Picking out your first motorcycle

Today I'd like to talk about how to pick out your first motorcycle.  I've often felt that shopping for a motorcycle is also a lot of fun.  Not quite as fun as riding, but learning about motorcycles, visiting shops and looking at all the different bikes, and even sitting on a few is enjoyable.

It can also be very intimidating to buy your first motorcycle!  Many different models, expense, peer pressure, confidence in your ability to ride a motorcycle safely-all come into play.  So let me share a few things you should keep in mind when shopping for that first motorcycle.

First, understand while you will remember this bike forever, you won't own it forever!  Sure you can expect to spend anywhere from $1000 up to way more than you should for a first motorcycle (many bikes are over $10,000 now-a-days, with some approaching $25,000 or more), but that doesn't mean you have to own it for years and years unless you really like it.  You need to buy a bike you like and will be proud to ride, but don't think it has to be "the perfect bike" or even the dream bike. 

Second, watch out for peer pressure.  Your friends might all ride Kawahayazukida-Vicson's with tricked out chrome unobtanium after-market parts, and you may soon too, but right now you need a serviceable, safe motorcycle to get riding.  Later you can build the best bike in your ride group/club and win the Bike Night parking lot show, but that isn't what you are going after if you buy your first motorcycle right.  A "old school" Harley dealer once told me, "You want to learn how to wrench, buy this classic Ironhead Sportster.  You want to learn how to ride, buy a basic cruiser and ride it as much as possible for a year or two".  Great advice-even when it cost him a few thousand dollars when I walked away from buying a bike that needed lots of work.  Stylish and cool?  Oh yeah, but I wouldn't have ridden for months getting that "cool" ride back on the road.

However, the corrollary is also true-ask as many riding friends about their bike and why they have that style as you can.  First, they will like talking about motorcycles with you.  Also, that old-timer on the Gold Wing, Harley full dresser, or BMW super-sport tourer once started out just like you.  I just recently met a rider with 70,000 miles on a Hayabusa!  He knows exactly what that bike is capable of, but likely rode many a smaller sportbike before accomplishing a rare high mileage feat, and was easy to talk bikes with.  Some of us own multiple bikes of different styles, or have owned them, and can help you figure out if a standard, a cruiser, or a sport bike is best for you.

So what are those differences?  A "standard" bike, while not as common as they were, is your basic motorycle meant for transportation and general riding.  Once known as the "ubiquitous Japanese motorcycle" or UJM, these bikes had basic styling and parts, generally 750cc engines or smaller, and few accessories from the factory.  Many were customized for utility-the style for many years was to "acquire" a milk crate and strap it to the passenger seat or rack!  Kind of a reverse cool factor and quite functional.  Cruiser bikes are one of the two prevalent styles now and have generally replaced standards as the basic bike.  The seat is normally lower to the ground than other bikes, the feet are forward or just under the rider's knees, and the handlebars are higher than most other styles.  There is little bodywork, usually just fenders, a gas tank and maybe small side covers.  Windscreens can be added as can saddlebags, which can be handy and look better than a milk crate!  Sport bikes are the third general category to consider when buying your first motorycle.  These are the faired, "racing" bikes.  Handlebars are generally low (directly attached to the fork tubes in most cases), there is a small windscreen, and the rider is crouched over the bike as much as sitting on it.

All of these styles come in many sizes, and leads to the last piece of advice for today:  Don't buy too big a bike for your first motorcycle!  Re-read the paragraph above where I say you won't own this bike forever.  Even a 300cc sportbike (the smallest Ninja for example) and the basic cruisers (like the V-Star 250) are capable motorcycles and can do all legal speeds where a novice rider should be riding, including the freeway.   OK, if you weigh 225 pounds, and are going to put camping gear all over the bike, maybe not, but you probably figured that out already!  That also brings up safe loading and gross vehicle weight ratings, which really isn't the topic today anyway.

So think that through, and later we'll discuss shopping for this much-desired first motorcycle.