Finding a good pre-owned starter bike

Finding a good used beginner bike for my daughter is proving to be extremely difficult.

Been looking for an older EX500 (Ninja500) for awhile but it seems riding is having a boom right now.

Hopefully late fall or early spring some of the people who won't stick with it will be selling. (Sorry Babygirl, you can't ride my VFR!)

 

hard to find but a perfect beginner bike: 1988-1990 VTR 250.





riding this one all summer, and it never fails to get me smiling.

 

Maybe Honda Hawk GT?

 

Any specific reason for Ninja 500?

What is your budget?

Plenty of other used bikes are also good for beginner rider, Yamaha Seca II, Suzuki Bandit, SV650, Honda 599, etc..

I've owned them all, but hard to beat a Ninja 250, I've ridden one for years, bought them under $1K each and sold them for profit easily.

 

for sure but it costs about 2X more than a 250.

 

I started on a Ninja 500. Great learning bike. Stick with it and hopefully one will pop up for you...

 

You are wise to not have her learn on the VFR. My son was all signed up to take the basic riding class this spring and then all of the classes were cancelled. So I started to teach him on my VFR and of course, he dropped it. Fortunately there was not much damage, and he is okay. I think the Honda CBR 500R, or CB500F would be great to learn on and keep for few years. He saw a BMW G310R, which would probably be good, but I thought it was priced too high. Good luck!

 

https://raresportbikesforsale.com/featured-listing-1988-honda-hawk-nt650/

$3900.00

 

Years ago my wife started with a VT500 Ascot, that bike was up and down more times that a toilet seat, only thing it needed was a new clutch lever! She was vertically challenged so it was a good fit for her and she could get her feet on the ground. Look for a bike with minimal plastic, and a good fit for her height. The CB300 & CB500 are made in Taiwan, and are cheaper (including parts) than larger Hondas that are made in Japan.

 

nice and clean example, but $4k is the top of the hawk market; most sell for around half of that.

hawk is fine for a beginner, low and light, not much plastic but may have a bit too much power for a real beginner, and i think it's best to start on something with lower hp, as i did with a whopping 12 hp for my first riding season before i got a 600. riding low hp teaches humility and ability to blend in, not dominate traffic.

 

Honda Hawk are nice, but not ideal for beginner who is likely to take a few spills along the way.
Replacement parts are not easy to come by for Hawk's age.
They also come with a colt bike premium for used market.

I'd imagine for a beginner bike you want something cheap to purchase, cheap to operate & cheap to repair.
Refer to previous thread: https://vfrworld.com/threads/seriously-considering-adding-a-third-bike.57210/
I'm near Valley Forge, PA, I have a few used bikes that may be ideal for beginner available in my garage.