Im thinking of getting an older (70's) honda or kawasaki as my first bike. I wanted to stay between the 500-1000cc size. Just wanted to get some opinions, recomendations or any other input.

 

i have a 76 kawasaki kz 400 S2.


pretty cool bike in my opinion. bit bouncy, but whatever, its great for starting out and so much more unique than starting on a ninja 250 or 500 so many do

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by unltdacc12 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Im thinking of getting an older (70's) honda or kawasaki as my first bike. I wanted to stay between the 500-1000cc size. Just wanted to get some opinions, recomendations or any other input. </TD></TR></TABLE>

the older bikes are potentialy MUCH more dangerous. Todays bikes have much better brakes, steering and suspensions, not even taking into account the wear on these same components in a 30 year old machine...

 

true, front and rear drum brakes and bouncy suspension isnt great... but bike isnt meant to do what new bikes can so i dont try to push it like that at all, just bike to get hang of riding

 

I ride an 88 honda hawk - a modern classic. I learned on a 1975 Yamaha RD125 two stroke, and I'll always have a special place in my heart for clean classic bikes.
I think a couple good bikes for you would be the Honda CB550F, the Kawasaki Z650 or a Yamaha RD400. All fine bikes to learn on - you just have to keep in mind when they were designed and you can't push them like a modern sportbike.

 

I know that a newer bike would be alot safer, but i cant afford a new bike right now. Im just looking for something i can ride occassionally like every other weekend. I found a cb550 for pretty cheap with low miles. I test rode it, and i like it alot. hopefully negotiations work out.