Need help buying my first bike please.?

of the 3, i'd go for the CBRF3. that 97 paint scheme was my favorite beside the smokin joe. I've owned a few f2's and f3's and they're pretty much bullet proof. They're not uncomfortable to ride as a daily sportbike and have better components than the 500 ninja, like suspension and brakes. The bike is even liquid cooled, unlike the katana. Who has their head on straight manufacturing a sport tourer bike without liquid cooling???? definately not suzuki's katana department.

anyways, the 500 ninja has super soft 'non' adjustable suspension, but the f3 doesn't. the f3 has a very nice braking package and suspension. it also has good handle bar height and angles, unlike other modern sportbikes.

for me the f3 is the way to go between those 3 bikes. the price is very good too, making me wish i could buy this bike, but i've got too many already and i live in florida.

I will tell you this about the F3. The only "BAD" thing about that bike that is flawed is:

1) cam chain tensioner - they're not built to last long enough. if you hear a rattle from the motor when you first start the bike, and afterwards when it's warm during idle, then your cam chain tensioner is bad. consider the cam chain tensioner bad before you think you have valve issues. I bought a new CCT a few years ago for my f2 and it was about 50-60 bucks for one. They're user replaceable, just like changing out brake pads. no special tools needed to change it out, just make sure you dunk it in oil and bleed the air out before installing. you could also buy a manual cct if you want to spend a bit more money.

2) regulator/rectifier unit - this part is located on the passenger's right on the rear part of the frame.

Honda didn't use any thermal heat sink compound to dissapate the heat to the frame, nor was the item made with heat sink cooling fins to help cool the unit down. The result is a poorly designed unit that's designed to fail due to heat breakdown. these items are not cheap to replace, but there are aftermarket units with cooling fins to aid in cooling it down. i've never bought one so i don't know if they're any more/less reliable than the oem units.

also, there were more f2/f3 units sold in the 90's than any other bike in America like the GSXR's were for 2000-09.

They're good bikes and even though current technology outdates their design, the f2/f3 bikes are still a very solid and reliable bike with lots of spare parts available online.

the f2/f3 both do not have hard seats or lack plush for your butt and the handle bars are not position in a way that you're sooo leaned forward. most people who will talk bad about certain bikes geometries have never even ridden the bike or are just older guys concerned about wrist and back issues. The f2/f3's are not extreme with handle bar height or angle.

The 600cc class is not recomended for beginers. The 500cc class has more low end power than the 600's. The 600's sacrifice low end power to give you more high end power. You won't get tired of a 500. Really, a 500cc bike can do 100 mph. Is that enough power for you. Now I can understand if you get a 250cc bike that you would get tired of it. I have a 250cc Rebel and I like it just fine for around town. But I also have a 650cc V-star that I use for the High way. The nice thing about the 500cc class is it does real well around town. But, It can also be used for say... A 60 mile trip on the interstate at 80 mph. This is a good time to get used to maintaining a bike and getting the feel for clutch, throttle, and so forth. Don't be in a hurry to get a bigger bike. If you enjoy riding you will have time to figure what bike you want next. If you decide you don't want to ride then the 500's don't depreciate as quickly as the 600's.

First of all, you have to understand the difference between a sportbike and a 'standard'. The CBR is a dedicated, single-purpose sportbike. The Katana and Ninja are general purpose standards.

Real sportbikes (CBR, GSX-R, ZX, R1/R6) are made for speed and handling, and they sacrifice everything to those goals. They have small, hard seats (because you get some road feedback through your butt). They have an extreme riding position, leaned way over, which puts a lot of strain on your wrists and lower back. The engines are high-performance so you have to keep them constantly revved near the redline to get the power out of them, and consequently they don't tend to last as long. And the steering geometry is extreme also, very sensitive, almost twitchy--not forgiving for beginners. All the Japanese makers make a model like this, and they are very popular, they represent a large 'market segment'. So the Japanese mfgrs are very competitive. They are all great bikes for what they are, marvels of engineering, but not for beginners. If you really have to have one (and I don't blame you) see it as something to work up to. Your second bike.

The Ninja and Katana are 'sporty' but general purpose. They're plenty fast enough and good-handling enough to have a lot of fun, but easier to control. More comfortable on a long trip. More forgiving of a slightly clumsy beginning rider. The Katana is the GSX-R's 'little brother'--they share the same basic engine but the Katana has a wider power band and is easier to ride. the CBR's little brother is the Honda 599 'Hornet'.

I think 500cc is fine. It's big enough to cruise on the freeway. If you wanted to go up to visit me in the Bay Area for a weekend, the 500 would be adequate for Hwy 1 and also 101. A 650 wouldn't be too big. Someone who rides a 750 would ride a 500 and say 'Wow, this bike is really gutless!' But it's just a matter of what you're used to. At this point you're not looking for the ultimate bike, you're looking for a -trainer-.

Twins have a charm all their own. When Honda brought back the 4-cyl motorcycle in the late 1960s, and all the other Japanese mfgrs followed suit, people thought twins would just disappear, but they're still popular today. Twins are more about what motorcycles used to be like, simple, almost primitive. They have 'character'. I have two motorcycles, one is a liquid-cooled V4 and the other is a twin, and I love them both for different reasons. If I had to get rid of one, it'd be the V4.

The people who recommended those 600s as good first bikes are idiots.

I'm not the only one who will tell you that, although I do seem to be the first today.

Get yourself off to a beginning rider's course.

Find out for yourself what one of their "little" 250s will do to an inexperienced rider.

Talk to the instructors - people who actually ride, not just talk.

A small bike ridden well is a lot more fun and much safer for all than a bigger bike ridden poorly.

As a beginner, you should be looking for a single or twin of 500cc or lower displacement.

Skills learned on a smaller bike transfer easily to a larger one. Some skills not learned on a smaller bike never are.

"They said as long as I am careful I will be okay."

They are either ignorant or they are lying. A 600 will take you from "oh $h!t" to dead, faster than you can think. It doesn't matter if it's "only" a Katana.

Read the links below.They could save you from spending the rest of your life in a wheelchair.

first of all logan, when you say your first bike??? does that mean you know how to ride already, or you just going to hop on and twist the the throttle and let excitement of inexperience rider have the thrill of his life trying to tame over 35hp to the rear wheel for the first time?????

The Katana

Go no further than the Katana. When you change bikes, you will keep it. Its that good.