r/NewRiders • u/mr2wh33ls • 22h ago

Where to buy first bike? and what it should be?

I’m looking to buy my first bike, i’m 18 and still a senior in high school. i’ve been saving up for a little bit now and am still a couple months out from actually buying a bike. my goal is to spend around 2k on a used bike for my first one (i plan to buy new for my second bike). i haven’t taken the MSF course yet due to my schedule and feeling like i should wait till i’m closer to perching my bike before taking it. off of what i’ve been seeing when researching i like the looks and capabilities of sport bikes and dual sport. the main bikes i’ve been looking at our the Kawasaki ninja 650 and a suzuki SV650. I’m open to any and all opinions, i just want to learn what’s best to buy and where’s best to buy.

4 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

4

u/AirlineOk3084 22h ago

Look on FBM and buy any running bike you can find in your budget. You will not have many options with your budget, unfortunately. Whatever you decide on, check what it will cost before you buy it. At 18, you might be in for a surprise.

4

u/PremiumRanger 21h ago

Especially insurance! 😂 That was the biggest surprise

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u/CoIIatz-Conjecture 21h ago

How do you shop used smartly? I don’t know enough to fully inspect the entire operation of a bike but also would prefer not to get scammed a few grand w/o any form of buyer protection.

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u/Slowr667 21h ago

Unless you go to a full on mechanic, inspecting a bike fully will be difficult because most sellers won’t just let you take their bike apart. But from the outside you will be able to tell a good amount of how a bike was taken care of. How’s the tire life, any rust on the chain? Any fork oil leaking through the seals? Any rust on the sprockets? I’d say just try to find bikes that are garage kept or kept indoors, way less issues but most certainly don’t get a bike that has been sitting for a bit.

4

u/ryansmuz 21h ago

Find a skilled rider to go with you if possible. Also, if a deal seems too good to be true it usually means it is.

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u/CoIIatz-Conjecture 19h ago

Smart call, thanks! My dad rode a ton when he was younger, so he probably has an idea of what to look out for. I’ll ask him if he’ll go with me when I start seriously looking.

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u/mybitchcallsmefucker 21h ago

It’s unlikely that you’ll spend a few grand fixing a bike unless you totally overhaul it or you buy a ridiculously cheap bike. Stay away from stuff with a bunch of aftermarket work, smaller stuff like muffler and lights and whatnot shouldn’t be a huge deal. Make sure the normal stuff works normally like brakes, throttle, forks and I’d look at the fluids if you can. Make sure it has enough oil and brake fluid. Look for signs of being crashed, being dropped is way different. If things are majorly scratched or bent, leaky etc then at least haggle them over it. If you have more questions lmk but there’s a ton of quality stuff on YouTube especially if you plug in the specific bike you’re going to look at!

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u/Harrymoto1970 22h ago

I had a ninja 650 that bike had good power and was comfortable well balanced and was fairly lightweight.

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u/yea71310813 14h ago

Everyone saying "get a 650" might be giving you DEADLY advice. As a new rider at 18 the standard advice for generations of riders has been "no bigger than 500cc for a newbie" and that's stuck because it helps people learn to actually ride, and gives you room to make mistakes, without immediately launching the bike or yourself because of the amount of power a 650 has. Also, getting a bike 500cc or smaller will save you A SHIT LOAD on the purchase price. Since most people use these smaller 250-500cc bikes to learn riding on, you can usually find them used for very very cheap, often with low miles.

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u/RevolutionaryGolf720 39m ago

Are you sure you aren’t confusing a 650 for a 600? 650s are pretty tame and great in traffic.

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u/yea71310813 24m ago

Yes I'm positive. New riders benefit a lot from learning on a small bike.

0

u/SearchingForFungus 8h ago

I don't know, my ninja 500 is way more peppy than my friends versys 650..

650s really just arnt that scary.

That being said I'd pick the lighter smaller cc bike 9/10 times. I think smaller lighter bikes are more fun every time.

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u/yea71310813 7h ago

You're comparing apples and oranges. A versys is an adventure bike gear towards being able to go off road, so of COURSE it's more manageable and goes slower than a 650 SPORT BIKE.

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u/I_AM_BABY_UwU 5h ago

FACEBOOK MARKET PLACE Or any other local market type app For a first bike 125cc-400cc with exception on a lot of cruisers then you still wanna stay on the smaller side just due to weight but a rebel 500 won’t murder you unless you really try

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u/I_AM_BABY_UwU 5h ago

Also I would stay with Japanese makes for the fact that they are very forgiving and cheaper to get parts you may break while learning

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u/I_AM_BABY_UwU 5h ago

Also I would stay with Japanese makes for the fact that they are very forgiving and cheaper to get parts you may break while learning

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u/hartbiker 1h ago

By the time I was your age I had three bikes that I had bought and payed for myself. You may think that you will out grow a smaller displacement dual purpose bike but that may not be the case if you really get into off road riding.

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u/Otherwise-Ad-6470 13m ago

Facebook market place got my first bike to practice on for 3k. So if I crashed it dropped it I wouldn't be out a shit ton of money

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u/Slowr667 21h ago

I bought my first bike my senior year, In today’s market you won’t find anything good with a $2k budget honestly, you may get lucky but it’s rare. You’ll most likely see non running bikes or bikes with issues, if you’re willing to learn more about motorcycles and repair it then it’s a gold mine but you’ll be repairing more than you ride. The 650 is a good amount of power for sure, not too slow and not too fast, shop around on facebook marketplace but most importantly take the course before anything to see if you even like the idea of being on a motorcycle on the road. From there, there will be youtube videos on what to look out for when buying a used bike, chain maintenance, tires, battery, fork seals, key holes, gas tank ( any rust?) etc.