obender66

Its to all bikers on the forum-I thinking about getting bike license and buying sports bike. What would be good beginners sports bike-so I wouldn't kill myself right away and didn't have to wrestle with 600 lb monster(I weigh just 130 lb)?
Thanks for any tips
Alex

Sir Nuke

Alex...ANY sport bike you can buy today is truely a HIGH PERFORMANCE machine....just some more than others....their power to weight ratio makes them really get up and haul the mail....

so.....a little more information would be helpful before I could give you any recommendations.

you say you weigh 130....but how tall are you?

what is your budget for a bike?

exactly what kind of riding are you going to be doing? just running around town and short trips on a sunny afternoon??

azrakain

I am partial to the Kawasaki ZX6R. Its not a beginers bike though.. Your experience, height, what you want outa the bike and stuff like that will help a lot. If you want a beginers bike look into the 500cc ninja or the 600cc katana. Other options are the Suzuki SV650s or the Buels. I am considering getting the new Buel though. Take the riding course at your local community college. I had rode dirt bikes for years before getting on the road and it was the best $70 I've spent in a long time.

Rider69

BUELL BLAST!

camss69

I'm highly recommending the Suzuki SV650. It's a great bike with tons of room to grow. They handle great, great power and are priced well. No fairings to replace when you drop it, and if you could find a used one you would get a good deal on a great bike. Make sure you take a rider safety course, I know it doesn't sound like fun but it's not all about safety, they teach you a lot about your bike and how to ride. I would stay away from some of the other bikes recommended, if you want my honest opinion and reasons for staying away from them you can email me. I've been around bikes for a long time and know most of the mistakes beginners make as well as their tendancy to go with the wrong bike simply because they didn't know better, or have a friend that ACTUALLY RIDES to give a good suggestion.

camss69@hotmail.com

Later, Nick

JDMstuff

The perfect beginner's bike:


No special license required

funkdaddysmack

I'm in the same boat as you, I'd really like to get a nice beginers bike to zip around on. My co-worker used to have a Katana 600, and even being a 'low end' bike, it still hauled. I'd advise getting a katana or no-fairing bikes because the insurance would be much much cheaper. They aren't 'red tagged' meaning dangerously fast bikes. I'm looking into maybe a Suzuki GS500e in the spring. I like how they look (although a lot of people don't), but they are cheap as well. I think it would be a good place to start for me.

stocker

hmmm
SV650 is still too big and is wheelie prone being a twin. Unless you are 20+ years old, it is too big of a bike. Same goes for any ninja 600.

Good starter bikes are as follows.
yamaha RZ350-owned two of these myself.

yamaha FZR400-hard to find, but great little bikes and you can
keep it for a track bike after you move up in size. - my brother had one of these.

Kawi Ninja 500 twin- good little bike, a little big but if you can control your throttle hand its a good bike.

suzuki GSF 500, same as ninja 500

suzuki bandit 400- my girlfriend drives one of these (I steal it every now and then to go have a good romp in the twisties.) basically a naked sportbike

ninja 250 - another great little bike, a bit under powered but fun for learning on.

If you can find any one of these for a good price you are doing well. My one peice of advice though, go buy full leathers, please. They only cost about 600 bux+tax for a basic set, in fact zdeno's cycle on hwy 7 in kitchener has a great deal on spyke leather suits 699 + tax these suits are usually 1500+. If you don't think you would pay a $1000 bux to get 2 square inches of skin back, let me tell you differently. It is even more important when you are new to the sport. Leathers are not just for experienced "racers". When you get a bike, let me know, we can go out for a ride if you don't mind making the trek down to hamilton. Oh yeah, and as for bike schools, I used to be a fan of them, but my girlfriend took one recently, they taught her so many bad habits I have changed my mind. If you do take one, make sure someone who has experience recommends it.
Stocker
bike-97 ZX7R

obender66

Thanks for all help.
My height is 5.8 and I am 28 yrs old, so I am not really worried about insurance premium. My budget is up to $5000 canadian. There's a lot of bikes in that price range, it was just hard to find what stands behind the model number.
Purpose-just riding for fun-I live in suburb-short out of town trips to the beach.
I am definetely going to take safety course, even though I had a some riding time in my pre 20ies, but I haven't touched bikes since then-and definetely I never rode I powerful sports bike.
Thanks again
Alex

stocker

Aww, heck if your 28, go for the sv650. I thought you were like 17. As Camss, said, good bike room to grow. Good aftermarket for the bike. You can easily add 10-15 hp with add ons. With the SV, there are two versions, the SV650, and 650S. the S version is more sport oriented and usually costs more. Check out
www.sv650.org
for some good info.
Cheers.
Stocker.

justcharlie

I'm taking the rider training course this weekend, and buying a 99 Katana 600 from a co-worker in a month. Looking forward to it.

SEA_P5

Could not help it

Sir Nuke

Obender, under these circumstances I would recommend you find a bike of your liking in the 500 to 600 cc range....it will be more than enough to get your heart beating really good....will be easy enough on your wallet....and will be in the right size range considering YOUR size.

ESsedan01

Obender, I would highly recommend the course Humber College provides. I took it about 10 years ago and from what I hear it gets better every year.
It gave my buddy's sister enough confidence to go out and buy a Ninja 500.
As for what bike is good for you to start out with, that's depending on your riding ability. I started out with a FZR600 and felt that I out grew it after 2 Summers. Since your beyond your teen years I'm sure your responsible enough to decide what size bike best suites your needs. Good luck!

stocker

Some of the "fast" guys I run with, ride old bikes like the FZR600 or CBR F2. Bikes with 50-60 less hp than newer bikes yet they still run rings around them on the track and on the street. Riding fast is 90% rider adn 10% bike. I know new bikes ride better and have newer fun toys. ie built in lap timer on the new zx6rr from kawi, but the nice thing about an old bike is that you don't care if you drop it.
IMO
Stocker.