Things to know before buying a motorcycle

The world of two-wheels is calling your name. Adventure, freedom, fun, fuel-efficiency, and commuting: the benefits of motorcycling are many. What are the things you need to know before buying a motorcycle?

The best advice for you to read up on what other motorcycle owners experiences are and the feedback they provide. You can read such feedback on motorbike companies that have been reviewed to get a better insight into the types of bikes available, the best gear and the best serving needs. For further insight into the servicing, parts, and general advice, look into the BikeBandit.com reviews of actual customers.

Motorcycle purchasing and ownership are very different to that of cars. There are bikes for specific uses and you’ll need to be clear in your thinking just what type of riding you will want to do. For example, you might want to hit the off-road back trails but you like the styling of sports bike. You can’t take a sports bike off-road.

Here is a list of things you need to know before buying your first motorcycle:

1) You bike must fit you. Motorcycles aren’t adjustable: you can’t raise or lower the seat or change the handlebars, or the height of the bike like you can with a car. For this, you need to sit on a number of different bikes from different manufacturers to find one that fits you perfectly.

2) Exhaustively research. Look into the bike and as many articles as you can find on the internet. Read customer reviews, long-term tests, and rider feedback to know exactly what you’ll be getting yourself in for when you test ride the motorcycle yourself. The more you know, the more you can understand about your potential bike.

3) There is a thing such as too much horsepower. Of course, more is always nice, but for daily riding and street riding on the weekends, you don’t need the fastest race-styled sports bike. If you search for a mid-tier motorcycle, you’ll still likely never exploit its full horsepower.

4) As we’ve said, Seat Heights on motorcycles aren’t adjustable. You need to sit on the bike and be able to place your feet on the ground. If not, immediately find another bike. It is a safety concern and you will most likely drop and fall off the motorcycle.

5) If you’re looking at used motorcycles, be sure to bring a friend to help you inspect it. A used bike offers great value to a buyer, but you need to make sure it was never involved in a crash or was damaged before. That would make for a troublesome ownership experience, not to mention a safety liability.

6) Don’t overestimate your riding skills. If you’re new to motorcycling, don’t seek out the fastest, most powerful bike in the classifieds. Also, don’t expect to be able to handle a sports bike after a few weeks on it: rather start your bike ownership experience with a smaller bike and learn the basics of motorcycling before upgrading. Less power and size definitely doesn’t mean less fun when it comes to motorcycling.a