Respect?

[Chinese_cobra]

I have never ridden a bike before and i want to start out safe and i dont want to risk anything. But is there any shame in riding a kawasaki 250cc street bike? like all my gear i am getting from kawasaki directly. im having problems finding a used one and a brand new one is like 3g and my bro will be buying one with me so we can probably talk the price down a little bit but i dont want to be like dogged out every time i ride out. i live in slc utah so if anyone knows anywhere that sells used bikes plez let me know.

[DealsGap]

That's an excellent choice for a first bike. Anyone who would tell you otherwise is likely a squid themselves.

[Vtec95Civic]

Should be able to find a used one fairly easily. Check out your local paper and ebay as well has quite a few.

[aussieidiot]

nothing wong with that bike as a starter although many will tell you its too slow and you'll upgrade soon. thats fine but at least you'll be more likely to be around longer if you start at the bottom rather than the top.

[speediva]

DO NOT let other people dog you out for making an EXCELLENT choice for a first bike. If someone does anything more than NICELY tease you - and I mean someone you know is literally just joking - then I would recommend just walking away and forget you ever made their acquaintance.

The kinds of people who make fun of smart, responsible riders are the kinds of people who a)don't last long and b)give riding motorcycles a BAD name.

As for finding used... you would be amazed at how many used 250s there are out there. Check out http://www.cycletrader.com/ and search around your area or even on http://www.ebay.com/ but only search for things in your area that you can see first-hand before you bid. Good luck!

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by saturntangerine

As for finding used... you would be amazed at how many used 250s there are out there. !

That's probably because nobody ever rides one more than a few months before wanting something bigger. Same reason there's so damn many 883 Sportsters for sale all the time.

Just keep in mind that chances are about 90% you're gonna be lusting for a bigger bike within a few months of getting the hang of it. Buying something a bit bigger might prolong the inevitable.

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by Chinese_cobra

I have never ridden a bike before and i want to start out safe and i dont want to risk anything.

You can get dead or hurt on a 250cc just as easily as a 1500cc. Don't think that you aren't risking as much.

A smaller displacement bike will be less intimidating to learn on, but once you got the hang of it and buy something more powerful, initially it'll be like you are riding for the first time again. You'll be scared and intimidated and make mistakes and all that all over again. But your learning curve will be quicker with some seat time on a less powerful ride.

I've always been a "Throw me in the water and I'll learn to swim" kind of learner. Not too smart, but it gives you a healthy dose of respect for what you are doing. The first time I EVER rode a bike on the street was a Kawasaki 750 LTD. My friend (who had never ridden a bike before either) asked me to ride it home for him after he bought it.

I had ridden a 185cc dirt bike for about 20 minutes in an open field prior to that day. I figured how bad could it be?

By the time we got back to his house I was so drenched in sweat, I looked like I'd been thrown in a pool. My legs were so wobbly I couldn't even get off the bike for about 2 minutes after we arrived. MAN did that bike have balls! But the thing was, I couldn't wait to get back on it.

Then we rode over to a parking lot (him on the back, a passenger, another first) so I could teach him how to ride it. Talk about the blind leading the blind.

He was so terrified of it that after a few runs up and down the lot he was regretting the purchase, thinking he was way over his head. We rode back to his house and he didn't even look at it for a week. Then he found the MSF safety course. He took it and used their 350cc's on their course and learned all the right ways to ride, and by the end of the course he was confident and able to ride the beast like a pro, after a short getting acquaintted period.

I highly reccomend that course, no matter what you choose to buy. The cost is negligible compared to the potentially life saving knowledge you will get from it, and you won't have to learn the proper ways to react to situations while shitting your pants at 60 mph like the rest of us knotheads

I've been very fortunate. I've been riding for 23 years and have never gone down. I've had dozens of different bikes, in all different styles and sizes. Everything I know about riding I learned the hard way. It is probably nothing more than my intense dislike of getting hurt, coupled with being an unusually perceptive driver (you gotta read minds out there, if you wanna live),and a healthy dose of luck that's got me to where I am.

Please go take the MSF. Best money you'll ever spend.

[Chinese_cobra]

Thanks for your input i really appreciate it. This will really help me on deciding what bike to buy and I will definitely take the course.