Five Beginner Bikes

Play Time
Our test circuit was a two-part course consisting of a highway run followed by some canyon time in the winding hill roads north of Los Angeles. This being a test targeted at the inexperienced, we kept the challenge level moderate, but still fun. While running a group of beginners through LA's notorious traffic might be a good test of the bikes, we're not into that sort of bloodsport.

Everybody thought the TU250X was the archetypical entry-level motorcycle. Its light weight and light power made it extremely easy to manage. In fact, one of testers is a veteran dirt rider who went the extra mile and took the TU offroad... just because he could. The bike's fuel injection is a pleasant surprise that adds to the fuel economy inherent to small-motored scoots, as well as removing the need to fiddle with a choke. However, getting it up to freeway speed was like pulling teeth. Even with the throttle cranked all the way over, it took a seeming eternity to coax to 70 mph. It's kind of scary, since you can't make rapid speed bursts on the highway to avoid cars. There were no complaints about the light clutch and shifting action, and though the brakes were soft, that actually earned the TU a compliment from one new rider. Suspension was on the cheap-feeling side, but the bike's low weight helped alleviate that.

Our next rung up on the displacement food chain is the Kawasaki Vulcan. Weighing in at 500cc, the LTD didn't have any problem getting up to highway speeds. In fact, the motor was pretty responsive, second only to the other parallel twin (Triumph's Bonneville) in the test in the perkiness department. Long years ago, someone at Kawasaki thought it'd be cool to put a Ninja 500 motor in a cruiser frame and call it an entry-level motorcycle. They were right. Coming straight from the sport bike is a feature usually reserved for only cruisers deep into the five-figure range: a six-speed transmission. The little twin is pretty smooth to begin with, but with that tall sixth, smooth cruising on the highway can be done in style. A handy feature for beginners is Kawasaki's automatic neutral finder which (at a stop) will allow the bike to click right up into neutral from first. Brakes on the Vulcan are touchy, and super-responsive, and we were almost shocked when none of the testers complained about it.

Although comparable in size to the Vulcan, the V-Star Silverado is a very different animal. Our riders liked its looks and found it comfortable to sit on but the honeymoon ends when you shift it into first gear to take off. The entire friction zone takes place in range of clutch motion too small for a novice to find, causing confidence-sapping stalls. Our dirt veteran got over it quickly but it annoyed the others. Once you're on the road, though, the Silverado is fine on and off the highway. Other than the clutch, the transmission was unremarkable, as were the brakes. Its tour package makes it more luxurious for distances than either the TU250X or the Vulcan. Riding style really came into play with this bike. One of our less aggressive riders didn't like the handling, saying it wasn't well balanced, while one of the more aggressive testers enjoyed throwing it into a mountain curve and getting on the gas, possibly just noting a slightly high center of gravity, especially compared to the other true cruisers.

Honda's Shadow Aero has a similar stance to the V-Star, only with pegs instead of floorboards and a larger motor. Since it's also one of our longterm lab rats, it's had some work done and we thought it would give our rookie riders a porthole into the world of custom iron. One of our testers dropped it at low speed in a curve (see sidebar) but that had nothing to do with the mods. Our testers referred to the Aero as a "big bike" consistently through the test, though it's comparable to the others, but it's stately (heavy, but predictable) handling and louder pipes smooth ride made for smiles all around, and made them all feel like real bad-asses. One tester found the Progressive Suspension re-do "bouncy" while the others didn't comment at all on it. Again, our testers had little to say about transmission and brakes, other than that they worked. Two of our shorter testers thought the forward controls were a bit of a reach and took some getting used to.

At 865cc, Triumph's Bonneville packs the biggest mill of the bunch, and easily the most power. Everyone enjoyed its snappy power delivery, smooth suspension, and responsive brakes. It makes plenty of power for avoiding autos in a pinch. One of our testers found the Bonnie's quick throttle response unforgiving while riding in city traffic with little middle ground between go and whoa. The same rider also wasn't a fan of the sit-up ergoes, while it suited most just fine. With how positive the feedback was on this bike that puts smiles on even very experienced riders' faces, we may need to rethink which bikes to include for this test next time and go even bigger.