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As Dan said above, if this is your first bike, plan on dropping it a few times.

Heck, even if it is not your first bike, plan on dropping it, so wear good gear, pick it back up and move on.

Buying a brand new bike or a pristine old bike and planning to keep it that way is unrealistic at least and pure insanity at best.

Point is you are not just buying a bike, you are also buying gear, preferrably with armor, tools, mods, books, training, hopefully evolving to trackdays and all sorts of money sucking things.

That is what you have to keep in mind. That is the big picture.

Now make a decision you can live with! :thumbsup:
 
I'm on an SV650S now, but wandered around on a Ninja 250 for a couple years while deciding what I really wanted in a bike. I'm one of htose past riders that returned to the sport.
You may be pleasently surprised on the insurance. Rates in CT range from below $200 for liability coverage to around $500/year for full coverage with a $500 deductable.
Barry
 
Honestly the bike has very little to do with it.

Number One reason...the bike only does what you tell it to.(barring catastrophic failure of some sort)

I have known people to start out without any experience on Busa's never take the MSF class and ride for years without ever going down....and i know guys that take every precausion known to man, start out on a old ninja 250 and died litteraly a month later on a deserted road doing something stupid...

Here is the difference...when you give the busa an input(steering, throttle, or brake...doesnt matter) it does it RIGHT EFFING NOW...while the 250 says...meh...we will get there eventually....which is good for new riders that dont always understand the translation between input(what you do) and output(what the bike does)

So the question you need to ask yourself is what level of ability(cognitive, motorskills, translation) do you have? And the ultimate qusetion is do you have the ability to ride at your own ability. Can you shrug off that guy that flies by you and begs you to 'race' him through the curves at speeds beyond your ability. If so, i think the SV650 is fine as a starter bike. If not, try a vespa. :D

Good luck either way, and welcome to the addiction!
 
If its going to be your VERY first bike ever, NO. TOO much power. If you know how to ride, then it would probably be just fine.
Totally disagree. The SV was my first street or dirt bike. Excellent choice. Light, agile, and enough power to grow into and keep for a long time.

My friend on the other hand purchased his first bike at the same time, a GS500, and was ready for an upgrade within months, especially after riding my SV.

You won't be disappointed.
 
I started with the SV after taking the MSF course. Actually, I took the HD Riders Edge, so we practiced on 500cc Buell Blasts (though they were single cylinders). The Blast seemed kind of small for me @ 5'9" & 210lbs, though they had enough power to drag me around. I've driven stick for a while, did many track days in cars, but had no MC experience at all before the course. At the end of the course, though, I thought I did very well, and felt pretty comfortable on the bike, so I thought I could move up a notch. I started looking for a bike while drooling over the 1200cc Buell Uly XT, which just seeemed to be way too much bike for me (well, not according to the salesman). I really didn't want a bike w/ fairings like the Ninjas (which were hard to find last year anyway), and there wasn't really anything available in a 'naked' street bike in the 250-500cc range other than the Blast. I heard there was an SV400 at one time, but couldn't find one. If they had a naked version of the Ninja 500, I probably would've ended up with that, or had there been some more info on the Versys at the time, and had it been available in a color other than red, it may have been a contender. But, in the end, I brought a brand new SV650n home within a week of passing my MSF course last year. I was a bit intimidated by it at first, so I was very cautious. I did drop it from a standstill at the entrance to my condo complex that first night (kind of a weird driveway - it's sort of uphill at a 45-degree angle and it caught me off-balance). The naked, though, is pretty forgiving of this, and $12 later I had a new clutch lever and was having the time of my life tooling around the neighborhood. Within a few weeks, as my confidence increased, I had worked my way up to highways and traffic, and after 3-4 weeks even dared the George Washington bridge and the outer boroughs of NYC.

I rode everywhere the rest of the summer (except to work), and did weekend trip to the Jersey shore (~150 miles), and later a 1k mile r/t weekend to Toronto (ordered a Corbin seat as soon as I got back from that one!). I did drop the bike once more - at a stop sign ~3 blocks away from my friend's place in Toronto, after 500 miles of uneventful slab riding. Broke the same clutch lever, too.

The SV, IMO, is not a bad beginner bike, as long as you can respect it. I would definitely not recommend it if you can't flat-foot it. It's not the lightest bike around, so, as a new rider, it takes a little practice and patience when walking it around a parking lot or your driveway until you get used to how the weight transfers (especially if you're not a large or strong person). Yes, the throttle is a little 'twitchy' (mostly in lower gears), but I learned that when on a bumpy street, upshift a gear, and the bike won't jump every time you hit a bump that causes you to rotate the throttle a hair. A little self-restraint goes a long way, and once you do get comfortable, it can be a long-term keeper.

Now, I'm eyeing a Street Triple, and still thinking about the Versys, but just can't really justify either right now. The SV does everything I want it to do, with barely any mods other than a set of Cortech Sport bags, a set of mirrors, and the Corbin seat. I may someday want to get something that's better for long-distance 2-up riding w/ a weekend's worth of luggage (a mid-size adventure tourer like the BMW F800GS may fit the bill), and a Ural w/ sidecar may someday be a blast for when there's snow on the ground, but even then, I think I'll still want to hold onto my SV.

Just my $.02. Take it for what it's worth.
 
I bought the SV as my first real bike, had it for a couple of years now and has had no problem handling it. But I've only used the SV as a daily commuter around town and has not taken it to the twisties or anything like that yet.

I would say that the best way to decide for you is to sit on one and see if you are comfortable with the bike. Are you comfortable with the seating position? Can you reach the controls just fine? Can your feet reach the ground properly during a stop? Is the bike too heavy for you? When I was looking for a bike before, I tried to sit on a Suzuki Bandit 600 and I felt that it was too high and too heavy for me.

If you do decide to get an SV or something similar though, I would suggest you to also look at the Ninja 650R. If you are not familiar with it, this bike is basically an attempt from Kawasaki to copy the SV 650. It has a parallel twin engine and weighs close to an SV. It may be a bit harder to find deals on these since they are newer (it came out in 2006), but both my brother and my friend managed to find a used one for about 3 grand. I actually liked the seat on the 650R better than my 1st gen Naked SV (the seat is narrower), and despite the bike's look the seating position is actually more upright than even my naked SV. Being a newer bike though, it does not have as many aftermarket support or as mod friendly as the SV.

Just my $0.02 and good luck with the search!
 
Those who say it's the rider, not the bike, are blowing it out of their a$$.

As a rank beginner, you cannot learn proper cornering technique and emergency avoidance skills on a 'Busa. No friggin' way. All you can learn is how to ride in a straight line while praying that nobody cuts you off.

There's a reason why new air pilots start out on trainers and not F-18's. Start with the lightest, cheapest, least powerful bike you can find. Then, learn to ride the wheels off the thing. A used Ninja 250 is great for this. If you live where frequent highway rides are unavoidable, though, you might also get by on a GS500 or EX500.

The SV is not a terrible starter bike, but the bikes I've named are all better choices. The SV's throttle is twitchy, the engine-braking is severe, and the brakes are grabby. In short, it is a difficult bike to ride smoothly, which makes for one more thing that a newbie has to concentrate on. Also, 70 hp > 40 hp, any way you do the math. And no, it's not a matter of the pilot's "self-control" or "respect" for the bike. That has nothing to do with accidentally cracking the throttle when you're leaned over, mid-turn, or when you hit a bump. Those are just newbie mistakes that are bound to happen, and mistakes like those are going to put things wrong a lot faster on an SV than on a less powerful bike.
 
The sv650 was my first bike, and I think its the perfect bike to start out on. Its not an insainley powerful bike so it fits good for beginners, if you where to get anything smaller you'd just end up wanting to sell it after the first year, at least the sv has enough that you'd be satisfied with it for a while or forever.
 
Perfect bike to start out with, I learned on mine about 1yr and 2 mos ago and have put more than 12,000 miles on her.

I'm ready to upgrade I want/need more LOL
 
... if you where to get anything smaller you'd just end up wanting to sell it after the first year....

... and you'd you'd be a better rider after that first year than if you started on an SV,

... and you'd have a better idea of what you wanted for your next bike (maybe it won't be an SV -- Who knows?),

... and you'd pretty much get every dollar back that you spent on the beginner bike (they hold their value really well).

If you find that you're really into bikes, your first bike is not going to be your last, and the chances of you keeping any bike for more than a few years is practically nil. So, the argument that you'll "outgrow" a beginner bike and want to trade it for something else in a year or two is really no argument at all. You're supposed to outgrow it; of course you'll eventually want to trade it for something else. Big deal.

My first street bike made 35 hp and topped out at 90 mph.... and I loved that bike. Bought it for $1,200, rode it everywhere for three years, then sold it for $1,200. (Nice ones go for over $3,000 now, on eBay.) I still miss it, 25 years later.
 
I think its a very forgiving bike, is not too powerful for a beginner but yet has enough power to grow into. And there's a huge aftermarket to dress the bike up, do mods etc. Plus you can make it a track bike, put gsxr forks on etc. the list is endless.

I'm very happy to have learned on my bike. I'm now ready to step up.
 
I bought one brand new in late 2005 - my first bike ever. I know thats probably not the best idea - buying a new one - but it was a good deal and I couldn't find a good used one. I looked at the SV650 and the Yam Fz6. I found the ergo's on the SV to be much better for taller riders (i'm 6'2), plus I liked the looks of the SV better. I have never regretted my decision - the bike is bulletproof and an absolute blast to ride.

Now, with that said, this bike will pin your ears back. You have to respect it. Honestly I was a little scared of mine at first and took several weeks riding it in parking lots, etc. before I got completely comfortable. I'm glad I waited until I was 35 to buy a bike - I don't think I was enough of an adult before that.

Like someone wisely noted in an earlier post, the bike's only gonna do what you tell it. Just be sensible..
 
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