is just my opinion

Another thing, don't get caught up in riding in groups. Some are good and some just want to speed by everyone. It's true, when everyone wants to go fast, u do too. That's why I rode alone 90% of the time. Becareful with what u do. I'm looking to get back into something bad like a s1000rr soon or boost the s2000. Good luck

Belkin623

Thanks a lot, man! That did help a bunch. I probably won't want to get into a riding group just because it's so dangerous. One bike alone is dangerous for yourself, but then multiply that by 5 or 10, all of those people can crash and it's not easy to swerve out of the way of a crash right in front of you on a bike, so hopefully I won't get dragged into any of that BS. I was very seriously considering saving up a few grand to buy a ninja 300 or at least somewhat new/old ninja or cbr 250, but I think you're right. Spending less than 1 grand on my first bike sounds like the best idea. Plus, I might be able to sell it to one of my buddies for the same price, like you said. I'll look into those older, cheaper bikes.

Does anyone know of the best, older 250 bike to get for less than 1k? Would it be a CBR?

chubbys2k

Ninja 250. I got a buddy trying to get into riding too but don't want to spend too much money on a beginner bike. I've seen. Ninja 250 go for 1500! This bike is usually someone else's beginners bike so it will be scraped and dropped which is a good thing so the price will drop. Remember to get a cheap one that runs. Don't worry about how good or bad it looks because your going to sell it in couple months to get u something nicer.

chubbys2k

Tell a friend to go go half on it with u. Then just give it to him when u done. Like u pay half and put it under ur name and insurance. Insurance is dumb cheap. Mine was $50 a month with full coverage. U and u friend can share riding together and give each other tips like how I did with my friend. When ur comfortable, just go get u another bike and u didn't lose too much money

deception9

don't get an r6 or other 600 cc bikes as your first. you should stick with 300cc or under.

Belkin623

But there's no way to put two people in different families on one vehicle for insurance, is there? That wouldn't work.


I found a sv650 for fairly cheap and it's exactly what I want. Would that be a decent bike to buy? I know it's not a low-cc bike like a 250, but a lot of people have told me an sv650 is great to start on and I would have it for a long time.