this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2024
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Motorcycles

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (19 children)

Hey guys I'm just about saved up for a motorcycle course so I can get my license and just ran across this thread while browsing Everything, and thought this might be a good time to ask what a good bike would be to get as someone new to riding?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Make a new post. But I always suggest a 400 if your going to sell it after a season or a 600 if you want to keep it for a while.

[–] SuperSpruce 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I wouldn't recommend anyone starting on a 600 supersport of they haven't ever ridden a motorcycle before. Too much power, too aggressive ergonomics. 400s are still plenty fast to 60mph. My recommendation is 300cc-500cc for a sport or naked bike, or up to 800cc for cruisers (where you really gotta watch out more for high weight than high power)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I started on a 600 🤷‍♂️

[–] SuperSpruce 1 points 2 months ago

I know people IRL who start on 600s, and they are usually fine (although survivorship bias plays a role there). If you have a good grasp on how to ride motorcycles now, you're good, but it's risky for a noob to start on such a powerful fast bike.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

They're referring to engine displacement. 400cc and 600cc. You'll find manufacturers tend to make roughly the same engine sizes for different bike types. Like 150cc, 250-300cc, 500cc, 600-700cc, then 1000-1300cc. Since you're starting out, a good idea is to start small like somewhere between a 300-500cc bike. Typically, the larger the displacement, the more power the engine can produce. Practice your skills and get a good foundation for actually controlling the bike at slow and high speeds. A Honda Rebell 500 (cruiser) can go 90mph no problem and is light, nimble, relatively easy to work on, and easy to control at slow speeds since it has a low center of gravity, so it's a bike you can start with and keep for a long time. Honda uses the same 500cc engine in different styles of bikes but with different tuning, like the cbr500 (sport), CB500 (standard), NX500 (dual sport). Eventually if you decide you actually like motorcycles and want to "upgrade," you can get a bigger displacement bike somewhere between 600-1000cc, depending on your needs/interest. What kind of style do you like? Cruiser, sport, standard, etc. You can't go wrong with Honda, Kawasaki, or Yamaha to start off with. They tend to have decent maintenance intervals and are easy to work on.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ahh thank you, that was very informative! I might think about getting a 500 as I do want to go on the highway.

I kind of want a Harley type of bike (what ever that kind is called? The kind that sounds deep and rumbles). They look comfortible. Which is why I decided to ask this question in this thread, because I thought it was kikd of funny to see a community called Motorcycles shitting on Harley Davidson, and I thought that was like the Kleenex of motorcycles. Like, the standard. The kind that you get if you want a good bike.

Obviously I'm clearly very ignorant about a community I'd like to join... Lol

[–] SuperSpruce 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The Honda Shadow 750 looks and sounds quite like a Harley while avoiding Harley's high prices and gaining Honda's great reliability.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

That's really fucking cool, and while I wasn't sure if Honda was known to be good for bikes before, I think that's a direction I could consider now

[–] SuperSpruce 2 points 2 months ago

Honda has been making all sorts of bikes for many decades now, and they generally are inexpensive and reliable, if slightly boring compared to competitors. The Shadow is a great option for a classically styled cruiser bike.

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