Starter Cruiser Bike?

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Start calling around now for quotes, tell them you have you m2. Then you'll know what you can afford to insure and can start shopping for a bike. Hold off on signing for insurance until you get your m2 unless your insurer will insure you as an m1.
And no, a 950 bolt is not alot different than any of the other bikes you're considering. You may even be better on it as it's lighter. However it may not be for the tall, it fit my 5'3" wife pretty well.

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All this talk of cruisers made me curious so I called my insurance and got some quotes for the bikes mentioned in this thread. Obviously insurance varies so maybe this is useless information, but Ill say it anyways.

All the 650cc cruisers were more or less what Im paying now for my 600cc sport tourer. The 800s and 900s were a grand more a year than what im paying and the 1300+ were almost 2 grand more. Im younger than you though. Turning 23.
Weirdly though, that vulcan 500 that was mentioned is cheaper on insurance than my ninja 250 was. Although Id want a v-twin in my cruiser.
 
catzo said:
All this talk of cruisers made me curious so I called my insurance and got some quotes for the bikes mentioned in this thread. Obviously insurance varies so maybe this is useless information, but Ill say it anyways.

All the 650cc cruisers were more or less what Im paying now for my 600cc sport tourer. The 800s and 900s were a grand more a year than what im paying and the 1300+ were almost 2 grand more. Im younger than you though. Turning 23.
Weirdly though, that vulcan 500 that was mentioned is cheaper on insurance than my ninja 250 was. Although Id want a v-twin in my cruiser.
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Interesting, thank you for that! Im curious, what are the numbers like? if you dont mind me asking. how much for 650cc cruisers?

thanks
 
supernova12034 said:
Interesting, thank you for that! Im curious, what are the numbers like? if you dont mind me asking. how much for 650cc cruisers?

thanks
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Ya I just thought it was interesting. I don't think theres much of a point sharing the exact numbers. It varies too much, they wouldnt be any use to you. Plus its goes way down after 25, and I don't want to scare you off with what a 22 year old pays for insurance haha :D
 
supernova12034 said:
I was waiting to finish my MSF course and get my M2(Early April im booked for it) before i started calling for insurance, should i start calling now?

in 2010 i was in a car accident(taking a left on a T junction) when a cabbie(in downtown) just gassed and hit me even though i had right of way(I didnt make a claim), but that was 6 years ago and iv been clean since then, no accidents, no speeding tickets. My understanding is for each year after an accident you remain clean your premium goes down, and after 6 years it drops off your record entirely, and your squeaky clean.
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Most insurers use 6 years, so hopefully it comes off your record before you plan to insure the bike otherwise your policy, for the first year at least, will be rated as having an at fault.

Some insurers (ones that rate on a 10 star system vs 7 star) hold the accident on your record for 10 years, but so far as your abstract goes it's gone, but that's only going to help you if (assuming your insurance company works on a 10 star system) you plan to insure the bike with a different company in which case when they look at your AutoPlus record the accident will be out of the picture.

If the accident doesn't come off your record until after you plan to insure the bike, well, you'll probably be paying extra.

And to answer your other question, YES...start calling for insurance now armed with the list of bikes you are now considering. Be upfront and tell them you're only M1 now but will be M2 when you're actully looking to put the policy in place - they can give you quotes accordingly no problem, you don't have to actually have the licence in place to get quotes, you just have to have it from them to write the policy after the fact based on said quote, that's all.

catzo said:
Ya, might as well wait until you finish the course and get the m2 before you start looking at quotes.
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Absolutely no need to wait. Someone without even an M1 can call an insurer and get quotes on bikes under the future assumption of having the training course and M2 under the belt by the time they actually want to enact the policy.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Absolutely no need to wait. Someone without even an M1 can call an insurer and get quotes on bikes under the future assumption of having the training course and M2 under the belt by the time they actually want to enact the policy.
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Won't you get a more accurate quote though if you just wait until youre ready to insure the bike and you can put in all your info instead of creating a hypothetical? I guess you'd get a pretty close estimate though.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Most insurers use 6 years, so hopefully it comes off your record before you plan to insure the bike otherwise your policy, for the first year at least, will be rated as having an at fault.

Some insurers (ones that rate on a 10 star system vs 7 star) hold the accident on your record for 10 years, but so far as your abstract goes it's gone, but that's only going to help you if (assuming your insurance company works on a 10 star system) you plan to insure the bike with a different company in which case when they look at your AutoPlus record the accident will be out of the picture.

.
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yeah it will definaitly be with a different company, so the accident should be out of the picture(regardless its been 6 years so i dont think it should be an issue)

Ok, ill start calling around now, and start asking for quotes
 
catzo said:
Won't you get a more accurate quote though if you just wait until youre ready to insure the bike and you can put in all your info instead of creating a hypothetical? I guess you'd get a pretty close estimate though.
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As long as nothing changes with the "theoretical" rider (an accident occurs between the time the quote is made and the policy is written), or the insurer has a major upheaval (as happened with State Farm where people got quotes under one underwriter, then they changed and quotes were suddenly invalidated), the "theoretical" quote made now will still be the same in a few weeks once the rider is ready to actually get the policy written.

The sudden insurance company upheaval is highly unlikely, the State Farm thing this year wasn't exactly a routine occurrence.

The reason I tell anyone interested in riding to get theoretical M2/Safety Course Completed quotes BEFORE they do anything at all is that sometimes people find out that because of something on their record (or the bike they wanted) insurance is simply out of their reach - at that point if they are uninsurable or the quote makes it financially impossible for them to even consider a motorcycle anytime soon, is it worth even pursuing the licence and safety course, especially considering you're investing north of $500 for it by the time you're done?

Some people still think motorcycles are cheap to insure so they don't even consider that until it's too late.
 
supernova12034 said:
yeah it will definaitly be with a different company, so the accident should be out of the picture(regardless its been 6 years so i dont think it should be an issue)
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You should be good then. Good luck, let us know how it goes, but you have a list of reasonable bikes, are over 25, plan on having the motorcycle safety course under your belt and your M2 beforehand, and with a clean record things should be decent for you on a cruiser.
 
I forgot to mention one bike:

The Honda CTX700N:

http://motorcycle.honda.ca/model/cruiser/ctx700n

Same engine as in the NC "New Concept" bikes like the NC700S and NC700X.

Very user friendly torque curve, crazy fuel economy, and eco friendly if that matters to you (the engine has very low emissions for a motorcycle engine).

Lots of great options mentioned on this thread.

As for insurance you really need to get some quotes. They vary from person to person, bike to bike, and company to company. There must be some kind of voodoo, black science to how actuaries figure out bike insurance.

My pick if it were me would probably be the Vulcan S. Thing is evocative of a modern muscle cruiser to me.

I test rode a 650 Versys last summer and found it had enough power to put a smile on my face. The Vulcan S is about 10kg more so about 20lbs more so the power to weight ratio should be fairly ideal for a new/newer rider and yet have enough to not outgrow too quickly. The ability to change/alter the ergonomics is pretty cool too. Reminds me of the 1980s and how easy it was to tailer the bikes to whatever you wanted them to be.
 
These large c.c. bikes are in no way shape or form Starter Cruisers.

You can start on them,
but it will not be pretty,
and will take longer to learn,
than if you started on a smaller bike.
 
I started off with a bike with a 1600 CC engine and weigh just over 900 lbs.

Wasn't the easiest way to learn.

Work small, then go bigger.. 600-650 cc sounds good.. master that, then move up.
 
You can do whatever you want. The Stryker is a sexy bike but it is not beginner friendly. It is a loooonnnggg bike compared to most cruisers and parking lot manouvers and uturns are going to be more difficult because of the increased turning radius. Also, the drag bars are harder to get leverage on vs a wider style of bar like a traditional cruiser handlebar.

Back in the day I went from a Yamaha 400cc Maxim to an 1100cc Virago after 4 months of riding the Maxim and survived, but I will say that the time spent on the Maxim made a BIG difference in my confidence and ability. The Virago was a lot bigger and heavier and would have been a tough bike to start out with no experience on. Also, switching from the 400cc to the 1100cc meant going from $800/yr for liability insurance to $2200/yr for liability insurance! I was 16 yrs old but that was 1997! I don't even want to know what it would have cost in today's money!
 
I started with a VSTAR 250 for the first year - plenty adequate for learning on. Then sold it with no loss of money and moved on to the M50
 
I have a Vulcan 500. It is my first bike and I am fairly satisfied with it. Even though it does everything I need it to do, I will probably want to upgrade to something newer and flashier at some point. I get the sense that in the smaller cruisers, a parallel twin is more fun than a V-twin

We already have a couple of votes for the Vulcan S. They look like nice bikes.

Triumph has a couple of midsized models that it calls cruisers: the America and the Speedmaster. These both look like they would be more satisfying than a 600 Shadow or a 650 VStar
 
Was at Edge Performance today looking at bikes for the wife. Saw the new Vulcan 650s, very cool looking bike, and with the 650 parallel twin I have in my versys what's not to like. This new Vulcan will stomp on a 40hp vstar 650 or Honda Shadow 650 etc. V-twin cruiser or not, the Vulcan has the look and it'll have the go.

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I have a Raider which you could say is a big brother to the Stryker ... maybe because I've been riding for a while, I rode the Stryker and felt it had no balls, there was no gumption in the ride (a noob might think it is the fastest thing since sliced bread of course) ... the Raider on the other hand has the extra 600cc's and that makes the bike. If you are already looking at a new Stryker, I'd just buy a used Raider for the same price. Now not only do you have the look you've got motor to back it up ... Maybe its just me, but if I see a Stryker, it just seems like you wanted a Raider and wimped out and got a Stryker instead (personal opinion).

I like my Raider and having said that and above, the Stryker / Raider is an absolute TERRIBLE first bike. The bike is so long that the handling is totally different than any other bike I've ridden. The handling is not bad once your used to it but initially when you first try it, its totally off. I would seriously consider getting a used smaller bike for a year just to get your feet wet, skipping the Stryker and getting a Raider.

my 2 cents.
 
As a fellow large 250+ dude, I will throw in on this one. I bought my first bike after getting the M2 in June 2011. A 2009 Honda Shadow Aero Touring, 750CC. It was a good bike to learn on, and suited my for the first 2 years. Then I wanted to go on longer rides, and the thing I quickly discovered is that it was SEVERELY underpowered for highway riding. I was in final gear at 110 km/h, so there wasn't anything left over if I needed to scoot out of a situation quickly. As much as you will love your first bike, it will leave you wanting. I have buddies that started on 1300's and are fine them still.

You will find that the threshold for insurance on a cruiser is around 1100-1300cc's. The price jumps, but from 1300-1800cc's you are paying roughly the same. I just bought a Victory which is 1761cc and it was only $300 more per year with full coverage.

My 2 cents
 
supernova12034 said:
decent beginner bike for a big fella?
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It has a nice enough engine, and it's light. BUT.....................it's also very low and VERY cramped for a big guy. I'm 5'10 with a long inseam and I was fairly squished on it.

Fun ride though, especially for a beginner.
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