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First motorcycle


As long as you ride 'Red', you are good in my book. I would go with a smaller first bike though. With a Honda you cannot go wrong. :icon_thumby:
 
I agree that bike is far too big for a first bike. And too clean.I'd find something a bit beat up, so when you drop it it's not a big deal. When you grow out of it in a little while, you can always sell it. If you get something that needs work, you might even make some money when you sell it.
 
Any of the old UJM's would do just fine. I linked to a few above that were in the OP's general area. Haven't had a chance to ride a Maxim, but I did wrench on an XJ750 a year or so ago. Seemed like a pretty solid bike. I've also spent a year on an '82 Suzuki GS750E and even a year on a Honda Rebel. All of them were reliable and relatively easy to work on.
 
First Bike Recommendations

My first bike:
1974 Harley Electroglide (Hog). A guy gave it to me in 1975 to settle the year's worth of rent he owed me. It had 400 miles on it. He wrecked it a little, broke off the windshield, clutch and brake levers, scuffed up the top of the bags and seat a little and was afraid to ride it again. But it was in great condition.
This was a really good first bike because:
It constantly needed some sort of attention and was a great education. If you rode it 30 miles, you had to stop and run back a ways and pick up the parts that had vibrated loose and fell off by then.
It vibrated so bad you couldn't see the mirrors, much less see in them if anything was behind you, but it did give you a nice tingly feeling.:icon_hornsup:
Was super easy to work on, minimum of tools required. Leaked oil out the bottom, sides, front, back, top and probably into other dimensions.
Was a little heavy for short rides around town, but was very maneuverable. Could pull up to a stop and sit through a light change without putting a foot down. Or lay it over on one of the pegs and make a very tight turn.
It was a great first bike, but eventually I decided I was ready for one to ride instead of spending my time working on it and putting pieces back on it that had vibrated off.

2nd Bike:
Honda Silverwing, 1979, 500cc twin, shaft drive, water cooled. A wonderful bike. Perfect for a first bike. Perfect for a dd around town and short rides. No / low maintenance. Easy to work on. Not too bad on the highway with 1 average size rider. But with my wife and I (400#of people) and 50# of stuff we just HAD to take along, (her hair dryer,etc.) it was just too small. That was the only fault, otherwise a great machine.

3rd Bike:
Honda Goldwing, 1978 1000cc, flat 4, shaft drive, water cooled. It was everything the Silverwing was and never noticed if there were 450# of load on it. It was perhaps just a little big and heavy for dd short rides around town, but quite usable nonetheless. The 1978 was particularly good because it had a big heavy rear end. In 1979 then began using the same rear end as the Silverwing 500 and upped the engine to 1200 and then 1500 and then 1700 and then..... It was very easy to work on. Tuning, adjusting, synchronizing, and casting spells on the 4 carbs was challenging in the beginning, but not too bad to learn. The absolute best road cruiser out there. Just hop on, set the cruise control and 1,000 miles later, get off feeling fine. Wife and I went 7,500 miles in 10 days on a vacation trip of a lifetime. I had it for years and years, until wife couldn't ride a bike with me any more. It was a wonderful first bike, but be sensible with it. It was just as happy doing 140 mph as 70 mph, with 2 big people on it.

Good luck with your first bike.
Tips:
1) Never, never, EVER ride in the center of the lane you're in.
2) Other drivers think they look to see if there is anything coming. NOT TRUE! They actually look to see if there is anything coming that would hurt them. They will see a car or a semi, but they will make eye contact with you, perhaps even nod and smile, then pull out in front of you because they honestly didn't "see" you.
3) NEVER trust other drivers to do what they should or are signaling. Assume they are going to do something stupid and you will have to take evasive action. CONSTANTLY figure out where your escape path is.
4) NEVER relax for a second. Continuously watch to see where the worst danger is coming from.

Richard Nixon was very right - "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."
 
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2nd Bike:
Honda Silverwing, 1979, 500cc twin, shaft drive, water cooled. A wonderful bike. Perfect for a first bike. Perfect for a dd around town and short rides. No / low maintenance. Easy to work on. Not too bad on the highway with 1 average size rider. But with my wife and I (400#of people) and 50# of stuff we just HAD to take along, (her hair dryer,etc.) it was just too small. That was the only fault, otherwise a great machine.
There's an '83 GL650i Silverwing in pieces in my garage. It's been an on again/off again project for about a year now. Hoping to get back to it in May and finally put it on the road. Very cool bikes with the longitudinally mounted twin and the GL1100 fairing.
 
wow out of all these replys no ones even mentioned the best beginners bike?

keep an eye out for an SV650, the frame is nimble and easy to handle for a beginner and the vtwin motor makes for excellent torque range without having to rev to the sky to get power. great for a beginner because with the motor the bikes never gonna leave with out you if you get too throttle excited, but with the 650 vtwin youll have the power to keep the bike fun as your skill sets improve and not be board and wanting to sell in three months like 250 or 500
 
The SV is another decent option. I chose not to mention it because they're newer and hard to find in the $1000ish price range of the OP's listed V65 Magna.

You need to change your signature.
 
Thought I updated about bike, guess not. I went there 5 days after email and they sold it 2 days before. Was mad an guy wanted me to get something with a warranty, 3200 or a 3500 bike. What part of first bike, want old did he not understand.
 
They sold it to auction, I'd of bought it... Instead I've got 2 explorer seats I bought. Old, kinda wrinkly, but all comfort!
 
Forgive me, but what was the point in asking for advice when you so clearly had no interest in heeding it?
 
I haven't been online in a couple days.
 
Ohh and the stupid sig is meNt to be backwards but I'll remove.
 
I'm kind of looking for my own first bike too, I was looking at something with a 250cc engine in it with fuel injection. I kind of short that's really how I ended up on a 250cc. If you guys have any good suggestions other than a Ninja, it would be appreciated.
 
They said 250 would get boring fast. Read it says around 600.
 

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