EDIT:
Thanks for all the advice! I got a lot of long detailed comments back. I’m reading each one and doing some research, but I wanted to make sure I thanked everyone for the replies!
Original Post:
Hello, Fediverse!
Recently, my company moved to remote work, full time. Since I’m not making a long commute each day, I’m really interested in getting a small bike I can ride for errands. I’d love to get some advice from this community about it.
Needs
First, I’m a woman at average or maybe even slightly below average height. I want to make sure it’s something I can actually ride without feeling like a little girl in mommy’s shoes.
Second, I don’t just want to ride. I want to work on it and learn how engines work. I’m a very mechanical person and I love this kind of thing. It’s fun for me. I’m happy to buy a bike that might not be running immediately because it gives me an opportunity to learn and tinker.
Last, I don’t need to go fast and I don’t want to take it in a big highway, but I do live near a state highway with a limit of 55mph. I’d like to be able to safely ride there:
Aesthetics
I’m not a huge fan of the Harley Davidson type low rider style but I wouldn’t rule it out entirely if it made sense against my other needs. I’m also open to scooters/mopeds if I can safely ride at 55mph.
I tend to like 80s style cars and bikes. Especially the bikes that aren’t quite sport but have some nods to it. Example: Kawasaki KZ, Honda CB, Suzuki GS, Yamaha XS (Japanese name followed by two consonants collection) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Looks aren’t as important to me as the other needs to be honest.
Current Motorcycle Knowledge
Next to nothing. I know the basics of how an engine works. I know how to change my own oil. I have done big repairs on my own cars in the past, but with guides.
I plan on taking a riding class. I know I’ll need safety equipment, such as a helmet. I do have a gear-head in my life so I have someone that I can ask questions to, but I’m mostly starting at zero.
Aside from bike suggestions, I’d love to hear something you wish you knew before you got your first bike!
TLDR:
What would you recommend for someone who wants to learn about engines but isn’t particularly tall? Anything you wish you knew before getting your first bike?
If you’re really keen on getting a possibly non-running used bike as your first, I would definitely recommend sticking with something that’s a single cylinder for simplicity, and probably something that has a carburetor rather than fuel injection, because mystery carb issues are easier to solve than mystery electrical issues, especially given peoples’ pathological predilection to getting mystified and intimidated by wires. That’s not casting any admonition on your personally or your skills, but rather a prediction that you won’t get much decent advice from punters online as soon as your problems are found to be electrical and everyone either immediately tunes out, begins spouting absolute bullshit, or both. Conversely, there is always the nuclear option for a carb which is yeet the entire thing into the fuck-it bucket and just replace it.
The Honda Super Cub and its myriad derivatives (which, surprisingly, encompass both the Grom and the Monkey) is a popular option. The new ones are fuel injected and computerized, but the classic Cubs have carbs. You can get Chinese clones of these for not very much money, also. If you really want to wrench, a Chinese bike will offer you no choice…
Also consider a Suzuki TU250 which is sort of the quintessential standard beginner’s bike, or possibly an old Honda CB250.
If you’re confident in dealing with a twin cylinder bike, the other obvious suggestion everyone will offer is the Ninja 250 (the older ones are carbed, but have two carbs rather than one) or Honda CB350, which is also a parallel twin. The Yamaha V Star 250 is also a small V twin, with a fairly light weight.
The height of various motorcycles is a perpetually contentious topic, especially when offering advice to beginner riders. Some people will insist that shortness can be overcome with skill and that one should just practice and git gud. Other people will say that you should eliminate a variable and a lot of anxiety by getting a little bike that you can easily flat-foot as your first.
I have no input in this. Get what makes you comfortable.
However, I will recount what we did, vis-a-vis myself and my wife, and trying to find a motorcycle (not a scooter, which she already has one of) that she could actually sit on. We found that the obvious answer, the Honda Grom, was actually too tall for her. We settled on a Suzuki Vanvan RV200, which she can sit on and get both feet on the ground. (It’s third from the right in the banner image at the top of this community.) This was available in both 125 and 200cc guises, but I don’t think the 125 was ever sold in America. It was sold in Europe where they have tiered licenses with a 125cc restriction, though.
Edit to add: I would really advise against getting a non-running bike as your first motorcycle. I get the appeal of wanting to tinker with it, but it’s all too easy to wind up with something that’ll be both a basket case and a money pit, and learning to ride on something like that will probably be more frustrating than it’s worth. If you want a project, get one as your second bike. Also remember the Ironclad Law Of The List of Craig (and also Facebook marketplace): Any time some asshole says “all it needs is x, y, z,” that’s never actually all it needs. If it were that easy, the loser selling it would have fixed himself it and he’d be selling it in running condition.
The bottom paragraph especially. It’s a terrible idea honestly. It’s better to learn how the bike should run, and what to watch for, before you need to actually watch for it and wrestle with it.
That, and as a first time rider it’s probably a good idea to have a bike with all of the safety features – like brakes – known to be working. And without the possibility of mystery stalling issues or randomly conking out on the road, or bits falling off, or suspension components being wonky, etc.
It’s much harder to learn to ride on a bike that doesn’t friggin’ work right.