Been wanting to get into riding for years now and am finally going for it. Will take my safety course in March probably then get my license and a bike.

I've like the idea of an adventure bike or a naked sports bike for a while now so I knew I wanted to go that direction. Would like to keep the price as far below $10k as I possibly could.

Was talking about it with my buddies who are big into dirt bikes and one of them happens to have a 2005 FZ06 that he doesn't ride anymore since he has a kid.

He's the second owner and it's never been dropped. I messed around with it while I was there and it looked brand new and it runs perfect and it's mine if I want it for $2,000

My question is, will the FZ06 be a good first bike? I've never ridden a bike before but have been on 4 wheelers my whole life.

I'm 35 years old, 6'-2",  200lbs athletic build.

I will say this - don't get ahead of yourself.

Have you ever ridden a motorcycle of any description at all? If not, don't get hung up on any particular bike until AFTER the MSF BRC. You may even change your mind - we had a few like that in my class. Thought they would be really into it, decided by the end that it just wasn't for them. (And of course on the other hand, some who weren't that enthusiastic at the beginning were totally into it by the end.) You may also find that things that may have been appealing features turn out not to be - though that will come more from additional time in the saddle, you may be surprised at what riding around in a parking lot can do to your perceptions.

If you are a reasonable adult, the FZ would certainly get the job done.

I am a major proponent of small bikes, though. I regret starting bigger, as I feel now that I would have learned better, faster if I had ridden a smaller bike to begin with. They are easier to manage, less likely to instill fear or under-confidence (of course be very wary of overconfidence), and smaller mistakes tend to stay smaller (as opposed to spiraling into bigger mistakes, as is more apt to happen with bigger bikes).

With an MSF course? It would be a good first bike. It would be a good bike period.

That bike's more of a standard dressed up to look like a sports bike if I'm remembering correctly.  Not a bad bike by any stretch of the means.  Depending on how long it's sat it may need new tires on it rght from the get go.  I'd recommend waiting to buy anything till after you take the MSF course.  I didn't heed that advice and wished I had gotten a dual sport instead of a street bike.  YMMV of course.

I agree with this man.

I’ll add that you should get good gear and wear it always. ATGATT.

Have fun!

Agreed.

i almost bought one as my first ride. Very comfortable to sit up, definitely that upright position of a standard.

Fazer is a good bike, price sounds like it is probably good (I have no idea what this model normally goes for). How many miles? How long has it been sitting? You'll probably want to replace tires and refresh forks/shock straight away. Get someone who knows bikes to inspect chain, sprockets, steering and wheel bearings, brakes, etc.

thanks for the replies guys, I'll try to hit on some of the points below.

- yes I will be taking the safety class first before I buy ANYTHING.

- I have never ridden a bike of any kind before, I have just always been attracted to naked sports bikes and adventure bikes, I don't really care for cruisers or "the Harley look"

-I will absolutely be buying all of the riding gear and wearing it always.  I have zero desire to lay this bike down, but if I do I will be protected as much as possible

-dont know the miles on the bike but it runs like a top and looks to be in prefect condition.  He lives in downtown Houston and rode it to the office every day so for its last couple of years of life its seen very easy riding, nothing hard

- I plan on changing everything on the bike whenever I buy it - all new fluids, battery, brakes and tires.  Even if it doesn't need it, I'm going to do it just so I can get some wrench time on the bike and have a good "zero mile all maintenance starts here" line for all of my service changes.

Im really pretty excited about it.  I am going to get it as a fun bike and I plan to stick to back roads, I will most likely never hit a highway with this nor do I have any desire to.  I drive only back country roads to work every day and I've already charted a few trips through the hill country avoiding all highways as well.

Thanks again for the feedback guys, any other tips or recommendations you can make will be greatly appreciated.

as far as helmets are concerned, I plan to shop around and talk to some folks to get some feedback, but from what I've seen Shoei seems to be the go to?

How about this one?  

Those are good bikes with enough power to keep you entertained for a long time.

I'm glad to hear you're getting gear, it goes a long way to save your ass WHEN you crash, because it will happen.

Anything SNELL (like the Shoei you linked) will be good protection. Do a youtube search on helmet & head shape (round v. oval) to make sure it will be comfortable enough to wear. I ride with a similar GT-Air, which is not SNELL because it has an internal sun visor. Just don't go super cheap. I wear earplugs too, but YMMV.

double post. grumble.

Get a gear closet.

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The best advice I can give as far as helmets are concerned is to go try many different styles/brands to see what fits you the best. Never order one online unless you all ready know it will fit your head. You will find that helmets from different manufacturers and even different styles from the same manufacturer will not fit the same.

I have several helmets from from different manufacturers and none of them are the same size. My helmets range from small to large depending on manufacturer and style.

Thread is worthless without pics....I do love me some Yamaha
Fun bike, I'd ride it.
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You mentioned Adventure bike in your post...do you want any luggage or means to carry some gear? Overnight or ?

this is the same color and year model I will be getting (most likely).

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and yes, I do plan to take some weekend trips around Texas (and beyond???) eventually so I will be looking at mounting some luggage accessories similar to this.

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I had a 650 Kawasaki Versys set up with luggage back in 2014...had a blast on the Oregon Coast and Central Washington areas. Loaded up my backpack gear and just ran away from home. I still do that now but on a 2017 KLR.
in 2020 I'll purchase the 700 Yamaha Tenere...if it really is released in the US

It is a very good bike.  A decent starter, though a bit powerful.  Just take the class and be cautious.

Get er done

The FZ06 is a great all around street bike.  Smaller is better for a first bike, but the FZ06 falls into the range of reasonable 1st bikes in my mind, albeit at the top of the range (don't go any bigger/faster than that).

I have my FZ1 setup with the Givi luggage similar to the pic above, and it works nicely.  The FZ1 is a great bike that can be ridden on a long trip, then just take the Givis off, tape up the glass, and hit the track.  In fact,  last year I did a 3000 mile road trip and a track day with no modifications to the bike other then what I just said, even with the same tires.  That is a pretty well rounded bike, and the FZ06 should have similar capabilities just with less thrust.

Concur on taking the MSF course before buying anything.  My tastes in motorcycle completely changed once I actually rode one!

The Shoei RF1200 is an excellent helmet.  I use one as my track helmet, as do many others.

Keep in mind that while city riding is a slower speeds than the highway, there is generally a lot more going on in the road.  Intersections, pedestrians, parked cars, bicycles, people looking for that new hipster microbrew rather than paying attention to the road...at least on the highway it is mainly just motor vehicles and most are going in roughly the same direction and speed.  I feel much safer on the highways than on city streets.

To go for fun rides around Houston, get going early on a weekend morning and take the interstate to get out of the city ASAP, then work your way along the country roads for the real riding.  The closest, best riding near Houston is in the Sam Houston National Forrest, also some good roads in the Navasota/B-CS area.  I've found a couple of decent roads on the east side of town as well.  The ride down to Galveston is pleasant if the weather is nice and traffic is light.

MSR-Houston is a race track in Angleton where you can do track days.  Ridesmart is the long standing track day organization, and I just heard of a new one called 3:16 Trackdays that will hopefully grow.  Ridesmart has 8 MSRH days in 2019, and I think 3:16 has 3.  Once you get a few thousand miles under your belt, definitely at least give the track a try to shoot the heroin directly into your veins see if you enjoy it.

Good luck!

I’d just strap a backpack/duffle to the seat rather that $pend lots of money$ on hard bags unless you are taking a passenger.

That's not a terrible first choice.  Just take it easy for a good while and you will be fine.  It's not a super sport but it still has 98 hp.  My first bike was a FZ-07 for what it's worth.  If I could do it over again I would have bought the FZ-09 that was sitting next to it at the dealership.

I live in Conroe and I've already planned trips all out around brenham, college station and all of the national forests.

Thank you for your post, very thorough.

You're welcome.  Conroe is a great place to live for riding around Houston since you are pretty much right near all the best local rides.  I have to go through or around the city...

FZ-06 is a great first bike for someone who takes the MSF and is a reasonable person.

For helmets, you really need to go try them on.  Shoei fits me perfectly, but that may not be so for you.  Stick to the quality helmet brands such as Shoei, Arai, Bell, even ICON now days is decent but not top tier.  The key is to buy one that fits so well that it feels like it's a part of you.  You really don't want to be 3 hrs from home and have a headache so bad you can't stand it and it's all from the helmet you have to wear for another 3 hours to get home.

I was lucky and had a father in law that is a fantastic rider, had a bunch of gear I could try on and I found that the ICON helmet fit me the best, other than that he had Arai and a Bell.  Got the ICON becaues it was in my price range, but I just upgraded to a Shoei RF1200 and it's worlds better than teh ICON as far as build quality, features, airflow, and it doesn't whistle or done at speed.  It's really good and I'm glad I spent the cash on it.

Welcome to the world of motorcycles!  It's a lifetime of fun!