The General Motorbikers Discussion Thread

I was told something like a ninja 250 would be good, but I did some research and the zx 14 looks like a better bike. the 250 means it only has 250cc, where the zx 14 has about 1400cc, which is more.

There's another thing it has more of: death.
Sorry, but the rest of your post makes it obvious that you have little to no understanding of motorcycles, and that kind of combo is a pretty good recipie for disaster. Please note that this isn't the usual scaremongering about motorcycling in general you'll get from most people that have no first hand knowledge of the subject. This is what people who ride themselves say, so don't just shrug off this advice.
Biking doesn't have to be terribly dangerous, if you're smart. And the first step is not throwing yourself into situations that will overwhelm you. That starts with the bike you choose - as someone who hasn't even had any meaningful sort of exposure to motorcycling, much less riding experience, starting out on a powerful, large capacity bike basically means every moment can potentially turn overwhelming in a snap.

But most importantly, you don't need a large rocketbike to have fun. Even lower displacement bikes are really quick compared to cars and will give you tons of fun.
 
Would a ninja 250 get from 0 to 60 in under 5.4 seconds? I can't seem to find anything that looks like the bike version of caranddriver, so finding facts is a little tough. I know this has been discussed before, but everyone here knows what they're talking about. I don't even know who 'the big Japanese four' for bikes are. What are the positives and negatives for a first time user of a Ninja 250 or Honda... thing. Everything I need is probably here, only stretched out over 264 pages, and opinions very from person to person, and aren't targeted just at a new rider. Also, bikes that were being made when this thread started have rusted back in to the earth by now.

Neither Kawasaki nor Honda make a 500cc sport bike that I can see, It's either 250cc or 600cc. Who might make one?

The Big Japanese Four are Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki.

Bikes are often more durable than cars, as they're intended to live outside their entire lives. Bikes that are 30+ years old are not only still common, they're in daily service all over the place. There's a 25 year old Honda sitting out back right now - I swap off with its 16-years-newer descendant, and it's not exactly obsolete.

Bike magazines include Motorcyclist and Cycle World. Foreign magazines that are well regarded but not entirely applicable because makers' lineups are different there include Motorcycle Consumer News.

A Ninja 250 will do 0-60 in about 8 seconds (assuming the one you're most likely to see on the used market - the newly revised one does it in 5.7), but if you want to do highway work, it's a bit small (tends to start running out of steam above, oh, 50). For highway work, something like a Nighthawk 450 or Ninja 500 is a better choice. A Ninja 500 will run 0-60 in 3.76 seconds.

You want a used bike. A new bike is a terrible investment for a newbie rider.


There's another thing it has more of: death.
Sorry, but the rest of your post makes it obvious that you have little to no understanding of motorcycles, and that kind of combo is a pretty good recipie for disaster. Please note that this isn't the usual scaremongering about motorcycling in general you'll get from most people that have no first hand knowledge of the subject. This is what people who ride themselves say, so don't just shrug off this advice.
Biking doesn't have to be terribly dangerous, if you're smart. And the first step is not throwing yourself into situations that will overwhelm you. That starts with the bike you choose - as someone who hasn't even had any meaningful sort of exposure to motorcycling, much less riding experience, starting out on a powerful, large capacity bike basically means every moment can potentially turn overwhelming in a snap.

But most importantly, you don't need a large rocketbike to have fun. Even lower displacement bikes are really quick compared to cars and will give you tons of fun.

This. ZX-14/Hayabusa/etc., etc + Newbie = death most of the time. We're talking about something that's not significantly slower than an F1 car at many parts of the envelope, and they take skill to competently pilot. Nobody with two brain cells is dumb enough to give a kid with no experience the controls of an F1 car, the same thing should apply to newbies and literbikes, because the comparison is similar.
 
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There's another thing it has more of: death.
Sorry, but the rest of your post makes it obvious that you have little to no understanding of motorcycles, and that kind of combo is a pretty good recipie for disaster. Please note that this isn't the usual scaremongering about motorcycling in general you'll get from most people that have no first hand knowledge of the subject. This is what people who ride themselves say, so don't just shrug off this advice.
Biking doesn't have to be terribly dangerous, if you're smart. And the first step is not throwing yourself into situations that will overwhelm you. That starts with the bike you choose - as someone who hasn't even had any meaningful sort of exposure to motorcycling, much less riding experience, starting out on a powerful, large capacity bike basically means every moment can potentially turn overwhelming in a snap.

But most importantly, you don't need a large rocketbike to have fun. Even lower displacement bikes are really quick compared to cars and will give you tons of fun.

I know 1400cc is a bad idea, I was joking around with that. But I'll totally take riding seriously. Thanks for putting it so clearly to a newbie though. :)

Is there an autotrader for bikes I should know about? What would I be looking to spend on a Ninja 500 or a NightHawk 450?
 
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Cycletrader's out there, and eBay is a perennial favorite. You can get one that needs a little work (recommended as you should know the basics of the machine well) for under $1000. Your best deals will be on the local Craigslists, though.

I have been looking at upgrading my scooter to a bigger bike since the beginning of this year, but ended up losing my job, so the plans got delayed. I have one question though, when is a better time to buy a used bike, at the end or at the beginning of the season? Do price go down towards the end of the season? Because at the end of the season, bikers should be happy to get the bike of their hands at a lower price before the winter, so they don't have to store it and pay insurance and whatnot for several months. But when you buy it, you might not get a chance to ride it much before the winter comes and then you'll need to wait months before riding again. Or it really doesn't matter, any thoughts?

Dead middle of the winter is the classic time to get the best deal, i.e., right before Christmas when people are looking to get money for gifts - at least here in the US. Another good time is when the credit card bills from the holiday season roll around. Remember, the higher the snow, the better the deals on a bike. Buying it just before the riding season starts is not a good idea because all the fair-weather types are thinking of getting a bike for the upcoming season. End of the season not so much too as people are thinking they'll just mothball it and come back to it in the spring.

Show up with a truck/van and some cash in the middle of the seemingly endless winter when the owner's despairing of ever seeing spring and has forgotten what riding's like can net some good deals - see how CrazyJeeper and I got him a steal of a deal on his mini-Interceptor.
 
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is $2800 to much for a Ninja EX 500R? I'm sorry for constantly being such a newb, I promise I'll get better.
 
If it's in good shape with low miles, that's about average.
 
Depends on the bike. For the EX500, that's about a third of its life expectancy.
 
Depends on the bike. For the EX500, that's about a third of its life expectancy.

90,000 miles doesn't sound very good for a life expectancy. But by then, do you think I'll be ready for an upgrade? What else would I need to ride a bike apart from the bike, and a helmet? What's getting a rider's license like?
 
I'll let others handle most of that - I'm off to get some sleep as there's some fun with firearms in my future.

You'll probably be ready to upgrade to something larger in a year or so; you need not worry about running out of mileage on that. By comparison, the Honda four cylinders can go 200K or more just fine.

As for gear, you need a helmet, riding pants or over pants, a riding jacket, riding boots and gloves, all appropriately armored. Look upthread for how cheaply you can get set up that way.
 
31,833 miles. On a car, that's pretty good. How's that on a bike?

On a bike that's near the end of the world for mileage. Most people don't get more than 3,000-6,000 miles on in an entire season, so 31,000 miles is A LOT.

With the things you've been saying about bikes, you should be looking at a used 250cc with less than 10,000 miles. You should be able to pick one up cheap enough, and it will still be capable of 80+mph. Wanting to go fast is a poor reason to get into motorcycling. Yes, it's true that most bikes are faster than most cars. No, going fast on a motorcycle is not something you do the first time you ride one.

The mentality you seem to be displaying towards motorcycling shows a general lack of respect/knowledge of how dangerous it can be. You should seriously consider starting with the 250cc, riding for at least 1 entire season, and then trading up to a 500cc.

Yes, a Hayabusa can go 0-60 in 2.4 seconds, however, speeds of above 50mph are where most fatalities occur.
 
But by then, do you think I'll be ready for an upgrade? What else would I need to ride a bike apart from the bike, and a helmet? What's getting a rider's license like?
You should think of the things in the following order: 1. what gear do I need (answer: see Spectre's post), 2. how do I get a license, 3. what bike do I want.

Do you have to get lessons on your own bike over there?
 
I only referred to the smallest monsters as girly, because they have +- 60hp. Nothing girly about 600 sportbikes, or a hornet 600 for that matter.

Some of the most fun I ever had on two wheels was riding a 34 bhp Ninja 250 around. Slow going up the mountain, but I was pushing liter bikes to go faster on the way down.

It is more fun to ride a slow bike fast than to ride a fast bike slowly.

The monster is a great bike, very capable and tons of fun.

As for the whole "girly bike" thing, I guess none of you guys have the testicular fortitude to admit that there are women out there who could ride you off the road on smaller bikes and have no problem handling powerful motorcycles. I rode with a lady who was rocking a 999 once and I would have needed an airplane to keep up.

Oh, and didn't Elena Meyers just top 200 mph on a borrowed Suzuki MotoGP bike?

Girls can ride, many ride fast. Some I know ride track days, races, in the dirt, around town, etc and can probably kick our combined asses. So let's put the machismo away and respect the female riders out there.
 
Some of the most fun I ever had on two wheels was riding a 34 bhp Ninja 250 around. Slow going up the mountain, but I was pushing liter bikes to go faster on the way down.

It is more fun to ride a slow bike fast than to ride a fast bike slowly.

The monster is a great bike, very capable and tons of fun.

As for the whole "girly bike" thing, I guess none of you guys have the testicular fortitude to admit that there are women out there who could ride you off the road on smaller bikes and have no problem handling powerful motorcycles. I rode with a lady who was rocking a 999 once and I would have needed an airplane to keep up.

Oh, and didn't Elena Meyers just top 200 mph on a borrowed Suzuki MotoGP bike?

Girls can ride, many ride fast. Some I know ride track days, races, in the dirt, around town, etc and can probably kick our combined asses. So let's put the machismo away and respect the female riders out there.

Many times yes.
 
You see, the thing that stops me from riding during most of winter is traction.

Ever got a motorcycle stuck in snow? I have. (No, sorry I don't have pics of that)

It's not fun.

You could go ahead and get studded tires for the c70. I would try riding the c70 year-round if possible, but keep the truck if you really need it.

Yah, traction and visibility. I rode up the canyon a few times during winter... and it fuckin' sucks. There obviously wasn't packed snow on the ground, but there was definitely ice and all the other fun shit (not to mention, snow and ice flying off from other people's cars). What's sad is when you see a rider get caught in a flash snow storm, and they just disappear along with everything else. It's just a bad place to be.

Still, I get a lot of my riding done in the winter... which makes me want that dual sport sometimes. ;)

You want a used bike. A new bike is a terrible investment for a newbie rider.

Agreed. It's your first bike, and two wheels are made to fall down. The fun part is keeping it sunny side up. :) (Well, that's my take on it at least.)

Oh who was it that wanted cheap gear to get started? (Sorry, I'm just catching up on this thread... we've been out volunteering at the track this past weekend.)

The best time is late fall or dead of winter since most stores are clearing their stock to get ready for the next season. Cyclegear (a national chain) is now carrying some entry level brands, BiLT and Sedici... I've been talking to a few people who've been trying them out, and I've heard good reviews so far. Plus, they have some amazing warranties too.

Another one I like to recommend is motorcycle-superstore.com and motostrano.net. Check out their closeout sections for some fuckin' good deals.

Spectre pretty much covered it - the basics that you're looking for are:

- a full face helmet
- riding jacket with armor in the shoulder and elbows
- riding pants with armor in the knees in an abrasion resistant material (or you can get riding overpants with armor and wear jeans underneath it)
- boots (preferably full riding boots that come up to the calf)
- gloves (preferably armored and gauntless style that extend past your wrists)

Some of you may think this is a lot to get into motorcycling, but it will be totally worth it once you're set especially if you can pick up everything at a severe discount. Also, when you end up getting all the gear, remember: All The Gear All The Time (ATGATT)
 
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I was told that a 250 would have a hard time maintaining freeway speeds, but I did some research. While your on your California motorcycle learners permit, you aren't allowed to go on the freeway. I was looking more at a 500 because it would handle freeway speeds better, but I won't even be going on the freeway for a while. Anyone know what 250 would be good?

The way it works in California is that you pass a written safety test, complete a safety course, get a learners permit (if you're under 18, you must have it for at least 6 months), then you can apply for a full license.
 
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Bullshit. I'm a 260 lb. Sasquatch and the only ticket I ever got on a motorcycle was for doing 82 in a 65 on an untuned Ninja 250 with shit tires and jelly for gasoline.

Pretty much the only 250 worth looking at right now for a learner is the Kawasaki Ninja 250. It's a great little bike with tons of community and aftemaket support. Many local race clubs have one or more 250 race classes as well.

One of the fastest guys I knew in California ran a GSXR, but the bike he rode most was his Ninja EX250. If you can ride that bike fast, you will have excellent form and habits when you get to a larger bike.
 
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/\LOL

My buddys old ninja 250 could always keep pace. That was a fun beer runner.
 
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