One of my prof's is a psychotherpist and is into bikes. He said that he was into Catholicism, then got into Buddhism. Now he's into Harleys. That's his therapy.

__________________
'07 Yukon 2500
'13 Subaru Outback 3.6R
'13 Orbea Carpe 9-speed

Currently Benzless
Formerly: 300TD, S600, E55, 560SEL

---= The forest breathes, listen.
-Native American elder

You want to start with something smaller and cheaper, you are likely to bend it up at least once and you don't want to trash a $20K bike.

I found the K1200's to be one of the nicest riding bikes around, plenty fast as well, but man, I think they are one of the most butt ugly bikes out there. I think the Yamaha and Honda bikes in the same class and with most of the same technology, esp the Honda VTX line, to be a better bargain money wise and better looks to boot, and I betcha if you do need a repair, it'll cost a lot less to fix a rice burner than it would a Beamer.

No, YOU want to start with something smaller and cheaper. Get on that mofo and ride. If it's scary, let me know, I'll get some girl to show you how it's done.

LOL, I've been riding for about 35 years and I've bent a few bikes myself. We're all impressed with how macho you are, but be very careful giving silly advice to new riders, do you want to be responsible for someone getting hurt?

I would still advise them to buy some POS ricer to learn, after a year buy a real bike and have fun.

My thoughts exactly.

As for the poster who asked about weight, 159 last time I checked. I expect I'll be a few pounds lighter when I get home.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

(The long legged blonde I quoted a few posts back uttered those words while perched atop my HOG!)

You don't need something too small, a 500 might be a good size. I would just shop around and see what's available for a good price when you're ready to buy. It good to learn on something low enough that you can comfortably put your feet on the ground when you stop.

Hey Skip,
Save this link and dream about it on deployment.
Harley thru AAFES

http://www.encs.com/

If the Honda 250 Rebels had a 650cc instead - that would be a better starter bike IMO. An underpowered motorcycle can get you in trouble by not being able to get out of the way of cars and trucks when you need to manuever away from them in traffic.

My starter bike was an 8 hp Honda SL 90cc in the late '60s.

Honda SL 90 - Terribly underpowered. A 160cc twin cylinder Honda would have at least had the manueverability necessary in that genre.

Today's genre? 900ccs seems to be a mid-sized bike, with 650cc being many entry level bikes.


In my early 20s this was about as fast a production bike made. With a top speed of 126 mph, and insane acceleration - it was quite a handful to control. It retailed new under $1,500. It likely doesn't get the mpg your Civic does.

The tri-cylinder 1972 Kawasaki H2 750 Mach IV 74 hp motorcycle was probably the quickest bike of the early 1970s, but also one of the most difficult to master.

Acceleration (dart, speedup) time0-100 km/h4.9 seconds0-60 mph4.7 seconds


The landmark Kawasaki H2 750 IV was known not
only for its speed, but for its tricky handling
and poor fuel economy.


A large front disc brake helped temper the
H2 750 Mach IV's 130-mph speed potential.


It was the H2 750 Mach IV's front tire that
tended to lift in full-throttle starts.


The power output of the 750-cc triple
engine proved troublesome for the unwary.

My starter bike was a '62 Sportster.

I'll sell you my starter bike. Cheap! Needs a battery, good tires and tinkering. Oh! and a title...... I never got one on this bike. Offers.....


My other shiny trouble free starter bike. This should be your first bike!


But seriously this is the BMW you should be looking at! R75/5

__________________

"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

Dammit, I want that fastback!......

ha ha ha thats funny.how about 2nd 3rd and 4th also!

Add 5th as well.......or at least that's how it felt it was threatening to at speed. The RPM point the front end would lift at always seemed to take you by surprise. It was as if a supercharged kicked in - it would happen so fast too. An ungodly quick bike.

The Suzuki 400cc single cylinder 2-stroke dirtbike of the day had such quick acceleration - the metal footpegs your feet were planted on would fold back under full throttle. Scary bikes to me at the time.

I was fortunate to ride anything that came in for service to the Honda, Kawasaki dealer I worked at back then.