k well im gonna get a bike this summer for the first time. this is the first time and i dont kno anything or what to look for. i kno u gotta check the chain an stuff. an i want a used one like a 1987 honda cbr or somethin. anyone with suggestions? also with insurance in ontario cuz im only gonna drive it like on the weekends.

ok, because I'm a fellow rider and for some odd reason feel like caring about others at this particular moment, I'll give you some tips
1: do not buy a sport bike as your first bike. Why you ask, simple. Insurance is higher, and they're harder to control. Once you get comfortable riding, then feel free to move to a sport bike. Pick up a used honda shadow 750 (aka vt750) they're great bikes, very easy to maintain, last forever, have loads of acceleration, and they're balanced very well, making them easy to learn on. Insurance is also cheaper on them.

2: There's 3 different systems of delivering the power to the wheels, I will briefly explian them: chain: harder to maintain than the other 2, but can deliver a lot of power and will have no loss of torque. belt: easy to maintain, but can't deliver as much power, th emore power you have, the wider belt you need, they also don't fare well with dirt and gravel. direct drive shaft: very easy to maintain, handles a ton of power, but has a bit of loss of torque (this is my preferred method though). Knowing these systems will guide you on choosing your bike.

3: get a proper fitting helmet and at least a decent jacket. Icon helmets are very, very good. I just picked up a mainframe solid myself and I liek it better than the 700 dollar shoei's. Their jackets and gloves are also decently priced and very safe. I know one person who slid a good mile on the back of his icon jacket and didn't have a single scratch on him (not saying everybody will get those good results, but really their stuff is quality).

4: get decent boots. I still haven't done this after a few years of riding, but I have tore up a few pairs of shoes already just from the stresses of riding.

if you really want a sportier bike though, with it still being nice to learn on, I suggest either a new buell (don't get a blast before 2002, they use the harley sportster engine and had nothing but problems) or a ducati monster.

I am not a biker, but I enjoyed reading your post

get a small light bike for the start until you know howto handle motorbikes and learned riding them. then you can still sell it and buy a bigger/faster one.

thank you. It's pretty rare to get praise, probably because I'm so brash. As long as somebody learned something from my posts it gives me hope for neowin, and the slight glimmers I see keep me posting here.

Oh ya, something I forgot to add earlier...

proven reliable biked like the old honda shadows can be bought cheap (I got mine for 1200 canadian) and sold for the same price, if not more a few years down the road when you decide to upgrade.

cool thx for all the info candyman an kiwi.

edit: im also gonna go to this school called Rider Training Institute. has anyone heard anything about these guys good or bad??

They have a few locations, so they shouldn't be horrible. I'd give them a shot, especially since it's specifically for motorcycles they should be pretty good.

Addition to everyone else's tips: Learning how to ride a dirtbike or quad can help also. I noticed that I could ride a streetbike *somewhat* easier than my friends could, mainly because I knew how to ride a quad and the gearing(using the clutch, not stalling) helped me.

there's 2 problems with learning on a quad. first, almost all of them being sold nowadays are automatics (bleh, I hate autos on off-road stuff), the second is on an atv you don't learn balance. I actually was dirt biking for a few years before getting on a strret bike, and it definitely helped (especially with all the gravel on these streets). But I know given a class or a week or just riding the street bike, I would have achieved the same thing. The dirt biking just ensured as soon as I got on the street bike, I already knew what I was doing, where all the switches were (I have only owned dual sport bikes for my off-roading, so they have all the controls a street bike does), and how to not fall on the first turn.

Actually this brought up another bit of advice...remember to not really use the handle bars to steer on pure pavement, just lean into the turn. If there's a bit of gravel though, don't lean much, if at all, and use the handlebars to steer, otherwise you'll go flyingacross the pavement. Riding a motorcycle takes a lot more planning than a car.

I know alot of quads being sold nowadays are autos, but my 660R Raptor isn't! I referred to quads as being useful in understand how delicate the clutch can be. I know balance isnt obtained, but at least you'll know how to take off!

true that, the clutches are the same indeed...nothing more embarassing than going to take off and stalling in the middle of the street