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What's your terms?

How much cash you got!?

That sounds a little like the one I’m trying to put Jim Conrad on to!!

If you are looking for a first bike, get a used Suzuki SV-650

The one you built with the 357 Magnum Engine?

I have a 2000 Road King now. I've never had a fuel injected bike, never had a bike with a catalytic converter, never had a water-cooled bike. Carbs have worked out fine for me. You just feel better on a Harley is the only way I can describe it.

I used to ride nearly every suitable day. My favorite long distance bike was a 2006 Kawasaki Concours. After riding all day, my buds on cruisers would have messed up lower backs. I never had back pain with the slightly forward posture on a sport tourer.
I've been bikeless for about five years now but find myself yearning to ride again. Wifey doesn't want to ride anymore so a smaller bike would be OK. I think a faired er650 Kawasaki Ninja with bags would be about perfect. A bike I never would have considered in the past due to underwhelming engine performance. But, now, I think it would offer a good balance of power vs weight.
Bought a 250 ninja just because it was a great deal. Figured I'd flip it right away and make a few bucks. I kept it for several years and actually enjoyed riding it to work frequently. 65+ mpg and 100mph with a good tailwind.
Bucket list bike is a Ducati 1098S. I would be content just sitting in the garage and looking at it.

Motorcycle advise from 77yr. old rider,since 1968,and still riding.
Get yourself a 125cc enduro, and learn to ride it well.
Experience you gain from a smaller bike will serve you well, and won't intimidate.
Bonus is , if you wish to continue riding, you will have a great second ride, for the trails
short commutes, etc.
Best of luck, buntingmiester

I got a 107 EVO motor on it. It does have edelbrock heads with dual carbs on it tho. Basani headers, it tries to pass everything but a gas station.

It is pretty hard on tires tho

Absolutely.

But if you want a bike, virtually anything with 650 cc displacement will be strong enough. Carbs are just fine.

Did that one have a high rise and a double pumper?

Hey OP. If you want to go real fast get a Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa.

If you want to ride in comfort get a Harley FLHT. Either EVO, TC, or M8.

Tunnel Ram & 411 posi

Bitchin.

This is a fact.

Riding feet forward puts all your weight on your ass and gives you less control, especially if you have to maneuver quickly.

With your feet under you and bent slightly foward
You are more comfortable.

I have primarily ridden yerApeeing motorbikes, would go riding with friends on hogs and always stopped more often and wanted to slow down.

Harley has come along ways since the AMF days, but the lazee boy recliner position is best suited for the living room.

Let me tell you what Melba Toast is packin' right here, all right. We got 4:11 Positrac outback, 750 double pumper, Edelbrock intake, bored over 30, 11 to 1 pop-up pistons, turbo-jet 390 horsepower. We're talkin' some [bleep]' muscle.

If you are looking for super economical and cheap to ride, I'd recommend a 250 Nighthawk or something of the sort.

The CB250s are floating around all over cheap, because they used a bajillion of the things as training course bikes in the 90s and 2000s.

I picked up this 2002 in July of 2022 with 2,300 miles on it for $2k. Insurance is under $75 a year, and my 6'3" 250# ass averages right around 70mpg on my 60 mile work commute. A bad fillup is 67mpg, a good one is 73-74.

Single carb, minimal electrical system, drum brakes...total piece of cake to maintain. It won't get you anywhere in a big hurry, but it will get you there really cheaply.

Just made my first ride to work of the year Tuesday.

My younger son bought one of these as a first bike. I really liked it for what it was. I thought about buying it from him and keeping it. I can’t think of a better first bike. That one cylinder engine is almost bulletproof. It didn’t have much too end power, but had a surprising amount of low end torque.

He sold it and bought a 1200 Sportster. A similar looking bike with twice the engine.

The 650 Savage was renamed the boulevard. Parts are interchangeable. Good first bike. Weight will limit top in speed. Big rig turbulence will move you around in your lane. You can work on it easily. Easy to pick up if it falls over.

Got back into motorcycles 10 years ago after a 40 year absence and bought/rode four different kinds and sizes over this last decade. My inseam is also 30 inches although my weight is less than yours. Summarizing the best advice given so far and adding a bit - in my opinion and my experience:

Avoid the cruiser style and clipped handlebar racing styles for reasons given - back problems and they are not as maneuverable. An upright normal seating position allows better visibility and especially maneuverability and will serve your commuting needs better in the long run. Power and acceleration is good but maneuverability and stopping power IMO is equally as important in avoiding dangerous situations.

Any motorcyclist can get into an accident but the two kinds of motorcycles that get in the most accidents are super sports and big cruisers - the super sports because dumb 19-20 year old immortals ride them and heavy cruisers because they can't get out of the way or stop as quickly as a lighter, more maneuverable motorcycle.

A motorcycle with a seat height of 31-32 inches will work okay. Remember that your weight will push the bike down a bit. Seat width will also be a factor but it's kind of a trade off - a narrower seat will let your legs reach further but is less comfortable for longer rides. Just have to sit on various ones and let your butt tell you which one it likes.

650-750 cc is the sweet spot for power, weight and top end. A 650 street bike will let you cruise the highway at 75-80 mph all day with some excess speed when needed.

You can go bigger but then you go heavier and you can go smaller but then you limit your power. Had a little Suzuki TU250X and it was a really fun, super maneuverable motorcycle but absolute top end with the throttle wide open was 75 on a level road with a tailwind and it couldn't maintain 55 mph on a long uphill.

Carburetors are okay but why not go fuel injected, it's just easier all around.


You'll probably be happiest and safest with a twin cylinder street or regular sport (not super sport), 31-32" seat height, 650 cc or thereabouts. "Adventure" bikes are okay but tend to be 2-3" taller. $3500 these days might get you into a good used motorcycle but I'd recommend expanding that budget by at least another $1,000.

Fwiw, of the four motorcycles I bought - Honda CB500X Adventure bike, Yamaha TW200 Dual Sport, Yamaha FZ-07 and Suzuki TU250X, the best of the bunch was the Yamaha FZ-07 now labeled MT-07. It had good low end torque meaning it accelerated well even at lower rpms, 80mph cruising wasn't even pushing it hard although wind buffeting gets kind of bad at that speed, seat height of 31.7" and highly maneuverable - it hit a lot of buttons and was all around a magnificent machine.

Something like that might be a little much for a beginner but it was an easy motorcycle to ride and as your skill advanced you wouldn't outgrow it soon.

TAKE A MOTORCYCLE SAFETY COURSE!

Again, all this just IMO and IME.

As a final word, cars will kill you through negligence but the only people that deliberately tried to kill me were kids on super sports that saw other motorcycles on the road as challenges that had to be met with the stupidest, most dangerous "in your face" stunts imaginable.