New Rider, Needs Tips for First Bike

I'm a relatively new rider, I learned on a Honda 350 dirtbike riding around the farm.  That was one thing, then one day I hit open road and new I was hooked.  

My problem is I don't know what bike I should be looking at for my experience/size.  It's gotta be a cruiser, I don't like flying by my ass, just cruising.

I'm 6'2, 180 lbs.  I was looking at Yamaha V-Star Customs (650cc) or older Viragos.  Does anyone out there have any tips for decent starter bikes that I wouldn't be hanging off of?  Assume money is no object, but again, remember I'm talking used.

Thanks guys.  

Just my 2 cents...

Suzuki boulevard c50t, Kawasaki Vulcan 900, Yamaha 1100, harley sportster,  

I got a Honda Shadow 750 as my first bike.  Very easy to handle and reliable.  

My first was/is yamaha 1100.  Now have logged almost 19k great ride but with me at 6'1" and my wife behind, I am considering larger.  Don't buy too small. I love the Yammy.  

FWIW, suggest you take an approved MSF course first. There you'll meet other people in your situation as well as people already on bikes. You'll get to pick their brains during the classes and breaks and may find their experiences helpful. You'll also learn a heck of a lot about riding and exercises to make you a better rider. I'm about your size and sounds like we enjoy a similar riding style, and I ride a Honda 1100 and love it. It's 600 pounds and handles well. Hit the dealers and sit on as many bikes as possible and enjoy being a kid in a candy store! It's a buyers market right now.  

Yeah,,,I'm 6'3" 235 lbs. and my wife and I love our Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe.  The beauty of it is it didn't cost an arm and a leg like a Harley Road Star and is customizable with removable w/s and backrest for when she doesn't ride.  Power is great, and all that you can handle!!  

belligso:
I'm a relatively new rider, I learned on a Honda 350 dirtbike riding around the farm.  That was one thing, then one day I hit open road and new I was hooked.  

My problem is I don't know what bike I should be looking at for my experience/size.  It's gotta be a cruiser, I don't like flying by my ass, just cruising.

I'm 6'2, 180 lbs.  I was looking at Yamaha V-Star Customs (650cc) or older Viragos.  Does anyone out there have any tips for decent starter bikes that I wouldn't be hanging off of?  Assume money is no object, but again, remember I'm talking used.

Thanks guys.

you cant beat a honda i have a 1995 honda shadow 1100 shaft drive water cooled ive rode bikes all my life this is by far the best bike ive ever had you can find them fairly cheap ive owned it for around 10 yrs bought it used for 3300 i would strongly reccomend a shaft drive with water cooled engine  

I had a VStar 650 and loved it.  But with the wife and I it was a little undersized in the power department.  First sugesstion is do not limit yourself to a used bike.  in my area a lot of dealers are still trying to sell new 2008 models and they are dirt cheap.  Nobody today makes a bad motorcycle.  I ride a 2003 Kawasaki Nomad and favor a fuel injected, liquid colled, shaft drivebike.  The maintenance costs are MINIMAL.  I would recommend anything in the 750 to 1100 class.  There are a ton of new and used bikes out there.  Shop around, test drive and buy the most comfortable for you.  Good Luck.

Loophole  

My riding history is much like yours. My experience on the asphalt was VERY limited when I bought my first bike made for the highway. I looked for a long time and questioned everyone I saw on a bike. Of course everyone was partial to the ride they were on but it was still quite educational.

In the end I decided I wanted a metric V-twin cruiser and limited my choices to those. I was partial to the Suzuki Boulevard  C/M/T 50 because of styling and price but also looked at many of the other mid size cruisers that took classic styling clues from the Harley Softail.  

What I wound up buying was a 1994 Honda Shadow 1100 with bags, 2 backrests, and running-boards. The primary reason I bought this one is because not only did it fit my basic criteria but when I sat on it, all of the controls just fell into place for me. In other words the bike fit me and the way I like to sit on the bike. I have logged almost 50k miles on it and still ride this bike everyday, enjoying every minute of it.

I was at first afraid of the bigger displacement and drove a bit nervously but within a few weeks I was stretching my legs and enjoying the quick throttle response of the displacement. The extra ponies are also nice for two up riding.

Virtually all of the major brands produce a quality product and you will not go wrong with any of them so my suggestion to you is find ride that fits your frame and riding style.  

I'm going to keep it to the "used" issue. A lot of people have given good advice in other areas.

In 2007, I bought a used Honda Goldwing GL1800 with ABS for about 11k. Yes, it was a 2003, but all services, and recalls had been done on it, and it had 19,000 miles on it. A new Wing with ABS was running around 21-22k, mostly because ABS was only being put on the absolute top model.

So, in effect, I got an almost brand new Wing for about 1/2 of actually buying it new.

Dealers aren't wild about this purchase model, but, it's not their money making the purchase.  

If you take the MSF course like I did then, I would say the honda 750 shadow I started with an older 1985 model, great power, seemed a little much until I took the course, now 2 years later almost time to go bigger.
 If your not going to take the course it takes a lot longer to feel comfortable on the bike, I rode for 2 months with a buddy and even then still felt a little unsure and tippy on the bike, 3 days of MSF course cured that. It was a good year of riding experience in 3 days.  So without the course stay smaller suzuki savage 650, light little thumper but can do highway, or the vstar650 great smaller bike.  

Don't even think about riding without taking the riding course.  This contributor clearly states "It was a good year of riding experience in 3 days" which he undertook AFTER he stumbled thru a couple of months with a riding buddy.  Unsaid is the added critical benefit of qualified instruction, which the "buddy" was obviously not able to give him.  Countless contributors to innumerable threads on this forum have praised the benefits and virtues of certified riding schools as the first step to becoming a competent rider.

Then, the style, size, weight, and power of the bike you pick will almost certainly be influenced by the successful (or not) completion of the course.  But an informed decision will almost certainly be a better one, as I can personally attest.  Bottom line....put your ego in your pocket, spend the money and TAKE THE COURSE FIRST!  You improve the probability of living to never regret it.  Cheers.  Herb.  

The problem with buying used is, you don't know what developing problems the bike has. While there are folk who sell a perfectly good bike just because they want something different, most of them trade in those bikes at the dealership and then you pay extra for the privilege of buying it from the shop. Bikes deteriorate far faster than cars do, simply because of the much lighter construction throughout the machine, and even the best looking low mileage bike can have serious problems shortly after you buy it. Brand is far less important, than attention to details in maintenance, by the owner.

The manufacturers schedule for maintenance is designed to minimise the costs of warranty work. Just taking a bike to the shop for scheduled maintenance is inadequate to keep it in top shape. It needs to be closely examined and niggling little things done to it almost on a daily basis.

That said, there are some types of bike design that are far cheaper and easier to fix, if they do fail shortly after you buy it. The most glaring example is the difference between a chain drive and a shaft drive. While a sport bike can quickly eat up a poorly maintained chain and sprockets, a cruiser is more forgiving of minor maintenance lapses and a modern o-ring chain on steel sprockets is easily able to provide 15,000 miles and more before it needs to be replaced for about $100. With good maintenance, steel sprockets last through several chains. On the other hand, there are a lot of folks looking for replacement shaft drives on Ebay, because they don't want to pay thousands of dollars for a dealer to fix whatever went wrong.

ABS is quickly turning into another glaring example of technology that has the potential to be really useful, but is relatively fragile and very expensive to fix when it breaks after the warranty period.

regards,
Joe  

Same arguments could be made for cars too. It's all cost/benefit. When I got my bike, there was still warranty left on the bike. And, I'll admit it has a factory defect that was never fixed. I didn't extend the warranty (for about $500), but, I've found the fix... about $100 plus about $100 for the local dealer to pull the radio to get it fixed.

Still, $11,000 in savings on the purchase vs new will buy a lot of parts and labor.

It's almost enough to do a 3000 mile service on a Harley..... Just kidding.  

YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WITH THE STAR LINE OF MOTORCYCLES.  THE VSTARS EVEN WITH A 650CC MOTOR RIDES LIKE A DREAM.  YOU GET DRIVER FLOORBOARDS THAT YOU DON'T GET WITH OTHER MIDSIZE CRUISERS.  I'VE RODE THE HONDA SHADOW ACE, THE ROADSTAR 1700, AND THE VSTAR 650.  ALL RODE NICE, BUT THE STARS ARE MORE COMFORTABLE.  I DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT THE KAWS, SUZUKI, OR VICTORY BIKES.  I DIDN'T LIKE ONE THING OR ANOTHER ABOUT THEM BEFORE I EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THROWNING A LEG OVER ONE.  

SOMETHING ELSE TO THINK ABOUT IS WHETHER YOU WANT A CHAIN, SHAFT, OR BELT DRIVE?  DO YOU WANT SICK POWER, OR PLUSH RIDEABILITY?  ARE YOU RIDING BY YOURSELF, OR DO YOU PLAN ON TAKING A PASSENGER FROM TIME TO TIME?  

NO MATTER WHAT YOU CHOOSE, PICK IT FOR YOURSELF, NOT WHAT EVERYONE ELSE THINKS OF IT.  THEY DON'T HAVE TO RIDE IT, YOU DO.  I JUST BOUGHT A STAR ROADLINER THIS WINTER.  SOLD A HARLEY.  MY HARLEY BUDDYS ARE ALREADY BUSTIN MY CHOPS.  HOPE THEY CAN KEEP UP THIS SUMMER?  JUST MY OPINION.