Buying my first bike.

I am currently looking at buying my first motorcycle. I have ridden scooters, mopeds, dirtbikes and dual-purpose bikes before. (I know some of you laughed at the scooter and moped entries.) I rode those from about age ten to twenty. I crashed all of them at least once. I really want to get a motorcycle now that I am older (twentyfour) and have all the stunts out of my system. I would like to get a naked, light to mid level bike. I don't mind buying used, as long as it isn't too old and runs well. I also own a '67 chevelle which is my "fast' mode of transportation, I don't need another pavement burner. Any suggestions?  

Check out the Honda 599 or 919, great machines available now at great prices, especially the 919

I had a 919, here is some of the info on it -

www.geocities.com/honda919rider

And scooters, well, I've got a couple kids (12/15) and we all have scooters to ride around our small midwestern town on - there is nothing wrong with scooters when they are used in the proper context!

Here's my son and daughter tearing up the pavement:









 
Steve

Ride for one - Ride for all

elrodento:
I am currently looking at buying my first motorcycle. I have ridden scooters, mopeds, dirtbikes and dual-purpose bikes before. (I know some of you laughed at the scooter and moped entries.) I rode those from about age ten to twenty. I crashed all of them at least once. I really want to get a motorcycle now that I am older (twentyfour) and have all the stunts out of my system. I would like to get a naked, light to mid level bike. I don't mind buying used, as long as it isn't too old and runs well. I also own a '67 chevelle which is my "fast' mode of transportation, I don't need another pavement burner. Any suggestions?

The new Sportster 883 Iron is a great bike at a great price, it's a nice match for your Chevelle too, same American V engine attitude. Not to mention great gas mileage and insurance rates, and did I mention it's American? You could also get a smackin' good deal on a used Sportster, pick your model.  

CHECK THIS OUT. I JUST BOUGHT MY FIRST BIKE AT AGE 26 NO PRIOR EXPIRIENCE OR KNOWLEDGE WITH 2 WHEELERS. MY CHOICE WAS A NINJA 6R BRAND SPANKING NEW. AND LIKE ITS WRITTEN IN STONE ALWAYS GET SOMETHING USED 2 PRACTICE IN LEARN. WELL I CANT SAY THAT IS WRONG ADVICE. BECAUSE MY SECOND TIME RIDDING THE BIKE. MAN ,I ALMOST RAN INTO MY TRUCK IN MY PARKING SO INSTEAND OF CRASHING I JUST DROPPED MY BIKE AND WHEN I PICKED IT BACK UP.AN OIL LEAK BY A HAIRLINE CRACK 2 THE OIL GASKET AND THERE I GO REACHING IN 2 MY BACK POCKET 2 STOP THE BLEEDING. AND THE WORST OF IT I COULD OF BEEN AVOIDED TWICE BY JUST FALLOWING THE PECKING ORDER AND GAINING SOME KNOWLEDGE AND MAYBE THEN I WOULD BEEN HIP 2 SOMETHING CALLED SLIDDERZ.SO ILL I GOT 2 SAY 2 U TREAT YOURSELF U KNOW WHAT AND HOW THINGS R GOING DOWN U PUT IN THE TIME AND THAT BECAME SOMETHING LIKE A TRUSTFUND IF U ASK ME. DO WHAT U WANT 2 DO WHEN U MAKE UR DECISION.UR READY AND PREPAIRED WITH ANY WAY U DECIDE 2 GO SO  GOOD LUCK AND BE EAZY...PEACE      

The Ducati Monster 696 is $8,000, the Yamaha FZ-6 at $7,200 or the Suzuki SV650 $6,000.  I don't know about used prices.  But all of these are nice bikes.  

It's not uncommon to make a mistake purcahsing your first bike. Do some reaserch by joining forums for the various bikes you are interested in.  

Two bikes come to my mind.  

The Ninja 250 is a fine all-around bike, perfect for commutes, if a little generic.  Check this guy out who rode his from San Diego, to Florida then up to Alaska http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVxoVEMTXp8

The other bike is the Buell Blast.  Buy a POST-2003 model and you'll be getting a bike that's had all the initial quality problems ironed out, but sells for less because of the initial bad rep.  Lots of customizing options for the Blast, too, if you want to give it more personality than comes out of the box.  

Kawasaki KLR 650. Affordable, reliable, good natured and it really can go anywhere with its 300+ plus mile range. I have 30,000+ miles on my 2008 model and it has had zero failures and it runs on pocket change.