Beginner seeks SBM – Suzuki Blue Motorcycle.
By Eric Jacobson

First off, let me say this: I’m not a veteran of motorcycling, nor am I an older gentleman who, after rounding the top of the hill of life and peering down the other side, decided to buy a motorcycle to resolve a mid-life crisis. No, I’m a 25-year old post-graduate who has wanted a motorcycle ever since I can remember and was never able to do so.

So, after grabbing a useless master’s degree and moving to a state with reasonable insurance premiums, I decided to pursue the dream I have held ever since I saw my uncle ride up on a two-wheeled, heavy-breathing dragon back when I was just old enough to walk. I decided it was time to get a motorcycle.

I’m not what you’d describe as impulsive. I spent months fantasizing about what kind of bike to get, and researched with every resource I could find, writing emails to members of countless enthusiast bulletin boards. You’d be surprised the following that the Kawasaki Ninja 250 has online. Anyway, I wrote emails asking what the best bike for a beginner is, how one should go about starting the hobby, and where to go from there.

The nearby DMV was easily accessible and one day when I had too much spare time, I stopped in to see if I could get my permit. Alright, I’m not saying that the test was “easy,” I can tell you that it’s no surprise the number of newbie accidents that North Carolina’s freeways see. I mean, I “studied” the motorcycle handbook in the excruciatingly long ten minutes I waited for my turn to take the test, sat down at the computer, and only got three of the questions wrong. So, now I’m ready to go buy a motorcycle and go flying down the roads at triple-digit speeds, right? No, I don’t think so.

I found a Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginner’s course down the road from me and, quite to my own surprise, woke up at 5:30 in the morning to get in line to register for the incredibly popular class. I didn’t realize that there is a 5:30 in the morning! Whose idea was that?! The wait for the course to actually start seemed to take forever as I had to sign up nearly two months in advance. I bought my helmet the week after getting my registration information and would walk around my house wearing it just to “get used to my weight.” If you want some free entertainment by getting strange looks from other drivers on the road, wear your helmet while driving your car around town.

Time passed.

More time passed.

Finally, it was time for me to go to the class and learn what it’s like to have gas-powered explosions going off directly beneath your family jewels and propelling you at high speeds on a mere two wheels feels like. The Honda Rebel 250 at the class was my best friend and taught me a lot. For example, the 250 taught me that you have to be careful how quickly you let out on the clutch when executing a quick start or you’ll discover that motorcycle riding holds a lot more similarities to bronco-riding at the rodeo than you may have previously thought.

I received my certification despite the sudden rainstorm that came up from nowhere when it was time for my group to take the final tests. It did catch one of my classmates off-guard during the emergency-stop test when she executed an amazing stop directly between the orange cones and promptly failed to keep the shiny parts up. Not exactly confidence-inspiring considering she had been riding for years.

At any rate, I passed and it was time to find my new bike.

Everyone has their own opinion on what kind of a bike a new rider should get. Some people think that anything over 250cc is way too powerful, others suggest that 500cc is a good starting point, but there seems to be a good consensus that a 650cc bike is a little beyond any beginner. And still others suggest that maybe starting with a good BMX roadbike with training wheels is a good place for riders in my age-group with my level of experience.

I’m not cocky. Sure, I’ve thrown a 1995 Miata M-edition off a cliff in a successful attempt at avoiding the broadside of a large deer (it had antlers, man!) on the nearby mountain roads in my day, but who hasn’t? I’m not a crazy driver. Really.

At any rate, I was prepared, or at least that’s what the instructors told us, to go out and start enjoying the world of two-wheeled riding. Honestly, looking back from the point where I am now, I can admit that I wasn’t confident about the whole idea but I had gained a determination that wouldn’t allow me to quit (that, and I had shelled out $200+ for the helmet and I’d be damned before it collected dust in a box in my closet along with my boy scout uniform and old Transformers action figures).

I visited the nearby motorcycle dealer and test-drove as many bikes as they’d let me mount. To credit those I questioned online, I took a brand-new Ninja 250 out for a spin. What can I say about the baby Ninja? Maybe my 175-lbs. was just too much for the little bike that could (not). Maybe I was just too new to motorcycling and didn’t have any idea how to get any power out of the bike. At any rate, the 4-cylinder I had in my Mazda truck at the time provided me with about the same level exhilaration, and, let me tell you, there was no danger of me outrunning the Geo Metro beside when I was in that truck.

So, write the 250 off. Let’s move up Kawasaki’s line. The 500. Ugly as sin with its strange three-fourths fairing, the 500 did a much better of flying around than its baby brother but its styling turned me off. In addition, ringing in at only two thousand dollars less than some tastier choices helped me to develop the following theory I entitle the Slippery Slope of Motorcycle Pricing (or: How to Justify Buying the Bigger Bike): if I’m going to spend $3k on a bike, I may as well look at the next step which is $5k just to make sure I’m making the right decision. Well, now that I’ve justified looking at a $5k bike, the $6-7k range is right around the corner so I should do myself a favor and check out the next step because, when broken up over a 60-month term, $1000 is only about $20 a month extra, right? Right.

At this point, the salesman was excited because he knew that I was pretty much a definite sell, and it was just a matter of finding me the right bike. That, and my discussion of my newly discovered economic theory, gave him new levels of enthusiasm.

He rolled out the SV650 and its slightly prettier twin sister, the SV650S. He explained to me the mechanics of the V-twin engine versus the in-line engines I had just ridden and a number of other details that got lost in the lyrics of “Dreamweaver” which were now playing in full stereo within my mind.

I mumbled something incoherently that apparently made enough sense to my salesperson to take the blue 2001 SVS out into the parking lot. I got onboard and fired it up.

Okay. Before I go any further, I must let you know that I am a torque-monger (if there is such a thing). I’m not into import racers or pocket-rockets when I drive a car. A throaty V8 with a rumbling exhaust gets my juices flowing.

I still haven’t found “the one” in my personal life, yet, but, when I do, I imagine that it will be a very similar experience to what happened when I was on top of the S.

Even after roaring through the parking lot with the burbly gurgle of V-twin exhaust exiting the gorgeous piping to my left, I wasn’t ready to admit to myself that I had found the only bike for me. Next up was a used Suzuki GSXR600.

I got onboard, and gunned it. My first thought was: “The SVS seems to have more power in lower RPMS than…” and I was cut off. See, a weird thing happens on the Gixxer at about 6,000-7,000 RPMs: the second engine that you didn’t notice before you got on the back decides to power on, grabs you by the ass, and teaches you to appreciate the rails on rollercoasters in theme parks because without them it would feel a lot like riding this particular motorcycle with very little previous motorcycling experience. Don’t worry. The one thought that recurred in my mind over and over again was: “Keep the shiny side up. Keep the shiny side up.” When I reigned the little beastie in and got back to the salesperson I’m pretty sure his hair was quite a bit grayer than it had been when I left.

Still, I wasn’t ready to give up. I knew that Yamaha made pretty good musical instruments and thought that this might be a good reason to try out a YZF. Smooth power, attractive styling, and a nice feel made this bike a pretty good contender. Everything felt like it should. However, it didn’t have that special something the SV had. It was a bike. It was a good bike. But it wasn’t my bike.

The salesperson maintained a high level of patience with me, I think. I came back and asked if I could take the S out again. I got on the blue bike again. It was like coming home. It was like putting on the old baseball glove that fit so right. It was like finding the lost sock that the dryer had eaten and you’d thought was gone forever. It was love. Tears would’ve welled up had I not forgotten to drop my visor and the wind hadn’t dried out my eye-sockets. I knew I that the S was “the one” and I would take her home.

Flash forward a year. I still have the same SVS I had last year. She’s got a little over 3000 miles on her now and I’ve managed to keep the shiny parts up (forgetting about one near miss during the first weekend that’s a whole other story). I’ll admit that the SVS is a little intimidating as a first bike. Pulling the bike out of the dealer parking lot and on to an incredibly busy four-lane road in the middle of rush hour will go down in history as one of the most exhilarating and frightening experiences of my life, but I haven’t regretted it. Not once. And, I’m pretty sure that I owe a lot of what makes my life as a motorcyclist so enjoyable to Suzuki’s incredible SV650S. It’s an amazing bike, whether you’re a beginner or a veteran rider. And, to all you beginners out there considering a smaller bike, do what you want but definitely take the SVS out for a spin. I’d hate to see a potential motorcyclist get turned off the sport because they started with the wrong bike. The SVS is a lightweight, well-powered, beautiful motorcycle whose power band is evenly distributed throughout the RPM-cycle and is well-mannered enough to handle Dear Abby herself without being so benign that the race isn’t fun anymore. The SVS is a real great bike, there’s no other way to put it. Except that I’ve gotta go now. The bike’s calling me, and I wanna ride.