Best first Motorcycle?

[jgcable]

The last time I rode a bike with a motor on it I was 15 and it was a Honda 50.
I am now 45 and many of my friends are riders. Mainly Harley's. Most of them have been riding forever. My best friend just got a $28K Screamin Eagle. He rides with a bunch of guys I went to HS with who all ride Fat Boys and other HUGE bikes.
I am 5' 8" and inexperienced on a bike with a motor. The only 2 wheeled bikes I ride regularly are a mountain bike and a road bike.
What would you guys suggest? I am looking for a cruiser that I can throw my wife on the back on occassion.
The articles I have read all suggest something around 500cc or less.
My friends want me to get a Sportster 883 Low with that $99.00/month deal. It seems that its going to cost me more than that because I will need to switch the seat to a 2 person seat. My wife also wants a back rest/sissy bar.

Personally.... I like the smaller lighter bikes for my first bike but I know nothing about it. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. I am going Thursday to do some REALLY hard looking. I can't test drive the bike because I don't have a license.

Thanks in advance!

[SEEGERMANY]

John, I've been riding bikes since 1971. Everything from Husqvarnas to Hondas and damn near everything in between. My best advice is to get as much motor as you can handle because everyone, me included, wishes they would have gotten the extra "cc's" for a little extra money. If you're going to ride with a passenger, I recommend 600 cc's as a minimum. Higher if you can afford it. Whatever bike you choose, learn it's characteristics from top to bottom before putting your wife or kids onboard. When you're confident, they will be too.

One final word of advice. Don't fall into the "Harley" hype. Yes, they are great bikes but they are not the only bikes that will suit your needs.

[Drsracing]

Cruiser- Used Suzuki Intruder 750 Cheap cool looking real easy to ride

Sport type bike- Suzuki SV650

[thetroy]

Get the license first so you can actually ride some things and have your own opinion in addition to all of the recommendations.

[rjohnstone]

Get used to riding BEFORE you start taking passengers.
My last bike was a 1985 Shadow 500. Great bike, but I wish I got the 1100.
My first was a 1973 or 74 Honda 750 with a big ass 4 cylinder engine. That was too much bike for a 16 year old... but man was it fun.

[jgcable]

Getting a license before getting the bike really isn't an option. My plan is to go to a few dealerships and sit on some new bikes.
What I noticed comparing HD 883's to other bikes is that it seems that just about every other manufacturers cruiser has better specs than the 883 for almost 3K less!

I like the way the Vulcan 500LTD looks. I also like the Buell XB9R.
That Suzuki SV650 is cool too.
I will most likely have to go with a cruiser though because once I get good at riding and comfortable.. my wife will want to ride on the back and she will absolutely want a sissy bar/backrest. I also want a low ride height. The Sportster 883L has a ride seat height of 25.5
Everybody has told me that its important to be able to put both my feet on the ground being a newbie rider.

I like the Kawasaki bikes alot. They have a feature that puts the bike in neutral if you let off the pedal when you come to a stop in first gear. Is that important??
Also... how many gears do most bikes have? If I recall.. my Honda 50 was 1 up and 3 down (or something like that).

I really like the way the Buell Blast looks but it might be too wimpy to ride with my friends.

[SGplayer]

My first was a mx 80, then CR 125 elsinore, then YZ 250. My first street
was the killer Honda 750-4, drag bars, dry clutch.

[YetAnotherOne]

The Blast is going to be more than a little frustrating 2-up given its blazing 34 horsepower. I'd be afraid of outgrowing it rather quickly. You don't need a massive bike to go 2-up, my sister and brother-in-law ride around together on a 600 cc Honda Shadow. They're about a buck-seventy and a buck-thirty respectively and do find the Shadow a bit too small and slow when they're both on it. I wouldn't go with anything less than a 750 or so for 2-up riding, particularly if you're going to be in much traffic.

I can't quite picture the operation of the auto-neutral thing on the Kawis but I'd think that would be more annoying than helpful once you get used to being back on a bike. I tend to avoid features that want to provide more help than I really want.

One thing you'll want to consider is whether you're going to have fun riding whatever bike you buy with your friends. Usually that's not an issue but if they're all hardcore Harley guys who hang out with other hardcore Harley guys at places filled with hardcore Harley guys how welcome are you going to be on a Kawi or a Zuk?

If you have a dealer in the area I'd also check out Triumph's Bonneville America & T-100. If you want to save some bucks one of the best looking bikes midsize cruisers made in the past few years IMHO was Triumph's Thunderbird Sport (look for a British Racing Green model). They're solid bikes these days and not too pricey on the used market given what you get.

Oh, and do youself and your wife a big favor and take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation class before you buy a bike. I recommend it even for folks who've ridden for years with no formal rider training. You might even get an insurance discount and have the driving portion of your state's license exam waived but at a minimum you'll get some excellent advice on how to stay alive on the road.

[Endrik]

1974 Jawa 350

[Firebird V]

Could always go used and save a bit too but you never know what the history is so that might be an issue. I personally would not get anything under a 750 if you are going to be riding with a passanger. Go get yourself a dirt bike and have some fun practicing while you are at it.

[Psh511]

My first bike was a Kawa Ninja 250...which had a comfortable seating position and adequate power in the begining...but eventually i wanted to upgrade...as far as first bikes I have also heard great thing about the Susuki sv650...

[jgcable]

The Blast is going to be more than a little frustrating 2-up given its blazing 34 horsepower. I'd be afraid of outgrowing it rather quickly. You don't need a massive bike to go 2-up, my sister and brother-in-law ride around together on a 600 cc Honda Shadow. They're about a buck-seventy and a buck-thirty respectively and do find the Shadow a bit too small and slow when they're both on it. I wouldn't go with anything less than a 750 or so for 2-up riding, particularly if you're going to be in much traffic.

I can't quite picture the operation of the auto-neutral thing on the Kawis but I'd think that would be more annoying than helpful once you get used to being back on a bike. I tend to avoid features that want to provide more help than I really want.

One thing you'll want to consider is whether you're going to have fun riding whatever bike you buy with your friends. Usually that's not an issue but if they're all hardcore Harley guys who hang out with other hardcore Harley guys at places filled with hardcore Harley guys how welcome are you going to be on a Kawi or a Zuk?

If you have a dealer in the area I'd also check out Triumph's Bonneville America & T-100. If you want to save some bucks one of the best looking bikes midsize cruisers made in the past few years IMHO was Triumph's Thunderbird Sport (look for a British Racing Green model). They're solid bikes these days and not too pricey on the used market given what you get.

Oh, and do youself and your wife a big favor and take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation class before you buy a bike. I recommend it even for folks who've ridden for years with no formal rider training. You might even get an insurance discount and have the driving portion of your state's license exam waived but at a minimum you'll get some excellent advice on how to stay alive on the road.

I am absolutely signing up for that class. They also give you a voucher to get your drivers license once you complete the course. My buddy who has been riding forever took it and said he even benefited from it.

[Hotrod]

Getting a license before getting the bike really isn't an option.

I like the Kawasaki bikes alot. They have a feature that puts the bike in neutral if you let off the pedal when you come to a stop in first gear. Is that important??
Also... how many gears do most bikes have? If I recall.. my Honda 50 was 1 up and 3 down (or something like that).

Just curious as to why wouldn't it be an option. Do you need a bike that soon? The choice of course is yours, but I highly recommend you take the course first. I don't know about the one you have there, but the one here is excellent.
As far as the Kawasaki's and their "positive neutral finder" I think it's called, it doesn't work the way it's been explained to you. All it is is if you're not moving and you up shift from first, it will alway find neutral rather than second. A very nice feature.
As far as size, if you ever plan on two up riding, go as big as you think you can be comfortable with. I've got an 86 Shadow 1100 that's a great two up bike, because we didn't know if my wife would ever want to ride her own. She found out pretty quit that she didn't like being a passenger, so she took the course and we bought an 06 Kawi Vulcan 900. Smoothest bike I've ever been on in my life (for a cruiser) and it can do some two up, but not for long rides. Hope this helps and good luck.

[Hotrod]

John, I've been riding bikes since 1971. Everything from Husqvarnas to Hondas and damn near everything in between. My best advice is to get as much motor as you can handle because everyone, me included, wishes they would have gotten the extra "cc's" for a little extra money. If you're going to ride with a passenger, I recommend 600 cc's as a minimum. Higher if you can afford it. Whatever bike you choose, learn it's characteristics from top to bottom before putting your wife or kids onboard. When you're confident, they will be too.

One final word of advice. Don't fall into the "Harley" hype. Yes, they are great bikes but they are not the only bikes that will suit your needs.

+1, well said.

[xsentrick]

+1, well said.

Also be prepared to take ribbing from your "Harley" buddys for riding anything other than a Harley, especially a rice burner.