My first bike was a Ninja EX500. It was a great first bike. Still had a carburetor instead of fuel injection, but it looked sporty. It was basically bulletproof and an easy bike to work on.

There are a lot of suggestions for a 400-700cc 80’s Honda, also a great choice. The only caution would be that the bigger engines are, obviously, heavier. Something to consider if you’re smaller and also learn how to pick it up if you drop it or knock it over.

FortNine has a YouTube channel with some great guides for beginner gear and beginner bikes too.

This is kind of screaming Honda CRF300LS. Low seat, it’s super easy to ride, great learners bike. Throw a set of wrap around handguards on there when you buy it, and you can drop it all day without really much consequence. They aren’t all that expensive, and pretty low maintenance. Dual sports make great learning bikes too, they are super approachable, let you make all the mistakes with lower consequences, and you can literally take that bike just about anywhere. It’ll do 55mph no prob, I’m pretty sure you can get those things going 70-80mph. They ain’t built for highway comfort, but they make a great around town bike. You can even get a little rack for the back.

Take a course, it’s invaluable, especially when you are learning. Otherwise you’ll spend the first year struggling.

As @konna@sopuli.xyz & @Jojowski@sopuli.xyz mention, the GS series are great to learn and work on as my first bike. Thegsresources.com are a great group of friendly old-timers who really love their GS bikes. Check this out for a bunch of great photo tutorials: https://gsarchive.bwringer.com/bikecliff/index.html

I’ve since upgraded to a liter machine, but the 1984 GS450 I bought and restored over the pandemic (predecessor to the 500) still has lots of OEM parts available, very easy to work on, I camped with it, and felt stable on the highway at 80+mph. Takes any kind of gas, and ran like a top even after seizing the engine (and doing the restore work myself). I had a lot of fun painting the tank myself, open to all kinds of fun ideas, and she was light enough to mildly off-road with.

However: suspension and handling have dramatically improved in the years since. Safety-wise, newer bikes are better, but the low weight and “good enough” disc brake on the front will do the job if you have less of a lead foot than I do. The several rides I did up from LA to San Francisco and back several times went perfectly, no safety issues, lots of fun.

I sold my 450 to a friend from LA a month ago, he rode it right down from up here in the PNW, no problem. Good luck, ping me if you have any deeper Qs as I’ve done everything from making new wiring harnesses, new seats to new front/rear suspensions for the bike over the years.

Just wanted to fly a less popular flag in this conversation. When I was choosing my first bike, my first crush was the Honda Silver Wing, a maxi scooter. Loved the looks and the practicality, loads of storage even without panniers and such…

But I didn’t follow my heart and got a dual sport, which was great fun for 24000 km. However, I missed the practicality. One djembe drum was ruined as it wiggled loose from straps and took burns off the exhaust.

A couple of years ago I got a 250 Vespa as my second bike. Already much more practical. I also prefer the longer service intervals compared to cogs and chains. As much a I enjoy that thing, first crush is still in the back of my head…

What am I rambling about? Don’t disregard scooters, they’re great too :D

Honestly man, get a 300. I’ve been riding for 6 years and I’ve had tons of fun on my 300 Ninja.

They’re cheap, they’re easy to work on, and they are really good on the gas mileage.

Grab one, get comfy, and then if you want something bigger grab something else.

I haven’t, because I live in LA, and don’t have an itch to go 120+. Don’t let anyone pressure you into a bike, see what speaks to you man!

Find a mid 80s Honda, 300-750cc. They’re excellent to work on and behave very predictably.

What I wish I’d known: electrical is the worst part of an old bike. The mechanical stuff is mostly straightforward on the old UJM bikes, but electrical gremlins (when they happen) can be very frustrating.

Advice for a bike: get what you want to ride. If they made a lot of them, you’ll be in a good position for support online. Try to find one that hasn’t been cut up too badly (“cafe”, “bob”, etc). The closer to stock, the better. If electrical modifications have been done, get every detail or find another bike; troubleshooting any of that will become your nightmare.

An old 750cc is probably about as powerful as a new 400cc and will be perfectly comfortable on the highway.

There are several modifications that can be done if seat height is a touch too high, the easiest is usually a modified seat cushion.

My first bike and the one I still ride is Suzuki GS500 - and it’s been a perfect choice. I had similar requirements as you do and I haven’t been disappointed, it’s a really fun and agile bike to ride and you’ll learn a lot while working on it. I’ve heard that people who used to own one but got rid of it and rode other bikes ended up getting another GS as secondary bike because it’s just genuinely a nice bike.

This is my 5th season and I’ve covered about 21k on it (we have about 4-5 riding months a year) and serviced it myself almost as completely as possible (electricity and lower engine haven’t been touched). I got it at 58k and in pretty bad condition for 1500e. Even though I’ve been looking for bigger bikes I don’t want to get rid of my GS, so until I have money for both I’m sticking to this. I don’t commute but rather ride it for fun and do touring, smaller roads and dirt roads too, but I’m sure there’s a reason why half of the world uses it as a commuter bike. It’s not the most comfortable ride for touring but it builds character and I’m quite proud of myself for going on all those adventures on my little GS.

As GS is a small bike you’ll find yourself shifting gears a lot and reading the rpms, but once you get used to it you will leave the cars behind on a green light – for a few moments at least (be inspired by this fella). Gusts of wind will shake you and higher speeds really feel like you are riding a bike and not an air conditioned comfort unit. But that’s the enjoyment of it and also that’ll definitely teach you how to ride. A reasonable amount of discomfort feels like you are actually doing something.

Another great thing is that GS being such a popular and universal bike the spare parts are widely available and cheap and servicing it yourself is possible & quite easy; there’s plenty of information available online, videos on Youtube and the GStwin forum that covers about everything you need to know about service and tweaking - better save it to the bookmarks right away because you’ll be looking for it after the bike has yet again stalled on a motorway (it’s the fucking fuel petcock). 💀

Edit: Also: GS is quite easy and fast to disassemble and rebuild, eg you’ll need to do the carbs every so often and it’s nice that you can access them within minutes and fitting them back on isn’t a trouble once you get the hang of it.

Did you tip it over on the parking lot? No worries, so did the previous owner and the one before that. Just fix the mirrors and if it won’t start check the plugs. It’ll be fine. You’ll be able to push it up yourself too.

I think the 90’s UJM bikes hit the sweet spot: design is classy yet technology is updated, but not yet too modernizised or limited by restrictions. You’ll be able to tinker with things but don’t necessarily have to (except with that fricken petcock, again!).

I fricken love my GS! 😂

If you’re really keen on getting a possibly non-running used bike as your first, I would definitely recommend sticking with something that’s a single cylinder for simplicity, and probably something that has a carburetor rather than fuel injection, because mystery carb issues are easier to solve than mystery electrical issues, especially given peoples’ pathological predilection to getting mystified and intimidated by wires. That’s not casting any admonition on your personally or your skills, but rather a prediction that you won’t get much decent advice from punters online as soon as your problems are found to be electrical and everyone either immediately tunes out, begins spouting absolute bullshit, or both. Conversely, there is always the nuclear option for a carb which is yeet the entire thing into the fuck-it bucket and just replace it.

The Honda Super Cub and its myriad derivatives (which, surprisingly, encompass both the Grom and the Monkey) is a popular option. The new ones are fuel injected and computerized, but the classic Cubs have carbs. You can get Chinese clones of these for not very much money, also. If you really want to wrench, a Chinese bike will offer you no choice…

Also consider a Suzuki TU250 which is sort of the quintessential standard beginner’s bike, or possibly an old Honda CB250.

If you’re confident in dealing with a twin cylinder bike, the other obvious suggestion everyone will offer is the Ninja 250 (the older ones are carbed, but have two carbs rather than one) or Honda CB350, which is also a parallel twin. The Yamaha V Star 250 is also a small V twin, with a fairly light weight.

The height of various motorcycles is a perpetually contentious topic, especially when offering advice to beginner riders. Some people will insist that shortness can be overcome with skill and that one should just practice and git gud. Other people will say that you should eliminate a variable and a lot of anxiety by getting a little bike that you can easily flat-foot as your first.

I have no input in this. Get what makes you comfortable.

However, I will recount what we did, vis-a-vis myself and my wife, and trying to find a motorcycle (not a scooter, which she already has one of) that she could actually sit on. We found that the obvious answer, the Honda Grom, was actually too tall for her. We settled on a Suzuki Vanvan RV200, which she can sit on and get both feet on the ground. (It’s third from the right in the banner image at the top of this community.) This was available in both 125 and 200cc guises, but I don’t think the 125 was ever sold in America. It was sold in Europe where they have tiered licenses with a 125cc restriction, though.

Edit to add: I would really advise against getting a non-running bike as your first motorcycle. I get the appeal of wanting to tinker with it, but it’s all too easy to wind up with something that’ll be both a basket case and a money pit, and learning to ride on something like that will probably be more frustrating than it’s worth. If you want a project, get one as your second bike. Also remember the Ironclad Law Of The List of Craig (and also Facebook marketplace): Any time some asshole says “all it needs is x, y, z,” that’s never actually all it needs. If it were that easy, the loser selling it would have fixed himself it and he’d be selling it in running condition.

A Royal Enfield Bullet or Himalayan. Excellent to tinker with and very good to ride.

royalenfield.com

CB500 owners unite! Have a 1997 built one, it’s reliable and cheap and fur me as big guy I don’t usually get cramps.

It’s very forgiving since the weight is high (in comparison to more modern machines) while the power is moderate. Helped me a few times when I made mistakes!

Oh yeah and always dress for the slide!

Hard to go wrong on a Japanese bike. They cover everything from sport, cruiser, and off road at all engine seizes. I know you said not really into the Harley stuff, but the sportster 883 is a decent entry level and is often used as a project bike (has a huge aftermaket to support this). Honda Rebel 500 might be a good alt too.

Triumph and Royal Enfeild make some good retro styled stuff. Tho I ahve heard that RE is not that good in terms of reliability, but they have improved according to some reviewers (at a min they are rather cheap and i guess it ties into your mechanic hobby)

How far do you need to on when you are on the highway? Pretty much any small engine should be able to reach 60mph, but I wouldn’t want to do a sustained 65+ road trip on a 300cc or less bike.

My first bike was a Suzuki GN250 and I’d highly recommend it (or something similar) to you based on your post. Eg Honda CB250/CD250. Actually any Japanese (UJM) air cooled single cylinder bike will be a great start to learn riding and maintenance. Usually cheap and available parts too.
I now ride a DR650 and still do a lot of my own wrenching.

Kinda out of luck that you are probably in the US.

Something like an Aprilia RS50/Classic 50 would be a nice option.

Light (around 110kg with battery and fluids), has a simple 50cc, 2-stroke engine, but also has clutch and 6 gears (so more frequent maintenance than a 4-stroke, but dead simple to work on), and only 3/4 size of a real bike.

Without the restrictor in the exhaust, mine went 55mph+

Also, if you want to do tuning on it, there is a boatload of aftermarket parts for the engine to make it faster.

What’s your budget? Because you can get a lot of brand new smaller-displacement 2-cylinder bikes for decent prices. Honda’s CB500F and SCL500 are both under $7k.

A Honda PCX would be a solid option as well. 150cc is more than enough to get you to 55MPH. My 49cc Metropolitan, for example, can do 50+ on a good day.

I tend to like 80s style cars and bikes.

If you choose to go with an 80s bike, be prepared to deal with carbs. They’re not terrible, and can work really well when tuned right, but they can be very finicky. If you’re comfortable with carbs, then I say go for it.