5 of the best learner motorcycles | 2025 edition

Mathieu Day-Gillett
Aug 2
3 min read

Learning to ride can be daunting before you even sit astride a motorcycle. With so many choices on where to start, here are 5 of our favourites to get you started on the road to your motorcycling career.

The best motorcycles for complete motorcycling beginners | Royal Enfield 350 Range

Black Royal Enfield Hunter 350 motorcycle parked on grassy lakeshore with rocky background; cloudy sky, calm water. Text: "Hunter."

For the complete motorcycling novice, we think there is no better place to start than on one of Royal Enfield's characterful 350cc motorcycles.

These friendly little bikes have incredibly easy-to-use clutches, torquey long-stroke motors and some cracking modern classic styling.

Throw into the mix electronic fuel injection for easy starting on those cool winter days and anti-lock brakes as standard equipment, and the Enfield 350 range offers so much for learner riders. While they aren't powerhouses with 20.2 hp on tap, they get the job done, and for the utter novice, the ease of use and welcoming riding community around these bikes make it a top pick for the complete motorcycling novice.

Adventure riding | CFMOTO 450MT

Blue and white motorcycle parked on a grassy hilltop with scenic views of a distant landscape. Trees frame the vibrant scene.

This was a close call between the CFMOTO 450MT and Royal Enfield's Himalayan 450. The CFMOTO came out on top due to its superior open-road comfort and roarty-sounding twin-cylinder engine.

A brilliantly well-designed motorcycle, the 450MT has an easy stand-over angle thanks to its narrow sub-frame, well-thought-out ergonomics and perhaps one of the best adjustable windscreens I've ever used.

Don't get me wrong, the CFMOTO 450MT is NOT an enduro bike, and with a weight around the 200kg mark is a heavy bike for hard adventure riding. But that isn't what it is built to do. As a bike that can go relatively anywhere and do relatively anything, this is one hell of an all-rounder.

Sports bike | Aprilia RS457

Motorcyclist in red and black gear leans into a curve on a track, riding a black Aprilia with red accents, creating a dynamic action scene.

There is starting to be a lot of competition in the LAMS sport bike segment, with multiple brands fighting it out for your dollar. But it is the Aprilia RS457 that gets the gong here for one very particular reason, and that's the name behind it. Unlike its hottest competitor, CFMOTO, which has a very worthwhile package on offer in the 450SR, the RS457 is backed by one of the most legendary names in the business - Aprilia.

These days, the RS457 is Aprilia's top-selling model in New Zealand, which says there is a lot of aspiring riders out there wanting to enter the halls of the premium Italian manufacturer.

With its new 457cc parallel-twin engine and loads of tech, the RS457 brings some of Aprilia's best qualities into the LAMS segment.

Naked | Triumph Trident 660

Motorcyclist performs a wheelie on a yellow bike; urban skyline in the background, clear sky. Action-packed, dynamic scene.

Taking over from Yamaha's brilliant MT 07 in this class is the Triumph Trident 660, which is the standard bearer for Triumph's triple-cylinder engine in the naked LAMS class.

While the MT07 is still a pretty basic machine (with a cracking engine!), the styling crew at Yamaha have gone rogue in recent years with the bike becoming visually polarising. If you can't look back at your bike and think "**** yeah" there is something wrong, and that's where the Triumph has taken over from one of my long-time favourite LAMS machines.

Triumph, on the other hand, have recently updated the Trident, and they didn't mess overly with the no-nonsense styling. In fact, they added better electronic rider aids and didn't even think to raise the price on us.

With an inline-triple cylinder engine giving plenty of power around the rev range and a unique sound in an era where almost everything is a 270-degree parallel twin, you've got a winner in my books.

LAMS cruiser | Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650

Black Royal Enfield motorcycle parked on a concrete path near a serene lake. Lush green trees and cloudy sky in the background. Text: OnThrottle.co.nz.

This is a hill I am willing to die on. When it comes to a learner-class cruiser, I don't think you can go past the Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650.

While it has now spawned sub-variants in the Shotgun 650 and Classic 650 - both of which share its frame and engine- the Super Meteor offers something no other bike in the class does - authenticity.

With its air/oil-cooled engine, relaxed riding position and oh so classic styling, the Super Meteor offers an authentic cruiser experience for both riders on restricted class licences and those fully qualified to ride.

If it's an old-school style cruiser that is LAMS-approved that you want, this is the bike you need to test ride.