How to buy a motorcycle

In this article, I want to give you the basic info you need to choose and purchase your first motorcycle. This will be a brief overview, but my next articles on What Defines a Motorcycle’s Feel and Types of Motorcycles will dive a little bit deeper.

When you start shopping for a motorcycle, you first major choice will be picking a category (cruiser, standard, dual sport, etc.). The first and best piece of advice I can give here is to forget your assumptions. Try to forget what you always thought you wanted and definitely forget what your friends and family ride for a minute. Even if you know (or think you know) that you want a particular brand or model, try going to a Big 4 dealership (Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki) and sit on everything. The major Japanese brands make bikes from all categories, so it’s a one-stop-shop for comparison shopping. You might be surprised by what type of bike feels the most comfortable and clicks with you (both physically and psychologically).

I break down the major categories in more detail in What Defines a Motorcycle’s Feel and Types of Motorcycles, but pay special attention to seat height and how your body fits on the motorcycle over all. Feeling physically comfortable is especially important for your first motorcycle, and if you’re intimidated just sitting on the bike you’ll definitely feel intimidated when you go to ride it.

Please don’t buy your dream bike as your first bike. Sure, there’s definitely an argument that buying a fast bike is a quick recipe to get yourself hurt, but in my experience the bigger problem is that buying your dream bike (or any big, expensive bike) can actually hold back your skill development. If your first bike is too big, too fast, or too expensive you’ll likely be too afraid to actually go out and practice on it.

A smaller, less powerful bike gives you a better risk offset when you’re riding, but it also hurts your wallet a lot less when you inevitably drop it. Far too many riders go out and buy a big Harley or a liter-class sports bike and only work up the courage to take it out a few times each summer, which means they never actually practice enough to progress into safe, skilled riders.

Large, more powerful bikes also tend to have more complicated engines and other mechanics, meaning that maintenance will be more complicated and/or expensive. Entry-level bikes tend to be simpler machines, so they’re cheaper to maintain and easier to learn to wrench on.

So do you actually need a small, low-displacement entry-level bike? That’s my standard recommendations for all of the above reasons. For riders who have previous experience or are just quick learners & confident, I don’t think that going for an intermediate bike as your first is necessarily a bad idea. Just make sure that you trust your own impulse control and maintain a good risk offset. Intermediate bikes are also more likely to have safety technology like ABS & traction control as default options.

Revzilla’s blog has a good, short article on choosing your first motorcycle.

Finding a bike in an online market place (Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Cycle Trader, etc.) and buying from a private party is generally cheaper, but you need to hunt around for a deal and you’re generally stuck with the bike as-is. Make sure to ask questions about the previous owner’s maintenance of the bike and look for obvious signs of neglect or damage. You’ll also be responsible for doing any DMV paperwork to transfer the title yourself. It’s almost guaranteed that you’ll need to pay in cash, which limits your options if you aren’t very liquid. Revzilla has some detailed advice for buying from a private seller in this article.

Buying from a dealership, either new or used, can simplify the buying process. You can select from a range of motorcycles, and the dealership will handle all the state paperwork for you. You can be more confident that the bike is in sound mechanical condition and if you do have any mechanical problems, you’ll likely be protected by at least a limited warranty and state lemon laws. If it’s a sound financial decision for your situation, dealerships also partner with specialty financing companies that can offer you a reasonable rate on a loan, just like a car loan. The downside is that this convenience comes with higher prices (both for the bike and in dealership fees). Revzilla has another great article to help you out.

Post-pandemic, the dealership vs private seller decision is even trickier. Supply chain issues and more riders looking to break the lockdown blues lead to reduced inventory of bikes, and used motorcycle prices skyrocketed to the point where they rivaled new bike prices (when you could find new inventory). The market is starting to return to normal, but don’t be shocked if new & used prices are closer than you expect.

Almost anyone you talk to will recommend a used, cheap motorcycle as your first motorcycle. They’ll be easier on the wallet to buy (and potentially repair), and once you get some miles under your belt you can pass it along to next year’s new riders without losing much money (if any).

In recent years, most manufacturers have really embraced building small-displacement bikes designed for new riders. While I still think buying used is a good starting point, buying new can avoid some of the risk from buying an old motorcycle with a suspect maintenance history. You might find that you can get a brand new bike with a modern technology and factory warranty for less than you expected. This is a good option if you don’t feel equipped to maintain or repair a bike if something goes wrong mechanically.

Now that you know how to shop for and buy a bike, check out What Defines a Motorcycle’s Feel and Types of Motorcycles if you need some help figuring out what you want to buy.