Anyone know anything about motorcycles?
 

Okay, here's the deal. We've pretty much narrowed our choices down to a 1990 Honda VFR750 for $3000 and a 1997 Honda CBR600 F3 for $4500. Does anyone know enough about bikes to a) recommend one of these or b) recommend a completely different bike? We're first-timers, so we'd like something easy to handle, but still with enough power to keep up with our friends :)

Anyway, those are the bikes we've found that are closest to where we live. We probably don't want to get a brand new bike, mainly for the issue of price, but I don't know if the '90 would be too old. It's got a tiny bit of rust on some screws, the plastic has a small crack around a bolt, part of the seat is coming away a bit from the body... plus a few minor scratches and dings that come from it being used, of course. It's got 29,000 miles on it.

Oh, and while you're at it, settle a decision for us: Can motorcycles be spotted as easily by radar as cars can? We've heard it's more difficult for them to get a speed on bikes. Just curious.

Thanks guys!

i know they have 2 wheels . . .

a quick search on the google monster thing reveals that radar detectors are made for motorcycles, so i'm guessing that means they can be detected pretty easily

I'd get the CBR600....Hondas are well made and generally last longer than average, but newer is always better when it comes to bikes.

Deadrabbit- guess I could have thought of that; doing a search that is :) I've been out in the sun all day today, we went to a waterpark lol.

Yeah Atmo, that's kind of what I was thinking... but I've also read some really good things about the VFR. Well, I've read good stuff about the CBR too, but nothing to compare both of them. The VFR is about a mile from our house (we checked it out today), and the CBR we were looking at online is prolly a couple hours from us.

If we're going on the "newer-is-better" idea, I'd almost consider getting the F4. I guess it may cost another $1000. Anyone know if it's worth it?

Which one, overall, would be a better "beginner's" bike?

Or, can someone suggest a different make? Suzuki/Kawasaki/Honda all seem the same to me, but only cuz I don't know a whole lot about bikes yet. We have a friend with a Ducati (I have no idea what model right now, it's completely slipped my mind), but I have a feeling we either wouldn't be able to afford a Ducati, or wouldn't be able to find one nearby (a few hours away). Same with Buell and Triumph.

A Suzuki GSXR 600 or 750 would be nice, not really learners bikes though...They fly.

mmm flying bike

omfg have we all forgotten about HARLEYS??????!!!?!?!?!?!

seriously, if youre gonna get a bike, get a REAL bike.

depends on the riding. cursing harley. reliable honda. fast suzuki or yamaha. new to riding. something cheap and lite.

I am not a bike expert, but isn't harley more of a rugged bike, and i've seen some nice sleek honda's, those smaller faster, colorful, {ahem awesome} type of bikes?

The CBR600 is going to feel a little more comfortable riding two up, but I wouldn't recommend either of these for a couple as both are intended more for peg scraping than cruising.
I'd suggest you look into mid-displacement touring bikes.
You'll come to love having a fairing to protect you from high speed bugs, birds, and gravel.
A nice touring package would also give you some storage space, a stereo and intercom speakers in the helmets.
Mrs. Deaux and I have enjoyed touring the country by motorcycle, but I wouldn't want to ride far on a canyon racer...go with comfort!

Buy a Harley!
Then you can go slow and still be cool:up:
I know, I totalled a 1990 Ninja in the canyon twelve years ago and almost found out if there is an afterlife. Stupidly, I was only wearing shorts, a helmet and my 'Boks. I bled from almost every pore on my externals:igor:

Hmmmmmmm, I guess I didn't make this clear...

It's not going to be a touring bike. We have the cars for that. This is basically going to be used for Chris to go to work, save a bit on gas mileage, and have a little fun.

We have nowhere near enough money to buy a Ducati, as I said, much less a Harley. I think we'd rather go with the sport bike for now anyway- we don't really want a big, heavy bike, at least not yet. Maybe after we've used one a few years, we might get around to touring bikes. I wouldn't mind taking a trip on one :D

Atmo- thought about a Gixxer, dunno if I can find a site to compare it to the CBR, although I did find a racing site where they do compare a lot of sport bikes. It's been fairly helpful so far.

Chev- I'm glad you were wearing a helmet, or you prolly wouldn't be here today, the way it sounds.


<edit>BTW Chev, Chris REEEEAAALLY likes your avatar. Damn you :D </edit>

All I know about them is that I have an old version of Moto Racer on my PC and I've seen Arnold Swchjsglajglaer drive them all around in Terminator 2. And Mötley Crüe in the uncensored Girls Girls Girls video that was banned from MTV. That's basically all I know. And if you crash it is real easy to die. Oh here's another thing, my science teacher in 6th grade had a Harley and he wore his kevlar vest-protection thing to school every day. I hope I've helped. Now I am going to get some more violent and ofensive smilies for my sig...

Bikes are less susceptible to radar than cars, for the simple reason that you create a far smaller radar shadow, bearing in mind that most speed guns can track you from over half a mile away. If the gun was handheld then you could contest it in court without problem. The radar gun would have to be tripod mounted and even then there would be a certain margin for error.

The advantage for bikes here is that they don't have tags on the front. Cars here are legally required to do so (not the same in the States, as far as I know). Most automated speed traps are forward facing, therefore they get a photo of you and your bike doing ninety, but no idea who it belongs to.

Ya, I was in the canyon with a friend on another Ninja. I was trailing when we came around a blind corner, me on the rear right side. When the turn went from a sharp right to a sweeping left, I hit a patch of gravel. The bike immediately went down on it's side with me literally surfing on it until it went through a pine tree and slid through thick gravel. That's when I slid and rolled along the ground stopping 3 feet short of a huge boulder. A bit more distance and I would have left a big stain on the rock. All this 3 weeks before my son was born:igor:
:D

I am yet to start out on my motorbike life. My girlfriend is learning to drive in a car, so i am sorted their, so ican concentrate on a bike. Unfortunalty, in England, lessons are a little over my price range.

I had a little Honda Twinstar for a while and it was awesome for getting around town and stuff. As Atmo said, newer is almost always better, and for an extra $1500 you're getting a bike 7 years newer. Have fun. :D

Okay, we found out that we can't get a loan on a used motorcycle from our bank :igor: No idea why not... used cars are worth less than used bikes, age-wise. We're gonna check with his bank in his hometown. This sucks.

Just one question... I know everyone says newer is better, but seriously, if the other one isn't in THAT bad of a shape, just some minor repairs could be done, it shouldn't be a problem, should it? I mean, do bike parts break down as often as car parts?

We may just end up waiting until after winter, since we wouldn't be able to use the bike for about 3 months anyway.

But Honda is good, right?

Usually newer is better, but a 10 year old bike thats been well maintained will be better than a 6 year old bike thats been thrashed.

And yeh, hondas are good, i had an XR250 trail bike that lasted ages...

it is the headlights. the headlights(and license plates) are the main reflector of laser/radar energy. laser detectors usually are only able to tell you that you just got a ticket, unless you were lucky and the cop hit you while you were still too far out to get a reading (over 1500 yards).

as for bikes, all I can say is wear your helmet. thats about where my knowledge of motorcycles ends.