Need Help Choosing a Motorcycle

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Bit late to the party.... been a long day. But I had a drz400 way back when. Have to agree turd out of the box. Had a local shop redo it for me, full treatment. Intake, cam, exhaust and rejet. Night and day difference. Cousin still has his drz650, and once my 400 was done it would kill his performance wise. Was only 1 of 2 street legal bikes I've ever had and I really liked it for putting around. If i were to get another bike right now, I'd wait till the dmv has their trainer bike sale and grab whatever they had. Normally in the 250cc ish range. But always dirt cheap and well maintained, even if they have some road rash. Here in pa I'm pretty sure everyone has to go through a week long class just to get your bike license now. And I'm 99% sure you take the test in one of them as well. So it's a good deal for a cheap starter bike, to get back in the swing of things.
 
I like the Duke too! Just seems maybe some fit and finish issues with them. Heard multiple youtubers say they pop outta gear or something to that effect. The dash/cluster is just a lcd screen which I guess is ok, not a fan of it tho. I like how the Duke has storage attachments in the back that actually look cool.
 
My advice is go for a sit-up-and-beg style bike. The likes of the Honda CB400. My first bike was a Kawasaki GPZ500s, also known as the ER5, good bike, parallel twin with enough power to pull a decent wheelie but cheap enough and light enough to fix once its been down.
Accept you are going to go down, buy the best protection you can afford, not just a helmet and jacket but your going to want trousers (don't just wear jeans), boots, very good gloves and then your going to want wet weather gear too. Trust me its uncomfortable riding when your soaked through, and the trickle of water down your gut to your knackers confirms how wet you are.
Another thing to consider is security, your going to need a disc lock and a good chain, your going to forget about the disc lock at least once - we all do.

As above don't treat riding as a way of cheap way of transport as its far from it especially to get set up.

I don't ride now as I have 2 sons under 6 years of age, I want them to have a dad until they are at least teenagers.
Folk aren't trying to scare you but you have to ride defensive and if you get complacent that will be when Doris pulls out on you, I had a number of close calls and luckily for me only 1 hit that was so minor it only left the molten mess of the car bumper that pulled into me on my left exhaust pipe, I didn't go down.
I passed my UK Mod 1 bike license at 21 years of age and rode for approx 10 years before selling up, I rode through 3 winters and its hard work especially on a 1300cc air cooled bike like my Yamaha XJR1300SP. At 0 Degree's Celsius the wind chill on your fingers at 30mph is -16Degrees, hence the remark about good gloves.
I've also ridden in the USA, LA to be exact and its was an interesting experience, City centres where very defensive riding, along the coast and into the mountains was more relaxed.

Now the good bits about riding are brilliant, freedom and excitement to name two feelings, also a sense of community and comradery amongst fellow bikers is stronger than RC's. The connection you have with your bike knowing there is no aids, its all on you and your riding ability.

My opinion is buy a bike to go riding on evenings and weekends, gain confidence and ability before riding to commute. If your wanting to save money on your commute buy a small engine'd compact car that used purely for the commute, it'll be something you can use even in bad weather and cost less than a bike in both maintenance and medical bills.
 
Last edited:
Seandonato73 said:
Come on everyone love a chev evyo. Or a ford fiesta. Actually I'd take a all wheel drive turbo fiesta. They are quite fun to drive.
Click to expand...
I drove round in a Chevy Spark while in Hawaii, fun little car with plenty options, damn thing was green but had air con.

MonsterAir said:
Here in the US there is no such thing as a compact car for 6k. At least one I'd drive.
Click to expand...

I understand where your coming from and also read your going to need a loan etc to finance a bike. Look for something without fairings that you can fit either engine bars or the nylon mushrooms to that limit damage when the bike goes down. Don't know if they do new rider deals in the states, kinda bike and kit for X amount as a bundle. Seen it here in the UK but generally only for the smaller engine bikes.

Can you only get finance/loan on a new bike or would you consider finance/loan on a used bike??
In the UK most bikes do less than 2k miles a year, although I was doing 10-20k miles a year when commuting on mine.
 
I my self am a diehard Suzuki fan.

I am not a fan of some one that claims they can't handle the power of a larger bike. My first bike was a Katana 600, and year later I was riding a GSXR1100. From that point on I mostly owned GSXR1000s. They are are great bikes, but not everyone's cup of tea. For a long time I had a Suzuki SV650 as well. This was my commuter bike. Great on fuel, and nimble in the corners when it needed to be. I made the dumb mistake of trading it in for a Ducati Monster 600.... BIGGEST mistake of my life. The Duc was the most unreliable bike I ever owned, every other ride it got towed back to the dealership.

Another great commuter bike I had, and was a crap ton of fun was a 1976 Suzuki GS750. This is simular to the Honda CBs 650. 750 Etc. The Honda CBs are starting to climb in value and are hard to find for cheap. Suzukis though have not hit that Cafe craze and can be found on the cheap. I got my GS750 for $400, and slowly converted it into a full on Cafe racer. That bike was one of my most profitable flips. Nice thing with that bike, is could look cool with the kick starter, or if lazy hit the electric start button :p.


Last bit.... invest the money in a good Helmet. I did a head spin in my Shoei when I high sided my GSXR1000 on a sandy meridian. Split the helmet, but I got up and walked away with no more than injured pride, and a grizzly wall trophy.

PS I had a Triumph for 3 months.... That should tell you the luck I had with it. After it's second tow truck ride I dumped it.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top