Thinking of saving for a bike .. any suggestions

[TheyCallMeDale]

Haha so after seeing Pete's overwhelming reaction to his new bike Im thinking about possibly going that route for now. My pathfinder while it has had its quirks, is pretty reliable transportation, and badass in the snow.The 4x4 system on my pathy blows most other SUV's out of the water and is perfect for me as I live in the North Country of NY and I snowboard every weekend. Now Id just keep it till it died and then search for an e30 as a replacement. However, Im looking for some decent summer transportation and think a bike would be perfect. It would be kickass on gas, save me from putting miles on my pathy, and would be loads of fun. Now I want a sportbike as most of you would assume and know next to nothing about bikes. I want something quick, but not something absurd. Something I can grow into you could say. Any ideas on what Brands and models to think about and how much I should expect to pay. THanks guys

[Erick]

Ninja 250R. $3k right off the showroom.

If you never rode a bike before, this is a perfect starter's bike.

[OreoGaborio]

yyyyyYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYES!!! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

btw, do NOT BUY NEW!!! you'll be wasting money on something you WILL drop & damage!!! there's two kinds of riders... those who have been down and those who WILL go down. don't go & buy a new bike unless you're ready to shed some tears WHEN you drop it (not IF)

i can give ya plenty of help pickin a starter... how much ya got to work w/?

i'll just assume you can spend like 2-4 g's and list some options for ya

Hondas:
CBR F1 (aka Hurricaine)
CBR F2
CBR F3($$)
CBR F4 ($$$)
Hawk GT (aka NT650) - cool v-twin naked sportbike w/ a single swingarm. Made in late '80's, early '90's... has a huge cult following - www.hawkgt.com

Kawisaki's
zx-500 (my bike's little 500cc brother)
zx-6e (mid-late 90's)
zx-6r (generation before mine... 97-99 i think)

Suzuki's
ES500 (a little bike)
sv650
sv650s (has upper fairing & lower handlebars)
RF600 (cool bike but rare... looks kinda like a ferarri testarosa on two wheels... see one & you'll know what i mean
an OLDER gsx-r 600 (they lean too far forward for me... not that comfortable)

Yamaha's
YZF 600R (a buddy of mine is RRREEALLLYY thinkin bout gettin one of those... good sport touring version of the R6)
YZF R6 (you can get an early version of this for around 4k, maybe a little more than you wanna spend)

that's the "Big Japanese Four"... but there's other manufacturers out there obviously

look around ebay, there's tons of stuff on there... just not too much that's local... i got lucky & found my bike on there & it was less than 2 hours away. I wouldn't buy anything off there that i couldn't see firsthand before giving the seller any money whatsoever.

here's a couple links to ones that i've found on New England Streetrider ( www.nestreetrider.com )

http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10696

http://www.nestreetriders.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10663

[bimmerboy12]

bike

hey, I've had four crotch rockets so I'll throw my 2 cents in.... BUY A HONDA. Get an old F2, you can pick them up for cheap especially if they have a little road rash, and with some mods they're fast as shit. DONT buy a ninja. Bigger, heavier, no faster, at least in the 600 range, and notorious for bending the shift fork in 2nd gear. Yamaha's are excellent, but very expensive.
check out my bikes I've had and have now on my website. The yellow one I bought wrecked and completely redid it, had $1000 into it, and the green kawasaki had 2000 into it, and the red bike I have now, bought wrecked and redid it, have 2000 into it.

camaroz28.cardomain.com/id/brianhodorek

good luck, wear a helmet.

-Brian

[65Matt]

I dont ride, but I've heard that the Ninja 250 or 500 are excellent cheap starter bikes. I would be afraid of starting on something bigger.

bimmerboy - Cool website - you might set a world record for the most cars owned one day.

[Rob]

whatever you do, dont listen to anyone who rides in flip flops.


Take the MSF course before you buy a bike

[Schniddy]

hey i never rode a bike before and all i can say buddy is were the proper gear. My dad drove bikes for years, and was in a couple major crashes. Thank god he almost always wore all leather when riding. He gets really pissed these days when he sees bikers without helments on All he says is.....scrambled brains.

plus if u get a nice riding outfit that matches your bike it looks killer. How the rider looks is part of the apperents of the bike

helmet
jacket
pants ( he had the kind that u can just take right off from the sides)
boots

[OreoGaborio]

helmet
jacket
pants ( he had the kind that u can just take right off from the sides)
boots

AND GLOVES!!!

definitely wear the gear... go outside, bend down, put your hands on the pavment, put a little weight on it & rub..... that's zero mph... try 30... 50... 80... ain't fun

i'm actually shoppin around for some better gear right now myself. i have everything i need, just need better stuff that fits properly

[e30Matt]

Anyone I catch in W-S not wearing gear and riding will be subject to punishment by paintball when they stop. I suggest you suit up.

:mrgreen:

Seriously, wear ALL your gear when you ride. It'll pay off when you wreck the first time and don't come back a 6 foot tall walking scab.

[JakeM20]

I have a 92 Honda RVF400R. Great small, but really fun sporty bike. They are grey import.
Look like you live close enough to Canada, you can pick one up there. There's tons of bike here in Cali. but I own a one of a kind. I wouldn't trade mine for any new bike. This are great starter bike. check one out.

[cheades]

I got a SV650S and it is great, lots of fun and gets like 50mpg.

Like everyone else said absolutely wear all your gear, or don't wear any at all. There was just a post on a motorcycle forum about a guy who crashed only wearing like a helmet and jacket. Messed up his hands and required like 1sqft+ of skin grafting, couldn't handle the pain and committed suicide. The guy posted just a week or two before he died and said he can understand why people don't wear helmets cause you want to die when you get messed up really bad.

[Rob]

I love SVs, thats what I learned to ride on

[RedBaron86325]

If you are going to make a commitment, go big (Ducati).

[Rob]

thats like getting a GT2 for a 16 year old new driver

[cheades]

For a first bike you are by far better off going the opposite RedBaron, small and cheap are the best for your first bike. Besides safety, mainly you don't know what kind of riding you will end up doing and you want a different bike for commuting vs backroads, etc. With a cheap bike you won't be too vested and can sell the bike for what you really want after you have ridden a fair amount, also it won't break your heart when you put it down.