i want a motorcycle..?
ok so, my parents just cut my car insurance n i wanna be able to support myself, so with my job a car is out of the question for a while.. i thought about it n realized that a motorcycle is not only much cheaper than a car, but i wont pay so much for gas and insurance is cheap too, so i decided that i should get a motorcycle, not just because i want one cus its cool but cus its honestly the most convenient thing right now. im 19 years old and the closest ive came to riding a motorcycle is riding a bike lmao.. meaning i have no experience.. so, finally, my question is: wat should i look into? n please consider my situation too, dont give me the fastest, hardest one to handle out there
oo n ive just heard from people that insurance is cheaper, but maybe im wrong.. is it really cheaper or more expensive?
I’m not from your generation. I’m old, but I’ve had 29 bikes in my life. Dirt bikes and street bikes. Not bragging, just wanted to let you know where I’m coming from….
Ideally, I’d say find a cheap, mid sized dirt bike to practice on before making the jump to the street. Good choices would be any year Honda XR250 or XR400. They are big enough to give the feel of a full sized bike, but tame enough to be more forgiving of the mistakes you’re going to make. As for the street, I think these would be good choices: Suzuki SV650, Kawasaki Vulcan 800, Buell Blast, Honda Knighthawk 650, 700 or 750.
Sorry but I’m going to sound parental here….take it slow. Whether it’s on the dirt bike or a street bike, take the time to learn from someone who knows how to ride. I’d recommend taking a rider’s course. The MSF (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) would be a good source of information. Also the Honda Motorcycle corp. has training. A good thing about taking a rider’s course is you’re riding someone else’s bike so if (when) you crash it’s not so expensive. Also, motorcycle insurance rates vary greatly. Forget about the sport bikes. The cost of the insurance would be ridiculously expensive.
Motorcycles have been a big part of my life. I’ve loved every one.
Good luck and be smart.
-mw
Motorcycle insurance isn’t necessarily cheaper. If you are young and have no motorcycle experience and go out and get yourself a high performance sportbike, then your insurance will be outrageous.
A motorcycle may not be as cheap as you think. You’ll need to take the msf course to get your license. Then there’s your gear-helmet, glove, boots, riding jacket. There’s upkeep and maintenance on motorcycles too.
Okay, just a thought, why don’t you just pay your parents the increase in the auto insurance to be insured on their policy. I don’t know your entire situation but when my kids got their drivers license, regardless of weather they drove or not, my insurance went up because the insurance company sees them as "Drivers" in the household. (This may be different State to State). So I allowed my kids to drive my cars as long as,
1, they kept up their grades
2, they had some sort of income
3, they paid me the increase in my policy due to them being of driving age.
If you have your own car then you will have your own policy and not affect the cost of their policy.
Mike
http://www.motorcycle-touring-made-easy.com
http://www.twowheeltannery.com
http://www.gwrradea.org
"Jesse" and "moto_wen…" have good advice.
You may want to visit this site for some insurance quotes: http://motorcycle.progressive.com/
I’m sure other insurance companies also have online quoting available. If you google them, you can get some comparison quotes.
Any time you get full-coverage for a motorcycle it’s going to cost you more than auto insurance. So, it is much wiser to get a used, older bike to start with and only carry liability. Very cheap going this route — even for a sportbike.
And I will again reinforce "Jesse’s" suggestion about the MSF class. It is well worth any amount of money. And it is usually quite cheap. Here, they only charge $15 for the class.
You will be a better rider than 50% of those on the roads today after taking the MSF class.
a crotch rocket is 3 times more to insure than a car…
Just go to some of the bike shops (honda,suzuki,kawasaki, etc) Sit on a few — see which one feels the best— go from there.
You can check out some of the riding classes that are out there too. My buddy is a teacher at one in Dallas.
Well here’s my 2 cents
For a beginner, the cruiser Honda Rebel I think wins –
-60 mpg
-easy to ride & test on
-new, about $3000, used $1500-2500 (on craigslist, go to Motorcycles and search for ‘Rebel’
If you want a sport bike, try a 250cc Kawasaki Ninja. Roughly the same price, and though the engine size is the same (250cc), it is faster than the Rebel, yet completely safe for a beginner.
riding a motorcycle is awesome, but remember that when you ride, the wind makes the temperature feel about 10-15 degrees colder than it is.
also, have someone with some experience show you how to shift, and how to brake, before you get on the bike.
you’ll see many bikes for sale that have been ‘layed down’..
usually that just means a few scratchs (and laying a bike down Usually doesn’t mean serious injury) .. but if it’s been down, make sure you ask them if there was ANY mechanical damage done to it
Have fun.. and thank your stars every time you put $10 in your tank, and your good for 150-200 miles !!
Your basic HD sportster specs for your perusal
http://www.harley-davidson.com/PR/MOT/2008/08_specs_print.asp?locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_US&dwp=&market=US&family=sp&model=xl883&modelsection=specs&measureCheck=English&specTable=showall
The first thing you should do is take the MSF basic rider course. Since you have never ridden a motorcycle you’ll need to learn how to control it. The course will teach you that, and also give you some tips on how not to get killed, which is important.
I took the course a few years ago and it’s actually pretty fun, so just go take it if there’s one in your area. Go to http://www.msf-usa.org/ if you’re in the US.
The second thing you should do is buy a bike with a small to medium-size engine and that’s not geared for massive speed. Whatever you do, do not go out and buy a 1000cc sport bike — you will get yourself killed. Also don’t buy a touring bike — they’re too big and heavy for you to control as a new rider. What you want is a bike with a 250cc – 750cc engine or so, preferably not a sportbike (although if you must have a sportbike, just make it one with as small an engine as possible). I bought a Kawasaki Vulcan 750 (cruiser, looks a bit like a Harley) as my first bike, and that was pretty good — a decent amount of power but not too much, and it’s not geared for great acceleration.
One thing I would recommend that will save you a lot of money and mental anguish — don’t go out and get a nice new bike at first. Get something old and a little beat up already, because you WILL drop your first bike. A lot. I dropped mine probably half a dozen to a dozen times (not at speed, but while stopping at a light, or trying to turn around at like 2 mph, especially on dirt/gravel) before I learned how to not drop it
. I also f***ed up the practice bike I was using during that MSF course — another good reason to take that course, because you can beat up their bikes and they don’t charge you any extra for that 
After a couple years of dropping my first bike, I upgraded to a nicer bike (a BMW R1100R) and haven’t dropped it yet. So go get your drops out of the way on something cheap, then upgrade to something nicer after a year or two.
Also — I recommend getting some good riding gear, including a full-face helmet, jacket, and good gloves. If you have a little more money to spend, get pants and riding boots as well. If you’re going to ride in the winter, minimally get a good set of insulated winter riding gloves (may be enough for not-very-cold climates) and whatever other insulated gear you need so you’re not miserable. You can get all this stuff at a motorcycle accessories shop or at most dealers. You’ll find that the dealers who sell expensive bikes also sell expensive jackets, pants, etc. So you may want to shop around a bit to find good deals.
BTW — during the first week or two I had my first bike, while trying to turn it around on a gravel road at about 3 mph, the bike slipped out from under me and I landed face first in the gravel. If I hadn’t been wearing a full-face helmet I’d have lost some teeth, even though I was going about 3 mph. (In fact, a rock lodged itself in my helmet right where my teeth would have been). So just get yourself a good helmet, and be careful.
Having said all this stuff, riding a motorcycle is a blast and if you’re careful and take good care of yourself, you’ll have a great time. Enjoy and ride safe!