How to Pick the Right Motorcycle
This guide is meant to help you pick the right motorcycle for you, or at least help you narrow down your choices.
Disclaimer - This is a general guide to help you with your decision. I’ve done my best to stay objective, but of course, a little bias may have slipped in. What works for me might not work for you - so take what’s useful and leave the rest. I claim no responsibility for your choices. Use this guide at your own discretion. You are your own captain.
1. What’s your purpose?
What’s your purpose for buying a new motorcycle? What do you want out of your motorcycle? Do you just want to commute to your college and back? Do you want to go for long tours? Do you want to take it off-road and hit the trails? Do you want to take it to the track? Do you plan to ride solo or with a pillion? Answer these questions and you’ll have an idea of the type of bike you want. Here’s some of the types of bikes you can get.
2. What type of bike do you want?
Every bike can do a little bit of everything. Some people take commuters to Ladakh and some people commute to work everyday on adventure bikes. But there are bikes suited better for specific purposes. For example, if you plan to hit the dirt trails, an R15 might not be the best choice for you. So choose a bike style according to your needs but don’t bee too rigid. I myself wanted a bike specifically for touring so adventure bikes are an obvious choice but I still got a Honda CB350RS, a classic roadster. Sure it doesn’t perform as well on bad roads but it is easier to ride in the city, smaller, and lighter. It is a good do-it-all bike for me. So don’t be too rigid in your choice.
Here are some styles of bikes. This is a vague categorization and you could argue a specific bike belongs to another category or it belongs to more than one category.
Retro Classic / Roadster
These are your classic old school bikes with an upright posture and retro styling.
Examples - Royal Enfield Classic 350, Honda CB350, TVS Ronin.
Adventure
These bikes, as the name suggests, are made for adventure. They have better suspension setups with longer travel, large fuel tanks and comfy seats.
Examples - Royal Enfield Himalayan, KTM Adventure 390.
Commuter
Commuter bikes are simple 100cc-150cc bikes that are made for everyday commuting. They have small engines which helps them get great mileage.
Examples - Honda Shine 100, Hero Splendor
Cruiser
These are similar to classic roadsters but have a more relaxed seating position for highway cruising.
Examples - Royal Enfield Meteor 350
Scooter
Scooters are simple gearless machines with around 100 cc engines. They usually have underseat storage and are best suited for everyday riding through the city.
Examples - Honda Activa, TVS Jupiter
Faired sports bike
These are bikes made for speed and spirited riding. They have a committed riding posture and fairings to help with aerodynamics.
Examples - Yamaha R15, KTM RC390
Naked sports bike
If you remove the fairings from a sports bike you get a naked bike. They usually also have a more upright posture better suited for everyday riding than faired bikes.
Examples - Yamaha MT15
Scrambler
This is a mix of bikes suited for both off-road and street use but more focussed for street riding.
Examples - Triumph Scrambler 400x
Dual Sport
As the name suggests, they are made for both on-road and off-road use but they are more focussed towards off-roading.
Examples - Hero Xpulse 210
Cafe Racer
Cafe racers are classic motorcycles modified for speed rather than comfort. They have a committed riding posture and are not suited for long rides.
Examples - Royal Enfield Continental GT650
3. How to choose a motorcycle
Now you need to decide what is your priority. You could want great mileage for daily commuting. You could want reliability for long distance touring. You could be looking at performance if you wanna hit the track. You could want a great suspension for off-road capabilities. You could want a bike that has easily available service centers. You could want a little bit of everything. So now you need to decide what your priority is. It’s difficult to get everything you want in a single bike so you might have to make some compromises.
Now go to any website like bikewale or bikedekho and see all bikes that are available in your budget. Make a list of the bikes you’re interested in. You might have a favourite brand but it doesn’t hurt to consider other brands as well. It’ll help you make an informed decision. Look at the specs and the features they offer. Check if the bike has all the features you want like dual channel ABS, traction control, cornering ABS, and what have you. If you aren’t familiar with something, google it and learn about it. Then see if you need that feature. Use the compare feature on websites for a better view. Note that sometimes the specs listed on the these websites are missing or incorrect, so you should also check the brand’s official website for accurate information.
When talking about an engine, two numbers are often mentioned - horsepower and torque. Torque is how much work an engine can do and horsepower is how fast it can do it. It is difficult for me to explain this so do some research and watch some videos to understand better. Torque is the pull that you feel when you twist the throttle and horsepower dictates how fast it can go. There are a million other things that affect speed and power like gear ratio and ecu so just comparing numbers isn’t enough. There are more engine terms you should look up like oversquare engines vs undersquare engines, long vs short stroke and more. So every engine has its own unique characteristic. For example both the Classic 350 and the CB350RS have similar torque numbers but the torque in the Classic comes in earlier giving you that pull at lower rpms. While the CB350RS makes peak torque in the middle rpms. And with it’s tall gear ratio, the Honda might not be as fun for people to ride in the city. But if understand the engine and and rev it a little, delaying your gear changes, it will be much more fun to ride. Add to that weight distribution, length, riding dynamics & more. The spec sheet feels insufficient to tell you the whole picture. So test rides are very important.
Spokes vs Alloys
Choosing spokes vs alloys is an important decision. Spoked wheels usually come with tubed tyres, that means fixing punctures will be a lot more difficult. You’ll have to take the tyre off, fix the tube or replace it and remount it. Fixing punctures on tubed tyres isn’t the end of the world but it is a lot less convenient and a lot more time consuming. Alloys on the other hands usually come with tubeless tyres which means you can carry a small kit and fix punctures from the outside in like 5 minutes. Another benefit of tubeless tyres is that in case of a puncture, air usually seeps out slower than a puncture in a tubed tyre.
A reason for choosing spoked wheels is if you plan to off road or hit the trails. Since spoked wheels aren’t as stiff, you have some wiggle room whereas alloys could crack if you jump your bike. This is an oversimplification as there are debates online that newer alloys are just as durable as spoked wheels for off roading. I do not particularly go off-road or hit the trails so my knowledge about this is limited. I will leave you to do your own research on this.
There are exceptions to this. Some higher end adventure bikes have spoked wheels and tubeless tyres giving you the best of both worlds. Royal Enfield recently came out with tubeless spoked wheels for the Himalayan 450 as well. So check what options are on offer for the bike you want and do your own research.
It is not possible to understand a bike from specs alone. Numbers don’t always translate to riding feel so the next part is really important, test rides.
4. Research and Test Rides
Now you have two choices here. Research first and take test rides later or take test rides first and research later. The benefit of researching first is that you can try to notice stuff reviews have noted. Get your information from multiple sources and cross verify. You can watch youtube videos, see ownership reviews on reddit, and more. Everyone asserts a motorcycle differently because they have different expectations and different life experiences. So every review is at least a little biased I feel. The problem with this is that it might create a bias in your head. The other option is to take test rides first and then read up on review so you can form an opinion first without reading or viewing any reviews. Now you can take test rides again and pay attention to everything you see in the reviews. I think test ride, research and then test ride again is the way to go.
Now take your list and go the showrooms of every manufacturer and take test rides of all the bikes on your list. Also take test rides of bikes not on your list cause you never know what’ll click. Pay attention to the riding posture, the engine characteristics, riding dynamics, vibrations, the grip and overall comfort. Listen to your gut and see what feels best. Take a test ride alone and also with a pillion. Pay attention to how the bike vibrates at different rpms. Try to check where the power band is. Check the usability of mirrors. Notice how hot the engine gets and how much heat is projected onto your legs. Some things like heat are weather dependent so take that into account.
If you’re not as experienced with riding bikes, you could take someone more experienced with you to take test rides.
For your research, read reviews from both journalists and actual owners, watch youtube videos and look up known issues on forums like reddit and teambhp, talk to owners. You can also ask questions to the community on platforms like reddit where actual owners might share their experiences. Look at how many showrooms they have and how many service centers they have. Look into how the brand is viewed and how they treat their customers. But I would suggest you not trust Google Maps reviews about showrooms cause they make the buyers write them in front of them so I don’t think all of them are honest.
5. Colours and trim level
So now that you have chosen the bike you want, it’s time to choose a colour. I believe this is a very personal choice. I see posts about people asking what colour looks best in a certain model and it almost never makes sense to me. If you’re buying a bike, YOU have to look at it everyday, nobody else. So choose what you want. The questions make sense sometimes, like when it’s about a certain type of finish, like how hard is chrome to maintain rather than say matte finish. But then again, if I’m gonna buy a bike and look at it everyday, I’d rather get something that I really love than something that I just kinda like. Again, this is a personal choice, so you do you.
Motorcycles usually have a few different trims on sale with a couple of differences like some extra features, different wheels or different colours. Take the Honda CB350RS for example. There are 4 trims on sale as of 2024: DLX, DLX PRO, DLX PRO DUAL TONE and HUE edition. The only major difference other than the colours is the presence of bluetooth connectivity on all models other than the DLX. Now, as good as bluetooth sounds, since the CB350RS does not have an an lcd display, bluetooth is only usable with headsets which I don’t think is that useful. But for some other bikes, they might have spoked wheels in the base variants and alloys in the higher trims. This is my opinion is useful option since alloy wheels equal tubeless tyres which makes punctures easier to fix. Since some manufacturers don’t offer all colours in all trims, sometimes you might have to make a compromise on a colour you want or some features you need. Some common features that are different among trims are colours, spoke/alloy wheels, lcd display, bluetooth, adjustable suspension and more.
6. Taking delivery
Always take delivery in bright daylight and check the bike thoroughly. Take your family or friends with you for the PDI. If you miss something then they might catch it. Check for dents, scratches, rust and paint issues. Check the bike’s electricals. Check if all the buttons and switches are working. Check fluid levels. Get multiple good PDI lists from the internet and go through it all. Take a test ride of your bike before delivery if possible. Do not rush this process and take your time.
7. Miscellaneous Thoughts
I see a lot of people are concerned about how a bike looks on them. People ask if it looks small or weird according to their body. I honestly don’t get this. As long as the bike is comfortable for you to ride, and you like it, it doesn’t matter how it looks with you sitting on it. I get that you want a good looking bike, that’s okay but I’ve heard people like a certain bike visually, like riding it but not sure if they look good sitting on it. I honestly don’t get it. For me, how you feel riding a bike is way more important than how you look riding it, but you do you.
Another common criticism people have is that a bike is too common, you see loads of them on the road. Some people prefer to have something unique and that’s okay. But a bike being common is actually a positive in my book. It means easier availability for spare parts and service.
Some aspects like the top speed and the exhaust note don’t really matter. Where will you hit that speed safely except a race track. If you’re buying a bike for the track, then sure it matter but for most buyers it’s not important. And if you’re wearing a proper snug fitting helmet like you should, then the exhaust note isn’t that audible to the rider anyway. Try it while taking a test ride.
Another question is should you be buying a newly launched bike. My personal opinion is no. You should wait at least a couple of months so that all the small kinks and issues are sorted out and you can get some real user reviews.
Single cylinder vs multi cylinder bikes. Most bikes sold in India are single cylinders cause they’re cheaper to make and run. But with a single cylinder comes vibration. There is no way you can avoid it, it’s just the way physics works but manufacturers have gotten really good at minimizing it. With twin cylinders, the forces get cancelled automatically so there’s significantly less vibration. But they come with their own set backs like heat and weight.
If you really like a bike then you could rent it for a day. That was you can get some long term impressions. Rental bikes are also used pretty rough most of the time so it might also give you an idea of how your bike might age.
The most expensive bike in your budget is not always the solution. I see people do this. They have a budget of say 4 lakhs and they’ll get the most expensive bike they can under their budget just because it fits that budget. This is not the way to go. Get a bike that fits your purpose. Let’s say you get a GT650 for commuting daily in Bangalore traffic. You might regret your decision when you have to lug around that 200kg hunk of metal with the engine toasting your legs everyday and terrible fuel economy. You might be way happier with a much more affordable 150cc commuter.
Visit multiple showrooms for the same bike and see if one of them offers you a better deal.
You will get a lot of suggestions, online and offline, and by all means check them out and try all the bikes you want but at the end of the day, I think the final decision has to be yours. People can help, especially people with more experience. They can give you useful insight and help you make a well informed decision. But know, that not everyone opinion is good or useful. You gotta learn how to remove the wheat from the chaff. So research well.
Finally, check and see if you can get some good deals for riding gear from the showroom. You can always get it from outside but sometimes they have good bundle deals when you buy a new bike. You can find my riding gear guide here - Motorcycle Riding Gear Explained
I hope this post helps you narrow down your choice. Good luck and ride safe!