Any input....son wants his first bike

[DenyP]

My first ride was a 175 Lambreta. The next machine was a 200 Triumph Tiger Cub. Next was a 350 Honda. Then a 750 -K1 Honda. I have owned several bikes since. Had I started with the 750 K-1, I would probely not made it to manhood!

Deny

[olebiker]

I fall in camp of are you nuts an 1100 to start. I had the same talk with my 26yr. old son on the weekend. I suggested a 400 or 450 older. Not a big investment. If he lived here I would start him in the winter on a small dirtbike in the snow. Try that on an XS1100. I want my kid to know how to ride. I would kinda like him to stick around he survived the military now he has gotta get through the first year or two of riding. Once upon a time I taught the course do you think we used 1100cc bikes. Of course not and why would you think that would be ok for any new rider. Just blows my mind, and if you had an 1100 as your first bike and it was ok you got lucky plain and simple. I have also ridden in competition and you don't start there in superbikes do you? The small displacement bikes are also easy to sell once you are ready to move up. There are lots of people learning to ride now that want them. Tell your son good luck and yes those people in cars are all blind.

[fredintoon]

First, learn on dirt.

I started my boys on dirt bikes at 9 or 10 years old. One should first learn to ride off road so one isn't bothered by traffic as one sorts out which control does what and most importantly, one learns to ride on loose and treacherous surfaces. Any fool can ride on smooth dry blacktop but being able to cope with loose dirt, sloppy mud and lumpy great rocks gives a rider a definite edge. So start your marine riding dirt on a good quality dual purpose machine. The control he can only learn by riding dirt may save his ass on the highway some day.

[planedick]

Back in '52

I started with a Whizzer motorbike for 3 months then moved to a '42 HD Springer. Except that I'm a very lucky guy I whould have been killed. My dad was the one who nearly killed himself on the HD when he drove it into a concrete culvert and took the handlebars and windshield in the lap and went accross the road and down the bank. About 8 weeks in the hospital, and months in a full body cast. Running a farm and going to school is really a full time schedule for a teenager.

I think the persons maturity is the part that matters most, or you could limit that throttle with some kind of mechanical stop to limit its range. Sorta like my friends dad did with the car when his son was gonna drive. Blocked the throttle so it would only go 50 mph.

[DJinNH]

I figured you all would have some good input. I was on the phone with my son last night and read some of your posts to him.

He's pretty much in agreement with me, or so he says, that he should start with something around the size of a 600 maybe. We saw an absolutely beautiful Honda rice rocket located right nearby me for a good price. The bike looked very well kept in the photos. I guess it was sold yesterday.

I told him since he has about 4 more months left in CA before he goes back to his base in NC, he might as well look around and take his time making his decision. It just figures this other bike I mentioned looked so darned tempting. Still, I said to him, how are you going to get it from NH to NC? Kind of a long ride for a beginner! I said he may want to look more in the NC area.

FYI, the SH I am restoring is something he can ride when he is home. Once he gets skilled, he can have it if he wants but I know he is more into the rice rocket that the classical cruiser. The SG is more for me.

Saw a nice KZ in great shape on ebay but like I said, not what he's really interested in.

Thanks again for the help.

Don

[Bud Manley]

I'd recommend a 1100Vstar silverado or something similer. Price wise its only a little more than the 650 version with a liitle more power and it comes with bags and a windshield, it works every time you start it and its good for commuting. He won't be popping any wheelies on it or racing.
If he's squared away like every single marine I've ever met he won't have any behavioral problems with anything you get him.
I don't understand why everyone seems to be on the smaller is better bandwagon. They all go 55 at the same speed.
Idiots get killed regardless of what their riding.

[birch]

No on the rice rocket

Crotch rockets, although small in stature are actually horrible low speed handlers. They have a very poor turning radius, and only handle well when moving. The power is iffy as well. They are relative dogs until they reach their horsepower/torque curve. This will surely catch your son off guard. I would shy away from any "rocket" for a first bike at all costs.

Thats all I have to say about that.

[fredintoon]

Hi Don,
I guess you are missing my point. ANYBODY'S first ride should be a dirt or a dual purpose bike and it should be primarily ridden off-road until the rider learns to properly operate the machine in the loose, lumpy & slippery conditions common to off-road riding. This essential skill cannot be learned except by personal experience so strongly suggest to your marine that his first bike should be a moderately powerful dual purpose bike that's already beat up enough that he won't mind it getting a bit more so as he learns the limits of it's off-road performance.

[olebiker]

I am sure with Fred on this one. And to the guy who does not understand why go back and reread the thread. There are a lot of years of experience on this thread. It won't take long to figure out were majority of the long time riders are on this one.

[fredintoon]

On a personal note

My folks rode public transport. Dad claimed that if you couldn't walk or use public transport to get there it wasn't a place worth going to. He also said that cars kept you poor. No argument about that one, eh? My mother finally got her drivers licence at age 53 and I finally learned to ride a borrowed bicycle at age 15. So I was a motorcycle first in our family and learned to ride elderly Britbikes exclusively on blacktop. As a consequence I am a very poor and terrified 2-wheel rider off road, gravel on blacktop also scares me silly. Only adding the 3rd wheel changed that to being a competent rider off the blacktop. Which is good as every rally in Saskatchewan seems to include a couple of miles of gravel road.
And that's why, when my package deal second marriage included two small boys, I got them into off-road bikes and trail riding as soon as they were tall enough and bought them both the rider safety course as 16th birthday gifts. They are far more skilled riders than myself because of this. My Eric was riding my XS650 at highway speeds when the swingarm bolt snapped and fell out in the street allowing the back wheel to lock up. All that trail riding experience allowed a then 16 year old to ride the bike to a safe halt at the end of a 100 foot long black rubber tire trail where dad would most likely have dumped the bike and been taken away in an ambulance.
And that's why I am such a strident advocate of a person first learning to ride off-road.

[birch]

AMEN!

[olebiker]

Fred you are pretty smart for a young fella.

[LoHo]

I'm a fan of the "buy a bike you can afford to work on and get the full experience" school of thought. A ten to 15 year old standard of some sort would do fine. A crotch rocket is a ticket to trouble until he is older, although being a Marine is fairly hazardous nowadays as well. Doing the work oneself is what makes one a biker. I don't think the size of the bike will be a big issue for a Marine-trained young man. You should see some of the geezers who putt in to our rallies on a big XS.

A dual sport might be a good choice for learning some dirt tricks and still having transportation. Testing the limits of ones cornering skills is better done on some sandy stretch of outback rather than on Hiway 49. A sandy lowside is a laugher, a pavement lowside is a groaner.

For what it's worth, I learned to ride on my XS11...

[olebiker]

I give up!

[DiverRay]

LoHo,
You need to keep the AGE factor in there. You were OLD when you learned, and already slow!! We are talking a YOUNG MAN, who has been trained for some things, DOES have some sense, but still NEEDS TO LEARN THE BASICS of riding. The DIRT is the ONLY SAFE PLACE to do so. You know how bad the drivers are in California, just think of how they are THAT CLOSE to the border!