How about a used sports car, instead of a motorcycle?
I rode bikes for many years, until my oldest son was killed on a CBR seven years ago.
According to NHTSA, “Motorcyclists are about 32 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than drivers of other vehicles.”
Don’t get a bike. Your family and friends won’t have to see you injured or killed. And they won’t have to leave a website like this: http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/zekasfamily
Regards, jeff zekas, susanville, california
I’d recommend a Suzuki Savage 650 (now known as the Suzuki Boulevard 40). It’s low & narrow, and has plenty enough accelleration without getting away from you. Another good choice would be the Honda 450 Rebel. Enjoy!
For the needs you’re looking for (short hop trips/no highway) a 4-600 CC bike is plenty big enough.
If can find a decent one for a fair price I would recommend an older BMW boxer twin. Say a 600 or 750. Plenty of power, good torque band, and they’re mild mannered. In a nutshell, they won’t try to kill you when you wick the throttle.
The reason I would recommend this bike over a high tech, shrouded, rice rocket is because servicing the BMW is very easy. If you have to pay a bike shop to handle some of that routine maintenance on a rice rocket it can get pricy quick.
Price things like a valve lash adjustment and you’ll see what I mean.
With the Beemer, even a slightly mechanically inclined person can handle just about anything that ever crops up.
Not to mention they’re reliable as can be. Our ex-mayor (now moved) was a stone cold die-hard BMW guy and he had something like a million miles on his Beemer; and that was 15-20 years ago.
I rode mine all over the country and a good friend of mine did the same even after crashing his half a dozen times at better than 60 MPH. Looked like utter garbage but always got from Point A to Point B.
I’d agree with the sub 750 cc recommendations. I agree more with the going used suggestions. I agree MOST with the MSF course. It’ll save your life.
'86 Yamaha Radian - 50,000 miles
You don’t need a large battery. With the LED technology available, your bicycle lights can run on AA batteries and be quite visible. Just check out the bicycle lights available at discount retailers. You could even run them on rechargeable AA batteries.