[Leedom]

As the title says... My wife has me thinking about getting a bike. She is taking a class this weekend to get her M1 license. She has a 50cc Vespa that has been sitting in the garage for the last 3 years and finally wants to ride the damn thing. She told me I should get a bike. I almost got one about a decade ago and she has me seriously thinking about it again. I am partial to GSX-R's... that is almost what I bought before (750). I was wondering if some of you guys more familiar with bikes could drop some knowledge on me about what I should look for and some issues that I should try to avoid. Is there a good starter bike? What is considered high mileage on a bike? Thanks in advance.

[Shaolin Crane]

1. Dont buy a bike
2. Save money on bike purchase for blower purchase
3. Enjoy being alive by not riding on the street

[94cobra69ss396]

I didn't like the feel of Eric's GSXR 750. It was too small. If I leaned forward like I do when I cruise on the freeway my head was past the windshield. My buddy's ZX14 is really nice though and I like the size of it. I also used to ride a Katana 600 and that was a nice sized bik as well.

[Vettezuki]

The classic starter bike is the Suzuki SV-650. It's a VTwin with good torque and reasonable power to get around just fine. They are ubuiqutous, easy to buy, easy to sell, HUGE support community. Like my Bandit, it's a "Japanese Standard Bike" which means it's still sporty but is classed completely differently for insurance. I think my Bandit was literally like $75/year.

Think about how and why you're going to ride. If you're looking for a sport bike that can be used for other things, Honda seems to always come out on top: the GSXRs and Yamaha R series are purpose built machines that don't do the longer distance cruising as well as the Hondas it seems.

The high strung I4 600cc bikes (e.g. R6) are amazingingly nimble and fast, however, you'll have to get on the gas to get them into their power range just to get around, unlike the SV VTwin in the same size which doesn't make anywhere near the same peak power, but has much more power at lower revs.

The Hayabusas and ZX14s are BIG bikes that I've heard are very comfortable. They're utterly insane for power to weight, I think the ZX is 8 second something at 150mph . . . out of the box.

New vs. Used.
Can't think of a particuarly good reason to buy new now. There are SOOOO many toys on the market at steep discounts, it's crazy. Nordy racer sold two great (and kind of special) bikes recently for $5k range. .. amazing. You can probably get a great condition SV, Bandit, etc. for $2,000-$2,500.

A bike is way more fun than a car in a lot of ways, It is however, a bit nerve racking because people just don't see you. I will say this, learning to ride a bike made me a much better and more attentive driver.

[Leedom]

I am leaning towards a sport bike if I get one. Nothing for long cruises. maybe ride it to work a few times a week and cruise with Shannon down PCH every once and a while. I am not looking for a "fast" bike at this moment. Something fun without too much power to learn on. Used for sure.

[Vettezuki]

Not sure there's any such thing as an unfast sport bike. In fact, nearly any bike unless you go quite old or tiny is going to be at least quick. My Bandit was a big old heavy Japanese standard, 1200. It'd run 11.8s at 118 all day. . stock. Check out the SVs, it's basically impossible to go wrong with them. The most important thing for you being sort of a giant is just to find a bike that you feel comfortable on.

[Leedom]

Originally Posted by Vettezuki

Not sure there's any such thing as an unfast sport bike. In fact, nearly any bike unless you go quite old or tiny is going to be at least quick. My Bandit was a big old heavy Japanese standard, 1200. It'd run 11.8s at 118 all day. . stock. Check out the SVs, it's basically impossible to go wrong with them. The most important thing for you being sort of a giant is just to find a bike that you feel comfortable on.

When I say fast I mean something like a hayabusa and anything over 1000CC. I am looking for something to learn on not race on. Anyone know what high mileage is considered on a bike?

Thanks for all the info all. I guess I need to sit on some of these bikes and see how I fit.

[Leedom]

Originally Posted by Shaolin Crane

1. Dont buy a bike
2. Save money on bike purchase for blower purchase
3. Enjoy being alive by not riding on the street

That is definitively floating around in my head. I am also looking for a 7.3L F250 Crew Cab too.

[Vettezuki]

Most of the things you'll be looking at will be in the low 30s to high 40s, *maybe* low 50s if you pussy foot it. High mileage would be like a 250cc Ninja, I think they're in the 70s pretty easily, but with a feller your size, I really would NOT recommend something that small. Also keep in mind that standards, like my old Bandit ran happily on 87, any of the actual sport bikes have to have 91. Seriously, check out the SV-650 as at least part of your research if you're serious.

[Ryridesmotox]

Go get a buell firebolt 1200. Put a D&D race exhaust on it and be done with it. It will sound like a dragster ride like the wind and has a powerband like a LS v-8. I had a 97 X1 lightning and with all the work I had done it put down 100whp at like 3krpm all the way to the 7k redline. was a beast but it also got over 50mpg and I have a heavy errr um wrist lol, and they handle really nice. Plus its a harley sportster motor so you can get parts all over the place if you want. And they are really easy to work on. A high performance I4 that turns 15,000 rpm is not easy to work on... plus, why have what every other future organ donor has? get something that is more unique and is super cheap to insure, who wants to steal a buell?