Thought I'd Jump In

[rddtld6]

I went shopping today at Coyote for my first bike. I want something similar to the V Star 650 or 1100, haven't decided yet. All I've really looked at is Yamaha. Where's another place that I can take a look at maybe something used. I don't want a bike any older than around 2003. This'll be my first, but I don't wanna get bored with it right away (if that's even possible). I HAVE to keep the price down b/c currently all my $$$ goes into the Jeep. I'm thinking keep it close to $4k and $5k would be in my price *cough* payment range, maybe even less if at all possible. Any suggestions of places to look? What to look for etc.? I'm VERY ignorant on the issue.

Any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :thumbsup:

Ryan

[Warrlord]

My brother had a Vstar 650, it was a nice dependable bike but..............it lacked power, especially when he rode 2 up in the mountains. he got tired of it pretty quick.

In your price & year range, you'll probably have to stick to Japanese bikes.

Try Fay Myers (http://www.faymyers.com/). I'm not familiar with the dealers in your neck of the woods though.

As far as bikes (cruisers, I'm assuming) in no certain order
Honda VTX 1300
Vstar 1100 (like you mentioned)
Suzuki C50 or C90 or M50 Boulevards
Honda Shadows
Kawasaki Vulcans, Drifters, Meanstreaks

[ZappBranigan]

Unfortunately this is a bad time of the year to buy motorcycles. Between the nice weather and the skyrocketing gas prices, lots of folks are getting "bike fever" which means dealers are less willing to deal.

However, you can find a lot of good bikes on line. I found my Thunderbird through Craigslist 2 years ago. If you can find someone who wants to unload his old bike so he can get something new, you can negotiate with him pretty hard because he'll be a "motivated seller."

Cycletrader.com is another good online resource.

As for local dealers, you can look at some of the bigger dealers like Grand Prix off of County Line road near Santa Fe. Also, if you go to the area of Colfax and Wadsworth there are about 4 dealers in a radius of 5-6 blocks. There's a Kawasaki/Yamaha/Victory dealership on Colfax just West of Wadsworth (used to be Excel but now it's called something else); there's Freedom HD (which may or may not have an old Japanese bike someone traded in) further West on Colfax; there's Foothills BMW/Triumph just South of Colfax on Wadsworth, and they had a couple of older Japanese bikes there when I visited last Saturday; and finally there's RPM motorsports (Honda/Suzuki) just a little South of that at 13th and Wadsworth.

Another one you might want to consider is an older (circa 1999-2000) Honda Shadow 1100. Should be a good all around bike and they have a good reputation for reliability.

[JKTODD]

Sun usually has lots of used bikes.

[Budman]

Honda shadows are great. have put lots of mile on them. Cycle trader is a good resorce.

[Hayes]

I forget the name but there is a bike dealership on 104th slightly east of federal. Real good guys there.