A few newbie questions

[purem3tal]

Hello I am looking to buy my first bike this summer:

Are 80's bikes a good idea? My budget is rather small ($3000) and I see a few 80's yamaha's that might be easy on insurance and initial purchase cost.

I want something that is mid-range sporty, so no cruisers or dirt bikes, I was really looking into Ducati Monsters, but out of my budget. That said, I really like the CBR's and recent reviews Ive read about their bikes said they are very rider friendly. Is that true? Good bike to learn on?

I think that is all I have for now. I hope I posted this in the right section.

TIA

Jarod

[Fly boy]

I have a 92 cbr600... the purple and pink.

it was my first road bike and I love it. Very forgiving, compfy, and insurence is 119 liability. I can hit a ferrari and still be covered. oh, and I have tickets :)

I bought mine from here, got a bit ripped off, but it was much cheaper that what I was going to pay. Honda's are known for being a good all around bike, and good starter bike.

good luck

[bitterpil]

80s bikes are beautiful and classic. The problem unfortunately is that they are 20+ years old. If you are truly interested in a 80s bike I would run it past your local bike shop for service prices on carb service and valve adjustment. Also you should swap tires when you get it.

As a new rider you need confidence in your ride. Your mind and eyes need to be on the road and traffic not your bike.

If I were to recommend a bike for a new rider it would be the 90-00+ Honda 750 nighthawk. This is a big bore bike with a neutral riding position and is virtually maintenance free. This bike can be had in the $3000- $5000 range and should get the price paid after one year of ownership depending on mileage. Being young and on a tight budget, maintenance free is a good thing.

Ride, decide if you like it and then move up and on our out and lose little.

[D_Sp8s]

My first bike was a 93 CBR600F2. I picked it up when I was 18 for about $2500. It was an awesome bike to learn on, I ended up putting close to 14,000 miles on it in just a year and a half. The ergonomics are fairly neutral and comfortable. I only had a few problems with the electrical system but they were easily fixable. The motor had 38,000 miles on it and was in perfect condition. I would still be riding it, but I had an unfortunate accident 2 weeks ago.

I agree with bitterpil when he suggests the CB750 Nighthawk. My dad bought a 1995 CB750 last year so that he could get back on a motorcycle. I think he paid between 3,000-3,500 for it. It is a great bike. The ergos are much more neutral than the CBR but they are extremely comfortable. One advantage of the 750 is that it is naked so that if you happen to drop it or just tip it over then you wont have to deal with broken fairings.

Both bikes have plenty of power especially for a new rider. Insurance will be higher for you for the sole reason that you are young. I think my insurance was around $700/yr for liability and comprehensive.

Just thought I'd put in my 2 cents. Just make sure that you always strap on a lid and if you like your skin you might want to add some leathers.

[rybo]

Check out this post for some more opinions (including mine)

http://www.cosportbikeclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22719&highlight=

[Mel]

You can go a fair bit into the 90's (mid to late) and still only spend about $3K for a 600cc "sportbike" and with that you will get better handling and technology. The Hondas are long lasting bikes, and fairly forgiving to ride. They are also great things to be said for Suzuki SV650 (very similar style and stance to a Monster) and an SV (00 and newer) can be had for right around $3k as well.

[NZ Darren]

You shouldn't have to get an 80's bike for 3k.
I spent 3k on a 2yr old slightly rashed up yzf600r

At the very least you should be looking at late 90's for 3k.

[Asterix]

3000 should be no problem, i got a mint 1996 yzf 600r for 2700 with only 9,000 miles. watch craigslist especially.

[purem3tal]

Wow, I ran a progressive on the nighthawk 750 and it was just a fifth of what I have been getting for such bikes as the cbr600. That bikes insurance was rediculous, more than twice what I pay for both of my cars.

Are there any other comparable bikes that I could look into as well? Really, the monthly insurance payment is the only thing holding me back.

[bitterpil]

Progressive underwrites a lot of insurance companies morotrcycle insurance and recently ( in the past year or so ) re-evaluated the way they value insurance.
In the past they looked at CCs and Faring or no. Now they are a little more particular.
example: I was quoted $185 per yr for a 1300 VTX but $1100 for a Yamaha FZ1. Both are 1000cc or better but they are different beasts.

Yamaha used to make a Radian a Fazer and a Maxim. they were all standards along the same lines as the nighthawk but I am not sure how far into the 90s they went.

The 750 nighthawk has no farings. Thus when you drop it ( there is a good chance you will about 50% new bike owners drop them) you will cause much less damage if any. I am talking about it just falling over not you crashing.
A full faring like on a CBR can be $1000 to replace depending on age.

The problem is that Honda was pretty much the last company to get rid of their "standard" bike the night hawk. Most other companies had long since gone with the sport , touring, cruiser model lines a while back.

You mentioned being young and money seemed to play a big roll in this purchase.
The nighthawk would give you a nice bike, plenty of power, Very low maintenance and low on insurance.
You need some extra money for protective gear. Get a Quality Helmet and a good jacket.

I have nothing against the more sporty bikes but given your age, money and insurance I think the CB750 is your best bet.

[purem3tal]

Thanks for all the words bitterpil

[rlarsen]

Or you could tell Progressive to shove their bloated quotes up their ass, and contact State Farm. Then you can get pretty much whatever you want (although I'd recommend listening to reason if it's your first bike, obviously).

For perspective, I pay $540/yr., full coverage ($1000 deduc.), 2 tickets, 2006 GSX-R1000. I'm 26 and married.

I was quoted about $3600/yr. with Progressive. What a joke.

[rybo]

Other ways to get insurance discounts:

Take a MSF new rider course. Most insurance companies offer signficant discounts for having done so.

Get your all of your policies in one place. If you insure the bike with them take your car and homeowners or renters insurance to them as well.

Another way to reduce your insurance costs is to get an older bike and not have collision or comrehensive coverage on it. The liability insurance on most bikes is pretty cheap, where collision insurance on a bike wrapped in plastic can be pretty expensive. Get an older CBR F3 and accept the loss if you drop/crash it.

The only other one that I am aware of that offers a significant discount is to have years of riding experience. The longer you have your license and don't make a claim the better the discount gets.

Bike selection matters with some companies. Generally speaking anything with the "superbike" look is more expensive to insure than standard bikes such as a nighthawk, hawk gt, sv650, honda 599 etc.

[denverbusa]

Ditto on the state farm. Move all your vehicles and get a multi line discount. All they look at are CC's not style.

[bitterpil]

All good info....Bike and insurance are important...Great!
The most important is good gear. Make sure you get a Quality Helmet, Jacket etc.
Your Helmet is your best insurance.

[kpp80202]

The old 700 Nighthawk from about 1985 is a great starter bike. I believe it has hydraulic valve tappets, so no valve adjustments are needed.

[kpp80202]

I forgot to include that insurance is cheap for them, they are cheap to maintain, and cheap to buy.

Old BMW's are good buys, too, and will run forever.

[rmeredit]

Look @ a YZF600R. It's *not* too much bike for a beginner, is a good deal, and you can grow into it.

[*GSXR~SNAIL*]

I'm currently paying $409/yr with American Family for my '04 (1700cc) Road Star. I asked about insuring an '06 GSXR1000 and those bozos want $212 a month! So, I checked with State Farm for the same '06 GSXR1000 and they said 431/yr if I move my autos too or $720/yr if I just insure the Gixxer. State Farm is what all my buddies use for their sportbikes. Looks like I'll be joining them when I get mine.

ToRMenT

[livinlife2themax]

Well while we are all on a insurance talk here... I just thought i would share some good info! I am a 21 year old male, not married or anything nor do i have any tickets.....in the system that is, and i had my cbr 929 with state farm..... I was payng $120 a month!!!!!!! so when i started lookin into my bike i just got I saw that they wanted damn near $300 a month for it... So did everyone else, i found a company called country comany insurance...they have a quite a few places around here (look them up on yellow pages.com) Anyways i told them i was lookin for insurance, they said that i would have to transfer my main vehicle to them....but once they told me the price i had no problem!!!! my 2006 cbr 1000rr cost me.............$30 a month!!!! That is full coverage, 100/300/100 $500 deductible so on so forth. When he told me the price i told him that he had to have put the wrong bike in the system, he showed me and sure enough it was the correct bike. The way they go about charging is this, they see a bike as a secondary pleasure vehicle, and the also know that it does not matter if you have a 600cc or 1000cc bike you can get F****** up on either one, it is all in the driver. So to sum it all up if you have a clean driving record and you dont mind switching your car over to another company i would look into them (by the way my suv was $60 a month cheaper with them compared to state farm, and better coverage!! I was with state farm over 4 years, but tell you what not goin back to them... If you need a phone number pm me and i will give you my agents number.

[purem3tal]

What does everyone think of Buell?

[Bueller]

What does everyone think of Buell? :lol:
They suck!

[Devaclis]

My progressive policy for a 2002 SV650 and a 1989 Honda Hawk is $150 a year for full coverage, $1000 Ded., Medical, uninsured, and $300k limits. I have a sketchy past driving history but I have also been with progressive since 1994.

[fe911]

I pay $75 a year from progessive, basic liability. It is for a '98 cbr600f3 that I paid $3000 for. I bought it two years ago in June.
This is not a good time of the year to buy a motorcycle. Everybodies looking for one right now. The gas prices aren't helping much! And the sellers are asking a lot-especially on craigslist. I haven't seen many good deals on craigslist lately.
What I did was look on ebay. I restricted my search to items nearest me, and I went and looked at the bikes that were close. There seems to be good deals that way, plus you don't have to pat shipping.

[EVO8]

$112/YR=liability
$190/YR=full coverage
STATE FARM
2000 R1