What is inexpensive motorcycle for transportation?

Question

I am looking at purchasing a lower cc motorcycle for transportation to/from work. I live 15 miles out of town in a rural area. But I dont need a Harley or something larger. I was looking at the lower 300-500cc bikes any ideas what is a reliable one? (not in shop for repairs alot)

Answer 1

To start with Chinese and Korean motorcycles are not the same thing. THe ones from Korea are very good transportation, Kymco makes both motorcycles and scooters and are the highest rated scooters in the world only surpassed by      Piaggio and Vespa and they are rated higher than the Japenese big four. Hyosung is another good pick. Both of them are quality makers. THe sizes range from  

50cc to 650cc in standards crusiers and sport bikes and scooters. I never have to do much work on them more than standard maintence. They are cheaper in price only. Also both of these manufactures use to make a lot of the Japanese's smaller motors for them.

Answer 2

If you wont be on a highway, and wont excede 60mph, you can get a korean or chineese skooter over the internet for apx 1,000.00 us dollars, A friend did it and i thought he was gonna get ripped off, but it came, he doesnt get the 70 mpg but does get over 57 mpg.

Answer 3

Buy something reliable and proven. One of the Japanese big 4. There are thousands for sale on any one day and ...there are thousands of used bike for sale on the same day. Unfortunately, the less than 250 genre has been pounded pretty hard by people just like you - wanting economy in transportation. First, ownership of a motorcycle in addition to a car isn't economical and second the risk incurred in the first year isn't worth it. Remember. many people's motivation for buying a motorcycle is to save money on gasoline, not for the joy of the hobby. To me this skews the entire accident probability curve for much longer than a year. One accident and you'll never save enough gas to cover all those costs. Buy one vehicle ( car) that gets 30mpg and is reliable and you will come out way ahead economically speaking.

Answer 4

good old honda cb 250 and i think they make bigger models too, they are cheep as chips and live forever

Answer 5

One thing I have learnt from having a bike is that if you want to avoid headaches, buy a bike which is popular in the area you are living it. I bought a couple of bikes and it was a nightmare getting parts for one as it was an import ans there were no dealers nearby.

If you are not too bothered about a specific bike, then the best thing to do is se what everyone else in your local area is driving and pick a popular one.

I am currently driving a 1997 Honda CB400 and it is great. There have been no problems with it except that the throttle cable snapped which was easily fixed. It is not a common bike though but I think Honda's are good so definitely check them out.

Answer 6

your best bet in the US market is a kawasaki ninja 250. they are cheap (used $1000-2000) and very reliable. they top out over 80 MPH so they are safe on the highway and return 50-60MPG on average. they are also a blast to ride. if you want more power the kawasaki ninja 500 is another great reliable bike. the other manufacturers have stayed away from small displacement as of late and kawi is the only one selling less than 500cc's right now as far as major manufacturers go. the chineese products have horrible reliability records and end up costing more in the long run. scooters are also more often then not, not approved for highway use. if you are looking to go with something other htan a kawasaki, suzuki makes the GS 500 with a look similar to their GSXR line of motorcycles but these tend to come with a higher price tag without offering more in the way of performance and reliability.

Answer 7

Look on Craigslist for a large city near you. You can generally find an older 300-500cc bike in good running shape for around 500-1200.