Originally Posted by
haydes55
Welcome to the world of motorcycling.
Buy gear before you buy a bike.
Buy a helmet, budget around $300 for a cheap new one. Nice tight fit is important, it should squeeze your head. Buy it from a motorbike shop.
Buy a jacket and riding pants, if you ride year round I'd recommend textile. Don't buy too tight, so in winter you can wear a jumper/thermals/more layers underneath. But don't buy too loose that it would slide around in the event of a slide down the road. You can buy second hand here to save some money but make sure it has elbow, back, shoulder and knee padding as a minimum. CE labeled preferable and waterproof is a bonus. If you buy second hand make sure all zips work and no stitching is damaged.
Boots, buy from a shop or off trade me, but what ever you do, make sure you try them on first, a good tight fit (not constrictive though) especially around your ankle/calf will ensure your ankle is protected. Waterproof preferable. If you buy used, make sure there aren't any faults.
Gloves, go in to a shop. It's hard to find a good fit, so go to a shop and try on a bunch. There are winter and summer gloves, commuter gloves and sports gloves. Talk to a salesman at the shop about the best gloves for you, in your size.
That's the minimum I'd wear while riding, I'd recommend not wearing any less gear. If you're thrifty and shop around, you can get it all new for about $1000, if you buy boots and jacket/pants second hand, the price will drop a bit (more money for the bike). A back protector and knee pads could help in the event of a crash, but aren't as important so I would only recommend if you were a safety nazi or rich enough to go all out for safety. As a side note on that, safety gear is only good if you actually wear it. No point buying good boots then wearing sneakers, and buying a back protector for commuting would be annoying, you mightn't be bothered wearing it, making it a waste of money sitting in your wardrobe.
As for a bike, go into bike shops, sit on some bikes, find a few that feel comfortable and you can see yourself riding. Then note their make/model, look on trade me for a good deal. You're short so a suzuki GN125, GN250 or a Honda VTR250 are all good options. Many 125cc bikes might struggle to go 100km/h, but if that isn't a concern, they are cheaper to buy and use less petrol as well as being lighter.
I'd recommend buying a used Suzuki, Honda, Kawasaki, or Yamaha.
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