New Rider - Honda Shadow

Hi everyone, i'm new to this forum and i wanna ask for your advice. I stand at 5 ft 8 inches, and weigh just about 200 lbs(yeah, i know, i'm a big guy), and my uncle offered to sell his honda shadow 600 to me at a steal. I have ridden scooters before, but, i have never ridden a "big" bike before. Do you guys think it is a good idea to purchase it? Or will it be too heavy for me? Any of you guys who have experience riding these "big" bikes, help! I have two weeks to decide, or he is gonna sell it to one of the other guys who are waiting patiently. Thanks for your advice.

600cc is ideal as a first bike. Much more power and weight is harder to keep in control when you are inexperienced. If your seat height allows you to have both feet on the pavement on a dead stop, you are in business.

Purchasing it from your uncle who will likely tell you the real condition of the bike is also a winning point.

I would suggest you invest your savings into good protection gear and some basic training from a qualified motorcycle instructor before you go ahead riding.

Thanx for the info man. My uncle has offered to teach me how to ride the bike. Yeah, i will definitely get some protective gear. I sat on the bike two weeks ago and i definitely flat foot it, cuz, i'm about two inches taller than my uncle. Wish me the best!

my friend, I am now 47 years old, I've been riding motorbikes since I got my first bike, a Honda XL100 enduro when I was 12 years old to help irigate on our 1200 acre Montana Ranch. I have rode a wide variety of street bikes. from my first, a Yamaha 650 Special, to a 1500cc Goldwing. I am now the PROUD owner of what has turned out to be MY favorite bike, and, in my opinion, the absolute best beginner, serious street/touring bike made, period.
I'm talking about the Honda Shadow VLX 600 (Deluxe version is covered in chrome on the rocker boxes and cases, and comes in 4 colors, Standard comes with brushed aluminum pieces and Black ONLY) It would take 3-4 paragraphs to tell you every great thing about this bike! if you really want the facts, email me at glenn.merideth@gmail.com and I will explain all, do a google search for 2007 Honda VLX images, and you will see what a "plain" version looks like, liquid cooled. 3 valve heads, dual spark plugs each jug
52 DEG V-Twin finned for air cooled appearance, Chain drive (shaft drives lose up to 15% of their crankshaft HP through the shaft) 2.9 gallon "peanut" gas tank large 170 section rear 15 inch rear tire, 110/19 front, tubed as they are spoke wheels both ends. And electric starting (no kick starter on bike) here is my photobucket site, for pictures of mine with it's
pearl metallic Gold paint, and LOADED with every accessory available!
Pictures by montanaghost - Photobucket look forward to hearing from you! Glenn Montanaghost Merideth

haha I like the four saddlebags you have going on there.

The part about chain drive is definitely right on the ball. In cruisers I always felt like the 800 Vulcan's were almost as powerful as the largest cruisers due to the fact that they are chain drive vs the shaft drive on larger cruisers.

Those two small ones are really "fork bags" from Walmart, that I added to go between the "junk pile discovered" treasure, that 13 inch long rack with a drivers backrest integrated. (we THINK that it came off a large KZ something) and the two regular bags. The crash-bar came off a mid 70's CB5OO-4. I added universal 1" to 1.5" highway pegs to it, and I DO actually carry tools in the small ones. I plan on moving my rear turn signals to the rear light assy. so that larger saddlebags will fit. I removed the monstrosity they call an airbox from the top of the front head so the motor can now breath in cool air. I drilled 5 half inch holes through both walls of each baffle, which gave me a better exhaust note, without losing the exhaust systems "Tuning" I also changed the front 16 tooth sprocket for a 15 tooth one, giving the bike a whole new "personality". Easier less clutch slipping take-offs, better passing times, able to maintain the posted speed in 4th with a 50+ MPH headwind! better economy in town, and all without very little added "busyness" in the motor! The Kuryaken Luggage bag that
is strapped onto the luggage rack was $160. The "National Cycle" windshield when the mounting kit is included, was almost $400.! I painted it
along with the finned engine parts and baffles and fork lowers Black engine enamel, first, for it's heat bearing ability on the engine and baffles, and I also used it on the forks for it's added durability, due to the heavy abuse it will receive. When I painted it, I removed all five parts to be painted from
the bike, and lined them up along a 12 foot long 2X12 to be painted at once. Shot with my HPLV gun, and my special Craftsman 60 gallon 150PSI
painting compressor that has a built in line pressure regulator. So, as you
can see, through my "fixing up old bikes" side business, I have learned to take old thought to be junk parts, along with a new bike, and turned it all
into a beautiful "Proud to be seen riding" custom motorcycle! I even once (foolishly I should add) turned down an over $8000 offer for it not very long ago! if ANYONE has a question about a project like that (fixing up an old bike using new and used and even junk parts) then email me at this:
glenn.merideth@gmail.com, and for LOTS of pics (along with lots of pics of other bikes for my old closed now forum) see this link, the last 3-4 pages are of it in it's stock silver plain jane version.
Pictures by montanaghost - Photobucket

Yo ghost, your bike looks great! Thanks for the wise words. Looking forward to more wisdom from you and the other experienced riders on this forum.