If you’ve not been riding motorcycles for a while, it’s likely you’ll have a fair bit more disposable income than when you were younger. The temptation is to throw your cash at something flash, but its not always the best move.
Let’s face it, we’re all suckers for something that looks gorgeous. Whether that’s a thoroughbred Italian sportsbike or a chromed-up cruiser depends on your taste. But if you’re returning to motorcycling, it’s worth evaluating what really would be the best bike for you.
A great way to do this is to buy something not too extreme to begin with. Get a few kilometres under your belt. Discover how you actually use a bike in practice, then start planning (and saving) for something you know is going to be right.
Okay, so you have a full motorcycle licence. You know how lucky you are, don’t you? You’ve seen what kids today have to go through to get a licence, then proceed gradually to bigger displacement machines. In theory, you can go straight out and get a Haybusa, a 2.3 litre Rocket III or a massive Harley.
The smarter bet is to start out with something like a middleweight all-rounder. Say between 400cc and 700cc, with a conventional riding position and not too heavy. A machine like this is really versatile yet easy to control. Just the thing for getting your eye in. Plus they are popular machines, making them easy to sell later.
Modern sportsbikes are incredibly light compared to earlier machines. But not all bikes are featherweights and some, like big cruisers, are very heavy. When you’ve been away from riding for some time, manoeuvring a big beast like this can be intimidating. If the bike falls over it can cause a lot of damage - to you, as much as the bike.
Picking a machine like this up once it’s on its side is no mean feat, either. Check out the section on manoeuvring and, if you don’t feel confident doing those sort of things, try looking for a lighter machine. Anything over 200kg dry/220kg ‘wet’ is going to start to feel heavy.
