New to Motorcycles : Don't know what to buy

6180 Views 18 Replies 11 Participants Last post by harleyhoonigan, Apr 25, 2014

ajayk1986

Discussion Starter · Mar 28, 2014

Hi guys/gals,

I have never ridden a motorcycle in my life. Have no riding experience whatsoever. Was thinking of buying a street 500 / 750 or an Iron 883
to lean how to ride motorbikes ?

For a novice like me which one will be a better bike to buy ?

Regards,
Ajay

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

gongchuan

· #2 · Mar 28, 2014

You need to look at several things. The 3 biggest things that come to mind are these. #1 the street's will run cooler than the 883. #2 the street's are lighter than the 883. #3 the streets have a lower center of gravity than the 883. #4 even, the street's will be much smoother than the 883

An 883 will shake you up at red lights and stop signs. It has a higher center of gravity. It will be louder. It will run much hotter (a big deal in hot areas of the world, it stays close to 100F here in Florida during summer)

In short, if you want the rumble and "feel" of a classic HD then you want the 883. If that doesnt appeal to you I would suggest the street.

Just as I told my wife when she wanted to get a sportster, youll grow out of the small quickly. If you going to take the plunge on a new bike might as well step up to the bigger engine. In this case either the 1200 sporty or the 750 street. Be smart about it and ride it right, control your throttle hand and either can be ridden like a 883 or 500 but a 883 or 500 cannot be ridden like a 1200 or 750..............

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gongchuan

· #3 · Mar 28, 2014

Not that Im a huge player here or have a bunch of posts, but welcome to the forum. Seems to be a good deal of knowledge here about riding in general that I have found. Good place to start to learn about the Street's if you lean that direction.

shark nose

· #4 · Mar 29, 2014 (Edited)

Hey ajayk1986,

Welcome to the forum.

Really best to learn on a smaller bike, like something with a 250cc to 300cc motor.

My first bike was only 160cc. The H-D 500 or 750 Street would be a great second bike. But first get your balance, coordination of all the hand controls, and shifting down before you move to a heaver more powerful bike.

Things happen a lot faster on a large bike.

o~\o

Reactions: 3

Desert Tortoise

· #5 · Mar 29, 2014

Buy a used SV 650, EX 500, 650 Versys, KLR 650 (fine bike with a huge aftermarket) or similar and have fun learning. It's used, it's inexpensive, so when you drop it you don't cry as much as if you dropped a brand new Harley. Those bikes are small and light enough to be easy bikes to learn on but are good enough that experienced riders buy them as back road play bikes and have fun screwing with riders on supposedly faster hard edged sport bikes. All are able to do some light touring with the right choice of equipment. The Versys in particular seems to be a good touring mount, I see them all the time on the road in remote places in California. You won't necessarily outgrow them as you gain experience.

Then if you want a little rumble in your garage you can buy a Street 750 or maybe a V-Rod if that feet out in front of you thing is tolerable for you. I personally can't ride that kind of bike. I would stay very far away from the air cooled Harleys. They are yesterdays technology and yesterdays performance. A lot of noise but not so much forward motion and don't ask them to change direction in a hurry. Won't happen.

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harleyhoonigan

· #6 · Mar 29, 2014

being completely new to this a lot of people may not recommend that you get a street, but if you do, take it slow, ease into the power levels and know that the bike owns you

gongchuan

· #7 · Apr 21, 2014

Frankly Im a bit surprised at some of the posts I have been reading......... a street 500 would be perfect for a new rider.

Its a "Harley" so you don't want to drop it.......... well no kidding, but I promise you that you don't "want" to drop anything. Word to the wise, its not if you drop a bike its when, and it doesn't matter what name brand is on the tank.

As far as the power goes, do what feels right to you....... but take it from someone that has gone through the motions, if you buy small there are very very good chances you will want to upgrade quickly. Especially if you ride with someone who has a bigger bike and you want to keep up.

If you are thinking street, do yourself a favor and spend the extra grand to get the 750. The "power" is all in your throttle hand, if you can control your own body you can control the "power". You can ride a 750 like a 500 but you will never be able to ride a 500 like a 750 (without a trade in or engine work anyhow)

As far as the V-Rod comment, I beg to differ; but if I may my 08 VRSCD (Night Rod) is a mid control bike and you can put mids on most any Rod right out of the H-D parts book.

Now with all that being said, if you can get a Honda 250 rebel real cheap ($1000 or less) and want to learn on something like that go for it, you will always be able to get most of your money back if not all, but don't go spending $4000 on something else when you can get a street for $5000 (close to it you know what I mean) and if your going to spend anyhow, get the 750 so your not getting left behind when you grow up on the bike and at first ride it at your skill level.

Sorry, rant over. Just keep in mind, unless you have limitless money choose wisely, you may just be stuck with what you buy. Might as well make it something you want to ride for a while.

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bbally

· #8 · Apr 21, 2014

Own many different bikes myself.

My opinion is a 500 or 750 are great bikes to learn on and not difficult at all to handle.

Air Cooled Harley's are not dinosaurs for the last 10 years. The run full feed back with Fuel injection and O2 sensors. So separate personal opinion from engineering fact. I run a 103 on a 2012 FLSTFB with no problems with any aspect of the unit.

If you do go with the Sportster, do yourself a favor and get the 1200 from the start. You will out drive the 883 (what we used to call the 900) in a few months. A sportster will run quick, but in my opinion it is one of the harder bikes to ride on the highway. You have to drive it at all times. Just my opinion on that, but they seem to like to blow around a lot in traffic to me.

Recently there have been three badges that all got into the Air Cooled market segment. They have also figured out what the newer EFI with closed loop feed back can do for performance.

I also run an '03 VRSCA Vrod.... for me at 5 foot 6 inch the forward controls are no problem. I like cruising on it.

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Testiphony

· #9 · Apr 21, 2014

I found this article on autoevolution which goes over the top mistakes for brand new riders. Here are the titles, i'll let you follow the link to read more details.

1. no Training, no license.
2. Too much power
3. assuming all eyes are on you
4. Trying to do too much, too soon
5. Riding with a passenger or in a large group before knowing how to ride well
6. Not learning how traffic works
7. Not keeping a finger on the brake and clutch levers
8. Forgetting that learning is never over

Most Common Rookie Biker Mistakes

And welcome to the forum!

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harleyhoonigan

· #10 · Apr 21, 2014

Testiphony said:
I found this article on autoevolution which goes over the top mistakes for brand new riders. Here are the titles, i'll let you follow the link to read more details.

1. no Training, no license.
2. Too much power
3. assuming all eyes are on you
4. Trying to do too much, too soon
5. Riding with a passenger or in a large group before knowing how to ride well
6. Not learning how traffic works
7. Not keeping a finger on the brake and clutch levers
8. Forgetting that learning is never over

Most Common Rookie Biker Mistakes

And welcome to the forum!

Good read, i remember reading through that a while ago, great article, something newbs should bookmark.

fkystreet

· #11 · Apr 22, 2014

street 500 or 750 wouldn't be a bad option

harleyhoonigan

· #12 · Apr 22, 2014

at the end of the day both are great, just have to decide what exactly you want

fkystreet

· #13 · Apr 23, 2014

i think most of the decision is budget or insurance oriented anyways

they are the same.. one is just more powerful

NikC90

· #14 · Apr 24, 2014

Honestly, From one fellow Bangalorean to another, I wouldn't suggest you any of the bikes you are willing to buy for a few days given your experience. Get yourself a used 150CC-250CC bike and ride it for a few weeks or even months and get an Idea about what a motorcycle is all about. Once you can handle it without any fear in our Bangalore traffic conditions, You can consider buying a powerful bike. Street 750 is a very fast bike and trust me on this one. We don't get Street 500 here in India, So that's not happening for you.
Good Luck

fkystreet

· #15 · Apr 24, 2014

ahh right didnt realize he was from bangalore.

harleyhoonigan

· #16 · Apr 24, 2014

NikC90 said:
Honestly, From one fellow Bangalorean to another, I wouldn't suggest you any of the bikes you are willing to buy for a few days given your experience. Get yourself a used 150CC-250CC bike and ride it for a few weeks or even months and get an Idea about what a motorcycle is all about. Once you can handle it without any fear in our Bangalore traffic conditions, You can consider buying a powerful bike. Street 750 is a very fast bike and trust me on this one. We don't get Street 500 here in India, So that's not happening for you.
Good Luck

thats probably the best advice right their.
at least if the used 150-250 gets dropped it wont be much of an issue, at least not as much as dropping a street!

birdmove

· #17 · Apr 24, 2014

IF you are just starting out, I think a small to mid-sized dual sport would be a good starter bike. I'm now 60 years old and started riding at 8 off road. Dirt riding is a great way to start out, and a dual sport gives you the option of off or on road. Something like a Yamaha XT250, or the Kawasaki KLX250 or Honda CRF250L would be a good starter bike. And, a bike **** this. could be kept for years. You could also get a street bike later if you want.

vipersdoom

· #18 · Apr 25, 2014 (Edited)

First of all welcome to the forum Ajay. As shark nose & NikC mentioned above, i too won't recommend you to learn riding straight away in a Harley. And as Testiphony mentioned, these are the major problem a newbie will go under (high adrenaline rush you know

). I too would recommend you to learn in a lower CC bike to get used to the balance on the bike and the clutch/gear flow. Street 500/750 would be too much as it has high horse power and i have seen people getting thrown away from the bike at the very first acceleration hit.

So overall the advice would be to learn first, and than decide which one to buy. To learn you can go for a lower cc bike. I learned in a 100 CC bike myself, RX100 precisely, but again RX 100 is not recommended, as this bike starts moving from a halt even on 4th gear, which other bikes won't do

harleyhoonigan

· #19 · Apr 25, 2014

vipersdoom said:
First of all welcome to the forum Ajay. As shark nose & NikC mentioned above, i too won't recommend you to learn riding straight away in a Harley. And as Testiphony mentioned, these are the major problem a newbie will go under (high adrenaline rush you know ). I too would recommend you to learn in a lower CC bike to get used to the balance on the bike and the clutch/gear flow. Street 500/750 would be too much as it has high horse power and i have seen people getting thrown away from the bike at the very first acceleration hit.

So overall the advice would be to learn first, and than decide which one to buy. To learn you can go for a lower cc bike. I learned in a 100 CC bike myself, RX100 precisely, but again RX 100 is not recommended, as this bike starts moving from a halt even on 4th gear, which other bikes won't do

Yup!
I think even instructors at riding schools would give the same advice. It's the best advice, best to play it safe because if you don't.....well, that shouldn't need to be explained

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