Which bike for newbies?

[Badapple]

Suzuki Bandit 600, Honda CBR600F, Suzuki RF600, Kawasaki zzr600, yamaha thundercat, ducati monster 600

[rsvmille]

4yr old SV650 Suzuki.

Easy to ride loads of torque and not too much hp.

Do not get a 4 cylinder 600 as a newbie. Take it easy for a while you can go fast enough to end up in jail on an SV you won't loose anything on it and they don't go wrong.

[atom290]

how tall is she?

id go for the 400, they are a great bike

[rsvmilly]

2K would buy you a 3-4 year old Honda Hornet.

Loads of fun (they even had their own race series).

[rsvmilly]

Gazboy said:

The wife has won the argument, and when we move, will be getting a bike.

BTW, cool wife!!

[Mad Dave]

I passed a few months ago and hopped straight onto a Bandit 600 - very easy bike to ride, good for a new rider IMHO. Cheap too - pick up a mint one for under £2k, leaving you plenty of money to spend on kit - which always ends up costing more than you expect!!

[Mad Dave]

Seriously, I thought id be able to get kitted out for a few hundred quid - what actually happened was:

2 piece leathers - £300
helmet - £150
boots - £190
gloves - £70
back protector - £100

then theres miscellaneous stuff like tinted visors, earplugs, those funny 'buff' things to go around your neck etc etc.

Oh, and the above is just my summer gear - I never intended to ride a)as often as I am, or b)in cold weather - but im hooked, and hate using the car, so im going to have to spend out on all weather gore tex gear and warm gloves to see me through the long, cold winter!

Dave

[twit]

Ha ha!!!! Ditto... Goin be an expensive month next month!

I can vouch for the SV, passed my test and got one 650s. Great bike, handles well, sounds fantastic and certainly can go quick enough to get you in trouble if you want!!!

Can't go wrong!

[rsvmilly]

I had an SV650 on loan while my Aprilia was being serviced last year.

Very easy to ride with smooth linear power (more like a car's delivery) and good, fun, comfortable handling round smaller lanes.

You/she wouldn't be disappointed with one of these. And you can probably sell it in a year for not much less than you paid for it.

[Mad Dave]

Just an aside - that GSXR will be an import as they didnt release the 400 over here as far as im aware. Also, it might be a little extreme for a newbie - im sure she'd be fine on it, but it may not facilitate her learning as well as something more forgiving?

Any experienced bikers are free to put me straight, but thats just what was said to me when I passed a few months ago.

[iguana]

Gazboy said:

Fair point, I can imagine a VFR400 would be a bastard to sell on...

Not really, phone rang off the hook for my RVF400 & VFR400. As long as you pay the right price in the 1st place you can get a yr or twos of depreciation free biking & the lovely howl of that gem of a V4.

[Kawasicki]

zxr400

it begs to be thrashed, it is really good fun. That wail at high revs is intoxicating. The speedo seems to always read over 100mph, must get that fixed.

If you want your first bike to make you giddy, get a zxr400. Cheap, bullet proof, fast, light and really handles with loads of feedback.

Shane

[hertsbiker]

got to say the sv650 is quite a nice bike, for newbie or old hack. Good resale value, and enough fun to stop most people being bored. Also flatters the rider by not being too much at the wrong time. YOur call, but rev-happy bikes are not novice material.

[ledger]

rsvmille said:

4yr old SV650 Suzuki. Easy to ride loads of torque and not too much hp. Do not get a 4 cylinder 600 as a newbie. Take it easy for a while you can go fast enough to end up in jail on an SV you won't loose anything on it and they don't go wrong.

are they that cheap now ?

[hertsbiker]

interesting.. wanna buy a 2900 mile blue sv? I was offered 3K for it as a buy back from the dealers, and am short of dosh. Be happy to see it go to a good home, and then I can get something new next spring!
(total coincidence all this BTW)
C