Lots of good advice already. I will chip in my two cents. I bought my first motorcycle and started riding last year at the age of 40. I had never ridden a motorcycle before, but had always wanted one. My son (15) wanted to get a bike to ride to school and around. My wife / his mom for some reason said OK so within a couple of weeks I bought two bikes.
1) TAKE THE MSF COURSE! Already mentioned, but it is great and you will learn the basics of how to ride.
2) Start small. I bought a 2003 Yamaha Virago 250 off craigslist for $800. It is a great little mini-cruiser, the newer ones are called V-Star 250 but are the same basic bike. It needed a new front tire and a battery but otherwise was in great shape. At the same time I bought my son a 2006 Ninja 250 for $900. It needed a new battery and the plastic fairings were scratched up and had some cracks. It is great if you are more into sport / standard bikes. Remember it is your first bike, not your dream bike. You will make some mistakes. I forgot to put the side stand down and almost dropped the Virago in the driveway. It was small and light enough I just grabbed it and picked it up before it hit the ground. I did drop the Ninja using too much front brake going into a turn and hit some gravel. It got a few more scratches on the plastic and a broken turn signal, fixed for about $20. You will cry much less when you scratch or drop (or total) a sub-$1000 bike than a $5-10,000 bike.
3) Wear your protective gear. When I dropped the Ninja, it was a good lesson for me. It happened much quicker than I expected - no slow motion, preparing to hit the ground like in action movies BS. One second I was riding, slowing down to turn, and then BOOM, I was on the ground with the bike on my leg wondering what just happened. I was wearing boots, jeans, leather jacket, and full-face helmet. My head did not hit the ground, but my left ankle was under the bike and the left arm and shoulder of my jacket got chewed up on the asphalt and gravel. I got a bruised ego and a sore left arm for about a week. If I had not been wearing gear even this low speed little boo-boo would have involved urgent care or the ER to pick gravel and asphalt out of what skin I would have left on my arm.
4) Ride every chance you get. From February last year to March this year, I put between 3000 and 4000 miles on the two bikes. I rode to work, around town for errands, to my son's football games, pretty much anywhere I could go without getting on a highway for long periods. The Ninja does OK at highway speeds, but the Virago does not go above 65 very well. After about 2 months I thought I could have gotten a bigger bike, but in the beginning I had committed to myself to keep the small bike for a year. This month I sold the Virago for $100 more than I paid for it and bought a 2009 Yamaha V-star 950. My son is keeping the Ninja 250 for now. Unless you totally trash your first bike, you can sell it easily for close to what you paid for it and put that money toward your next bike.
1) TAKE THE MSF COURSE! Already mentioned, but it is great and you will learn the basics of how to ride.
2) Start small. I bought a 2003 Yamaha Virago 250 off craigslist for $800. It is a great little mini-cruiser, the newer ones are called V-Star 250 but are the same basic bike. It needed a new front tire and a battery but otherwise was in great shape. At the same time I bought my son a 2006 Ninja 250 for $900. It needed a new battery and the plastic fairings were scratched up and had some cracks. It is great if you are more into sport / standard bikes. Remember it is your first bike, not your dream bike. You will make some mistakes. I forgot to put the side stand down and almost dropped the Virago in the driveway. It was small and light enough I just grabbed it and picked it up before it hit the ground. I did drop the Ninja using too much front brake going into a turn and hit some gravel. It got a few more scratches on the plastic and a broken turn signal, fixed for about $20. You will cry much less when you scratch or drop (or total) a sub-$1000 bike than a $5-10,000 bike.
3) Wear your protective gear. When I dropped the Ninja, it was a good lesson for me. It happened much quicker than I expected - no slow motion, preparing to hit the ground like in action movies BS. One second I was riding, slowing down to turn, and then BOOM, I was on the ground with the bike on my leg wondering what just happened. I was wearing boots, jeans, leather jacket, and full-face helmet. My head did not hit the ground, but my left ankle was under the bike and the left arm and shoulder of my jacket got chewed up on the asphalt and gravel. I got a bruised ego and a sore left arm for about a week. If I had not been wearing gear even this low speed little boo-boo would have involved urgent care or the ER to pick gravel and asphalt out of what skin I would have left on my arm.
4) Ride every chance you get. From February last year to March this year, I put between 3000 and 4000 miles on the two bikes. I rode to work, around town for errands, to my son's football games, pretty much anywhere I could go without getting on a highway for long periods. The Ninja does OK at highway speeds, but the Virago does not go above 65 very well. After about 2 months I thought I could have gotten a bigger bike, but in the beginning I had committed to myself to keep the small bike for a year. This month I sold the Virago for $100 more than I paid for it and bought a 2009 Yamaha V-star 950. My son is keeping the Ninja 250 for now. Unless you totally trash your first bike, you can sell it easily for close to what you paid for it and put that money toward your next bike.
