Beginner motorcycles

In this post, I’ll list out some motorcycles that I think are suitable for beginners. This is purely from the experience I had looking for mine and only includes models that are fairly easy to find in Macau. Listed prices are for information and may be different the day you walk in the dealership.

Kymco Venox

Kymco is starting to be a well-known brand when it comes to scooters and motorcycles. I believe part of the reason must be because their prices are quite competitive when matching up against their Japanese competitors. They’re mostly selling scooters in Macau but I’ve spotted a couple of Venox as well and thought they looked quite good for 250cc motorcycles and I just felt a bit intrigued by this bike and did some research on it.
First off, Kymco is a Taiwanese company that has been manufacturing motorcycles and scooters for the past 45 years or so. It gives some confidence as I don’t think they would have been able to stay in business that long if they sold crappy motorbikes. You also get a 2-year warranty which is a pretty good sign.
The bike itself weighs around 175kg (which is not really light for a 250cc) and averages a consumption of 3.9 liters/100km (61mpg). Nice on the wallet. It also has 5 gears and sports a liquid cooling system, which I always recommend in Macau as it can get really hot and humid and I believe air cooling does not do such a great job in these conditions. Carburetor and fuel injection models are available, maybe depending on the country where you’re buying it.
I have had a look at this bike as I found one parked in the street once. It sure does not look like a 250cc and surely would not look out of place in a 900cc crowd. A couple of things disappointed me a bit, though, as I noticed all the “chromey” parts were actually made out of some kind of plastic. The silver paint was peeling off of them in some spots which didn’t really appeal me that much… At the same time, the bike only costs around HKD33,000, and other things, like that double exhaust, looked pretty mean.

Yamaha Vstar 250

The Yamaha Vstar 250 is also a 250cc cruiser like the Venox, built on the same type of engine (V twin) and allowing you to shift through 5 gears as well. Weighing a mere 147kg, it eats up the Venox on the fuel efficiency side with only 3 liters/100km (78mpg).
While I have not seen it being sold in dealerships (so I don’t know how much it would cost) I have seen a couple in the streets, among a pretty large number of its predecessor, the Yamaha Virago 250. I have also noticed the traffic police own these too, which means it must last pretty long and not break down very frequently. It also means an abundant amount of spare parts if you need to find one someday. There’s nothing much to say about that bike other than it could keep some of your money in your pocket instead of the gas station cashier, and it still looks nice, although you probably won’t have that “easy rider” feeling the Venox may bring you.

Kawasaki Ninja 250R

This is my most favourite motorbike of the whole bunch. I know of “experienced” riders who own other big supersports bikes who still bought a 250R as a second motorcycle. Yes… It is THAT good. Although it weighs 170kg, it handles like a charm in the traffic, the engine gives a good “torquey” response when accelerating or slowing down and it looks really good. Kawasaki really did a nice job designing it, and fresh riders can now own a 250cc motorcycle without looking like they’re riding a moped. It’s really sleek and has nothing to envy from his 650cc big brother.
Its parallel twin engine uses direct fuel injection and comes together with a liquid cooling system which is really helpful in summer when the temperature goes up to 35 degrees with 98% relative humidity. It also scores 3.9 liters/100km (61mpg) on the fuel efficiency test, which is pretty fair as this 250cc feels more like being 350~400cc.
The driving position comes in mid way between what you would expect when riding a standard bike vs. a sports bike. The seat is relatively low too, which mean even smaller riders are able to plant both feet on the ground when stopped which can increase one’s confidence.
I could keep going on and on about how great this motorbike is but I’ll cut the pet talk and go to the critical issue here: Its price. It does cost between HKD55,000 and HKD60,000. To tell the truth, I personally own this bike and it took me a while getting past the price tag, but once you drive it you know it was worth the extra money.

Other alternatives: Kawasaki ER-6n and Vulcan 500 LTD

For those of you who would like to start on something slightly bigger, I recommend these 2 motorcycles.
I’ve had the pleasure to test drive the Kawasaki ER-6n (classified as a sports bike but really seems more like a standard bike as you sit pretty straight up on top of it) and I almost fell in love with it. It seems it was designed especially for commuting, as it is equipped with an oversized rear tire that gives the bike good stability and extraordinary handling. I also liked the idea Kawasaki had of installing one single rear suspension directly under the seat as well as the large seat that ensures both driver and passenger are riding comfortably. Other bikes have the possibility of carrying passengers as well, but less real estate was spared for the passenger seat resulting in them having to fit in a tinier space.
The engine is a 650cc with liquid cooling and direct fuel injection. It comes with the standard 6 gears and weighs around 204kg, which sets the consumption at around 5.2 liters/100km (45mpg). I really enjoyed test driving it, it proved to be really handy and powerful and all… What did set me back? Its price, of course… Expect shelling out around HKD80,000 for that puppy.

Contrary to the Kawasaki ER-6n, I have not test driven the Vulcan 500 LTD… I haven’t even seen it once around here, but I have seen its 900 version quite often and I’m pretty sure the guys at Kawasaki will be able to order one for you if you would like to. It looks pretty nice for a 500cc cruiser, I like the oversized rear tire on that one as well and I have seen a lot of good comments about it all over the web. It seems that a lot of riders, from beginners to novices, find it to be a good compromise between looks, power, performances and money… A good bang for your buck as we say.
I have gathered some info around and this bike weighs almost the same as the ER-6n, sitting at 203kg. Being a 500cc compared to the 650cc of the ER-6n, I thought it would suffer a lack of power but riders had no complaints about this at all… Finding nothing bad about it, I decided to recommend it over the Suzuki S40 which, despite being affordable at around HKD50,000 (that’s cheap for 650cc), is nowhere near comfortable, not because of the seat or anything but mostly due to its engine that can literally vibrate your teeth out your skull (maybe coupled with poor suspension?). I can’t really say for sure how much the 500 LTD could cost around here but I’m betting on something around HKD70,000 as this is more or less the price for 400cc models.