Motorcycle help?

[metavain]

I'm about to start getting into biking, and i need some help.


1. What are the best motorcycles for just inner-city use, such as from a home to school? (Being a student, this is what i'll be using it for.)

2. What are the better lower quality brands?

3. About how much will it cost to get started, with the bike and equipment and everything?

4. What is the average gas mileage for a bike?

5. I'll have a budget of about 5,000 for the bike, about 1,000 for everything else. Is this okay? What is the best I can get with this?

6. What exactly is CC and what is a good number?


( By the way, i would expect to get used stuff, and trying to get everything really cheap)

 

[It's That Guy]

The best motorcycle for inner-city use is a scooter. They are especially nice for newbies because they have auto transmissions, low center of gravity so they're easier to handle, very user-friendly. If you never plan to go more than 45 mph, you don't need a motorcycle!

You ought to be able to do nicely for 5,000 + 1000. You could do it for half of that.

'Better lower quality brands' is an oxymoron. Actually, any of the major Japanese manufacturers are great--Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, not necessarily in that order. I am a Honda person myself, but all the Japanese brands are fine. You ought to be able to find a good used one for $1500 or so. Maybe $2000 for a really nice one. If you really want to go hog-wild, a Vespa is more expensive but has -style-.

cc is Cubic Centimeters, the size of the engine. More means more power, and usually more weight. 50cc is a little dinky bike for around town, up to, say, 40 mph. 150cc is a bike that can do occasional trips on the freeway or day-trips out into the country or campouts in a state park or something. Don't say "Well I'll never do that" because biking is so much fun you'll find yourself making excuses to go out on the weekends. My first bike was a 200cc scooter and I ended up taking it on 200-mile days, on camping trips in the mountains. Real motorcycles start around 500cc, which is your regular all-around motorcycle. 650cc and up is a -real- motorcycle, for crossing continents. Bigger is for more power or more comfort on long trips. But just for around town you want something at the other end.

At the very least you gotta have a helmet, a good jacket and good gloves. By 'good' I mean they are made for motorcycling. The jacket should be leather or some fairly heavy textile that is abrasion resistant. The gloves should also be leather. If you have even a very minor spill, you stick your hands out instinctively, and consider that when trying on the gloves. A helmet is as cheap as $75 or $80 (and more money doesn't buy you more safety!) A jacket might be $100-$150. Gloves might be $30 or $40 unless you want something fancy.

Smaller scooters get 60-70 mpg. 'Real' motorcycles more like 40-50. Big, powerful, crotch-rocket motorcycles sometimes get 35 or even less.

Good luck! Remember that half of all motorcycle/scooter accidents happen in the first year of riding, so be careful out there! I don't blame the bikes, though, I blame the riders. If you're not totally stupid you'll do okay.