First motorcycle recommendations? Options

[Eskimo]

The Honda VFR is a great bike, and I and another friend embarrassed some pure sportbikes at VIR with them...but. especially with the side-mounted radiators, they don't take even parking lot tipovers very well... That's my only reason to not recommend it. Other than than, it's a smooth-riding bike and a fantastic all-around scoot.

[POS Dodge]

I guess it all depends on how responsible of an adult you are? I put a few years in on a RM125, stroked it to 151, and gave it to a friend after awhile. I'd spent about 1hr on sport bikes during that time... And then four years of no riding anything later I bought my first street bike - a brand new off the showroom floor Buell 1125CR. It's a lot of bike, but I don't go around riding like a moron 99% of the time. I was pretty timid on it at first, but feel I know it better now (2500miles, bought it in November). It's seen rain, night, day, fog, etc. Riding in the rain is...pucker factor 9. I test rode a CBR600 RR for a friend in February - slower, but still fast. Definitely not the accidental wheelie machine that the 1125CR is. Honestly loved the ride of the RR and I don't think it's a prone to biting people as I'm told as I felt very comfortable on it and it seemed forgiving, more than the Buell at least. I rode it for 30-40 minutes at a decent pace, too.

I have two unintentional wheelies (0 on purpose) under my belt. Sky high at 75 will make you rethink certain things in life... I'm getting 35mpg overall with 90% being in town/traffic - the majority of my riding is under/at 5k RPM and 1/4 throttle. Real time says mid-50s highway, and 40s in town. The real time is probably close to actual considering idle time and a whack of the throttle now and then. I love the 1125CR. It's different, it's reliable, it was cheap due to HD's brilliance (haha), and I'll never outgrow it. There is way more bike than rider to the combination. I'll be lucky to ride it to 8/10s of the bike's ability...hell 7/10s...5/10s even probably. It's wicked fast and corners amazingly well. I will track it at some point for curiosities sake.

In general, to me:
1. For long highway rides, a front fairing is pretty much a requirement. I really hate mine after riding the RR. I plan on adding a windscreen or converting my bike to use the 1125R front. Laying on the tank @ 75-80 for any distance sucks and doesn't help that much as I still get loads of buffeting. The RR @ 80 feels like mine @ 30...sitting up in the seat on both. Tucked and it's more like the RR @ infinity vs. mine @ 0mph. Wind sucks.

2. Torque is handy, but too much is bad. The peaky powerband of the RR (inline 4) would probably not be much fun to DD. I do a lot of city riding (sub 50mph), so it's nice to put around. A V-twin is great for this. Tractable, a little harder to kill from a stop, etc. Mine makes for an easy wheelie, however - V-twin downside. 1st gear is no man's land with anything over 3/8 throttle. Even laying on the tank it can be hard to keep the nose down in 2nd.

3. The MSF folks are adding some new additional courses in bigger cities at some point. If they are already offered and you have the opportunity, take them too. I had to unlearn a LOT of dirtbike habits for the street and the basic MSF course was a boon of info in that regard. It's a good start. The newer advanced courses should be a big benefit.

4. ABS would be nice. I don't have it. I would like it after locking down the rear once (didn't let off of course) - cold tires + cold brakes + cold road = hard to panic stop.

Pro tips:
1. Respect your machine. A Ninja 250 will kill you just as fast as an R1.

2. Everyone is trying to kill you/You're invisible. It's one or the other. If they look directly at you pulling on to street/turn lane, THEY CAN'T SEE YOU! Never, never forget that. No one sees bikes. I ride with my brights on (daytime). NO ONE SEES YOU. EVER.

3. Also, mirrors. Use them.

4. Look by turning your head before a lane change. Your mirrors lied to you about that empty lane.

5. Tailgating is stupid. Don't be stupid.

6. ATGATT - All The Gear All The Time. If you have a Shoei head, get the RF1000 (older) or the 1100 (new). I have a TZR, the extra aero bits are worth the cost on the RF.
If you have an Arai head, ask someone that wears one and get an equivalent. I have ICON gear because it's the best of what I could afford at the time. It's textile so it'll probably last for at least 1 wreck. Mesh will probably be 1 and done. Leather is best. I have the ARC jacket and pants. If you have a jeans workplace, get some A* 1.5 denim jeans. You can add kneepads and they look good enough to work in. I would like something with hip pads, but no one makes what I want. I run all the padding in the jacket plus an Icon Field Armor vest. Dainese has a very nice looking piece of armor, the V Neck Wave jacket. When I upgrade to leathers I'm also getting that to replace my FA vest. My boots are Sidi and my gloves are ICON full length with CF knuckles. I wear a load of gear, I'm in Texas, it's hot, I don't care. I want my survival odds as high as possible. I recommend that you get some combination of gear that makes you feel comfortable and feel safe. I have an ICON MilSpec yellow vest I wear in the mornings most of the time. It is bright/reflective as the damn sun...People still DO NOT SEE ME! Do what you want, but I'd like to be around for a long time.

7. Earplugs. Save your hearing, You lose some local hearing of cars. I still hear horns, sirens, screeching tires, etc. I can't hear cars next to me, but with my bike (very loud stock), I couldn't anyways. The lack of earplugs makes me feel like sensory overload.

8. Small shifts in weight, throttle application, hand/wrist movement, clutch/brake application can make big attitude shifts in the bike. Be gentle...it's your wife, not the 20yr mistress. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Unless that's your wife and then, well, hell... (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

9. Head in the game man, head in the game. Make your brain work for you on the ride. Zone out and eat a curb. Bad things... Guaranteed you'll be concentrating more than anyone in a car around you. Situational awareness is a lifesaver.

I would say an SV650S would be great to start. V-twin, tons of info on forums, relatively cheap maintenance, aftermarket parts - susp/power/gear (bags and other farkles), reliable, easy to work on. Ride it slow, respect the hell out of the bike. I was just going to say SV650S and then all this crap got typed out. Sorry...

PS: NO ONE SEES YOU!

[prockbp]

- I suggest buying the exact bike that you want regardless of your experience.

- Be aware that used bikes have typically been worked on by clueless owners. You could easily put yourself into a dangerous situation by buying a used bike. It's OK to buy used, but you need to know what you're looking at.

- The Yamaha FZ6 and FZ1 are easy bikes to ride. That doesn't mean that they aren't dangerous. They're as fast as any other 600cc or 1000cc bike out there, but the ergonomics are great and the handling is intuitive. The FZ series is more difficult to ride fast than other sportbikes because they lack road feel especially in the front end. You can not buy fork upgrades for the FZ6, you might be able to get them for the FZ1.

- The SV650 is only considered a "starter bike" because it has about 65-70hp. It is NOT a starter bike, it is a fast bike. The SV650 is easy to ride fast. The front end feels very light on a SV650 due to the motor design and placement in the frame. This bike gives you the confidence to enter corners at a much higher speed and carry higher corner speeds. The SV650 also makes a great race bike and there are plenty of class participants. The SV1000 merely looks like an SV650, but it does not handle like one. The front end is not upgradable on a 650, but you can install virtually any GSXR 600, 750 or 1000 front end onto the bike.

- All the 600cc sport bikes are good; the Yamaha R6 seems to be the hot ticket for privateer racers currently.

- There isn't anything wrong with buying a Ninja250. They are as fast as any other bike in the turns. Kawasaki really stands by their 250 designs. The Ninja 250r was only recently revised for the first time in 20 years. The bike only has 25-30hp, so on the highway you will be revving the motor at about 9,000-11,000 rpms and the bike is not very fuel efficient in that rpm range.

- All the Italian sport bikes are more difficult to work on when compared to the Japanese bikes. It will cost you a lot more to pay someone to maintain an Italian bike. Suzuki's are the easiest Japanese bike to work on.

- Any sport bike that you buy will benefit from a proper geometric set up and a properly built suspension. When you're ready to go racing, give us a call. http://www.cyclemall.net

- You are going to crash, so get geared up. Do me one favor and use a proper full face helmet. Do not buy a swivel jaw helmet, the jaws swivel back during crashes. It really does hurt to crash on your face. I suggest buying a Shoei X-Eleven helmet.

This post has been edited by prockbp: May 27 2010, 04:25 PM

[Tobey]

I'll parrot many of the others and suggest an SV650. I had one as my first sport bike, and loved it to death; it ended up being my last sport bike also. It's not as fast as a 600cc I-4 bike, but it's plenty fast for 99% of the riding normal people do. It's lightweight and has good brakes. I commuted to work on mine, did track days with it, and toured through Tennessee and North Carolina on it. It's not the ultimate track bike, or the ultimate tourer, or the ultimate commuter, but it does all 3 really well. Last year, I rented a Yamaha FZ6 in New Zealand for a week of touring, and to be honest, I liked my old SV650 better.

I had mine for 5 years, put about 14,000 miles on it, and recently sold it. Why did I sell it, you're wondering? I woke up one morning, and was afraid to ride it to work. Not sure what happened, but I listen to the little voice when it tells me not to do something. So I sold it, and bought a dirt bike.