Last Updated on November 1, 2022
People ride motorcycles for all kinds of reasons. Some love looking cool on them and others, which is probably most of us, just love riding to have fun. If you're a beginner, and don't want to spend a lot of cash, but still want to enjoy the ride, then a cruiser make a lot of sense. Also, cruisers are built to be more compfortbale due to their better seat position.
Everything is expensive - we get that. So should you throw in the towel and resort to taking the bus? We hope not! It's still possible to find some great value motorcycle cruisers. So below is our list of the best beginner cruisers for all of you on a budget.
Honda Rebel 300
A lot of beginners start off with this great cruiser. It may lack some power with it's 286cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled engine, but it's a comfortable ride. We also picked this bike as one of the best 300 cc motorcycles. It's light and the seat is low enough that you can plant both feet on the floor which helps to balance the bike especially when coming to a full stop. However, the flipside to this is that if you are tall, it could get a little too tight for you.
Suzuki Boulevard S40
The s40 is the perfect starter bike, especially if you are under 6 feet tall. You can definitely ride it if you are taller, but you may feel a little too cramped. This bike, which is a single cylunder cruiser, is easy to manage and very minimalistic which cuts down on a lot of costs.
Honda Rebel 500
The Honda Rebel 500 comes with a parallel-twin motor and a slick gearbox which makes this cruiser a lot of fun to ride. Like most bikes in this category, the affordable price means a lot of missing features. However, the Honda Rebel 500 comes with more accessories than its competitors. For example, a 4 bulb LED headlight, tail lights and signals.
Royal Enfield INT650
If you are looking for a vintage style bike that's fun to ride, then the Royal Enfield INT650 might be your new best friend. This bike doesn't have a lot of raw power, but for a beginner cruiser, you probably don't need that. Especially since it has a nice cushy one piece seat for that extra comfort.
Kawasaki Vulcan S
This starter cruiser gets some really great reviews and many riders say it feels unlike any other cruiser and it's probably due to the weight distribution on the bike. It has a comfy seat position and is light and will turn a lot of heads while you are cruising around town.
Royal Enfield Meteor 350
Here's another retro style Royal Enfield that made our list. The engine is a five-speed transmission, is fuel injection and has a two-valve head. The height on the seat is 30.1 inches and is low. It's a great ride around the city, but going over 60 mph on the freeway may start to vibrate a bit too much. But this is the case for a lot of these budget cruisers.
Honda Rebel 1100 DCT
This is part of the Hondal Rebel lineup. Honda basically made this model because many of their customers who had the smaller Rebels, would disappear and buy other brands. They found out that they what they really were looking for was a bigger motorcycle. This is when they introduced this model. And it doesn't disappoint.
Indian Scout Bobber Sixty
Here's a bike that almost passed by everyone's radar as it was introduced during the height of the pandemic. This is a five speed motorcycle that Indian introduced. 4 gear work fine around the city and when you need to jump on the freeway you have the 5th gear to enjoy that speed.
There are mixed reviews on the comfort for long rides on this bike, especially since many riders aren't too happy with the suspension it provides. But what it lacks in comfort, it makes up in style due to the positioning of the handles and the seat. So if your goal is to look stylish, then this is your ride.
Yamaha Bolt R-Spec
The Bolt R-Spec has a compact look due to the air cleaner being centered. However, it is pretty long measuring around 7 1/2 feet long (2290mm). What makes this bike a comfortable ride, according to riders, are the rubber dampers in between the clamps which minimize the vibrations during the ride. This bike has rave reviews and is one of the top bikes for beginners on our list.
Harley-Davidson Iron 883
What's a Harley doing on this list for beginners? Well, the Harley Davidson Iron 883 is a great beginner bike for someone who wants that aggressive and classic Harley look.
As the name implies, this bike has a 883cc engine. This may be a bit too much for beginners, who try and stay at the 650 cc mark, but if you want the extra edge, then this is your bike. What's also great about Harley, is they offer a beginner training course to get you started. And who wouldn't love saying they own a Harley?
YAMAHA V-STAR
This list of beginner bikes wouldn't be complete with the Yamaha V-Star. This is a dependable bike since the engine is based on the Yamaha Virago 535 engine which carries with it over 10 years of reliability.
This bike has a low center of gravity with helps to ease the ride and for a price tag of under $5,000 when writing this article, this makes the Yamaha V-Star a no brainer.
