Nothing can beat the feeling of riding a motorbike, but pondering which bike to buy for yourself comes a close second.
There are loads of different bikes in production, with one to suit every riding style and pocket, ranging from a laid-back Harley Davidson to a retro-styled Triumph via a gorgeous sportsbike from Ducati. The motorbike magazines in your local newspaper shop will give you balanced and detailed reviews of modern motorbikes.
Although a 125cc bike is where most people start, sooner or later they will hanker after something more substantial. The main aim in choosing a bike is to find one that meets your needs and that also broadly matches your level of experience. It is better to work your way up to a 1000cc super bike, if that’s what you want, after cutting your teeth on a series of increasingly demanding other bikes than it is to go out and buy one the day after you pass your test. Riders quickly gauge another rider’s skill and a good all-round bike ridden well has more street cred than a sports bike being wobbled through a simple low speed manoeuvre.
Bikes are often put into various loose categories:
The street or naked bike has little in the way of a fairing and has ‘normal’ handlebars. It is the classic motorcycle design and is reminiscent of the good old days of British motorcycle manufacturing e.g. a Triumph Bonneville.
The sports bike shape derives from Italy and has low handlebars, a smallish fairing for better aerodynamics and an engine and suspension designed for the race track. These days they are actually quite small machines and are not designed for comfort. Examples: Honda Fireblade, Suzuki GSX600, Ducati 1098.
A cruiser has long forks and high handlebars, as seen in the films Easy Rider and Terminator 2. Here we are talking Harley Davidson, of course, from the good old US of A.
The tourer is designed for comfortable long distance travel on, say, the German autobahn and has a big fairing and screen, a comfy seat and plenty of luggage capacity. On these are found such luxuries as heated seats, sound systems and, on the Honda Goldwing, an airbag.
The off-roader or trail bike has long-travel forks, soft suspension, wide handlebars and knobbly tyres for travelling on unmade roads and tracks from Copenhagen to Cape Town and from Antwerp to the Aral Sea. Example: most things made by KTM and the BMW GS range.
All the major manufacturers have a model which is aimed at the newer rider, in the hope of establishing (in you) a lifelong loyalty to their brand. An alphabetical list of some of the more popular first bigger bikes is shown here together with the makers’ website:
The final choice of motorbike is often governed as much by the heart as the head. Nevertheless some practical considerations need to be borne in mind. Seat height varies quite a lot from bike to bike and you need to have enough of a footprint when sitting on the bike to stabilise it when stationary. Everyone will drop a bike at some point and though getting it upright again is more about technique than pure strength, the heavier the bike the harder it will be to lift. Finally, you will ideally live reasonably close to a dealer who is geared up to work on your make of bike for convenience when it comes to servicing, fitting accessories and repairs.
