The Five Best Cruisers for New Riders

Want to start your riding career on a cruiser? Randle has some advice for you on what makes a good starter cruiser

By: Randle McMurphy

Feb 23, 2017 at 5:00pm ET

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There was a time—and it was not that long ago—when a “big” motorcycle was considered to be anything over 750cc. Now it seems that starter bikes have taken over this category and for some people, their first cruiser motorcycle has a big V-twin engine.

MORE CRUISER ADVICE

Some will debate this list of best starter cruisers, but certainly it’s a list of five bikes that the staff at RideApart think you should seriously consider. Yes, yes, yes… We know some of the Know Everything crowd will drag out the same old anti-cruiser rhetoric (Heavy! Slow!), but get over it guys: cruisers are still most often the style of bike to inspire new riders to join us on the roads. You can preach the virtues of a Kawasaki Ninja 650 at a later date. There is a huge market out there for cruisers, and of all the motorcycle types it’s the only sector that is still growing year after year worldwide.Get Out There and Ride

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Most of these starter cruisers are precisely that: starters (Not so much the Harley or the Indian, which are bikes people may hold on to for a little longer). Folks wanting their first bike buy them and, sometimes after only a year of ownership, soon realize either cruisers aren’t for them or they want to trade up to something bigger and more powerful.

You can save yourself a lot of money by looking around for a good used, low-mileage version of all but the Rebel. Thereafter you could keep it forever and make it your own, or build up your riding chops and move up, or out of this category altogether. Bottom line: you pays your money and you takes your choice.