Starter Bike Budget of:

I'm considering buying a starter bike due to the cost and the fact that I only drive in the summer for the most part.

The max I can afford to spend on on is $1500 - preferably less. I would like something between 500-700cc preferably a 'sport' bike but that may be a bit greedy. I have no qualms doing some mechanical repair, but I haven't really worked on much for bikes other than slightly helping my friend with a ZX6 back in '05.

Is this plausible do you guys figure?

I was eyeing these three:
http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-CBR-600-F1-W0QQAdIdZ101294126
http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-1994-500-ninja-W0QQAdIdZ101777911 (yeah I know the flames are gay)
http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-Kawasaki-600-Ninja-W0QQAdIdZ101025560

 

Honestly, any of the three may or may not work out fine for you. The big thing to look for with older bikes is if it looks to have been well maintained/cared for. I've experienced a few cheap-ish bikes that were gems, and a few that I wanted to set fire to.

Don't forget to get some decent gear too. Skimp on the bike and go cheaper if you need to, but bare minimum, get a decent lid, jacket and gloves.

 

Oh definitely. I don't understand how people don't buy quality safety gear... its all you have to protect yourself.


How long do the engines usually last? 60-70k is a fair amount IMO for a small engine

 

$1500 budget, i'd be going street/trail. I wouldn't touch a late 80's/ early 90's sportbike.

 

Any particular reason? Or just they have all been beat to death and dropped by previous owners.

How well does a street/trail handle the highway? Most I've looked up don't handle high speeds to well.

 

I've ridden quite a few older sportbikes and 90% of them feel like death traps. Old suspension parts and brakes scare the shit out of me on a 15-20 year old bike that can do 250km/h. Inline 4 jap motors, you can barely kill them.

Street trails are fun as hell, cheap to maintain. If you're going to do alot of highway riding, you can always change the gearing.

 

What size street/trail would you recommend to look for a 6'2" 200lbs guy?

 

I really like the XR250's, it all depends what you want to do with it. You're not a small guy, so you might want to look at something a bit bigger than a 4stroke 250. You could get a mid 90's - 2001ish xr250 within that budget.

This looks like a really nice bike.

http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-2001-honda-250-xr-W0QQAdIdZ71516606

 

How much differnet would a street and trail be in terms of learning curve from say a Ninja 500 or something simular.

 

http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...R-Street-and-Trail-2000-OBO-W0QQAdIdZ77201262

$2k for an '86... wow prices deviate just a little bit

 

FLower, why not an XR650? Good for the roads, fun on fire roads. Clearly the his main attraction isn't motocross, and the 650 is bulletproof.

As far as learning curve, you'll learn much faster on a street and trail, mostly because you won't have outside influences pushing you to do 200 when you should be learning how to use a clutch properly.
That said if all your friends have street bikes, and you a dirtbike or vise versa, you are not going to be happy.

 

go for a GSXR 600. I know where you can find one.

On a more serious note, you should choose a sv 650 or something with little torque.

 

If it weren't for a street and trail bike, I doubt I would have gotten the hang of the clutch so well.

 

I would expect that model to be to be a bit more than $1500 no?

 

I'll buy it gladly for $1500

 

I'd sell my Ascot for $1500

 

http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...-Honda-XL600-GOOD-CONDITION-W0QQAdIdZ98628805

This seems like alot of power for a first bike. What do you guys think?

 

Nope. You might loop it in the woods trying to get out of something tricky if you don't have clutch control down, but thats about it. Its air cooled I believe, so it should be easy to do the rings. Just gotta make sure its JUST the rings.

 

Yep, it is aircooled. Will Cost me about ~$300 in parts to fix it if its just the rings. I'm not in a rush so I'll wait it out and see if I can get a better price.

 

what kind of riding are you going to do? more trail or street? There are really cheap CBR 125 for sale.

 

More street. I'll be doing highway riding as well. The trail option would be fun though

 

Well how much Highway? If you get a street and trail chances are you are going to have to budget for new tires. If the bike is under 1500 chances are they tires are either old, or more geared towards the dirt.

 

Not daily, maybe 80km a week depending if I go to my cottage or visit the parents place.

 

hmmm theres an 84 FJ1100 for a decent price... its a big bike for a first. What are your guys thoughts?

I think if I was very conscious about it it wouldn't be much of an issue considering 85% of my driving would be in town.

(ignore the user name its was when I was 16 it does not reflect my driving style)

 

Never ridden one, but I would guess an 84 FJ1100 would put down about the same amount of power (or maybe even a bit less) at the back wheel as a current 600cc sportbike, so power-wise, it's probably manageable for a dude your size with a decent head on his shoulders.

I say if you can get a decent deal on it, and it's not beat to hell, get it. Just remember, it's an OG "sportbike" and is 25 years old. It's probably seen it's share of owners who beat on it. If it's still running now, it'll probably serve you for a season or two...

 

It makes 125hp at the flywheel, and weights 575 lbs wet, I don't think it would be too bad. Apparently it was quite the bike in its day.

If I go to check it out what are good things to look for that may not be obvious to somebody who hasn't spent a ton of times around bikes?

 

It doesn't make 125 at the flywheel. at 20 years old you'd be lucky to see over 70-80. There's not much you can really look for. Make sure the wheels spin free. Listen for ticks. Make sure the suspension is smooth, the fluids are clean, It rolls with the clutch in, and the chain is clean.
All you can really do is look for signs of being properly cared for.

 

Yeah, thats what I figured. Just thought I should ask.

I know it doesn't make that now, did I really have to use passed tense?

 

If you respect the machine, you could learn to ride on almost anything. As long as you can physically be stable on the bike and you dont act like a cunt.

 

word... I really learned how to ride on an R6

You have to take your time and be very smart about it. Take the bike to empty parking lots on Sunday mornings and practice your ass off.

 

Also we are in March. So only one more month till be can bring out the bikes again

 

I wish, there is 10" of hard packed ice/snow on my street.

 

Fuck, I almost took mine out yesterday. Dry pavement in most spots, and it was six degrees out. It was just too much work to shoehorn the battery back into it for an hour of riding.

Very soon though...

 

89 Kawi GPX750R

51k km, needs fork seal, chain soon, front and rear pads(and rotors maybe), front tire, rear brake light, some paint on the fairings

Whats a guesstimation of the cost of replacing that gear assuming I do the work myself?