Which of these motorcycles is better for a beginner? ?

Question

http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/mcy/822103680.html

or

http://nmi.craigslist.org/mcy/821924147.html

I am a college student so I'm leaning toward the second one, but the carburetor needs to be rebuilt (I have no idea what the entails) and it only has 1 seat and my girlfriend wants to ride too...

Any advice??

Thanks!!!

Answer 1

Honestly, if you don't know how to rebuild motorcycles don't buy either of them, it will cost you in both time and money to fix up one of those bikes.

If you do decide to buy one, go for the Honda CB750 because the seller has already done a lot of work on it and being a Honda it has the best build-quality. I would expect it to cost you an extra $500 in spares & repairs on top of the purchase price - still very cheap, but not as cheap as you might be expecting.

The Suzuki is more modern (if you can call 1980 modern) but Suzukis are more temperamental than Hondas. Check the electrics and wiring are okay.

Answer 2

buy the Honda they are very reliable LOTS of them still running.Easy to work on and a great bike to make into a chopper should you get the urge.Type in Honda chopper and check out the site that comes up. You can still buy frames and other goodies to customise the old 750 k model.Thats cause they sold LOTS of them!

Answer 3

Gonna agree with iWebWench on this one for sure. Buy something that's a bit more expensive but newer, so that repair work isn't an ongoing occurrence. Unless you're motivated to get into bike repair as a hobby. And you should get a few thousand miles of experience on it before letting a  passenger ride, adding a second person seriously complicates driving a motorcycle.

A bike like the Honda would be a decent starter bike though, doesn't weigh too much, isn't so high-powered that it's hard to control. And in all fairness if you buy a bike for under $1K, and you end up not liking it, you're not out a huge chunk of cash.

Answer 4

nevermind the two seats.  When I was starting out I never listened to my dad.  He told me to get the biggest one I could afford because once you learn how to ride you would have wished you had a bigger bike!

Answer 5

Well I would probably go with the Honda 750. It sounds a bit more mechanically sound. More road worthy. The old 750 fours as they were called were a good bike in their day. Things you need to look at when you go to look at it are, chain wear and condition, tires (dry rot and cracking) take peak inside the gas tank and ,make sure there ain't a bunch of rust in side. Hoses that go to carbs etc for dry rot.

   You need to make sure to take a Motorcycle Saftey Course before you ride. And don't put anybody on the bike with you till you have gotten used to it, the extra weight will throw off everything you have learned. If you are mechanically inclined either of these will probably work for you. If your not handy with wrench's you might want to get something a bit newer and possibly with abelt drive instead of chain.

Answer 6

You're a beginner yet you already want to take a passenger?

Nice to know you care about your girlfriend

Answer 7

buy the honda

Answer 8

both bikes are old thats for sure.

buy the honda the suzuki is a piece of s**t.

Answer 9

I would not recommend either. Unless you are a good mechanic and have funds to maintain old c**p. You are a college student so why spend a dollar to save a dime. Remember those $500 bikes are worn out. Parts are hard to get or non existant. Most shops wont even work on them. and Unless you are going to completely overhaul it , How will you be confident that your precious cargo wont be tossed on the road at highway speeds. For example bearings that old may fail at any time without warning. Take it from me, I went the old bike route and it was broke down more than I rode it.I think one may be futher ahead to shop for somthing not more than ten years old with average miles,and shows to have been well maintained.  Look for decent rubber, new tires alone can run into the hundreds of dollars for purchase and mounting.

Answer 10

As a beginner you should get the 550 cc bike it weighs alot less and is easier to learn on.

Carbs arent hard to rebuild just get the kit and follow the instructions.

A little advice when you are rebuilding it do it over  a hard floor, sometimes when you take them apart little springs and steel balls will fly out ( the uncarpeted floor makes it alot easier to find them)

Also if you have a digital camera take pics of things at every stage so you can see where things go when you reassemble them.

Good luck !

Answer 11

Neither of them, although if it is only these two then the cb 750 which has already been running daily and had a lot of work done.

JMO but if you're a beginner you need a bike that RUNS. If you're doing repairs all the time it will quickly wipe out the reason for getting a MC. If you don't live far from campus a scooter is a great choice, btw.

Suzuki Savage, Yamaho Virago (I have a 1997 1100 and LOVE it!), Honda Rebel are all great starter bikes. Also make sure you take the MSF course so you can learn to ride properly, and the teacher will give you suggestions. Typically they use smaller bikes for the classes so you can try them out. Much of it depends on your size and ability as to what bike to get.

Please don't take your g-friend out as a passenger until you've had a lot of time on the bike yourself, either. Riding with one is dangerous and is not for beginners. Good luck!