New to Bikes, Help...

fishtails

fishtails

Member
I'm planning on getting a bike soon. Actually me and MY brother are planning on getting bikes.We're willing to spend up to 5-7k on a bike, but need some help. We've been looking at the 04' Honda CBR600's.
Really nice and affordable bike, but are they good choices for beginners?
Insurance on the bikes, are they alot, or about average?
He'll definately be needing a bike as he's going off to the army and doesn't want to haul his Grand Cherokee everywhere he's sent.

Me, I'm just looking for a city criuser, something sporty, fairly fast, and again AFFORDABLE.

Any help all you bike guys out there?
 
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daniel411

Guest
You're absolutely fall in love with riding... if your first season goes well. I'd say that probally only 1/2 or so of the people who buy a bike and take a 5 year loan, are still riding by the time the bikes paid off. I highly suggest you take a begginer course from the motorcycle safety foundation.
Do either of you have much experience riding dirt bikes? It greatly helps with riding a bike on the street, particularly once you start riding hard.
Insurance varies in a ridiculous way. Anything from a few hundred to thousands and thousands a year. State Farm, Farmers, and sometimes Progressive are generally the best to go with. It can be ridiculously cheap if you don't get many points, to outrageous if you have many points.
A good city criuser (comfortable), something sporty, fairly fast (probally tops about 130-140mph), and again AFFORDABLE is the Yamaha YZF 600R NOT the R6. Its cool that you two are looking at 600's, they can just about do anything, are cheap to insurance, and less likely to buck you vs. the liter bikes. However do not disrespect them, most will do well over 150mph, can throw you in a second, and can even pretty much hang with anything if you know how to push them. Many people advocate that sport 600's are "to much" bike for a beginner to handle, which does have merit.
However if you're both careful, disciplined, you're likely be all right. Just remember that anyone can learn to feather a clutch, switch gears, wheelie/stoppie, etc... what really matters and some people can't learn is how to read traffic. As stupid as it probally sounds that stuff like SEE: See, Evaluate, Execute, is incredibly important most accidents are avoidable, of course NO ONE is ever always perfect when they ride. It is a dangerous sport, and pretty much everyone, particularly those who ride/pushes a sport bike does crash. So save extra money for buying a good set of boots, gauntlet gloves, good helmet, kevlar/icon/leather pants, back brace maybe, and a nice leather coat.
 
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daniel411

Guest
Oh its unlikely you're find an 04 for 5-7g's. You're probally looking at about 8g out the door atleast, unless you have an awesome connection.
Used bikes can be awesome, as they take a huge depreciation drop like cars off the show room floor, as well as some people become desperate to sell after a few tickets or a minor accident. Pretty much any of the fuel injected 600's from Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, and Honda are great buys on the used market. Just have someone look them over to make sure that the engine/trans are good, no cracks in the frame, preferablly not stunted, etc.
Hope that helps
 
tony detroit

tony detroit

Active Member
Get a Honda Shadow. A CBR 600 for your first bike is asking for trouble for most people. Some could handle one for their first bike, but I would not recommend it for all. Most people will say it is "only a 600", but the truth is that only on a straight can a 1000 really beat a 600, and if you're going to be riding on the street, then a 600 is all you need anyway.
 
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daniel411

Guest

Originally posted by tony detroit
Get a Honda Shadow. A CBR 600 for your first bike is asking for trouble for most people. Some could handle one for their first bike, but I would not recommend it for all. Most people will say it is "only a 600", but the truth is that only on a straight can a 1000 really beat a 600, and if you're going to be riding on the street, then a 600 is all you need anyway.
Thats probally the best idea, you can pick one up used for about 2 grand, learn to ride for a few months... summer, than sell it for the same amount.
 
fishtails

fishtails

Member
Thanks Daniel, Very informative and helpful.
We're defintely going to take a class soon. As a matter of fact, we'll look around tomorrow.
Do either of you have much experience riding dirt bikes? It greatly helps with riding a bike on the street, particularly once you start riding hard.
No experience w/ a bike at all. Nearest thing I've driven is a mo-ped.

Insurance varies in a ridiculous way. Anything from a few hundred to thousands and thousands a year. State Farm, Farmers, and sometimes Progressive are generally the best to go with. It can be ridiculously cheap if you don't get many points, to outrageous if you have many points.
I've heard that from many different shops. I'm thinking it'll be expensive, espically with us being younger.
Reason we were looking at the CBR600's is we know a local Honda bike dealership owner, whom can give us a great deal on a new bike. The 600's are in the 8k range as you said. I'm also looking around and finding used ones in the 4-6k range, which is a good deal IMO.
Is it a law for you to get a bike lisence even with your drivers' or does it vary by the state?
 
tony detroit

tony detroit

Active Member
Usually you have to get a cycle endorsement on top of your driver's liscense. Please believe me when I tell you that 1 out of 3 people that ride a supersport 600 for their first bike will hurt themselves. I'have had some waaaay close calls coming down off of wheelies at the last minute, please do not buy a supersport bike until you have a couple years of experience.
 
nicky1.8t

nicky1.8t

Active Member
yea if you look at the track numbers the 600s and 1k arent to far off the 1ks have to much power and what good is that if you cant do any thing with it. i personally went for a 02 cbr 954 rr im an experinced rider though even know its a 954cc bike it only has a lil more power than a gixxer 750. my first bike was a 1992 gsxr 600 i would recomend spending like 3-4 on a learner bike and than when you feel comfortable in your riding skills than sell it and move on to something better. and a 600 is a balst my cousin could do 3rd gear stand ups on his 02 gixx with it bone stock so you dont need a boat load of power to wheelie. so stay away form 1kcc bike. just my .02 cents
 
nas19320

nas19320

Active Member
I started on a new '02 YZF600 and it was a great first bike for me, I was lucky and never dropped it. I highly reccomend the MSF class, its a lot of fun and it will help to take it before you get a lot of riding in that way you won't pick up any bad habits. After about a year and half I wanted to get a little more punch out of my YZF so I swapped the sprockets out for 1 down in the front two up in the rear, I liked the extra torque I got with the change in sprockets but it power wheelied a little too easy. I pay $56 a month with State Farm but I also have few points on my lisence.
 
aarone

aarone

Active Member
guys...ive ridden dirt bikes for awhile...so riding isnt new to me.
Is a

[hr]
bike a bad choice for a starter street bike?
I like the new yamaha fz-6
 
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daniel411

Guest

Originally posted by aarone
guys...ive ridden dirt bikes for awhile...so riding isnt new to me.
Is a

[hr]
bike a bad choice for a starter street bike?
I like the new yamaha fz-6
I'd prefer a

[hr]
bike for a starter, no plastic damage if you drop it. I can't recall but I think the fz-6 has a detuned R6 engine in it :notsure: If you're very familiar with dirt bikes, you're be able to handle it, but as mentioned earlier.. being able to pay attention to traffic and such is whats important. I think you'd be fine on an fz-6 though with a good dirt bike background and your personality.
 
jscarb2

jscarb2

Member
if you guys have never rode i would buy used first.you usually lay down your first bike!would rather do it on a used one than a new one:D
 
aarone

aarone

Active Member
yeah i wont be getting a bike for awhile...i just like the look of the

[hr]
bikes alot better...im not a flashy person but i love pure power.
gotta respect the bike
 
dual45s

dual45s

Member
When I first got into riding, I did a lot of checking out beforehand and my insurance guy had something interesting to say, that was 6 years ago so I don't know if it still holds today. He said that CBR's are more expensive to insure than similarly equipped 600 sportbikes. Mainly because the insurance business runs solely on numbers and since EVERY younger guy(I'll be sexist here,) around me at the time had a CBR those were all the bikes that had accident figures atttached to them. So while in the grand scheme of things a 600 Ninja and a 600 CBR are really similar the insurance was vastly different.
Absolutely take the riding course. It really is a blast and, at least in Wisconsin, took an awesome chunk off the insurance.
 
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