First of all I want to thank all of those who responded to my last thread in which I mentioned that I as a first time motorcycle rider was contemplating getting a bike. All the advice you gave was indeed very useful and I am grateful for the kind and supportive manner in which many of you addressed my questions.

In this regard, I have a few more questions to ask of you. Most of you are experienced and WISE which is something an ingoramous and novice such as me has to make use of. I hope you will be patient with me if some of my queries strike you as downright stupid.

I went down to Berts cycles today to take a look at the different bikes available. After a long discussion with my insurance agent, I have decided to hold off getting a bike for the next three months. I will be taking the MSF beginner course next weekend and will get my license soon after. Apparently the insurance goes down for me if I have been licensed atleast three months. I can be patient and am eagerly anticipating getting my bike three months from now.

From what most of you had mentioned, the bikes I went to look at were the Kawasaki 500, Suzuki GS500, and SV650. Now on appearance, the SV650 took the cake and was drawing me towards it. Now I know that ATLEAST for the first year I ride, I should be more concerced about not killing myself and not how cool my bike looks. But - I really do want to spend money on something that I also love to look at and I think it is OK to have some desire to be driving something that looks kind of "cool".

So my questions are:

1. I just want to re-confirm - do you guys feel that the SV650 is an appropriate choice as a starter bike??

2. I also saw a Honda CBR600. I asked the salesperson but he told me to stay away from that as it was not a starter bike. I am confused. Suzuki SV650 = 650cc, Honda CBR600= 600cc
Both are middle displacement bikes. Why is the suzuki ok to start with but not the honda???
I would really like to get the honda because of brand name loyalty (since I already own a civic and s2k, it would be nice to have a third honda key on my chain )
Is the CBR600 also an appropriate bike to start with, or was the salesperson correct in directing me away from it??

THanks again

 

I think I was the one who recommended the SV.

It is an excellent first bike, very easy to ride, standard (towards sporty) riding position, good and easy to moderate power delivery (V-twin) and it's not completely covered in fairing which would be very expensive if you drop (not sure if you're looking at the naked or half-faired version). Lots of room to grow into the bike, in fact it's a favorite among the backroad carvers around these parts.

Take the advice of your salesman. The SV is a great first bike with room to grow. The CBR600 (not sure what iteration you were looking at) is a faster bike and will definitely get you into a situation you might not be able to cope with much much faster than the SV would. Even tho it's a 600 (inline-4), it's making alot more power than the SV650 (twin), power is more on/off than gradual, and riding position is more aggressive.

Mind you, the SV is *not* a slow bike by any means, but it will be much easier to control for a novice rider than a hot blooded 600 sportbike.

http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mccompare/val...0valuebike.html

http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcsuz/99sv650.html

http://svrider.com/

 

As with cars, be somewhat cautious of what salesmen may tell you. They are usually motivated by things we don't initially understand. The Honda CBR 600 is in a class of extremely high performance sport bikes - over 100 hp, performance that exceeds standard and cruiser type bikes twice and 3 times its size. It is also very expensive to fix even after a 'small' incident. The body panels on this bike are some of the most expensive to repair and replace. The Suzuki, on the other hand, is a V-twin, less body work, half as many moving parts, not quite as high strung so easier to maintain, less of a handful for a new rider to handle. From the saleman's point of view, he may see the Suzuki as a bike that you'll more likely replace sooner with something else he might sell you later. He may consider the Honda a high enough a performer that you may keep it longer. OR he may genuinely be thinking of your welfare in that the Honda can be less forgiving than the Suzuki in terms of getting you into trouble. It's good that you are not in a hurry to decide. I would suggest that since you are about to take a course anyway, let the instructors on that course be a sounding board for you as to what you should do. They will be best able to assess your skill level and competence at the end of the course. Ask them the questions you've asked here. They will also be familiar with the local motorcycle scene, refer you to a dealer who will treat you fairly, and make recommendations about what size and type of bike would suit you best. We can only give generalized answers because we don't know you to be more specific. Your instructors, though, will know you very well by the end of the course to tailor their answers to your specific situation. Ride safe.

 

Moneeb, as a rider with almost 30 years (29.5 to be precise) of on road experience I still tend to think starting off with something of that size (650cc) is a little over the top. I started off with a 100cc Yamaha 2 stroke twin and it was plenty powerful enough for me to pick up the basics. It was my only means of transport and I rode it every day to University for 3 months before trading up to a 250.

In my honest opinion I think the best bike for you would be a used 250cc single (i.e off road bike) or twin (on road bike) for at least the 1st 12 months of riding.

Let's face it - you WILL fall off and you will damage the bike (at least cosmetically if not serious mechanical damage) . I'd rather this happened to you at a relatively low speed (250s don't go that fast) so you don't hurt yourself too much and I'd rather you don't wipe out the value of your investment (used = not much to lose, forget about insurance - it's impossibly expensive).

Any 250 will give you a top speed of somewhere between 80 and 100mph and a 0-400m time of around 15 secs so it ain't slow!

Much as I respect the opinion of the other motorcycle riders who have posted here please do yourself and your pocket a favour and start off small. I did and have owned a myriad of bikes (100-1200cc), ridden to a myriad of places (just about everywhere on the globe except China and Russia) and survived 30 years ( a myriad of years longer than the average motorcyclist).

 

I'm just now finishing up my first 12 months of bike ownership. (Selling the bike, though, because I want HRE wheels. ) I got a used Yamaha YZF600R for a few reasons - it's not the latest and greatest bike technology like the YZF-R6 or CBR600F4 or GSX-R600, while still being very fast it's not nearly as extremely race oriented as those other bikes, it's very comfortable, it has a smooth powerband, and it cost a whole lot less than a new bike. Yep, I dropped it. Yep, I laid it down once (furtunately, I was going around a very slow corner so I wasn't hurt and the bike wasn't damage except for some cosmetic stuff.)

Getting a high end bike like the Honda, I would NOT recommend. You WILL damage it. And it'll be very expensive to fix. And you really need to learn to control a bike before you get something that powerful - you can easily get yourself into trouble before you even realize what's going on. I've had some scary times on the 600R, in fact.

A friend of mine got an SV650S (the half faired, more sporty version) a few months after I got my bike, and while I never rode it, it struck me as a very nice bike. It's slower than mine, but I don't know how it handled.

For your first bike? I'd say something used would be best. A Ninja 500 would be relatively cheap.

As far as the differences between the two bikes - while the SV650 has more displacement, it has less horsepower and a much less aggressive setup. The Honda is pretty nearly a race bike.

 

Have you considered the used market for a first bike. Buy a beater. Learn how to ride defensively. Take a riders course. When your comfortable and no doubt more knowledgeable, buy your bike. You'll have a much better idea of what will make and keep you a happy rider.
I found a used Honda Rebel 250 to teach my wife how to ride. Paid a whopping $300. If she drops it, who cares as long as she's ok. I don't let her ride without protective clothing and a helmet.
I used to ride sport bikes exclusively. I made the move to my Goldwing so I could go on long rides.

 

I'm not slamming the Rebel style of motorcycle or any of the small cruiser types. Just so you know - when I used to teach the bike course, we had several of these Rebels. Peculiarly enough, a disproportionate number of spills happened on the course on these Rebels. It had something to do with the riding position that made it a bit more difficult for many students when executing emergency manouvres. The set up of the rake, trail, fork angle, position of the brake controls, etc made the bike more unstable than others in panic situations. Just an observation. The used bike idea is a good one, though.

 

OK guys - I sense some opposition to the idea of starting with a new SV650. I understand that I need to balance out my desire to get ahold of a nice looking relatively fast bike that I can easily afford with the reality that I really dont know anything about riding a motorbike at this time.

Even if I am as a careful as I can possibly be, WILL I absolutely inevitable drop my bike and damage it??

If this is a foregone conclusion, then yes it sounds silly to buy a brand new SV650 regardless of how cool it looks/feels. I did see a used Kawasaki 250 at the dealer for just under $3k with about 1k miles on it. Is that better as a starter??

As much as I want a cool bike - I want to get off on the right foot. I know it is stupid to rush things. I want to learn motorcycle riding the right way - not rush into it. I want to be riding bikes fifteen years from now knowing that I have learnt everything the right way.

Thank you guys for all of your excellent advice. I am just torn between my brain which is telling me to just buy a used 250 and my heart which really wants the new SV650.

 

Moneeb; I will perhaps be the only one to tell you to forget the 250cc bike. Here is my main reason. I believe that the learning time spent on such a bike is not as useful as time spent on a bike that is closer in size to what you will probably move up to anyway. Yes it's true that good basic skills can be learned, but its light weight and low power level I believe are major disadvanteges. A long time ago I learned the basics on a Honda 65. When I made the move up to a Honda 350 it was like learning all over again. I liked the idea already mentioned of you buying a used bike. From my point of view, most current bikes (if they hve not been beat on )will give you good service and provide a good platform for you to learn what you need to know. If you stick with a bike in the 500cc to 650cc range I think you will be happier!

 

Get started with the rider's course. Take your time. Talk to your future instructors. In the interim, go ask how much the various bits of the bike would cost to replace - muffler, fairing, windscreen, brake & clutch levers, signal lights, engine side casing, gas tank (when the handle bar slams into it). These are the most likely things to get damaged when a bike goes down. The instructors will also be able to tell you if $3K for the Kaw is a good buy. And no, it is NOT inevitable that you will drop the bike. You may turn out to be an Ace bike rider from the get-go but your chances of having an 'incident' is highly likely.