Get your feet in the wind and start exploring the back roads with these good-looking but easy-to-ride starter bikes.
Step away from the Hayabusa, hotshot. While most would-be motorcyclists are lured over to the two-wheeled dream by bikes from the MotoGP circuit, Easy Rider or the pages of Motorcyclist, reality must intervene. Piloting those beasts will take some experience. We would no sooner advise a novice rider to hop on a CBR1000RR than we would advise a teenage driver to hop in a Ferrari. But nobody wants to look like a dork tooling around on a decrepit moped, either (unless you live in a contrarian hipster universe where that’s cool). With that in mind, here are four sure-fire beginner bikes that will get you started riding without looking you just started riding.
A practical note: Since new riders are doomed – with almost certainty – to dump their bikes at low speed, we highly recommend buying used. And a beginner’s RiderCourse from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation will pay for itself over and over in bikes unwrecked, bones unbroken, and flesh unscathed.
Kawasaki Ninja 250R $4,299
The go-to bike for aspiring sport riders has a long list of features that keep it permanently glued to every list of starter bikes: affordable sticker price, reliability, good looks, and a comfortable riding position are just the beginning. The humble 250cc may not shred rubber like the larger Ninjas, but an 11,000 RPM redline keeps thing interesting when it’s time to roll on the power. And with 61 mpg fuel economy, you can ride all day long for a couple bucks. Just beware: The price on those shiny plastic fairings can add up when you lay it down.
Buell Blast $4795 (discontinued)
Harley-Davidson tragically killed the Buell brand in October, but that only means these single-cylinder thumpers make an even better deal for new riders. Low seat height and upright controls make it a cinch for even small riders to handle, and belt drive keeps maintenance lower, too (even if its reputation for overall reliability isn’t exactly stellar). The single-cylinder 500cc engine puts out less power than four-cylinder engines with the same displacement, but provides a predictable power band, too. Would-be Harley riders will also appreciate the relative thud of the engine compared to the buzz of many other small bikes.
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