[AkhilAftab]

Quick background and why I want to get a bike

I am a 21-year-old who started earning well enough to get started on a motorbike, my love for motorcycles sparked from an Anime called Super-Cub as the name suggests is based around Honda's super-cub. That show made me realise how freeing it is to ride a bike and discover new roads or go that extra mile you never thought about going before. I was always into cars and bikes, from playing racing video games like Assetto Corsa to watching and reading everything about new/old vehicles.

There's Something about these man-made machines that always fascinates me. I started riding my Activa 125 a lot more than usual after the show, I purchased two MT Thunder helmets, A Revvit Jacket and full leather gloves as well and I was very eager to get my first bike, but it has been more than a year and I still haven't got myself one.

The problem

The problem is choice, yes you read it right.
The choices are making me feel like I would regret buying a bike.
I have ridden a few 350cc, 200cc, 180cc and 150cc bikes that my friends own and these bikes don't spark anything in me, a rather boring feeling.
I wanted a 300-650cc bike and the problem of choice was so big that I was also considering getting a new Ducati Monster.
I would appreciate opinions from people who have been where I am and help me choose a bike I won't regret buying.

What I want

1) A bike that is a great handler.
2) Smooth engine with minimal vibrations.
3) Anything between 400-800cc I am open to any cc as I won't be buying a second bike soon.
4) Reasonable heat management.
5) I like modern dash and connectivity features as well.
6) I am open to any bike suggestion but lean towards sports bikes a bit more.
7) It will be mostly used for joy rides and early morning coffee runs.
9) Prefer brand new bikes only.
10) Prefer Japanese bikes.
11) I like bikes which give off a big bike feel.

Things I don't care about or don't want

Mileage isn't a concern. For me, even 16kmpl is okay as long as I am happy with the bike's performance.
Service cost (I am okay with paying whatever the brand demands as long as it keeps my bike running smoothly)
I don't want bikes like, Z900, Z650 or any KTM bikes.

Budget

Anything up to 10-11 lakhs

The top contenders

Kawasaki Ninja ZX4RR



I know it's a bit much but considering it has 77+3 bhp but only 39nm of torque which is quite comparable to Aprillia rs457 and Duke 390, I love that it is an inline 4 and that sweet sound is just what pleases my ears. I also have a printed picture of this bike on my desk as I thought I would get this only.

Triumph Scrambler 400x



Love how it looks and performs, my hometown is in the Himalayan ranges so it will be fun riding from the city where I am currently living, to my hometown on this one. A 240 km road full of twisties and lots of bad roads. Not as fascinated by this bike as zx4rr.

Aprilia RS457



A P.Twin at such a good price that makes the Japanese look expensive. Nothing to complain about here.

CB 300R



Super Cub (anime) made me feel something about Honda that I can't feel towards any other brand. I always liked Honda as a brand and everyone knows that their engines are the smoothest and the most reliable. The only sad part here is that now it doesn't get Showa SFF-BP like their international lineup and Honda in general seems too lazy to introduce a new bike or update the ones we already have.

These are the bikes that I considered in my wild search for the perfect first bike:

Ducati Monster+

I love the looks and all the bells and whistles it comes with. 11-11.5 lakhs would've been a great price for it but 15 lakh OTR is a bit too much.

CBR 650R

Can't get it now, but love the new 2024 model.

Trident 660

A good enough bike but seems boring.

CB 200x

Yes only exception in this list of 400-900cc bikes, just because it's a Honda and tbh it seems value for money.

Thanks for reading all this, would appreciate all your views
Did you regret buying a bike just because someone else suggested it?
Should I go with head or heart?

[VW2010]

Go with whatever you like and not because anyone here/or outside suggested something including me. It is your choice and if you are impacted by what others are suggesting, I am not even sure you are buying a bike for yourself or for feeling good about what others say seeing your bike. The only caveat is experienced riders will recommend you to gradually progress to help you reach the skill level of superbikes over time. I am50/50 on that view as some are very natural and will know a bikes limits irrespective of what bike it is and ride around its limitation while others needs time to train and gain that skill.

From the above lot with one addition, I would recommend the following in the order of cost and preference and flip it around for preference over cost.

RS457
zx4rr
Zx6R

[AtheK]

In your shortlist definitely ZX4RR or a ZX6R makes most sense, seeing what you are trying to achieve from the bike. ZX6R will actually keep you happier for much more longer then ZX4RR and the itch to upgrade will come much later (Might not come as well).

Daytona is about to be launched you can check how that feels, other option can be a street triple RS as well. Ride which ever is possible and then decide, in the end of the day you should connect with the bike and all the specs are just on papers.

[Karthik1100]

Originally Posted by AkhilAftab

Quick background and why I want to get a bike

I am a 21-year-old who started earning well enough to get started on a motorbike, my love for motorcycles sparked from an Anime called Super-Cub as the name suggests is based around Honda's super-cub.

It's very tough to choose one motorcycle among many master pieces. You cannot just go by heart or head. It's always a fine balance between heart and head. You need to list down what exactly you are looking in a bike and what is your need of motorcycle.
Choose by heart : color, exhaust note, looks, brand, road presence, features, performance, refinement, handling.
Choose by head : weight, seat height, purpose, riding position, reliability, budget, mileage, resale value.

I can suggest in two price categories
2-5L Category, 5-12L Category based on your requirement. Since you have mentioned you will be riding in bad roads as well, avoid sports or super sports.

2-5L Category
BMW G310 GS -
Pros:
1. Road presence
2. Good brand
3. Very comfortable to ride in any terrain,
4. Smooth and well refined engine

Cons:
1. Expensive to maintain
2. Too high price for 310cc single cylinder
3. Under powered

Triumph Scrambler 400x
Pros:
1. Good performance
2. Great handling
3. Refined and feels like Triumph DNA
4. Can ride in any terrain
5. Easy to maintain
6. VFM

Cons:
1. Doesn't feel like big bike
2. Single cylinder
3. Don't have much color options

5-12L Category
Honda NX500
Pros:
1. Good performance
2. Great handling
3. Smooth and Refined engine
4. Can ride in any terrain with comfort
5. Fuel efficient for that category
6. Twin cylinder

Cons:
1. Doesn't feel like big bike
2. High price for 500cc
3. Don't have much color options

Kawasaki Versys 650
Pros:
1. Good performance
2. Great handling
3. Can ride in any terrain with comfort
4. Road Presence
5. Twin cylinder

Cons:
1. Expensive to maintain .

Triumph Street Twin
Pros:
1. Good performance
2. Good handling
3. Smooth and Refined engine
4. Comfortable for both city and highways
5. Value for Money
6. Road Presence
7. Easy to maintain

Cons:
1. Interceptor has similar looks

[Axe77]

Since you mentioned the 300-650 cc segment leaves you bored don’t touch the scrambler 400x or even the Honda in your list. They just won’t make the cut for you.

If you wanna be safe but yet engaged enough, the RS 457 is the only (relatively) inexpensive bike I’m going to suggest. It may also be most suited to your limited years of riding experience.

If we open up segments completely, I would actually recommend a Street Triple R as an option.
- With some care, you can tour on it if you pack lean. I know someone who’s done solo pan India rides on his RS.
- It’s a bit forgiving so can account for some learning curve for a slightly inexperienced rider like you and yet pack enough thrills to keep you engaged for several years.
- It’s a good balance between providing sportiness and not yet going the super sport way which may be a bit demanding for you on skill and a lot more limiting as a daily. Yet it may not be as staid as a 600 cc segment adventure touring bike which are immensely capable and practical but may not be “thrilling” in the ways you want.

But most importantly, get as meaningful a test ride of all your final short list bikes and see which one talks to you the most. Come up with a super short shortlist based on the test ride experience and then members might be able to highlight pros and cons of each of those options for you to be aware of when you’re making your final decision basis bikes you have chosen and shortlisted.

[100Kmphormore]

From your requirements list, its either the Ninja 650 if you like it gentle or the ZX6R if you like it fast. If you are open to ADVs considering you have a 200 km+ commute, perhaps the Tiger Sport 660 with the inline 3.

[AkhilAftab]

Originally Posted by Axe77

If we open up segments completely, I would actually recommend a Street Triple R as an option.

Thanks for your suggestion, I had totally forgotten about the street Triple R and after reading all the tips and threads I believe I might be choosing this. It's exciting and I am okay to tour a naked than a supersport so this might be very well for me.

[IshaanIan]

As this is your first bike, let me be the first to tell you how choosing one goes; just pick what fits! Bikes unlike cars, cannot be read about and chosen from brochures/reviews that one reads online. You simply must visit the showrooms and take test rides. The fact that your body must move with the bike in order to flow on the roads properly, makes the matter of picking a bike more of an ergonomic one than anything else; the distance between the seat and the handlebars, the height of the seat and the legroom. The rider triangle is all what it comes down to at the end of the day.

Being a car guy myself for the longest time and that too a fan of the Japanese, when I was buying my first bike, I too denounced KTM and vowed not to buy one however back then Kawasakis and KTMs were still being sold in the same showrooms and after a boring test ride of a Ninja 300, I decided to give the RC390 a whirl just to see what all the hype was about (was it more than just the price and the looks?) and boy was I taken away by the confidence it inspired and the performance it allowed me to unlock all because it fit me much better than any R15, CBR250 or Ninja. Now I am not saying that you should also buy a KTM but when it comes to bikes, just go out there and find the ones that fit you the best, after that you can compare notes on their looks, country of origin, reliability, smoothness etc.

[neil.jericho]

AkhilAftab, welcome to the forum. Its always great to have young motorcycle enthusiasts join our TBHP community. As someone who has been motorcycling for a fair while, my honest feedback is that your budget is swaying you towards motorcycles that you want and not strongly towards the motorcycles that you need.

I get that the sub 400 cc motorcycles dont light your fire, but anything more powerful can put you in a whole world of trouble, before you even realize it. At 21, the last thing that you should be worrying about is regretting your motorcycle choices!

My suggestions are the KTM Duke 250, Honda CB300R, Suzuki 250 (Gixxer / Gixxer SF / VStrom), TVS Apache RTR / RR 310, BMW 310 (G / GS / RR) and so on. With all due respect, something like a Duke 390 can be far too much for an inexperienced motorcyclist. That bike keeps me on my toes and Ive been riding motorcycles for quite some time!

I would definitely not recommend anything above say 35 bhp for someone this new to motorcycling in India. Get a few solid years of biking in rain and sunshine and everything in between, before you move up to a bigger bike.

[BullettuPaandi]

Some wise words from both IshaanIan & neil.jericho worth heeding to, AkhilAftab. I've been riding for only about five years now and I can already relate to both of their posts above. I don't know about you, but I can safely say that if the five years younger me were to read these, he would've found these to be rather discouraging and largely been dismissive about it. Because, I was in a similar position as you are now: I wanted to start off with a twin and then buy an in-line four. The only difference was that my budget was lower: I wanted to wait for Classic/Shotgun 650 & then for ZX25R. As you can imagine, waiting wasn't exactly fun- still isn't with the latter. It only grew the enticement & when I finally gave in for what was viable/sensible, it was all for only to realise that I needed to grow into those dream bikes of mine all along.

That being said, it is just my experience. Although I do think these posts are only sensible and actual discouragement would've read something along the lines of "Buy a box and get settled", I am someone who still thinks reaching beyond grasp is commendable. If you are hell-bent on buying a particular bike that you feel good about, by all means go for it. But read the above posts with your best discernment and be wary of what you would be getting into. At any case, allocate your budget on safety gear (you didn't mention shoes/boots in what you've already bought), insurances and some buffer for maintenance, mods, tours and emergencies first & then spend the rest on the motorcycle of your choice.

[Nilesh5417]

This whole bike buying advice thing gets you everything from a kite to a spaceship kind of recommendations depending on the age group and riding years under the butt of the person sharing his view right? . Can be a bit overwhelming and confusing am sure.

Plus it does get a bit too philosophical when it comes from those who have lived enough years and probably crashed a few times to live and share their feedback. Am going to add one more to that along with what Neil and Bulletpandi have shared.

If you can be absolutely crystal clear what you plan to and will do once you have the bike, get one that suits the plan.

If you know you won't have time to ride it much and plan to own a big bike just to check off a bucket list item, get one that does that and won't kill you. To me, it is absolutely ok to want to ride to a coffee shop and get back home if that's all you want and you can afford it. Maybe an occasional weekend ride around. A CBR650, Daytona (new) all will do that very well. Monster looks.good but again is a pain for an everyday bike!

If you want to ride to Ladakh, get what exactly does that. A scrambler 400x, H450, tiger660 will all do that very well. Reliably, easily and safely. But so will the GS1300 or a Tiger Sport900 which to me are massive step ups to earlier ones and not beginner bikes!

If you want to ride.fast occasionally on highways, go get something that fits the purpose and no more. Fast is clocking 100kmph for reasonably long stretches with some reserve for those.ocassional moments when you want to be thrilled. Invest in the best possible gear. An Inty can do that very well, so can an Aprillia 457 and a CBR650 can all day if you stay rational. A Monster is an overkill for that.

But at 21, with no prior experience of riding bikes, what is going to be truly challenging is being able to hold your horses. Bikes are great at feeding dopamine to your brain and making you feel supremely overconfident of your abilities in a really short time. I rode a Comet 250 for 2years doing mumbai pune runs every weekend. Rented a Hornet for a day trip during one of my travels and broke.my arm in under 6hrs of starting my ride. This inspite of riding so slow for the first 100kms! That is how huge the difference is between 25bhp and 80bhp. The rush is just unbelievable and you truly need to be able to still stay rational and well within your limits until you get back home. And be able to do that every single time you ride. Riding the bike should get familiar and you shpuld build enough trust in yourself not to screw up

So if you think you can get a fast bike and ride it within your own limits for a long time until you learn and expand your limits, by all means get a 650++. But that is the hardest part of it all, knowing your limits when you are getting started and then spending the required time until you clock enough kms to expand it. Which is why the advice to get something that is fun and has just sufficient, and not too much reserve power to get some thrills.

You've listed bikes from 200cc to 935cc and my recommendation is to drop anything below 350 (only cause youve ridden that segment and find it meh) and above 650cc (cause it would be a bit too much). I would suggest start with something like a Duke390 / RS457 and once you clock 20k kms, go ride the bigger ones again. I feel.you will be ready and truly enjoy the upgrade!

[SaurAswale]

Exciting times!!! but I will repeat what experienced BHPians have said. Not meaning to discourage you, but getting high performance bike with less experience means asking for trouble. In my opinion, any 400cc with 40-45bhp is all you need on our roads (120kmph is max you can do legally). Even my 155cc sometimes tries to bite me if I'm not cautious. I know my next upgrade to 400cc is at least 2 years away (Money is not an issue here). But we all aspire for something more and I understand that.

Apart from this, there is another factor. What if in next 3 years you outgrow your 600cc. You only have a 1000cc segment to upgrade and then what?? You'll get bored of motorcycling as well.

My suggestion is, buy a smaller capacity (upto 400cc) bike for now. Cleary, you are not hesitant to spend money- spend it on best riding gear you can afford and most importantly on the riding schools. T.W.O. or RACR by Rajini sir are the best choices you have. Or you can wait for California Superbike School if you want. Trust me, the bikes you say are boring has still a lot more to give than we can explore. There are some riding school experiences documented on this forum. You can go through those. Your main priority shall be improving skills and doing as much miles as you can to gain experience. And yes, not getting hurt!! (Ask my shoulder how I know this )

After you got bored of your 400cc after exploiting it to all its limits, you can always upgrade to bike of your choice. You mentioned you are earning well, you can keep this 400cc for the errands and commutes to do the heavy lifting and baby your superbike to enjoy it only on occasions.
If you don't like KTMs, go for Huskies. Those are great, powerful, well engineered and reliable bikes. RS457 is also a great choice but you must wait for some time to get better picture of service and maintenance etc.

Happy Riding!!!

[46TheDoctor]

As a superbiker (zx14r and Int 650) myself, I will give you a little different opinion here.

Just because you have a budget of 10-11 L doesnt mean you must spend it all right now, especially since you are just 21, dont have much experience with big bikes and as you say you wont be getting new bike after this soon.

I will say that you should get either Aprilia RS457 or Int 650 to begin with, depending on the kind of riding and styling that you are looking for. Both the bikes are fun to ride, great handlers and full of character, so not boring at all.

As you do more riding, ride with other riders, try different bikes, figure out your riding preferences, you can switch to a bigger bike of your choice in the future with a more mature decision.

[PetaWatt]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

With all due respect, something like a Duke 390 can be far too much for an inexperienced motorcyclist.

I would definitely not recommend anything above say 35 bhp for someone this new to motorcycling in India. Get a few solid years of biking in rain and sunshine and everything in between, before you move up to a bigger bike.

+1

Skillset and experience are 2 different things. I learnt from my/others mistake on less powerful motorcycle at double digit speed and was lucky enough to ride another day. Many riders who started on KTM 390s were not. Also, the chain that I wasted due to the bad maintenance was cheap to replace.

I started riding in 1997. Here is my upgrade journey, 7 bhp -> 13 bhp -> 17 bhp -> 40 bhp -> 85 bhp. My suggestion would be to first find which type of motorcycle you like, Sports (R15), Adventure (XPulse/200x), Cruiser (RE 350s) , Naked (CB300), etc. by test riding all of them and then buy one with less than 30 bhp.

[yatesh.92]

Hey AkhilAftab, welcome to the club. Completely agree with what bhpians @SaurAswale and @neil.jericho have mentioned. Since it's your first bike, better to start off with a small capacity bike, ride it for few years, then upgrade to a big capacity bike. Anything above 400 cc, the power will be too overwhelming for you to handle as a beginner. Below are the bikes I'll recommend based on riding dynamics:

1. Pulsar NS/RS 200
2. Pulsar NS 400
3. Duke 200/250
4. Triumph Speed 400
5. Honda CB300r

Test ride the bikes extensively if possible and then decide. Not included the latest Duke 390 as it goes bonkers post 5k rpm. Saying this as an owner whose had the bike for almost 7 months now.