What should I buy for my first street bike?

Question

I'm going to be buying a street bike in late aug. after I finish my bike classes. I will be a beginner rider and I was looking at the cbr 600rr but i've been reading it's not a beginner friendly bike. Let me get it across I don't want to buy a cheap bike and learn and then have to sell because that's not what route I want to go. But I do want a beginner friendly bike that I can keep after I get better at riding. Ninja 500 maybe? Give some suggestions please. I'm 6'1 and I weigh 170-175 if that helps at all

Answer 1

I learned on a cbr600, and i thought it was a good choice. I dropped it once while moving it (turned off) in a really bad road. other than that everything was good.

If you really want a honda, I would go for the f4i.

if you just want a good 600, maybe something like that katana 600, it's not a supersports but a great starter bike u won't grow tire of.

Answer 2

some options for you

Kawasaki Ninja 500,Ninja 250

Suzuki GS500F, SV650, DR350

Honda Nighthawk 250, Rebel 250

Yamaha XT200 or TW250

Answer 3

Well, I've owned 61 bikes, and I currently build and service custom bikes for a living.  Your height and weight are not a factor in the least. Ignore the "Gold Wing" post. Forget the "my buddies started on 600s" mentality, because peer-pressure gets new riders killed every single day.  I raced WERA Superbike for a bit, and I had four racebikes: a YZF1000, a CBR600F2, a Triumph T509 and a 250 Ninja. At TGPR, my fastest lap EVER was on the 250. In one day's last 20-minute open track session, I shared the track with two other bikes- an 888 and a 900SS. The 888 pitted over and over for whatever reason, but the 900SS was going for it. I lapped that dude twice before the session was over.

Afterwards he came over and said, "that's the fastest 500 I've ever seen."  I never told him it was a 250.

You mentioned a 500 Ninja. Kawasaki has made that bike for freakin ever, I had one back when they called it an EX500. That bike was bulletproof, and if you've never ridden before, you will be shocked at how fast it will shoot you down the road.

When I was first getting into bikes, I had this mentality that 1000cc represented 100% of an engine. An 1100 was like a bonus!  500? Please- that's just half an engine.  I found I could only afford a 600, though (I also stupidly bought new) so I reluctantly got a 600cc Suzuki inline four.  I have a great proclivity for mechanical operation, so I took to the street like I'd been riding for months.

BUT...

Once I hit a good stretch of open road, I snapped the throttle open, and I swear to you I almost came right off the back of the bike.  My arms got stretched totally out, which, with my panic-induced death grip on the gas meant that I opened it wide-open and I was full bore SMOKIN until the thing hit the rev-limiter. Thank God for the rev-limiter. My fingers were about to unwind off of the grips and I would literally have fallen off.  

It's kinda (not really) funny now, but dude, again- my 600 would outrun any car on the road (barring some ridiculous Lambo or something you never see) but you don't have a seat behind you to hold you in position. Body lean and reflexes and grip and acclimation all conspire to make piloting a motorcycle not too dissimilar from piloting a helicopter or a jet boat. Could you imagine a 14 year old kid in a jet boat?

Cars are forgiving: you see a dead ox in the road, you slam on the brakes. The car may weave a bit but it's easy enough to handle. You slam on the brakes on a bike and all of a sudden you're sideways, or the bike instantly loses its gyroscopic (or at least rolling-induced) stability and nothing holds it up- it just BAM falls over. I mean even at 50 MPH, if your front tire stops, you are going down. Getting used to the extraordinary abilities of even an average bike (by today's standards) will take months, and you never stop learning. No kidding. I learn something literally every time I ride.  I was a complete and total idiot when I started, but I had no clue.

That said, a Ninja 500 is fine to start on, and you will not "outgrow" it for years unless you're a freakin genius on motorcycles.  If I can own a 130HP YZF, how can I also own a Suzuki Burgman (scooter) and be happy with both? Different bikes serve different purposes, and a 500 Ninja is fast enough to scare the c**p out of you, has brakes strong enough to scare the c**p out of you, and will lean over far enough to scare the c**p out of you. If you have "friends" that give you grief over a 500, let em try to follow me on my 250 one day. Bravado is useless, and when I smoke people riding ZX6s while I'm on my Burgman (and I do) they don't get it. It's skill and experience over equipment. I always say if you gave Columbus the USS Nimitz, he couldn't even get on board the dang thing, much less sail it to the New World.

I'd totally recommend a 500 Ninja. And when you want another bike, KEEP that 500 if you can. I wish I had mine back.

Answer 4

If you can practice discipline and restraint when riding, you may be fine on whatever 600 u want. It's not all fun and games on a sport bike. Even if you ride perfect you need to know how to react when other cars and bikes and trucks don't drive so perfect. That comes from building new instincts and reflexes, and driving habits. While I definitely recommend the class, the class doesn't usually teach all you need to know. Many, many riders go down every summer due to overconfidence gained by taking the class.

The first time I ever touched a motorcycle, it was a 1997 ZX6. I rode it around a parking lot for 5 minutes to find out how to shift, then rode 100 miles home on the interstate. I’ve been riding ever since with a clean riding history. (Thanks to God) So it is possible to start on something other than a 250. Generally speaking, a 600 is a beginner’s sport bike. The internet is the only place I’ve heard of anybody starting on anything other beside people who grew up riding dirt bikes.

When I ride on the highway, I assume that every car I pass or that passes me, doesn't see me and is looking to come into my lane. I'm ready for any move that car makes half a second before he makes it.

You have to learn aerodynamics. If you get to close behind a rig, the wind can trap you there. When you pass along side of a rig the wind will pull you closer to the truck at one point and push you away at another. You have to learn all this and have counter balance and movements programmed into your body reflexes. There is so much more to it. You need lots of practice.

People recommend smaller CC bikes for beginners because most newbies are into it for the speed and flashiness of it and often underestimate the seriousness of riding safe. The temptation to tap into that power is usually too great to overcome. If you know you can and will respect the bike and get at least a thousand miles of practice before hitting the highway, and before group rides, then maybe you can start on a 600cc bike. Otherwise, help yourself out and start small.

Answer 5

If you get anything under  a 600, you'll wanna ditch it as soon as you learn what you're doing.

supposedly the kawasaki zxr6's have a really easily controllable throttle.  but the r6's r supposed to be the worst and I was easily able to keep the front end on the ground when I rode my friends in a parking lot) I knowthat ain't sayin much.

Answer 6

I'd go with a Honda Goldwing. They're stable and have a lot of features. They are easy to ride, and are fairly fast. I like them because they're more quiet than harlys are, with the Honda stock pipes. Gotta go with the Honda quality!! They are a great bike and last forever. They will also fit a tall person very well too. If you show up on a gold wing, all your friends will be jealous!

Answer 7

if you gotta start on a 500cc-ish bike, then yes i'd say the ninja 500... it's a little bit heavier then the 600rr, but not by much, and it will be more forgiving to new riders.

by my definition, a 600cc bike would fall into the 500cc-ish range (notice the -ish) and vice versa....

if you get the 500, it will be more forgiving like i said, and no you won't have to just trade up in a couple of months... i wouldn't normally suggest someone even start on a 500 ninja, but you seem intent on starting on an intermediate bike rather then a beginers bike

Answer 8

Just an FYI, motorcycles retain there value much better than cars so do not let your friends pressure you into a bike you are not ready for.  

You can always trade up without losing much especially with smaller 250cc motorcycles.  

A majority of motorcycle accidents happen to riders with less than 1 years experience.

Best of luck,

Answer 9

The Ninja 500 is rather nice if you are a fast learner, and get past the first awkward weeks with the bike intact, as well as yourself,  it would be a good choice, a wide powerband makes it less critical to keep it wound up to the torque peak.

Answer 10

Watch out for insurance rates. A lot of insurance companies base their rates on several key factors. They mainly look at how old (or how young) the rider is, how long has he or she had her motorcycle endorsement, and the size of the bike. They usually break the bikes in to two ranges - under 600cc's or 600cc's and over. A young rider that just got his license and has a 600 can be hit with double or triple rates. I've seen a lot of guys wait a year or so after getting their license before getting their first bike. A 500 might save you quite a bit if cash on insurance too. The best thing to do is check with your insurance company for the rates on a few different bikes. You don't have to have the bike in hand before asking for a quote. Just tell them you are planing on buying one of the following models and want to know how much it will cost for coverage.