Starter street bike recommendations?

[tshort]

A woman friend of mine wants to get into riding, and has never ridden anything before.  She's plenty tall enough to ride pretty much anything out there, and she plans on taking the intro riding course.  Unfortunately, a dirt bike won't work for her, since she's somewhat city-bound (here in Milwaukee).  

It appears a lot of the Japanese makes have dropped everything between 250cc and 600/4's.  I thought there used to be 400-550cc twins/4-strokes out there for the street - but guess not any more.

A used, standard-type motorcycle would seem to be the way to go.  Not too powerful, but enough so she wouldn't be bored with it after a couple months.

Any thoughts???

[Baltobuell]

Find her something cheap and used. My girlfriend got her start on a 1975 650 Yamaha I got off ebay for $500. I told her if she dropped it, it's OK and not to worry, it had already met the ground and wasn't going to depreciate. I put short shocks on it and she did fine. After she put some miles on it, we went to test ride a XB9S low. She imediatly dropped the new demo bike on the parking lot at 0 mph:-[  It's a tuff call, but I think when they're not worrieing about the bike they can concentrate on what they're doing. Find a good running classic, she can get her money back later when she finds what appeals to her.

[Steviebee]

EX 500  

THERES A GUY AT WORK HERE THINKING ABOUT getting a bike too.

[Dawn]

I agree....

My first bike was and '85 Kawasaki LTD700.  I bought it for $300.00. Drove it for a year and a half, sold it for $300.00 too.

Dawn   ;)

[racerxgirl]

Yes, EX 500 would be good...I started on a VTR 250, loved that bike! Very forgiving if you forget to roll off the throttle before shifting, and is very easy to handle...however, after about 6 months i moved on to a 89 CBR 600...I am glad i started out on something smaller because it taught me about how to ride and manage without worrying about to much power...if i did it over again, i would say the 250...they are cheap and fun, even on the track! Nothing like passing a 600 or 750 in a turn, and then having them walk up to me and look at my bike and say "What is that?" I said with a smile, "A 250" Anyways, it also depends on how tall she is, im barely 5'2...so...thats my .02....
Have fun!  :D

[FullMoonRacing]

Why not a used SV650!  Tons of fun!

[KBOlsen]

SV's are good... cruisers are good (low center of gravity equals easy handling and not enough power to get ones self into trouble)...

[spyderchick]

Hey Tom, Give me a holler, I'm thinking about selling the FZR, And I have all of the stuff to make it streetable. Perfect starter street bike.

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

Suzuki Savage 650.  ;D

[dylanfan53]

I'd second the use of an EX500 for this.  They are inexpensive and easy to find parts for should you need them. (I've even got two spare motors in my garage if you need 'em.)

[CCSRacer114]

DR-Z400S or SV-650

[Super_KC124]

Suzuki's bringing back the GS500 with full fairings. (GSXR like) Sporty but not too powerful and cheap insurance.

http://www.suzukicycles.com/Products/GS500FK4/