Advice on bikes

[Thor06]

Hey guys, I just have a few questions on getting a motorcycle. I have been thinking of getting one for quite some time and now a couple of my buddies are getting me into it more and more. First off, how bad is insurance? My friend Dave said liability for his 1999 CBR600 is $60 for 6 months (I think he meant $60 per month for 6 months) and hes only about a year older than me. Does that sound right? What do you guys pay and what do you think a 19 year old guy with a clean record would?

Secondly, what would be a good starter bike? My budget would be pretty small on this, but I have been looking at early to mid 90's 600's and at 400's as well though I cant seem to find hardly any. What about mileage, when is it too much? Is there any brand in general I should stay away from? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks guys.

[Kracka]

Calling your insurance agent is the best way to find out how much it will cost you; takes about 30 seconds on the phone. I was paying about $150/year on my 250 and now $250/year on my 500. There is generally a steep jump in rates once you get to a 600cc.

How much are you looking to spend? The Kawasaki Ninja 250R and 500R are great starter bikes. They aren't hardcore race bikes by any means, but both are cheap, fun, and comfortable. I'm in the process of selling my 2001 500R with 7k miles on it for $2500. Whatever you buy, make sure it was well maintained and taken care of with regular tune-ups, proper winterization procedures, etc.

[A//// Guy]

Just got my 73 CB450 running yesterday. I will be calling on insurance today, need to get that thing out on the road.

[JET]

I pay $267/yr for full coverage on my '05 GSXR1000, I am old though. How much are you looking to spend? A Yamaha FZR600 is a great starter bike (91 & 92 have a single headlight front end). The Honda CBR600F2 is decent, but heavier than the Yamaha and higher priced. You can get a nice FZR for $2,000. A great newer first bike is a Suzuki SV650 (SV650S has a fairing).

[Thor06]

Wow, that is crazy cheap for insurance. I always thought they were like $500 a month or some crazy shit. I know it will be higher for me since I am younger, but it still cant be that bad. I will definately look into that 500, that sounds like a great deal. I think I am going to shy away from a 250 though, I know a guy that got one and immediately sold it for a bigger bike. Yeah, I am definately not looking for a race bike, just something a bit more fun to drive than the Cavy and a bit easier on gas. Granted I wont save much if anything because I would have to pay the difference in insurance, but I would definately have a lot more fun driving it and that is worth something to me for sure.

I am still a bit confused on milage. I have seen one bike (a late-ish 90's GSXR) that had 50k and just now I saw an older Ninja 500 that had 85k, but most other ones are like 15k and below. When does shit start to go wrong generally, or maybe a better question is what is the highest mileage you would feel comfortable buying a bike with?

[Kracka]

Not sure on the mileage, I've never owned a bike past 13k miles. I think its like a car though, condition and how it was cared for is a lot more important than an actual odometer reading. Just make sure you find an owner that obviously really cared for the bike.

[1QUICK4]

I pay $180 a year liability on my 1200cc V-Max with 30K miles.

For a starter bike I would look at something along the lines of Chris's Ninja 500.

[JET]

It really depends on the state of tune of the bike. My '96 GSXR 750 was tweaked pretty high from the factory (for the time) and it popped the engine at 19k miles. My original FZR600 had 13k on when I got it, 28k when I sold it and I knew the next 2 owners and it never had a problem. It had to be well over 40k last I knew of it. One thing, the 500 is a twin so the amount of power is about like a 350cc inline 4, like the 600's are. Power on it should be mid 50's and a FZR 600 is 83 I believe.

[Kracka]

56hp I believe.

[x-pride]

The best bang for the buck is an 03-06 sv650. You can get one around 3-5k and handle well. They are also fuel injected and liquid cool. Which is a plus. My honest opinion once you go fuel injected you won't want a carberator bike. As for inurance call your agent. They can give you a more accurate price. Just be careful about bikes becuase they are not as forgiving as cars. Don't over ride your skills. Things happen real quick on a bike. Good luck.