DISCLAIMER: I'm not some ignorant kid looking for some hot-ride bike to stunt around on. Yes, I'm 20, which is younger then a lot of you (I'm assuming), and I know a lot of people around my age are coming on and saying 'I want an R1! Yeaahh, boyz!', but rest assured that I 1) Would never buy a bike that big, ever, 2) Wouldn't ride without having fully completed all the courses I can. I'm not afraid of the bike, per se, but I know that I can easily mess up and get seriously hurt. That said...
Alright, I'm looking into buying my first bike in the next year or so (It'll take me that long to get the money and finish all of my training courses). I prefer the look and feel of sport bikes over traditional cruisers (I've messed around, by which I mean riding around a big empty parking lot, with a Ninja 250 and a GZ250 Marauder), but I'm not going to exclude them as a choice.
Anyways, I've got a few questions for you guys:
1) Is there a noticeable difference in handling between sport bikes and cruisers? Is one type easier then the other? When I was tooling around with the two bikes, I found the Ninja a bit nicer on the corners, but the cruiser wasn't *that* much different, and was a bit nicer on the straights for me.
2) Which size of bike would you recommend to start out? Some people I've asked have recommended 250s and others 500s, for a number of reasons. I'm leaning more towards the 500, simply because I'll likely want to upgrade to one eventually, so it saves me the hassle of buying a 250, selling it, and buying a 500. Plus, I'd like to do some distance trips on one (When I graduate, I've been...well, dreaming, honestly-of a road trip back across Canada-I go to school in Windsor, but live in Whitehorse), and I don't think a 250 would fare very well on a trip like that, simply because I'd be running it really high for a long time.
3) Are there any particular brands of safety wear you'd recommend? I'm going to get the full-on set (Going from predominantly large vehicles to a barebones motorcycle, I'm taking all of the protection I can get)
4) As an addition to 2), are there any bikes you'd recommend for that range? I don't have any preference for brands, really. As for price, I'm looking up to $7000, new or used.
Aside from those, any other recommendations? Thoughts, opinions, things I should know? Any help would be much appreciated.
Alright, I'm looking into buying my first bike in the next year or so (It'll take me that long to get the money and finish all of my training courses). I prefer the look and feel of sport bikes over traditional cruisers (I've messed around, by which I mean riding around a big empty parking lot, with a Ninja 250 and a GZ250 Marauder), but I'm not going to exclude them as a choice.
Anyways, I've got a few questions for you guys:
1) Is there a noticeable difference in handling between sport bikes and cruisers? Is one type easier then the other? When I was tooling around with the two bikes, I found the Ninja a bit nicer on the corners, but the cruiser wasn't *that* much different, and was a bit nicer on the straights for me.
2) Which size of bike would you recommend to start out? Some people I've asked have recommended 250s and others 500s, for a number of reasons. I'm leaning more towards the 500, simply because I'll likely want to upgrade to one eventually, so it saves me the hassle of buying a 250, selling it, and buying a 500. Plus, I'd like to do some distance trips on one (When I graduate, I've been...well, dreaming, honestly-of a road trip back across Canada-I go to school in Windsor, but live in Whitehorse), and I don't think a 250 would fare very well on a trip like that, simply because I'd be running it really high for a long time.
3) Are there any particular brands of safety wear you'd recommend? I'm going to get the full-on set (Going from predominantly large vehicles to a barebones motorcycle, I'm taking all of the protection I can get)
4) As an addition to 2), are there any bikes you'd recommend for that range? I don't have any preference for brands, really. As for price, I'm looking up to $7000, new or used.
Aside from those, any other recommendations? Thoughts, opinions, things I should know? Any help would be much appreciated.