Noob here.. First motorcycle should be a?

Hello everyone! Im excited to finally start riding!

I'm new to motorcycles, used to ride an automatic dirt bike as a kid. I'm looking to get a 750 GS. Really wanted a 310 gs to start but I cant find one and the dealer is taking forever to ship the one they found. They cant give it to me with the a recall so that has to be taken care of first. long story

So I guess my question, is a 750 GS too much bike for a beginner like myself? I feel like Id out grow a 310 quickly and than have to buy another bike. So it makes sense to make a purchase that will last me for many years. On the flip side I dont want to get hurt not learn as well as I should be.

Also, sorry if this question was asked. I searched in the search box and didnt see a thread like this.

Welcome from the coast of Kansas.

Yes, a 750-anything is probably too much bike for a beginner. Good luck, I think you are going to need it.

Welcome. Tell us a little about yourself and type of riding you are interested in? What area are you near?

isnaelrodriguez said:

Hello everyone! Im excited to finally start riding!

I'm new to motorcycles, used to ride an automatic dirt bike as a kid. I'm looking to get a 750 GS. Really wanted a 310 gs to start but I cant find one and the dealer is taking forever to ship the one they found. They cant give it to me with the a recall so that has to be taken care of first. long story

So I guess my question, is a 750 GS too much bike for a beginner like myself? I feel like Id out grow a 310 quickly and than have to buy another bike. So it makes sense to make a purchase that will last me for many years. On the flip side I dont want to get hurt not learn as well as I should be.

Also, sorry if this question was asked. I searched in the search box and didnt see a thread like this.

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What is your height and weight?

What is the weight of the G310 and F750?

Possibly learn from my history.

I had not ridden for 33 years when I bought a pristine '87 K100RT. It did not stay pristine for long as during my learning/skills curve, I frequently dropped the bike. With each drop and the marring of the plastic and paint, I felt sicken by what I had done.

The bike was too heavy and too powerful for someone who had not ridden for so many years. In hindsight (always a perfect science) I really should have bought a cheap, small beater bike to hone my riding skills and then bought the beemer.

Of course your results may vary from mine.

My first bike was also a BMW. I got a used K75S. And in retrospect, it was a poor choice. Nice bike, but too heavy for a beginner. And maintenance costs were high compared to the purchase price.

You sound excited to own a new BMW. The members of this forum will understand that. Nevertheless, if I were doing it over, I would buy a used dual-sport like a Kawasaki KLR650. Why? Because they are widely available, cheap, very light-weight, almost indestructible, retain their resale value, and have many aftermarket parts that you can use to customize the ergonomics while learning some wrenching skills. You might expect to own that bike for a year or so, and then sell it for somewhat less than you put into it. Your cost of ownership will be low. And you can expect to drop it in a parking lot, and break some parts along the way. And you can expect to have a lot of fun riding it.

Hopefully you retain your enthusiasm to own a BMW after owning a "starter" bike. Whatever you decide, welcome to the forum.

Cap

This a complex question. A lot depends on you, your size, strength, bicycling experience, maturity(careful vs risk taker), etc etc.

In general I would recommend starting out on 250 +/- dirt/road bike. They are light, easy to handle, a bit slower so you are less likely to get going to fast for your experience. These bike are better to build experience / better reflexes in unanticipated, turning , braking, sand, gravel, and getting to where you don't have to think about turning, braking hard, etc etc...building your "muscle memory" These are very cheap used. ride one for 6 months and you we understand motorcycling better and likely to have formed a better understanding of what you want for your next bike.
If you can start on a real dirt bike. Sliding, front, rear and both wheels can be done slower and falling does not hurt and a great way to get a "feel" of bike. Learning this will translate to emergency skill on pavement....and may let you learn them in your reflex memory.

A 750GS is not a slow bike. It is faster than almost all Harley's, faster than most cars. 30 years ago it was the "BIG" bike!

In the end it is your choice. Have fun, take a rider safety course if you can.

It's a difficult question to answer w/o knowing much more about you. Here are some questions that might give enough insight:

1. Age, height, strength?
3. Ability to stay focused at all times while on the bike?
4. How dedicated are you to learning safe and smart riding practices? Provided #1 and #2 above are good this is probably the most important piece IMO.

I put maybe 12K miles on motorcycles as a younger fellow then never touched one until 28y later at at 61y, whereupon I bought as used F800GT. I had no trouble w/ it, and quite frankly I had no 'trouble' with riding the other bikes in my youth w/ no training, never dropped any of them, etc. I was lucky, more or less!

I think regardless of which bike you end up with it is very useful to attend a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider course which I would try to do before buying anything. This is not only useful for learning a couple of things that will help save you from disaster, but it's an opportunity to ride smaller displacement bikes and see just how that feels. Also, before buying ANY motorcycle pick up David Hough's Proficient Motorcycling which is chock full of very helpful information and guidance on so many aspects of riding.

ncpbmw1953 said:

I think regardless of which bike you end up with it is very useful to attend a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider course which I would try to do before buying anything. Also, before buying ANY motorcycle pick up David Hough's Proficient Motorcycling which is chock full of very helpful information and guidance on so many aspects of riding.

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I second both of these suggestions as I did both after a lapse of 33 years of riding. I re-read David Hough's Proficient Riding, More Proficient Riding as well as his Street Strategies each year before riding season begins. His advice has saved me from a lot of grief in my almost 300,000 km of riding.

It’s too heavy, too tall, and too expensive for a first bike.

E.

Paul_F said:

I second both of these suggestions as I did both after a lapse of 33 years of riding. I re-read David Hough's Proficient Riding, More Proficient Riding as well as his Street Strategies each year before riding season begins. His advice has saved me from a lot of grief in my almost 300,000 km of riding.

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Add me to the list of those who endorse the MSF Basic course and lots of reading of David Hough. I rode a lot up until I was 23, then Navy, marriage, kids, house, & jobs intervened.

I returned to riding at 65 on a BMW 650RS (loaned to me by a friend). After a year, I lucked into a used 2008 R1200RT and had no issues, no incidents and lots of fun. I'm 6'4" 225# so the weight of the RT wasn't an issue. I learned to take it easy with the throttle which was a very important piece of this.

I'm sure most have heard this old aviation aphorism before (applies equally to motorcyclists): "There are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots."

My first bike was a Yamaha TW200. I put 2500 miles on it in a year and learned a lot. Moved to a Suzuki 500, put 2000 miles on that. This was only 15 years ago.

Buy something small, and cheap, learn, then get your dream bike.

jstrube said:

Buy something small, and cheap, learn, then get your dream bike.

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This, with caveats...

It does really depend on your ability and past experience...
I had motos in the dirt as a kid, and rode bicycles all my life, with a lot of off-pavement (MTB). I drove stick-shifts from 16 until I got my first moto as an adult at 43.

With that experience, getting back onto a moto was not much of a big deal, and I started with a Suzuki SV650. Not light, not fast, but torquey as all get out, and not generally thought of as a good beginner bike. At 43 I also had a healthy sense of self-preservation, and the ability to pay attention to more than my immediate surroundings (situational awareness).

So my advice to you (OP) would be to do a self-assessment, take your local DMV supported beginner's course (if you are like I was, a bit boring. But go through the motions and learn what you are able. Just don't dismiss it out of hand.) Once the course is completed, you will have an even better idea of your abilities, and then go shopping for a used bike to continue learning on - pick up one that's cheap and light and only big enough to allow freeway travel, don't worry much about cosmetics and plan to sell it for about what you paid for it when you are ready and feel confident in your abilities.

If you own the intermediate bike for 3 months and find it totally boring, then you aren't out anything other than a few months of not having the dream bike.

Bonus: having the intermediate bike and your license makes it SO MUCH easier to pull into a dealership and ask to take a test ride... If you ride in, they are a lot less concerned than if you drive in and hand them a brand new license..

First of all, welcome to the sport and welcome to the forum! I wish you many happy years and miles ahead.

Everybody is different but my advice would be the following.

1. Don't get anything bigger than 500 cc for a first bike. More weight and more power is not your friend when starting out.

2. If you are of the type that enjoys learning by all means take the MSF beginners course. With your background I expect you will find some of it very elementary but there's plenty of good stuff to pick up in it. Also, one of the hidden secrets of the course is that it's fun. Riding through slalom cones on a somebody else's 250 is a hoot and a half.

3. Don't buy a first bike that's going to break your heart when you drop it for the first time. Also, a smaller bike is much easier to pick up on the (hopefully rare) times that it falls over.

4. Buy a used bike. For most of us, when you own your first bike you will come to find that there's something about it that isn't quite right for you, be it performance, wind protection, ergonomics or whatever. You'll be able to sell a used bike a season or two down the road for close to what you paid for it. If you buy new you'll get hammered on depreciation selling it two years later. The fact that the first bike is an "interim solution" doesn't mean you've wasted your time or won't have a load of fun with it.

5. MOST IMPORTANT: Have fun!

YMMV, but when my son got out of the Marine Corps a few years ago he took his MSF course and got a G310R. He's 6' tall and strong as heck, but he's been very happy with the 310. Has about 5,000 miles on it now, I think, and as a college student he's not looking to upgrade anytime soon. YMMV, but for him it's been not only a great first bike but a real keeper.

The 310 is not a bad way to go, it will do everything you want and more as a first bike. But as other have said you are pretty much guaranteed to drop it at least once and will that break your heart? I too agree that a used bike makes way more sense as your first so you can learn about riding and wrenching and falling over. No matter what you ride that first drop really hits you. Also agreed that going with a bigger bike will be more pain and suffering than you really want to start out with. Dualsports make good sense as they are built to hit the ground from time to time with little damage. Plastics on new bikes are not cheap to replace.

To a degree the size/weight of a beginner bike depends on the physique of the rider. Take that into account.

To a degree the expected damage in a tipover/drop is a factor. Brake/clutch levers are cheap compared to fairing panels and built in turn signals. Naked bikes make good beginner bikes.

Engine size / horsepower / torque/ ability to wheelie / and other performance factors count. Sensible, mature riders are in one group. Impetuous young riders are in another group. Really careless/carefree old coots are in a class all by themselves.

A motorcycle training class seems to run with a number of 250+-cc bikes. This helps new riders concentrate on riding skills and not holding the bike upright. If you are new, it would be interesting to have you experiencing picking up a dropped bike......they all fall over
I’m for starting on the smaller side, perhaps with a used bike, and see how you progress from there.
Perhaps you can start riding with a more experienced rider that will not necessarily try to teach you how to ride but can offer tips to help you ride.
Welcome to the forum!
Good luck.
OM

PGlaves said:

Really careless/carefree old coots are in a class all by themselves.

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Yeah, but that's a really big group................

PGlaves said:

Really careless/carefree old coots are in a class all by themselves.

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To quote Robert DiNero: You talkin' to me?