Which First Bike

[Jantar]

There have been numerous threads on the best bike to choose for a first bike. Most of these are along the lines of "which is better? A tiny wee ultra fast Megasaki Rocketship, or a boring old looks like 5h!t Yamasuki commuter/cruiser.

The sad news of Korowetere's untimely demise after less than 2 weeks motorcycling prompted me to read some of his earlier hreads, in particular the one where he was mentioning his first ideal bike. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming his death on his choice of bike. But I can't help think back to my early motorcycling days, and how my early crashes could have been much worse if I had been on a faster bike at the time.

For that reason I decided to start this thread where the more experienced riders can give their ideas of what qualities a first bike should have, and to describe their early motorcycling experiences with regards to their bike's capabilities.

In my opinion a good first bike should:

1. Be easy to start. A learner should be able to concentrate on their riding experience, rather than practicing some obscure magical ritual to make the engine burst into life.

2. Be low maintenance. As above. A learner rider should be able to learn some basic maintenance procedures such as chain adjustment and checking oil levels, but shouldn't be required to have to complete an automotive engineering course to just keep their bike on the road.

3. Have sufficient torque to be able to pull away at low revs. A learner rider won't always judge throttle/clutch movement exactly, and will, at times, pull away at revs that are not optimum. The bike should allow for this.

4. Be neutral handling. A learner rider doesn't need to be able to flick through chicanes at full power and then stop instantly. But he/she does need to understand the mechanics of physically leaning using body weight, or counter steering to obtain the required lean. He/she also needs to learn on a bike with average suspension, so that when he/she is on a bike with different suspension they can learn to adapt quite quickly.

5. Be economical to run. The expense of a first bike, decent riding gear etc has already depleted their expenses considerably. No need to further compound the issue with a bike that requires a politicians salary to keep it running.

6. Be of a "comfortable" size- as in seat height and position of handlebars etc. A new rider has enough to contend with, without having to stretch to reach the ground etc (thanks yungatart)

7. Be unfaired. Most new riders are likely to drop their bike at some stage, and unfaired bikes are quicker, cheaper and easier to repair. (thanks T.I.E. for the reminder)


Any other thoughts?

[yungatart]

It should be of a "comfortable" size- as in seat height and position of handlebars etc. A new rider has enough to contend with, without having to stretch to reach the ground etc

[T.I.E]

ok i know, but it is a perfect, never ridden before, easy to work on, cheap to buy ( brand new ) easy clutch, no fairings. the basic learners bike. GN250. cheap, economical. if i had a child and they first started to learn from scratch, then a gn is it.

but the riders weight and size could be a factor that could rule it out.

but it's a great learners bike

[skelstar]

Im not real experienced but from a learners point of view the bike has to have a bit of go. Low top speed is fine, but everyone is going to have a go at overtaking etc, so dont hamstring yourelf but riding something underpowered. A V-Twin is also excellent. Engine braking is great for getting out of trouble, and the torque is great for getting out of corners if you stuff the exit speed up.

[T.I.E]

Im not real experienced but from a learners point of view.......

v twins are a great bike, not as nasty as a high reving 4 cyclinder. twins have torque and can get you out of problems a little quicker than a single, but on that note they can get you into trouble just as fast.

i'd be a little worried about that. it's not about speed or overtaking with your basic learner, but there is a catch 22 with open road riding, 100kph speed or open roads, and learners. something else to think about. they get geared up and then put on the roads with cages doing 100kph+ what do you do. you can't exactly ride with cagers due to speed, and everyone knows how much of pricks cagers can be.

this is about learners, they probably shouldn't be on open roads just yet, but riding around carparks is boring, and intercity riding can be scary if not worse than open roads. bugger. any ideas.

[skelstar]

T.I.E: you make some good points, but to be fair it doesnt cater for the guy/girl who gets a bike for, say, commutering, digs the sensation, and before they know it they have done their first big trip over some big hill and is confident in the twisties. 2 months later (actually less) they are quite competent on their 250 single, and are wishing for more. 6 months on a learners is a long time if youre riding more than 2000kms/month. Not everyone is gonna want to upgrade their 250 .

[Jantar]

I agree T.I.E.

For the first few months riding a bike it is important that the rider can keep up with traffic flow, but overtaking should not be a priority.

[skelstar]

I agree T.I.E.

For the first few months riding a bike it is important that the rider can keep up with traffic flow, but overtaking should not be a priority.

True. But a young will try it on, regardless of the machine. The bike vs car superiority (traffic-wise) is quite intoxicating.

[Motu]

Yup,I'm pretty concerned with what's concidered a ''normal'' bike for a leaner to start off on - mind you in my day if daddy could afford it a learner could start off on a 750.As bikes have got more refined over the years they have become fine tuned for certain market segments...the ''do all'' bike has all but disapeared.I think the sportsbike is too narrow focused,especialy for a learner - all these crashes,all this moaning about road conditions,other drivers...all just pinpoints that out of smooth surface,signposted and low density traffic conditions,the sports bike is a very compromised setup...a touch of gravel,a ''tar snake'' and it's all over.A bike with a less narrow focus will take on any ''out of normal'' condition in it's stride.But it's oh so uncool....

[bondagebunny]

rocket powered - shit4brainsgofastski and go out and crash and crash and crash and dont forget to post all your dipshit mistakes in this forum so we can all be impressed, or amazed at your stupidity'.


Buy what fits, what you can afford, dont spend more than you are prepared to flush down the dunny, spend the rest on traiing , gear, and for fucks sake learn to walk b4 you try to run - or you will end up as another RIP column that everyone like to contribute two

[T.I.E]

T.I.E: you make some good points......

that is true but they need to start somewhere, starting them on a 250 4 is not a good idea.
that too is a catch 22, it is a big problem learners out growing their bikes at early stages. and 2 months of riding is about right. it's almost like they need to hire a bike for 2 months then buy one.
or put a rev limiter on a better 250 then someone can take it off when they improve. which is silly but not silly.

[Pixie]

That's easy.
A trail bike.

[T.I.E]

Yup,I'm pretty concerned with what's concidered a ''normal'' bike for a leaner to start off on........A bike with a less narrow focus will take on any ''out of normal'' condition in it's stride.But it's oh so uncool....

lol. uncool. unfortunately that is what i am hearing alot of. but it does not look cool. its true i have to agree the gn espically does not look good. but that is the price you pay for safety. dam looking good on a cool bike is shit if ya can't handle a corner or put a side stand down properly.

[Jantar]

Back in the days when I was a learner few riders kept their first bike for more than a few months. My first bike was a JAWA 175 which I had for 8 months, followed by a Suzuki T125 II (the equivilent today of an RGV) which I owned for 9 months before upgrading to a Suzuki GT250R (a true production racer back then). Then within year I upsized yet again..... Etc.

The point is that a new rider shouldn't buy a bike that will suit them for years, but rather they should be prepared to start with something easy, then upgrade as their skills improve. It will be cheaper and more enjoyable in the long run.

[T.I.E]

yep i think ya hit the nail on the head.