A key question you have to ask is "what do you plan to do with it?" We have been wrong twice. lol Started on a Honda 750 Knighthawk - just something for fun we thought. That lasted 6 months. After a lengthy poker run The wife said "you need to get a bigger bike". We then put 30,000 miles on a Yamaha v-star 1100. But truth be told we had outgrown it after 10,000. But that is where I suggest you start - 650 or 1100. Nice bike with a little growing room. Floor boards, no chain to mess with. But we outgrew that one and now have an Electraglide Classic. If I only knew then what I know now.......

 

Forget all the hype about the Kawasaki 250 in the motopress. The Vstar 250 (aka Virago, Yamaha) is the classiest bike in this size range. I can get it out of the garage and be shopping in town before my Sportster is ready to clear the driveway. What is wrong with it? It has a chain and manual valve adjustment. If that doesn't scare you then it is near perfect. Take it from the Old Forester, you can forget what the motopress tells you about performance. A 250 is happy at 45-50 mph. If you want to cruise a lot at 60-65 mph, you need more weight and more power.

The Sportster is a top notch standard bike. If you want to start out on a Japanese bike, the Vulcan 500 is good. The discontinued Vulcan 750 with shaft drive is the gold standard.

 

It sucks cuz I sit on all these bikes but won't take them for a ride because I haven't taken my course yet.But EVERYONE is telling me don't start that small cuz I will out grown it fast..But to be honest the bigger ones scare me.And I am trying to do my homework so I am ready to buy when I get my course done..There is just soooo many choices...And yes I am considering a dual sport or small motorcycle.And that is hard to compare cuz they're so different..I would like to ride back roads and small highways for a year or so,get some rides under my belt before I buy my dream "Harley"....Gosh I hate being an adult and making decisions!!!!!!!!

 

Most courses use a 250 so that might help you decide. Unless you take Riders edge and they use a buell blast. I just started riding and bought a 1200 sportster as my first bike. I love the thing. I sat on a bunch of bikes and the 1200 seemed to fit me the best (for what I could spend). If I had not bought the nightster I'd have bought a V-star.

 

Harley Gal,

My wife is learning to ride also. She's 5'2" (that what is says on her DL) and she'll be riding my vstar 1100. which has been lowered and she can flat foot it fine. I would stay away from the 250's just like everyone else has stated. You can find decent used vstars for under 5k with low miles or you can go new for about 8500 OTD. Check out this site for info on the vstar 1100

http://forums.delphiforums.com/yamaha1100/start

 

look into the v star 650 my daughter had one and it is a good little bike
my harley was down for a weekend and the wife and I took the yamaha for a ride
lots of power and kept up on the highway felt very small to me tho.

 

I think 230 is too much weight on a 250. Might be ok to practice on in a parking lot, but out in traffic, you want at least enough power to get you out of the way of trouble.

 

Go here and talk to these guys,

vstar 1100 http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/mai...ha1100%2Fstart

vstar 650 http://forums.delphiforums.com/sgmfa

both http://forums.delphiforums.com/northernstars

 

I rode a 250 a lot many years ago, then a 650 Yamaha, next was a Sportster, and finally a EG. One thing I didn't like about all of those smaller bikes was getting hit by side wind. I've been blown all the way across a traffic lane, even on the Sporty. I haven't had that on the Glide.

 

This forum is really mellowing out. I can't believe some wise azz has not posted that this is a Harley forum. By the way, what is a v-star?

Which do you think would be better for 300 to 700 mile days; a Hemi Jeep Commander or the under powered Hummer? Just askin'.