Good motorcycles for first time riders

It's a question that I see all over the Internet, and probably would see more often in person if I knew more people who were looking to become motorcyclists: "What's the best bike for a first time rider?" Nearly half the time, somebody replies, "A Kawasaki Ninja 250." It's easy to understand why, as that's one of the best bikes out there for first time riders. But there are plenty of other good choices. Some of these recommendations would be similar for everyone, while others I'd say depend on the rider. The reason the Ninja 250 gets recommended so often is that it fits a lot of riders, not to mention a lot of budgets. There's even quite a few experienced riders who keep a Ninja 250 around.

Unfortunately most dealerships won't let you test ride bikes. In some cases, I suspect the salesman who says "Sure, this bike would be perfect for you!" secretly fears you have little chance of bringing it back in one piece if you test rode it. Other bike dealers will hire a sales staff that doesn't even have motorcycle licenses. There's some good salesmen out there who will point you towards a bike that matches your abilities, but too many who are thinking of their own commission.

In some countries, the choice is made for you - they have a set of rules about what bike you can get after you first get your license, and you have to stick with them. I'll assume you live in the United States or another country that lets you buy anything when you have a license.

I've often heard people recommend waiting until after you take riding lessons to pick out your first bike. I didn't and Philip did. But I think it's a good idea. It's possible you may find that a particular type of motorcycle you wanted, or even motorcycling itself, doesn't really fit you. And it's also possible that you may find you like the bike they assigned you in the class enough that you'd want one just like it. Some classes even have several different bikes and let you ride different ones. This does seem to be the exception rather than the rule, as it appears to be more common that you'll be assigned one bike and stay with it throughout the class.

If you leave the class thinking that the bike you rode there is all you are ready to handle at the moment, I'd recommend getting a 250 cc bike as your first bike, or maybe a Buell Blast (which is what they use in Harley classes). These are light, controllable, and predictable. You may leave the class feeling you're ready for a bit more. Here are some rules of thumb about how to avoid getting too much more. These are what I'd recommend for a first bike.

1. It needs to have forgiving and predictable handling. Although horsepower doesn't say much about the chassis or braking, it's a good predictor on modern bikes of how the rest of the bike will behave. I definitely wouldn't recommend more than 60 hp for your first bike. You may think that's a bit small, but a sport bike with rider will typically weigh somehwere around 600 lbs. 60 hp in a sport bike is like having a Mustang with 350 hp, only a Mustang isn't quite as much at risk of falling over if you break the rear wheels loose in a corner. On sportbikes (or bikes with sportbike-based engines, like a Yamaha FZ6), that means no more than 500 ccs. A 600 may not seem like much of a jump, but the 600 cc sportbikes are built for all out power. A Yamaha YZF-R6, for example, can put over 110 hp to the rear wheels. That's over twice what Motorcycle.com measured from a Ninja 500. With cruisers or dirt-oriented machines, you can get a bit larger than 500 cc.

2. A bike that's too heavy can be a handful for a beginning rider to control, too. A good rule of thumb is to keep it under 500 lbs and get a bike that's light enough you can pick it up if it falls over, without any help. If you can pick it up, there's less of a chance you will actually have to.

3. Being able to keep your feet flat on the ground when you're at a stop is also very helpful to the beginning rider. Most riders should be able to find a good bike they can "flat-foot" - that is, get both feet flat on the ground when sitting in the saddle. If you're under 5'2" you may have to settle for getting the balls of your toes on the ground instead. But an average sized rider shouldn't make that compromise.

4. You ought to pick a bike that'll fit you. You should be able to find one that meets these guidelines that you feel comfortable sitting on, that fits your budget, and that looks like your idea of what a motorcycle should look like. There are quite a few bikes out there that are appropriate for first-timers, so you don't have to settle for a cruiser if you really wanted a sport bike, or vice versa.