Buying a bike can be a daunting, confusing experience for many of us. Our perspective changes with experience and age. My risk tolerance changed as I got older. Our requirements change as we gain experience. When I bought my first bike, I was only concerned about getting a bike and going riding. I wasn’t thinking about where or how I wanted to ride, I just wanted to GO!
When I bought my current bike, I had very specific requirements. Among other things, it needed a certain amount of power, it needed to be off-road capable and it needed to be Japanese-made.
I look at details like the maintenance schedule for the bike – how often does it need oil changes and valve checks and how much will that cost me?
There are some great guides to buying new bikes out there. What I am going to outline in this post is basically a synopsis of some of the best information out there on buying a bike and some tips for people buying their first bike.
Cost is obviously the first and overriding factor. The problem is that when you’re buying your first bike, you have little to no idea on what you want and what things cost.
Let’s start with some basics in no particular order:
- Brand reliability: Consumer Reports is a reliable source. What you will quickly see looking at almost any source is that Japanese-made motorcycles rate very highly.
- Style/Type: When you purchase your first bike, you likely have an idea of which style of bike you may like based on looks. Hopefully you’ve taken a beginner riding course and have ridden at least one type of bike. I think there’s a good argument to make that your first bike won’t stay with you too long. There’s so many factors that will come into play in your first few years of riding that it’s unlikely your first choice will be your dream bike. Will you make riding friends and want to ride something like they do? You’ll have new experiences in your first several years and your dreams will take time to evolve. Ultimately though, one of your first decisions will be to choose between a cruiser, sport, naked street, dual-sport, dirt bike or adventure bike.
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When considering type, consider the following:
- Cruiser: Generally good for ambling around town, without wind protection it can be less comfortable on the highway at higher speeds. You sit in a neutral to leaning back position, which can make it more difficult to engage in the twisty corners but you’ll still enjoy them. Most cruisers have luggage options so you can take them on trips. They are generally lower to the ground and so not able to lean over as far or go as fast in the twisty corners as other styles.
- Naked Street Bike: Great bikes for learning, commuting and for doing twisties. Very agile and generally have decent range. You sit in a neutral to forward position. Usually a bit smaller and so perhaps less comfortable for long trips. Fewer luggage options available and so more challenging for long trips.
- Sport Bike: Even the smaller power sport bikes are super fun in the twisties. Also decent for commuting. You sit in an aggressive, forward position. Common starter sport bikes are typically not comfortable enough and lack the range for longer trips, although it is doable. They also lack decent luggage options.
- Dirt Bike: A dirt bike is purpose-made for riding off-road and usually cannot be licensed and insured for the road. They are typically maintenance intensive and unfit for longer trips.
- Dual-Sport Bikes: These bikes are a compromise, made to be a jack of all trades, but master of none. You sit in a neutral position and generally dual-sports are a bit lighter than big bikes, making them quite agile. The range on stock bikes is roughly the same as most other bike types, that is to say – average. They are usually fairly comfortable for long riding, and can be modified to make this even better. Dual-sports are becoming increasingly popular for adventure traveling because they are lighter than big adventure bikes, which makes them both confidence inspiring and more capable of technical off-road riding.
- Adventure Bikes: Adventure bikes are larger and heavier than dual sport bikes. They are intended to make long trips both on and off-road. Because of their weight and size they are generally unsuited for technical off-road riding except by the more skilled riders. They feature large fuel tanks, giving them extended range. They are generally quite comfortable to ride over long distances and conversely not as useful in traffic or commuting in the city. You sit in a neutral position and typically they are quite capable in the twisty corners. There is a large variety of modifications and luggage available for most adventure bikes. An interesting development is the advent of smaller displacement and sized adventure bikes, opening up the market to newer and smaller riders.
- Cruiser: Generally good for ambling around town, without wind protection it can be less comfortable on the highway at higher speeds. You sit in a neutral to leaning back position, which can make it more difficult to engage in the twisty corners but you’ll still enjoy them. Most cruisers have luggage options so you can take them on trips. They are generally lower to the ground and so not able to lean over as far or go as fast in the twisty corners as other styles.
- Displacement: Displacement is typically measured in cc’s. “cc” refers to cubic centimeters. I won’t bore you with the full explanation, you can google it if you like. Essentially it is a measure of the capacity of the engine. When people talk size of motor, they refer to “cc’s”. Harley Davidson refers to their motors typically in cubic inches. For years now there’s been a “bigger is better” mentality when it comes to cc’s. However, people are reconsidering this notion as it applies to cost, and the actual capability of lower cc bikes has increased. Lower cc bikes are cheaper to buy, cheaper to insure and when bought with a specific purpose in mind can be extremely capable. On a side note, bikes with the same displacement are not necessarily the same. Horsepower matters. Compare the horsepower of similar types of bikes you are looking at.
- Size/Weight: The size and weight of the bike are obviously important. A larger person will want a bike with a bigger frame and look. However, new riders will want to keep the weight down as much as possible to inspire confidence. Newer riders will usually want to be able to flat-foot the bike. (Sit on the bike with both feet flat on the ground) Larger, heavier bikes are more difficult to maneuver and can be scary for some people. It depends on your life experience and background. I know people who are supremely physically confident who rode mountain bikes their entire life who started out with 450 pound bikes and had no problem. I also know someone who had little to no experience on bikes and started out with a 500 pound bike and had to trade it in at a significant loss to get a smaller bike because it was too intimidating.
- Costs: Let’s talk about the costs of buying a motorcycle. First there’s the costs associated with buying a new motorcycle. When you buy a new motorcycle, it is likely stock. That means it likely has no extras on it such as luggage racks, luggage and engine guards. You may not need these and if so, they aren’t a factor. When buying a new motorcycle, there are the extra costs of freight, pre-delivery inspection (pdi) and doc fees that all dealers tack on to the sticker price. This typically amounts to at least another $1,000.00. A new bike sticker price and fees really amounts to peace of mind for you. You know this bike is brand new, under warranty and should be totally reliable.
Having said that, there is a lot of value in finding a used bike with low mileage that is still under warranty. Often people have also done the first service and added optional extras to the bike which also depreciate and don’t factor into the buying price. Let me share a tip with you. I personally hate buying and selling things. I am terrible at it and will almost always pay too much for something and/or wind up buying a lemon. In almost every group of friends, there will be that one friend who excels at buying and selling things. They always seem to get the deals. These people usually take great pleasure in the ‘process’ of buying and selling. Enlist their help in buying your motorcycle, I guarantee they will be keen to help. I did this on my last bike and got a smoking deal on a used bike with only 5k on it and it included the balance of a 5 year factory warranty. I couldn’t be more pleased with my purchase. One of the reasons I am writing this guide is that a lot of bikes pop up on used sites and facebook marketplace that are around a year old and have less than 5k on them. Many times these are bikes people bought that don’t work for them in some way and now they need to get rid of them to get the bike they actually want.A second factor that is important to consider is the maintenance costs associated with the bike. You can determine this by researching the “maintenance schedule” for the bike. What you are interested in is how often oil changes must be done and how often the valves must be checked/adjusted. I have a friend who bought a 2020 Suzuki GSX250R and found out the oil needed to be changed every 5,000 kilometers and the valves needed to be checked at I think every 10,000 kilometers. It’s an intrusive process usually that requires the tank and/or plastics to be removed and re-installed thus costing extra hours of shop time at on average $120/hr in my city. Then you have a bike like mine. Oil changes at 6k and valve inspect/adjust at 24k. Understanding the maintenance costs is important.
Another cost factor is extras/modifications you may want for the bike. Once you’ve actually settled on a bike type and have an idea what you want to do with it, you may decide you need extras such as luggage, crash bars, a phone/gps mount, center stand or rear paddock stand, radiator guard or hand guards. It’s good to understand the costs of those options so you aren’t going to be surprised after you have purchased the bike. When shopping for your bike it helps you understand the actual value of what you are looking at when a prospective bike includes some or all of these extras already.
Finally there is the cost of insurance. In British Columbia, Canada where I live, insurance rates are primarily dependent on the cc’s of the bike. Here are the insurance brackets:
- Up to 110cc – $
- 111 – 400cc – $
- 401 – 750cc – $$
- 751 – 1150cc – $$$
- Over 1150cc – $$$$
So those are some of the important factors to consider when buying your bike. Another recommendation I would make is this: Take a Training Course. Besides the obvious benefits of taking a training course, it will give you the opportunity to ride at least one style of bike. This experience with type, size and weight may help you make your decision on a first bike. It will also help you decide whether motorcycling is for you or not before committing to the purchase of a motorcycle.
I’ll leave it to a popular Youtuber to make some recommendations for you on new bikes. There’s a lot of opinions around on this subject and who really needs another one??