I recall seeing this same thread before. I was going to cut and paste what I wrote there, but the search function doesn’t seem to search the forums, only the main site, so I’ll just repeat it as best I can.
Your first bike should be small, cheap, and used. Think temporary. It’s supposed to be a testing and training bike, not the love of your life. The last thing your want to do is blow your life savings on something overpriced and overpowered and then either wreck it or decide motorcycles aren’t your cup of tea after all.
Speaking of:
I’ve seen a lot of Harleys for sale for really cheap (they are in good condition, but people just seem to be selling left and right).
I can guarantee most of those were somebody’s “first bike” who, instead of getting something sensibly small and cheap and used, got “a harley” because “thats what real bikers ride”. They were more into the image of motorcycling than the experience itself and found out the hard way that motorcycling is not for them (possibly with a few accidents and sliders along the way). Those used harleys can occasionally be a good next bike, but they aren’t a good first bike.
Your first bike needs to be small. A powerful or heavy bike can give a new rider a false impression he can throttle up out of any danger or brute force through it. That’s a dangerous way to think, because even the fastest and heaviest bike is still no match for even one of those tiny tin can fiat 500s in a collision. When you first start out you need to feel exactly as weak and vulnerable as you actually are. You need to learn ride defensively as a first nature. You need to learn to plan your turns and lane changes well in advance knowing you are the smallest, weakest, most fragile thing on the road. You need to learn to always give yourself an easy, no effort, low power escape route from any potential hazard. You need to learn to do these things without thinking about them, and only a small, weak bike can do that because it doesn’t give you any other option.
Your first bike needs to be cheap. The last thing you want to do is waste your life savings on a bike only to find that riding isn’t for you. Or waste it all on a cruiser only to find that you should have gotten a tourer or a dual sport or scooter or whatever. Before you make a large motorcycle investment you need to learn what kind of riding you prefer and what kind of riding you’re going to do and therefore what kind of motorcycle to invest in. You can’t learn that just by looking at bikes. You have to get out and see how you prefer to ride.
Your first bike needs to be used. There are two kinds of motorcyclists: ones who have laid their bike down, and ones who will. You want to get all that behind you with a used bike you don’t particularly care about than suffer the heart break of banging up your new pride and joy. You can also avoid this by learning on a borrowed bike, but amateurishly wrecking someone else’s bike while learning is pretty dickish.
Pick a used bike with a proven maintenance history. You do not want to saddle yourself with the latest and greatest only to find you can’t fix it, can’t get parts, can’t get service, and the manufacturer has “changed directions”. Your first bike should be an older model that is simple and well documented, because a large part of motorcycle riding is motorcycle maintenance. At the very least you need to learn enough to know how to inspect everything yourself. There are some riders who foolishly rely completely on a garage or dealership, but do you really want to trust your life to the most inexperienced apprentice technician they have, because that’s who could be working on your bike. Your life depends on your motorcycle functioning properly; learn to make sure of that yourself.
I’ll be participating in a CMSP (California Motorcyclist Safety Program) really soon, and I will need to have something to ride.
Absolutely do that. I cannot recommend riding safety programs enough. However I would advise taking a course where they provide you with a bike instead of bringing your own. This is one time when it’s fully appropriate, and preferred, to learn on someone else’s bike. They know their bikes are going to get banged up, and so maintain them accordingly. They also usually have a selection of bikes so if you are a complete neophyte you might have an opportunity of trying out several to discover your preference.
Using one of their bikes also avoids the chicken-and-egg problem of new riders: you need to take the course to get your motorcycle permit, but you need your motorcycle permit to ride your bike to take the course.
I am not an experienced rider but I really want a Ducati Sport 1000 which is a retro-style cafe racer from 2008. It’s pricey because it’s rare, but it’s also a beast, and everyone I spoke to said “definitely not a first bike for a first time owner”.
Yup. For most of the reasons I’ve given above, but also because motorcycles in that class tend to be noob killers. Literally. We always need more riders, especially VOTING riders, but we do NOT need more statistics. I mean if you absolutely must have one, then get it. It’s an excellent bike for super cafe riding (though a little expensive to maintain). But leave it mothballed in the garage until you have at least a thousand miles under you on something else.
This bike – the Ducati Monster 690 – comes VERY highly recommended as an excellent “starter” bike.
Only if you can find a used one cheap, but most are overpriced. I would call it an excellent “next” bike. Especially if you really enjoy fiddly maintenance. It’s the kind of bike you stick with for a few years before getting your next “next” bike (you always need one more) and retiring it to the back of the garage where you take it out for a spin a few times a year just for the nostalgia.
You really want to start out at the very beginning learning the basics with an absolute throwaway beater and get all your f~~~ups out of your system on that first, knowing that you’ll only be on it for a few months and a few thousand miles at most. Then sell it on to the next learner (or just shoot it and put it out of its misery) and get a more capable bike like the duc monster 696.
Wear all your gear.
^THIS THIS THIS.
That means the armored boots. The reinforced pants. The heavy jacket. The stuffy helmet. The clumsy gloves. All of it. Yes it’s hot (especially if you get the cheap stuff without proper venting). Yes it’s heavy (again especially if you get the cheap stuff). Yes it’s uncomfortable (though usually only at first). If you want cool and comfortable, try a hospital bed, which is where you’ll end up if you dress down. I was once mocked for my boots etc. on a 105° day by a squid on a ninja wearing shorts and flip flops (seriously, those foam sandal things). Well he wasn’t laughing any more when I started passing most of his left leg about 15 miles down the freeway and most of the rest of him 50 yards further on. Not a pretty sight.
Always ride, and dress, every day as if that’s the day you’re going to f~~~ up massively. Because one day you’ll be right.
Also consider where you will store it in cold months.
“Store it”?
What a bizarre concept.
Hammerhead 3 years, 10 months ago.
