by Carla King

BeginnerBikes

Motorcycling for Women: Beginner Bikes Motorcycling for Women: Beginner Bikes

WHAT’S YOUR STYLE?BeginnerBikes

I was lucky. I learned how to ride when I was 14 years old, flying through tobacco fields and over hills and through the woods. When I fell off I bounced right back up again. When the bike broke I either figured out how to fix it or pushed it back home. Usually I’d figure it out.

The little Honda I started on was definitely a beginner bike—a term widely debated today. Makers of large motorcycles claim their new 500cc machines are beginner bikes. I beg to differ. They’re heavy and have so much power they can flip a newbie onto the road while it continues on down it.

Yesterday’s 500cc motorcycles were considered mid-sized. An 800cc motorcycle was impressively monstrous. Today, a 250cc or under bike may actually be all you need for years if you’re riding backroads, commuting, or enjoying off-road adventures. When your skills are honed, and you decide what kind of riding style you prefer, you can always trade up. Most beginner bikes hold their value.

If you’re lucky, you’ll find a little bike waiting for you somewhere in a barn or in a neighbor’s garage. If not, go shopping! The kind of bikes recommended in these pages will give you confidence, allowing you to hone your skills and to enjoy motorcycling in the long term.

—Carla King

What’s a beginner bike?

Motorcycling for Women: Beginner Bikes Motorcycling for Women: Beginner Bikes

Standard

Honda CB Series

Like many manufacturers, Honda stopped making small standards about a decade ago when specialty bikes became the trend. But chances are you can grab one of these babies for cheap. Bonus: it’s classic enough to win admiring glances!

SIMPLICITY

Standard motorcycles make great beginner bikes but they’re also really nice all-purpose bikes. Some people start with a standard and move on to a specialty bike, like a cruiser or racer or dual-sport, and end up keeping the standard. They’ve been around so long there are lots of used ones on the market.

The upright riding position makes it easy to look around without having to bend your head into uncomfortable positions. The controls lie exactly where your hands and feet naturally rest, which means it’s easier to deal with emergencies. It’s also very well balanced, with your center of gravity exactly in the middle of the bike.

Standards come “naked” without plastic coverings, fairings, or any kind of bling. This means that when you drop it you won’t be breaking a lot of expensive parts.

Many manufacturers stopped making standard bikes under 250ccs, but there are plenty of older models on the used market that make great starter and around-town bikes.

Classic. Retro. Naked.

Suzuki TU250X

One of the rare under-250cc standards being made today, this is a great keeper bike for city and

backroads. Freeways are doable but not its forte. Under $4000

and gets over 60 mpg.

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COOLLow. Laid-back.

Take a standard bike, extend the front fork, put a teardrop gas tank in front of the lowered seat, and you’ve got a cruiser. You’ll need to reach a bit more forward with your feet to find the foot pegs, but that all contributes to the “laid-back” styling of this kind of motorcycle.

Cruisers are good bikes to learn on because they’re low enough for most people to get both feet flat on the ground, which gives you better balance and more confidence.

They come “naked” so if you drop it you’re not breaking a lot of expensive options. But once you’ve got the hang of it, you may be tempted to add saddlebags, a small windscreen, maybe even tie on a sleeping bag and tent and take off on a classic American backroads journey.

CruiserHonda Rebel 250

This popular cruiser is light and low and a real keeper with

decent performance on the freeway. Buy it new or find one

used, but plenty of people don’t want to give up their Rebels.

California Scooter Company

These little bikes were inspired by the Mustang motorcycle built from the 1940’s to the 60s. The 150cc, five-speed engine gets you up to 50-60 mph and, at only 240 pounds, it’s easy to throw around. Add a 90 mpg range, an under $4000 price tag, and a nice array of accessories to the list of temptations.

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SportKawasaki Ninja 250R

The Ninja name is practically synonymous with the category sport bike. This zippy little 250

has a liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine with 6-speed transmission

and 36 horsepower.

Hyosung GT250R

This Korean company makes a slightly lower-cost competitor to the 250cc Ninja. With its lower 27 horsepower and 5-speed transmission, it was built with beginners in mind.

SPEEDYZip. Zam. Zoom!

Sport bikes are made for racing. For that reason they’re not really the best choice for a beginner, but there are a few under-250cc models that won’t scare a newbie out of motorcycling altogether.

When you sit on a sport bike you’ll be tilted forward with your feet back behind your seat and some of your weight resting on your wrists. You’ll have to lift your head up to look around, because the sitting position forces you to curl into the shape of the bike.

That said, they’re made to be light and maneuverable so they can corner better. But when you drop it, there’s a lot of expensive plastic that’ll scraped and broken. And it is for that reason you may be able to buy one quite cheaply. (You may consider removing damaged plastic altogether for a more “naked” look.)

A good alternative to a sport bike is a “scrambler” or a street-focused dual-sport, like an old Honda CL series or the Derbi Mulhacen Cafe described in the Dual-Sport section.

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DualSport

Derbi Mulhacen Cafe 125

Here’s a stylish dual-sport with naked styling on the “scrambler” side of the equation, built with aggressive city riding in mind. Derbi also makes the Terra Adventure 125, built for long journeys on mixed-terrain.

Honda CRF230

This is really a dirt bike with features that make it street

legal. But Honda makes a version--the CRF230M--

that’s tuned for commuters who want curb-jumping

fuel-economy.

These bikes are made for maximum maneuverability so you’ll find that the seat puts you upright at comfortable attention and the controls are all sitting where you intuit they’re going to be. This is a basic bike that comes fairly “naked” with an exposed engine and higher ground clearance (and therefore seat height), so you can jump logs or curbs and ford streams or ditches. The handlebars are straight ad wide providing stability while you’re out of your seat standing up on the pegs.

There are many varieties of dual-sport motorcycles, but all are made for both street and dirt riding. Some dual-sports have dirt bike roots and others, such as “scramblers,” are street bikes modified to ride or race on dirt. The old Honda CL 360 is a good example of a scrambler.

Though seat heights can be high, the smaller dual-sports are great beginner bikes and really wonderful second bikes. Like standards, they don’t have a lot of expensive chrome and plastic that will be damaged when you drop them. Adventurous travelers will throw a couple of saddlebags on and take off to anywhere in the world.

VERSATILEJump curbs. Ford streams.

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Yamaha TT-R125LE

This 5-speed, air-cooled 4-stroke weighs under 200

pounds wet. A 31.7 inch seat height and 11.6 ground

clearance gives you plenty of stump-jumping fun.

KTM 125 EXC

The 36.4 inch seat height and 15.4 inch ground clearance may be too intimidating for all but the most ambitious budding off-road enthusiast. The liquid cooled, 6-speed, 2-stroke engine was made for competition.

Like dual-sport motorcycles, off-road bikes are built for maximum maneuverability with wheels and suspension that can handle rough terrain. Also called enduro motorcycles, they’re super-lightweight with no extras to weigh you down or break off in a fall. That means no mirrors, turn signals, horn, license plate holders, and sometimes not even an electric start or a headlight. They’re not legal on the road, though you can add items to make them street legal.

Many off-road motorcycles, especially motocross racing bikes, are equipped with 2-stroke engines, which are simpler to manufacture than 4-stroke engines, because they have no valves. Two-stroke engines deliver power faster and cheaper but burn fuel inefficiently and are more polluting.

The higher ground clearance and seat height of off-road bikes is necessary to allow riding in rough and uneven territory without damaging the engine or your lower extremities.

If you’re looking for family fun, 50cc off-road bikes are made for kids so you can all ride together.

Slip. Slide. Speed. WILD!

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KYMCO People

KYMCO is an example of the many relatively new companies that offer low-cost scooters and motorcycles. KYMCO’s “People” scooter come in various sizes designed to fit you from 50cc to 200cc.

Vespa

Vespa scooters are classics and you might find that your first two-wheeler is a “keeper” for life. There are lots of old Vespas for sale, and

they’re easy enough to work on that you might even consider res-

toration on your own.

UTILITARIANClassy. Practical.

Scooters are ideal entrees into the world of motorcycling because they have automatic transmissions and feet-on-the-floor positioning so you can concentrate on staying upright and cornering.

Many scooter riders decide they want to try motorcycling, but many decide to stick with scooters. Why? Because they’re ideal commuter vehicles that are comfortable to ride while wearing street clothes and shoes.

As gas prices rise so do scooter sales, and manufacturers are eager to offer lots of options like candy colors, matching accessories, and special-purpose models like high-performance touring scooters and even three-wheeled all-terrain machines.

Scooter

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Brammo Enertia

The Brammer Enertia models have no clutch like a scooter. The seat is 32 inches, and they weigh 324 pounds. Maximum speed is about 60 mph, and they get about 40 miles to a charge. With an $8000 price tag, you going to love the gas savings. Other models are faster and have a 6-speed drive train.

Vetrix VX-3

This spiffy three-wheeler costs about $15,000. It gets up to 68 mph and has a

range potential of 80 miles. Set the front wheels to either full-stability for low speed

manuvering or fully-articulated steering for higher speed travel. It accelerates and

decelerates with a twist of the throttle.

FUTURISTICEconomical. Ethical. Shhhh!

None of the handful of electric motorcycle makers are making beginner bikes per se, but offer scooters and smaller dirt bikes that could be suitable for beginners.

Seat height doesn’t matter on the three-wheeler shown here, which could be a fun start for beginners exploring the feeling of riding. It’s even powerful enough to keep up with your motorcycling friends—if they stay under 65 mph.

Because it’s a rapidly developing technology, these bikes tend to be expensive and you can’t expect to make up your investment on the resale value. By the time you’re done with it, the next generation will likely make yours obsolete. Factor in gas savings, and maybe that’s not so bad.

Electric

Your guide to learning, shopping, choosing, riding, staying safe, and having fun.

More in this series of booklets will provide the basics of what you need to shop intelligently for the right motorcycle and gear for your riding style. Join the mailing list on the author’s website to be notified when each of these booklets are published. Click here to visit CarlaKing.com/

• Beginner Bikes: Standard, cruiser, sport, dual-sport, dirt, and scooter.• Lingo: Rake and trail, wheelbase, clearance, drum vs disc brakes, chain vs belt vs shaft drive.• Gear: Jackets, pants, boots, gloves, helmets. Leather, Cordura©, mesh. Practical fashion.• Accessories and Modifications: Lower seat hight. Add options. Customization. Bling!• Resources: Learning to ride.• and more!

Read American Borders, the story of Carla’s advenures on a Russian sidecar motorcycle.