I HAVE NEVER RIDDEN A MOTORCYCLE BEFORE AND NOW I AM PURCHASING A 1986 KAWASAKI TOURING BIKE?

Question

Hello, I am wanting to purchase a 1986 kawasaki voyager with 1200cc's. It is in great shape. The concern I have is me not having any riding experience. I am a bright person and learn really fast, realistically, how easy is it to learn and pick up on touring bikes? And, what is one thing that I should pay attention to when learning to ride a touring motorcycle?

Thank you!

Answer 1

I am not concerned with the size of the engine being too big for you, as I am concerned with the size of the bike.  The kawasaki voyager is a great bike, don't get me wrong.  Even if it is older.   Really comfortable, powerful and good for long distance touring.  But the thing is huge--the term 'land yacht' isn't too far off the mark here.   I do not know how you will be able to handle so much weight if you don't have any experience.   Seriously, it may be in great shape, but without any experience YOU WILL DROP IT.  You will cause damage to it, and you will figure out the joys of righting a turned over bike that weighs so much. Really, everyone has said it, and I say it too: start on a smaller bike.  

Answer 2

Wait! Stop! Don't do it unless you take the MSF riding course first. You should get more experience before getting on a bike that powerful. YOu will hurt or kill yourself.

Answer 3

Hello;

Why do you want to start learning on a 1200cc bike? There is so much involved in riding motorcycles, that it seems crazy to start on anything larger than a 650. I started on an older Katana, and I crashed a few times in a few months. My mistake, fortunately I had experience with dirt bikes, but that didn't help me in traffic, or dealing with road tires in gravel.

The first things you are going to notice, is that you have no idea what to do in a crisis, you have very little acute control of the clutch and brakes, and that the bike is really heavy at stop lights and in slow turns. Take the MSF course, and see how you do on a 125 or 250, then decide if you want a larger bike.  

Answer 4

As has been pointed out already, weight and balance are going to be your biggest problems.  And you would be better off starting on something smaller at least until you get the controls worked out, learn to accelerate and slow down, to corner, shift gears, all that stuff.

But it's a well known fact (at least among those who know it) that more than half of the buyers of new Harley Davidsons are either rank newbies or coming back to biking after a couple of decades (raising the kids, no doubt).

I used to wonder how total noobs could handle a bike that weighs 700-800 lbs until I actually rode a Harley.  Despite its intimidating weight and bulk, it is actually a fairly easy bike to ride because of its low center of gravity and low seat height.

The Voyager might be like that.  Or not.

If you take the MSF course, you will learn how to ride a bike, and then you can ride ANY bike.  It will take a while to get the Voyager under control.  Assuming you are mature enough not to do stupid things (and if you weren't you wouldn't want a Voyager), you'll probably do okay.  I just wouldn't use the Voyager for 'primary' training.

Answer 5

Truth?

That bike will kill you, simple as that.  You have to learn to ride first, then you can get on that in about 2 years, once you can ride proficiently.

You can't hop on and ride that one, no way, no how.

Answer 6

Being "a bright person" and a fast leaner isn't enough. You've never ridden. You're buying a land yacht. You really should start out on something you can handle, 500cc tops. Those big bikes are a lot to handle, believe me. As far as what to pay attention to...other traffic, more than anything else. A car will run you over and never see you.

Answer 7

The others are correct, that is not a machine to start out with. Beyond that I’m combining 2 of my previous answers to similar questions to try to provide as much information as possible. Hope it helps

EVERYTHING is different when riding as opposed to driving.

Example, on standard motorcycle, uphill to a Stop Sign:

Come to a stop with right hand [R/H] on front brake, right foot [R/F] on rear brake, L/H on clutch & L/F on pavement. Hold motorcycle with rear brake [R/F], release front brake [R/H], use throttle [R/H] with clutch [L/H] to take off.

It is critically important to learn as many situations as possible, away from traffic, before mixing in with other vehicles. Riding courses are a great start, but rein in your confidence for the 1st 1k miles & don't even think about riding a passenger before then!

It would be easier to learn on a machine like a Ridley or one of the older Hondamatics. But even then remember you are out in the open, harder to see & easy to ignore.

Read more in the sites below.

http://totalmotorcycle.com/welcome.htm

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/

First, take a riding course. Here in TX there is a 2-day course with everything, including motorcycle, provided.

http://www.texasmtc.com/index.html...

Second, since there are a million used bikes out there, especially the beginner sizes, with less than 10,000 miles` on them, shop used. You will lose too much money on a new machine, plus you often get things like saddlebags [for carrying stuff] w/the pkg instead of as expensive extras.

Third, I would not recommend you buy anything under 450cc. You'll outgrow it in a matter of weeks. Plus, in most tight situations, motorcycles need to power out; this doesn’t require a rocket, but you’ll want enough motor.

Fourth, awesome bike my wife bought for herself, but not cheap, Ridley Auto-Glide.http://ridleymotorcycles.com/

Above all, take your time, ride at least 300 miles out of town before entering traffic & don't ride a passenger until you have at least 1,000 miles under your tires.

Riding over 33 years,  Iron Butt Association member, 6 years MC shops, Former Riding instructor.

Ride safe & Ride straight.

Answer 8

first of all, You need to take a motorcycle safety course Like the MSF course.http://msf-usa.org/ is a link that will allow you to find one in your state.

Next, while i recommend upto a 1200 cc bike for a beginner, that's normally a cruiser, not a tour type bike that is typically heavy in the front end (Steering) and in the case of the older kawasaki, not the best engine or stopping power.

For a new person like yourself, I would suggest a cruiser bike in that size range, or a smaller cc bike if you want a crotch rocket.

Also what you did do right, is select a used bike as your first. This is because you will most likely grow to a larger size bike later. On the older bike you picked, its quite a bit older and might have mech or other problems that your not ready to handle, or being new, spot.

go to this link for suggested best begginner motorcycles, remember its a guide and you can find these bike 2-5 years old at 1/3 to 1/5 the new price. http://motorcycles.about.com/od/howtosta...

Answer 9

everybodys right you need to start out with a small bike

Answer 10

First off, the Voyager XII is a good bike with a great engine.  It was also built for approximately 19 years with very few changes, so even though it's an older one, parts are still easy to come by.  Good brakes, excellent gas mileage and it will really haul butt if that's what you want.

Two things to watch, first make sure the bike has the ignition update.  The 86's were prone to busting the starter chain when trying to start it with a nearly dead battery.  The second is that they sometimes had a tendency for the front wheel to wiggle at times, nothing dangerous, just disconcerting.  Sometimes a change in tire tread would help.

Yes, it's a big bike but not really that heavy compared to it's contemporaries.  Yes, it's a lot of bike to learn on, but if you remove the trunk (easily done) you'll lower the center of gravity bunches.  It's true that little bikes are good to learn on but you'll be tired of a little guy within 6 months or less and be back looking for a bigger bike.  Plus have a little bike to get shed of.  

Yes, take a safety training course, especially one that provides the bike.  You may spend a few hundred dollars, but that's cheap compared to buying two bikes inside of a year.  As far as dropping it, yes you'll probably do that, but they have good case guards that will protect the plastic stuff.  Besides, you can  drop a little bike just as easily.  

If the price is right and the bike is nice, get it but take a training course before doing any serious riding.    

Answer 11

hey man im not trying to put you down on this, but you need to think about it, you should start on a 250, or a 500. I dont think your parents will like it if your lying dead on the pavement because you got a 1200 like all the other jocks, well good luck