Best sport bike under $10k?

[atek3]

ouch.  1600, not a whole lot to work with.  Good with your hands?  Maybe a CBR600 F1 Hurricane that's seen better days, late 80's early 90's Katana, FZR600, GS500.   ahhh, I got it, Kawasaki EX500.  Faired, so its sporty, pretty light and nimble, pretty gutless compared to a modern supersport though.

[atek3]

I hope you are good with your hands, any bike that is less than 1600 is going to need work, and maintence.  If you can find a bike that cheap, make sure to check the compression on the cylinders.  Check the forks for bad fork seals (you can tell because the fork tubes will have oil on them.  Check the chain and sprockets.  If the chain is rusty, the owner probably didn't take care of it in other ways.  Sprockets and chains have to be replaced as a set and they aren't cheap.  If you aren't careful, that '$1600 bargain' could turn into a '$3,000 mess' really quickly.  

How much riding experience do you have?  

atek3

[atek3]

My advice would be EX500, EX250, or GS500, more 'street bike' than 'sport bike', but much less likely to maim you.  Plus all three are light enough to throw around really well.  Then when you have some milage under your belt, move up to a GSXR 600, all the flickability plus 100 horsepower

[BillBlank]

Goooood Atek, Got you to the dark side of Suzuki, all that typing was worth it .

On topic, at that price, CB500 honda. Simple and quick in the right hands. Easy to work on to, this from a man with more thumbs than fingers.

Bill

With great fraternal love to  a new member of the phsycotic two wheeled brotherhood.

When in doubt buy an R1, what does not kill you may well paralyse you

[...has left the building.]

I'm going to buy a Yamaha R6 in a few weeks. I'm in the same boat as you and hopefully this one will be a good choice.

[atek3]

R6 as a first bike?

atek3

[CatsDieNow]

Dan,

Listen to me here.  Get a Ninja 250 or a 500.  A Suzuki GS500 is also a good choice.  Get a used one that can be dropped (because you will) without too much heartbreak.

You are getting your first bike - not your last bike.  Give yourself the opportunity to learn properly on a more forgiving motorcycle.  

It is not a lack of responsibility or maturity issue, because I know that you are both; it's a lack of riding skill.  Kids (and adults) do not learn to race in Indy carts.  They start in little midget ones and work their way up commensurate with their skills.

Seriously, I just don't understand this...you guys are the same ones who reccommend starting newbie shooters on .22s, understanding safety and marksmanship fundamentals, and taking training classes to improve skills before choosing to carry a handgun.  Why do you believe motorcycling is somehow different?

[atek3]

the ultimate (and funny) newbie bike thread:

http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=112109

some good excerpts:

Hi, I'm new to bikes! I'm looking for my first bike! All of my friends ride {garden variety 600 supersport}. I've been thinking of getting a new {garden variety 600 supersport}, though I'm open. What can you suggest? TIA!

_______________________

BARF Responses (choose one):

1. Yah, sounds solid, man. That's how I started, meng.

2. Take the MSF and get a new Ninja 250/500/Sv650.

3. Get a dirt bike instead.

4. Buy your gear first, then take the MSF, then get a used, small displacement bike to learn on.

5. Why not get a liter bike? You can handle it if you respect it.

6. Guess you've already made up your mind. No talking to you. RIP.

forget the R6, it's gutless, I mean you'll probably outgrow it in a few months anyway, just start with an R1.  



atek3

[...has left the building.]

CDN and atek3,

Thanks for the advice! I've mostly rode 4 wheelers off-road and then of course driving performance autos. I plan on not going balls to the wall with a bike at all though because I'm paranoid about other people's driving ability. How fast is the R6 really? Isn't the 0-60 time around 5 seconds? Is it a bike that is tough to control/unforgiving?

I spoke with my bro-in-law today and he said he would go halfsies on a Ninja 250 for us both to start on. If I find the right used one, that should be $1K/each. Not too bad! I think I might go that route instead.

[CatsDieNow]

I think the top speed is about 165ish mph, but motorcycle speedometers usually lie by about 5%.

The top speed isn't so much the issue - it's the torque and horsepower in a light and unstable package.  I would have to really try to do a wheelie whereas the R6 will do them quite unintentionally if you aren't already skilled.

The really interesting stuff, acceleration, is in this chart:  http://www.sportrider.com/bikes/146_perf_nums/   Even my little Ninja 500 will (almost all motorcycles will) wax most "cheap" sports cars between traffic lights and do 120mph.

Dirt bikes are street legal if the have all the appropriate features like turn signals, mirrors, a horn, license plate fixtures, etc.  You can get a factory dual-purpose, aka street and trail bike - all the big four Japanese manufactuers make one or two.

[atek3]

Daniel, smart move w/ the ninja two-fiddy.  I commute on the highways a lot so I opted for a GS500, but a Ninja 250 is a super first bike.  Trust me, when you drop it (and you will), or bin it (hopefully you won't), you'll be glad you didn't get a bling bling R6, just yet.  In 6 months with consistant riding, you'll be good enough to ride an R6 with much more safety and confidence.

R6's are especially bad beginner bikes, because they make almost no power down low, so you gotta rev 'em to get the power, only thing is, rev too much and you've looped the thing as the torque curve goes up strongly in the power band.  

Twins are generally much better for beginners as the torque curve is generally flatter, so you don't get an unexpected, "rush of power" when you aren't ready.

atek3

[...has left the building.]

Thanks again guys. That definitely makes sense regarding the shape of the torque curve. I'll probably go for the 250 deal with my brother-in-law then get an R6 next summer.

Is there any concise on-line motorcycle buyer's guide?

[atek3]

geared towards beginners
http://motorcycles.about.com/od/roadtestsreviews/a/motoreviews_sm.htm

[atek3]

Hey Dan, If you're set on the EX250, good, don't let me dissuade you.  If you really are thinking of riding the EX250 til next summer you might want to consider a few other bikes.  One underappreciated bike is the Honda Hawk NT650, its a liquid cooled mid-displacement twin, great bike, light and nimble, unfortunately here in the Bay Area they have such a 'cult' following the prices are absurd.

Being Daniel Flory, if you are willing to go slightly exotic...  
In most of the rest of the world, motorcycle licenses are "tiered" meaning you can't just hop on a CBR1000RR and go wad yourself.  They force you to start on a smaller displacement bike.  So 125, 250, and 400cc displacements are all big in Europe and Japan.  Some 400's were imported into the US but they didn't sell well, now the good 400's are gray market imports only.  For a californian thats a problem, as its tough to register non-california bikes, for someone who lives in America, its not so hard.  So I'd say check your local classifieds for the Honda CB-1, Suzuki GSF400 (bandit), Kawasaki ZXR400, Honda CBR400, Yamaha FZR400, Suzuki GSXR400, and Honda vfr400.  All are sport or sport-standard 400cc bikes.  They'll be more expensive than an EX250, but probably more fun too.

atek3

[...has left the building.]

atek3,

Thanks for all your help! And yeah, you hit it perfectly: I'm willing to go exotic. The 400cc sounds like a good compromise. Are they twins or 4 cylinders? I'd imagine they're twins but I don't know jack about bikes.

[atek3]

the 400's are mostly inline4's...talk about peaky.  The peak horsepower of a GS500 is about 40, the CB-1's is about 45...at 11500...the GS redlines at 11000
the sporty 400's make about 50 peak hp.  Enough to go real fast, but not totally nuts.  If you want a beginner bike that you can leave it in 2nd gear in the twisties, get an SV650.  If you want one that will teach you the art of picking the right gear when cornering, braking, and accelerating, get a 250 or 400.

atek3

[InfidelSerf]

Well I'm always bias towards Ducati's.  You can pick up a monster or 900SS for well under 8K
Some say its a high maintenance bike.  But honestly its not any harder to adjust the valves on a desmoquatro than your typical DOHC.

I also don't reccomend you get into motorcycling unless you can work on your own bike (JMHO)  My view is that it holds your life in your hands  so make sure you know every inch of it.  I'm sure others would have the counter view that its better to pay a pro.  
If that's the case make sure you research their reputation.  One of my main motivations for working on my own bike was because I got to know all the local mechanics.

[atek3]

Sweet NT650
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6708&item=4552989940&rd=1

Sweet FZR400
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50042&item=4553617227&rd=1


atek3