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dkl

dkl

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My 21 year old grand daughter wants to ride with us. What is the best beginner Classic Street Bike to buy. We ride GL1100s, would like to stay in the 1980-1985 range. Thought about Silverwing or CX500 custom, but scared it would be to heavy to start with. She is 5'9" and plays college basketball, so she is strong. all suggestions welcome, and I like to work on stuff.
 
I had an '86 500 Shadow that I really liked, of course that could be because it was my first (and only so far) brand new bike.

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Yea those low slung cruisers are great for shorter legs, easy to handle V twin weight displacement, Honda or other 600CC class bikes have great balance and foot placement, would be a great starter bike for anyone and are pretty cheap.
 
Pretty much all the bikes of that time were heavy compared to similar sized late model bikes. I enjoy my 78 KZ 750 twin. It's a very simple machine to work on and is tough as nails. If that is too tall you might consider a Vulcan 700 or 750.
 
For ease of riding for a beginner I think a low, slow, mid sized japanese made cruiser would be a good choice 600 to 800 cc's.
Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki all make good versions.

I would resist the urge to buy a (in my opinion) throwaway and move up small displacement bike from 250 to 500cc bike, but then I don't like little lightweight bikes very much.
 
I had a KZ750LTD, It was top heavy, but ran Like a Champ..... but I am looking for something balanced that's not prone to tipping
 
My fist bike was a 78 CX500...wasn't any trouble to handle it. If a bit of that 5'9" is legs, she won't have any trouble with any of the smaller displacement bikes. The CX customs seemed to be less top heavy, as the tank was smaller.
 
250 Rebel is a great starter bike and they've been around forever. Low CG and controls easy to reach but I'd suggest going to a dealer to get a feel what suits her frame and weight.
Can always hang on to the rebel for beer runs when she's ready to move up.
 
I have a buddy that had a CB 900 custom, that was a pretty nice bike too, I'd still like to have one of those myself.
[emoji7]

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Found a clean 2002 Yamaha VSTAR 650 with 35,000 miles, windshield, and saddle bags included, for $1,000.....Maybe go look at it Monday..any built in problems to look for, or advice.
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=175765#p175765:1amcnrjs said:
dkl » Sun Jun 26, 2016 2:40 pm[/url]":1amcnrjs]
Found a clean 2002 Yamaha VSTAR 650 with 35,000 miles, windshield, and saddle bags included, for $1,000.....Maybe go look at it Monday..any built in problems to look for, or advice.
Click to expand...
Thats an excellent price, the Vstar has a good reputation as far as I know,ride it, give it the ear test maybe someone else knows more.
 
Put quite a few miles on a 99 or 2000 Vstar 650...no troubles at that point, but it was new then.
 
Found a 2003 Yamaha V Star Classic 650----7,295 miles----$1,400 Picking up today. Has Electrical issues and nasty Gas, but I got it cranked and it ran really well.
LSU Purple, How could a Louisiana Boy go Wrong.
 

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