[Rob]

I was wondering if any of you beautiful people have had any experience with motorcycles; sport/street bikes to be more precise. You see, I will become a graduate of the University of North Texas in December, and would like, as a present to myself, to purchase a motorcycle. While I'm very excited about the prospects, I am sorely lacking in motorbike knowledge. What brands are good? How large of an engine do I want? Do I really need motorcycle insurance? These questions and more have been pummeling my synapses for the past couple of months and I'm not real sure about where to go for solutions.

Thus, I call upon the SB hive-mind to hopefully answer not only these questions, but also to bring up those which I have not considered. Any information would be beneficial at this point and I heap my supreme thanks upon anyone who can help me out.

[Panoptic]

If you want a sport bike, but have never ridden before, don't get a literbike or you will probably lay it out. The power to weight ratio is immense (even a 600cc sport bike can best even the fastest Ferrari's for power:weight) If you want a cruiser... no experience there.

You looking for fast or just something to ride? New or used? Etc. etc....

I have a Honda CBR600RR, btw.

[Rob]

Well, let's see. I was kind of leaning toward ~600cc, but am open to suggestions. As for use, this would probably be something to play around with on the weekends and occasionally commute to work. Speed is not really a determining factor, but it would be nice to have. I have a hard limit of $6000, so that pretty much limits me to used. I'd even be alright if it were beat up a little. Basically, I want something that will be good to learn on but won't need to be upgraded once I get the hang of things.

[Panoptic]

Kawasaki actually has some entry-level Ninja's that fit in your budget right off the dealer's showfloor. Sure, they're not super-sport's, but they strike a good balance between practicality, power, and ease of use / simple learning curve (they are a bit ugly though, compared to their SS brethren). I've seen people get on Super Sport's and almost get thrown off with the first twist of the throttle. Though, it really depends on your aptitude for things like this, I guess. The first bike I ever rode was a Yamaha FZR-1100 with a broken spedometer. It would literally break the rear tire loose between every gear if you gave it enough throttle, plus the front end lifted easy. Got out onto the highway and wrapped it up to 7,000 RPM's in 5th gear. When I got back, I asked how fast that would have been, and the owner was like "Probably about 140 or so." I was just like "...Shit."

Anyway, if you're looking for used, pretty much any 600cc bike from the major manufacturers will suit you well. I like the Honda CBR600RR and Yamaha YZF-R6 as far as styling is concerned, but the Suzuki GSX-R600 and Kawasaki ZR-6 are also excellent candidates.

By the way, my manager rented a scooter when he took his license test. If you don't feel comfortable doing the evasion tests with a full-sized bike (and if you're just getting your license, I can't imagine too many people do), it might be worth checking into.

[Mr. Apol]

honestly, i want a motorcycle, but don't know if i want something more AMERICAN like a harley or whatever (not a huge chopper) or if i should get more of a street bike type. i wish i could test ride both kinds just to see what i'd like. any advice on the pros and cons of the two types of bikes?
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[Rob]