Best bike for newbie with money no barrier?

[Maha]

Ouch!

He had only been riding about 4 months at the time....monkey see monkey do?

[Tigadee]

He had only been riding about 4 months at the time....monkey see monkey do?

Me, do that? Shirley you jest...

[Maha]

Me, do that? Shirley you jest...

I saw that when posted, very very good points.
Talked of biker wasn't you was it?....I ask because, he also was not sure how to find his back to Massey ...from Kaukop

[Tigadee]

Talked of biker wasn't you was it?....I ask because, he also was not sure how to find his back to Massey ...from Kaukop

Heh! I haven't even been that far on a bike yet...

I'm just happy pootling around town when I get the chance to, and getting to and fro work, enjoying being on two wheels...

[Maha]

Heh! I haven't even been that far on a bike yet...

I'm just happy pootling around town when I get the chance to, and getting to and fro work, enjoying being on two wheels...

Come to think of it, a mate told me he saw said slalom dude fulla on a 600 (still on L plate) at nass one noight...and dropped that one also...

[@ndy]

10K for a first bike ?!? I am unashamedly jealous, my first bike was an Aprilia 50cc for 1k

[Akzle]

10K for a first bike ?!? I am unashamedly jealous, my first bike was an Aprilia 50cc for 1k

damski? is it fucked now? 80 kit.

[mrcamel]

This is the best way to go for a learner bike. Off road will teach you more skills in an hour than any ginny or scorpy will in a month on road. They crash/drop well too..just pick it up and carry on.

Thanks for all the constructive feedback guys!


before i buy the first bike i note with interest the point made that a few hours on an offroad bike will do a lot then a GN or scorpio. So i have decided that i will look around to see if there are any learner centres that offer just this once i have my L ......im thining to spend 3-4 weekends for a few hours hiring an offroad bike (once on learners) , and then buy the road bike...

And In terms of the road bike I have decided to look for a VTR250.

It is naked which you all seem to reccomend I will be glad to have got in case of any drops etc.... and is priced only at $3.5k so pretty reasonable i think?? and also is only $1k higher then the scorpios that i see on trademe with better looks and performance....

Still keen to hear if i should stay away from the VTR for any reason....and what places people know off that do offroad biking for learners.....and also if my approach isnt sound...

[mrcamel]

And I was looking at this VTR...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/moto...-528460985.htm

[Akzle]

asides from being a honda...
just go and buy it bro. ride it home, by then, you'll be pro like everyone else round here

[Glowerss]

Nothing wrong with VTRs, they're pretty good learner bikes as well. That one comes pre crashed too! Just make sure to get somebody or something to have a look at it first!

[ducatilover]

asides from being a honda...
just go and buy it bro. ride it home, by then, you'll be pro like everyone else round here

Dick, we don't ride


The VTR are excellent bikes. Super reliable.
Early ones had no Tach, but you don't need one, it has 5 gears and a rev limiter...

[newhere]

*two bangs, single cylinders. - fine bikes, sometimes fussy and explode spectacularly, not the best to do yer lernin' on.

1- "something light" has little to do with "dropping and damaging" - all bikes are "light" if you're going forward fast enough

what you MAY be looking for, OP, is a "naked" or "streetfighter" or "dual purpose" type bike
(although motard is def. an option, i'd not reccomend them as either first, or typical road-use bike, being that's nots whats theys were designed for)
fairings, being the expensive plastic bits that you'll break /off when you put it down...

2- ABS is no compensation for riding like a dick. i don't even approve of it in cars.
learn to ride well and it's almost redundant. (it should be a tool in a good riders kit, not technology to be relied on to save you from your own stupidity - as it has become)

3- get some technical knowledge. chokes and carbs are awesome, and (usually) fixable roadside. anything that needs a USB port and thousands-dollars technical shit to program/diagnose is not ideal, and they'll charge you heaps $$ to do it at the shop. better to buy cheaper bike with easier to fix technology and spend the remainder of your money on beer and bitches.

4- most of todays 250s, particularly the fours, are suitable for motorway speeds. with LAMS you are not limited to 250. you're not particularly big, so 250 shouldn't be a problem, though.

suggest first port of call is to sit on some bikes, see how easy it is, how they feel. then lern to ride. then ride some bikes, see how they feel.
your first bike is not your last bike, you may be better advised to do your time on a 2k$ bike, spend more $ on gear, and upgrade once you've got some saddle time.

spending 10k$ on your fist bike to lowside it through an intersection... your choice
i'd love you to find one of the Duc 659s too.

Agree, sensible stuff, I would suggest getting your BH and learners before buying a bike, you might not want to go any further.

I expected to learn on my first bike, i think that is something to consider when buying the first bike, its a high possibly that the first bike will get dropped, not necessarily at speed, but if you are going to lay a bike down it might as well be your first one so I would suggest get a decent cheap one, less than $5k even for a pretty one. The learner bikes seem to hold their value pretty well, if looked after a little then you can get back what you pay.

If your dead keen to spend 10k ish I would recommend the honda VTR 250 - sounds bigger than a 250 and with a bit of a fairing looks bigger than it is, pretty sharp looking and it will cruise the motorway with your size just fine while being pretty economical.

[newhere]

I'm currently in the same boat.
~$10k bike budget. ~$2.5k gear budget.
A couple of friends have said that I should look at getting a cheap beat up bike for a couple of months before spending $10k on a new bike.
I can see where they're coming from but I just don't see the point in spending more money on a stutter step to the same end when I could just skip it, go straight get a new bike and take the learning REALLY slow and easy to avoid any stupid mistakes like just dropping it or forgetting the kick stand or something.
Oh well, I'm going to buy all the gear first and take my time thinking about the bike. Probably just going to go straight for the Ninja 300 but will think about it for a couple of weeks while a source the gear I want.

Funnily enough, going slow causes quite a few bike accidents....

my personal opinion is I would rather learn to ride slow on a 2K bike than a 10k bike - though I am very short so tip toe even on my very well lowered bike...

[newhere]

Were you with us leaving Kaukop that day when that dude on the 250 did that, while dragging his front brake, and ended up having to pick his bike up off the road soon after?

Me, me, me - happened right behind me, scared the fucking shit out of me, crunnnnnnccccccccchhhyyyyyyy metal sound look in mirror, bike sliding... that boy was warming his tires on extreme angles.....