Rugged, easy to control, and reliable.

[Bahram]

Hello All,
I am 52 years old with very little riding experience and just completed my BasicRider Course through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and am looking to buy my first motorcycle. My commute to work is about 22 mile each way. About 14 miles of that is on the freeways around San Diego, CA, and 8 miles on surface streets with a lot of stop lights. I am looking to buy a used mid-size motorcycle that is easy to handle, rugged and reliable, and not too heavy. I am 5’7” tall with 29-30” inseam and am considering a used BMW or a Buell. Would anyone with riding experience on these bikes be able to tell me if BMW 1100 or 1150, or Buell a XB12R (2004) or XB12S (2004) are too big for a beginner? I don’t know anyone who has owned a Buell. Are they very expensive to maintain? First I was thinking of a used Ducati 695, but I learned that Ducaties are very expensive to maintain and service.

Thank you for your input.
Bahram
:)

[Bahram]

Sorry!!!
I may have posted this in a wrong forum. I'll post the same thread in the general motorcycle discussions.

Bahram

[Darth_Firebolt]

i would not recommend a 1203cc bike for someone's first bike, but most of the people that ask me are under 20 (no offense).
if you think you can control your throttle hand until you get comfortable on the bike, go for the buell. i was 17 when i got my buell, but i came from a 250, then a 600cc suzuki katana, so it was just another step up from the kat. if you do get any of the nice bikes you mentioned, do yourself a favor and get a beat up ninja 250 to ride around town until you have mastered the clutch, throttle, braking, and getting your feet up while leaving stoplights. if you drop the beat up 250, you will probably be able to pick it up by yourself, you will be out a minimum of money, and you'll still get great gas mileage. :]
good luck with whatever you get.

[Bahram]

Thanks to all those who took the time to educate me based on their invaluable experience (in this forum and elsewhere), I am now convinced that I really should start on an older and smaller bike and gradually switch to bigger and more powerful bikes. This is just safe and logical. Emotionally, everyone would like to ride a nice and powerful bike, but emotions and motorcycles are a dangerous mix, like drinking and driving is. So, I will happily look for a smaller, older, cheaper bike and ride it until I gain enough experience before moving to a bigger bike. Thanks a lot and happy and safe riding all.:)

Regards,
Bahram

[Darth_Firebolt]

good call!

[macphisto]

Hey Bahram,

As a fellow newb rider, welcome! My piece of advice to you: whatever you decide to buy, practice every chance you get! Take your new baby out to a parking lot and get really comfortable with shifting, turning, stopping etc, before you even think about commuting to work. Get as comfortable as you can there, before you move out onto some side streets with little-to-no traffic. But practice, practice, practice!

Let us know what bike you get! :D

[sbkal08]

If you're in pretty decent shape (abs, legs, upper back)? Go for it! I think the XB12R or XB9R are perfect beginner's bikes, especially if you're planning on moving up to a full on super sport or super bike race rep! The XBRs will do everything a in-line four can except, unfortunately, for the stratospheric top end. If you're just going to commute, you won't get the most out of a sport bike anyway, and it would be a waste of some good high performance rubber to just wear the tires down the center. LOL Have you looked into some of the so called naked bikes being offered by the Big Four? It may be worth your while to check into. I'm obviously pretty biased towards sport bikes. I have ridden cruisers of different displacements and find them too heavy, slow, and sluggish (read gutless). Whatever you decide, enjoy!