Hey guys got a question here for ya, I’m looking at buying a cycle, it will be my first one, I don’t got the money to buy a harley and I don’t want one to big to handle since it’s my first bike, but I think I have it down to 3, the suzuki intruder 800, the honda magna or shadow, or the yamaha v-star custom. I really like the yamaha v-max, but think the 1200 cc might be to much for me. What do you guys recommend, which one is better in your opinion, thanks for the help. also I’m looking at buying it brand new so I can get a warranty and free accesories with it, good idea if I can get it a good price?
No queation about it, buy yamaha v-star. If you plan to do alot of two up riding buy 1100 otherwise buy 650. Install drag pipes, jet kit and BAK kit from baron and your bike will kick any harleys ass in performance reliability looks and price. Right now yamaha has a great deal on bikes, $50 a month with $750 in free accesories, the deal will end this month.
I own a Honda Sabre. I love it. As far as first bike is concerned you will adjust to whatever you buy. I do not believe in that start small crap. In general if it is a cruiser it handles like a cuiser, if it is a crotch rocket it handles like a crotch rocket you as the rider will adjust. The only time the size of the bike matters is how strong you are. If you are a weak tit most likely you would lay a 1200 cc bike on your leg just from stopping at a light. It also depends on leg length. If you have short ass legs you will not want a high riding bike. It will not be comfortable and will lean a lot on your legs. I would say try them if you can. Have you taken the safety course? Do you have your liscense to drive one? Remember there are two types of riders 1. Bikers who have laid it down. 2. Bikers who will lay it down. I have been riding for 9 years and have laid it down once just recently. If you want a cruiser with power go with the magna. If you want speed go with the v-max I have heard nothing but good reviews on this. If you want cool look and power the Shadow 1100 or better. What kind of riding are you going to do? Do you ride 2 up? Are you a big guy. I mostly ride 2 up and I am heavy so I have to go with a 1000cc or better bike to climb mountains etc. I often time will ride up to sky line drive overlooking Shenandoa Valley. Very pretty but 3300+ feet up. Bikes ride really hard at that hight and underpowered will get you in trouble. So basically it depends on what you want, Look, Performance, dependability, or resale value.
I don’t have my license yet, but picked up the motorcyle book today and will test to get my permit next week, and from there starts my journey. I might head to some dealers this weekend just to look and hoping to buy one next weekend. I like the sabre too but rather get the spirit 750 over the sabre. I have never driven a cycle before so I don’t want to get to aggressive in the motors. People tell me if you start out with to much power without experience you won’t learn how to drive, corner them, etc as good as if you started out with a something more medium ocre. I have a 6 foot athletic built so I’m not small. Plus the more power the more cash. But I have to look around and try them out, see which ones feel better. The v-star is the cheapest out of all of them, and I noticed that every time I see a picture of that bike, a lady is riding it, is this some lady’s bike? I’m just curious, I do like it though and its at a pretty good deal. And looks like yamaha does give better deals on new bikes. If I go with honda, which one do you think is better the magna or the spirit 750? Thanks for your opinions. No one said anything about that suzuki, does that intruder compare?
Again it depends on the kind of riding you will doo. Sprint is good for distance\cruise. Magna has more power at the rear wheel. REason chicks are on bikes…bitches sell. Oh and yeah the small v-star is a chick bike. ha ahaa. Seriously though I said it before I will say it again that stuff about a smaller bike teaching you to ride better is bunk. Just makes people feel better about being afraid to ride a larger bike. Just because you have a 1200cc doesn’t mean you ride it like you are in a race… That is rediculous that is like saying that a Porche 911 turbo is faster than a toyota celica If they are both stuck in rush hour traffic. Meaning you buy a bike you are comfortable how you ride is not determined by the bike but by you. Figure out what you want to do with it and buy accordingly not the other way around. Say you buy a 750cc today ride it for year (it depreciates a bunch). You decide to sell it to upgrade (they rape you) to a larger cc bike that you should have bought in the first place now you have to learn how to handle that new bike… It makes no logical sense. Just buy what you want to ride and ride safe and smart. Someone like yourself should take the time and money to take the motorcycle safty course it may save your ass.
Good luck.
Just adding my 2 cents. I agree with knuckledragger, size of bike is b.s. if you are a full grown man and have the strength and maturity to hold a larger bike.As far as personal preference,I love yamaha over all the other jap bikes.I’ve owned a couple and was very impressed, I like the shaft drive the use as it is very smooth and it has plenty of juice when you twist the wick.I also like the fact that it is not watercooled and does’nt have the blocky radiator that in my own opinion{although that and a buck will get ya a cup of coffee, so long as it’s not from starbucks then you are talking serious coin for a cup}that takes away from the sleek lines and overall aesthetics.
o.k. guys, I talked to alot of dealers, and they said that they don’t go down in price no matter if you pay in cash or finance it. So now I’m starting to get a little stingy here, The honda magna is what I want but the cheapest I could find it was for 7300 bucks. Now I have taken out the yamaha v-star custom and the suzuki intruder 800 off the list, but somebody talked to me about the kawaski vulcan 750. I like it, its pretty comparable to the magna and its 1500 bucks cheaper. Also when I took the intruder off the list, I got a glimpse of the marauder 800. Thats also pretty comparable to the magna and it’s also the same price as the vulcan. So what do you guys think. I really don’t want to spend more than 6 thousand bucks but I’m not willing to sacrifice quality either. Hoping to make the big decision this weekend. Thanks for your help.
Consider buying a used bike. You can still find a bike in excellent condition for $6000. Or you can wait till february, in winter prices usually go down. I had experience with kavasaki vulcan 800, it has aproblem with suspension, hard to make leftturns without scrapping the ground. Not sure about 750.
I did it, bought the 2002 magna. Its a killer bike. Just can’t wait to get use to driving it. I’m practicing and its alot harder than driving a stick. When I first bought by car,(manual) I might of killed it twice, but this bike stuff is a little more tricky. I am going to take the motorcycle safety course to help me out a bit. It is an awesome feeling though riding it. Thanks for all your guys help. Peace out.
You should have bought a Harley. You’ll be sorry you bought the Honda the minute you try to sell it or trade it in. You may have got a great deal on it, but now its worth crap. On the other hand, the value of the Harley would remain the same or gone up, depending on the market.
When are getting your Honda tattoo? LOL
No really, its all about freedom. Ride safe and I’ll see you on the road, although I probably won’t acknowledge you since you’ll be on a rice burner:)
About Harleys, read what Nate House has to say.
Three bikers were killed when two outlaw motorcycle gangs clashed in a Lauglin, Nev., casino last week, and I can’t say I’m all
that surprised.
My lack of surprise has nothing to do with the Hell’s Angels reputation or The Wild One. No, it’s that the reputation of bikers
has become all too respectable lately, and it was only a matter of time before some of them took a stand and did something about it.
As a motorcyclist, I knew we were losing it when my American Motorcycle Association Christmas catalog included golf balls. At the
Sturgis rally in Sturgis, S.D., one of the largest motorcycle rallies in North America, the welcome sign included AOL logos. Recently I’ve been cut off on the road by soccer moms, skateboarders and pedestrians. I’m beginning to fear that we no longer cause any fear.
Three people died in the shootout in Nevada last week, and that’s a tragedy nobody needs. An even bigger tragedy, however, may be how
biking is exploding all over the place, sucking in folks from all economic strata in what is quickly becoming one of the fakest things
people with money can fake. According to the HOG (Harley Owners Group) Web site (www.hog.com), the organization had 60,000 members in 1985. Today there are more than 650,000. Harleys are the bike of choice for many in the outlaw motorcycle world. They also seem to be the bike of choice for those who seek to imitate the outlaw motorcycle world. This sets a dangerous precedent.
Last summer my partner and I rode our old Japanese motorcycles (combined value $1,650) from Philadelphia to San Francisco. We
stopped at a beautiful mountain pass in Yosemite National Park to eat granola and stare at the peaks. It was a peaceful moment, the kind of moment we rode across the country for - when the rumbling sound from the cut-off pipes of seven Harley Davidsons ruined the silence. The riders had on jeans, leather jackets and big leather boots; they looked the part as they pulled their bikes near ours. But as they
dismounted from their $20,000 machines, flaunted their $500 outfits, began to act incredibly obnoxious, asked us to take their pictures with digital cameras, we realized that these were not bikers. These were rich men who had spent their money on the right to look like a biker, and they were acting the way they thought bikers should act. Outside Needles, Calif., we stopped at a store near a reservoir to escape the 110-degree heat. A man with a beard to his chest and weighing three times our combined weight pulled up on a big blue
Harley and sat down next to us. He looked much more threatening than the men in Yosemite. He introduced himself as Big John, offered us a
beer, and began to talk about how much he loves his motorcycle. He was nice as pie.
Big John got it right; the men in Yosemite didn’t. Being a biker isn’t defined by how much chrome you have on your bike, or how many
accessories you own. That’s the definition of a good consumer. It isn’t defined by the Hell’s Angels, Mongols, or Pagans. It isn’t defined by how your motorcycle sounds or looks. It’s defined by the way you take your bike on the backroads even though it takes two hours longer to reach your destination, the way you know where the dirt on your exhaust pipes came from, and the way you begin to enjoy wiping bug carcasses off your face. It’s the way it makes you feel when you take a corner just right. It’s about the feeling you get when you look out the window in the morning to see that your bike is still there, 21 years old with a little rust on the headers, still in the morning light, waiting to take you to a place you’ve never been.
Amen. well put,Bro.
when you said, ‘buying a cycle’ I thought this post was meant for the ‘steroids and other drugs’ board 
Good post man, I agree.