[NickdaBrick]

In my humble opinion, the ideal first bike should:

1) Be comfortable.

2) Have really good brakes -- the kind that let you feel exactly what the front wheel is doing.

3) Have light, neutral steering.

4) Have a decent amount of low-end torque so you can get moving without having to resort to drag-strip tactics.

5) Carburet well enough to start on cold mornings.

6) Have a decent headlight so you can see well at night

7) Be light enough for you to pick up by yourself

when you drop it.

The more of these your first bike does, the better your first forays into motorcycling will be.

 

[ClubRacer]

Don't Forget

Duel sports are a good place to start and they are very cheap second hand.

 

[torresmr]

Thank you very much...

 

[roadload]

Re: tire size

Yeah i would agree with you I switched to a 180 on my rear (97 gsxr-750)and it works better in the corners, a bit more feel. Though I sure the tire profile of the Dunlop Gp Stars have something to do with that.

 

[roadload]

A buell blast.....jesus why don't you just shoot the guy and save him the misery!

 

[056]

Re: You ARE an idiot!

Wow! You sure don't read very carefully, do you? That's OK, there's a lot to read here, but you should at least read the posts you respond to!

"Maybe if you considered riding something a little more modern and technologically sophisticated than a vintage bike, you would realize that the better brakes, handling, and yes

even power can be an asset rather than a liability."

Well, that's true enough, but I don't know why you pointed that at me! Where do I say to either get a vintage bike or that I have a vintage bike? Is it the "old BMW" comment? Any BMW built after 1982 or so has perfectly adequate power, braking and handling, and can hardly be called "vintage". My bikes are a'87 EX250 and an SV650, neither of which I would consider a vintage bike, although I used to own a '77 R100. But that was a long time ago. Of my 5 crashes this year, two were due to bad tires, two were on the track, and one was because of a driver turning left right in front of me. I was riding an MZ Skorpion at the time, and that bike's light weight and great brakes let me scrub off almost all of my speed so I was unhurt. A heavier, faster bike would have put me into much, much worse shape.

There is nothing wrong with the brakes, handling or performance of any of the bikes I listed, so I'm not sure what you're talking about.

"When I consider your view as a motorcycle enthusiast, it makes it easier to understand why

liberal non-enthusiasts would prefer to save us from any possibility of motorcycling at all. Or

anything possibly remotely dangerous."

Huh? Who are you talking about? Certainly not me! I love motorcycling so much that nothing will make me quit. I just think that ill-informed newbies, armed with poor advice like that given on this board, are destroying my sport and hobby. Everytime a squid kills or injures him or herself on my local Sunday ride, the CHP cracks down, ruining my Sunday. Manufacturers build and market bikes to rich pinheads with no taste or skill, instead of building the light, cheap and fun bikes they used to make. An R6 as a first bike? Great idea.

Please name a "liberal non-enthusiast" who has taken political action to eliminate motorcycling. I can name one guy,- Republican senator Danforth, who wanted to eliminate sportbikes.

Unfortunately, your post is not sociologically interesting, since I already know how conservatives use lies, misinformation and hyperbole to "prove" their points.

And one last thing- "Gaybe" Very clever! You're just as clever with that one as a sixth-grader! But then again, if you run Dubya's responses in the debates through MS Word, he gets a Fleisch-Kinkaid score at a 5th or 6th grade level, so that's just what I expect from you guys.

 

[056]

You and your specters!

"Horrible" specter? What's horrible is an innocent person entering a hobby with a belief that it's some kind of fun, wacky, harmless way to show off his purchasing power and winding up strapped to a backboard in an ambulance, permanantly maimed, or killed.

What's so horrible about mandatory training? And something much more rigorous than the current MSF course, which doesn't, admittedly, prepare you for much more than basic riding. So it costs $300- so what? Half the cost of the "mandatory" exhaust system so many squids buy before they even leave the dealer.

Who decides if you're qualified to ride your GSXR? Yourself, ultimately. But what's wrong with waiting a while? Why is starting at the top so great?

 

[056]

Right on! n/t

 

[056]

Thanks, pal

One post like this outweighs 20 childish flames.

 

[056]

Re: Thanks, pal

I agree with you almost completely. And I don't know if REQUIRED training would be the ticket, although I think CAR drivers should have much, much tougher driving tests. Why shouldn't car drivers be required that they can swerve, brake hard in an emergency and control a skid? Think how many lives that would save every year.

Here in California they made the drivng test easier because, (are you ready for this one?) too many people were failing. That's bad, and costs lives. The motorcycle test is a pathetic joke as well.

I am reluctant to advocate over regulation and feel people should make their own choices. But if you can save lives without sacrificing any tangible or signifigant right, what's wrong with that?

 

[Guru]

Why buy a Jap 600, they weigh the same as a 750,

cost the same, look the same, are harder to

ride for a beginner.Just buy a 750 and be done

with it. It doesn't matter what you ride.

Riding motorcycles is all about, falling off,

crashing, getting booked and breaking bones.

Believe me you will. I've been riding for 27 years

and all of the above have happened. But I will

let you on a little secret. These situations

sound a lot worse than there really are.

It's part of life. Just go out and enjoy.

A good bike to learn on is a Ducati 600 or 750 SS

very easy and forgiving bike.

Make sure you learn throttle control...the sooner

you learn that the more of the above you will avoid.

 

[bugsplatter]

Good bike to learn on a Duc 600 or 750 ss? If finances are of no concern you may be correct, these bike are capable neutral handling sportbikes, however, they will be much more expensive to learn on than similarly powered japanese bikes. Ducatis require much more service, more frequent valve adjustments, etc. These bikes are 2 to 5 times more expensive than similarly powered used gs500s or EX500s. These bikes are not very sexy but really neither is a used Duc 750ss, if it weren't for its classic paint job this would be one of the ugliest of recent sports bikes, if the japanese ever catch on to the fact most of us would like single color paint jobs ducatis would lose a least some of their appeal.

 

[Oilgod]

I started riding motorcyles this summer. With no previous riding experience, I managed to learn to ride proficiently in three days (actually three straight Sundays of roughly 2 hours each day). I had purchased a 2001 Kawasaki Ninja 500R (a great beginner bike). Had no problems with it. Didn't even drop it. The idea was for me to learn enough about motorcycles for Japan. I was planning on taking the Ninja with me.

Well, after taking the MSF course on the base, after three months of riding, I got board of the bike. I traded it in (didn't get much of a trade in. Bikes, like anything now-a-days, depreciate fast). I now ride a 2001 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R. Having read many articles from different sites, one rule of thumb that I remembered was, sit on the bike for ten minutes in a riding position. If you are still comfortable after ten minutes, you have found a comfortable bike for your dimensions. I am 6'2 and weigh in at 174 lbs. This bike is comfortable for me. Stats don't mean diddly. Even a "small" 600cc bike can outrun any car on the rode. Comfort should be a priority. But I sat on the Honda CBR F4 and it was as comfortable. The R6, as powerful as it is, makes you feel like you are in a race (that should give you an idea of comfort). If you like the R6, try riding a YZF-600. It was made for city riding and touring.

All in all, take the MSF course before you buy a new bike. Otherwise, you might just end up dropping your bike and getting angry at the world because you chose the "fastest" bike in a magazine to look cool and you ruined it. Bikes were made for the pure thrill and enjoyment of riding. As inexperienced as I am, I know this. I hope this info will help you out.

 

[jerryford]

Yeah man,, YZF600R Thundercat........I got one, and I will never sell it. All anyone of us normal guys would ever look for in a bike. Two in one. Hands down. Comfort, speed, brakes, suspension, light, easy, and FUUUUNNNNNNNN!!. GO FOR IT.



JERRYFORD.......... ITALY

 

[xmike5]

Get a Suzuki Bandit 600.

 

[luvmyvfr]

Re: Does Mom know you

As I recall, being fluent in a language includes an intimate knowledge of spelling, grammer and sentence structure. Try again worthless rookie loser butt-sucking squid. That sentence might test your English skills, but if you get your dictionary out, you may figure it out sometime this year.

 

[luvmyvfr]

You ARE an idiot!

Gaybe,

Stupid is as stupid does. Dubya's President of the USA, what do you do? Oh, and speaking of stupid is as stupid does, I've never wrecked my bike in 15 years, and I've been to the track too. I thought "Gaybe" was pretty funny, but being the "possible homosexual" you proclaim yourself to be, you probably see it all the time in reference to yourself, and the humor was lost on you.

 

[luvmyvfr]

Out running cars

I know it's wrong, and I'm breaking laws when I do it, but there is supreme satisfaction felt when I spank some turkey in his car that he either payed way too much for, or added all kinds of worthless aftermarket parts to. Some punk in a Jetta with aftermarket wheels, the gratuitous loud exhaust, pins holding down his hood, and a huge, stupid looking spoiler pulled up along side me on the freeway with his friend hanging out the window talking smack today. A couple of downshifts later and I couldn't believe how quickly he became a small vibrating dot in my right rear mirror. Doesn't that feel good? Love that V4 exhaust note...

 

[Trax]

Studies has shown that if you take a "superbike" from the late 80's and a Suberbike from year 2000, a higly skilled racer will in average, lap 10 sec. faster on the new bike. The average biker however, will only lap about 2 secs faster.

Why? Because his skills are never up to the task of taking the bike faster throug the curves. Only on the straights will he be able to take advantage of the extra power.

An unskilled will usually find that an old or comfort oriented bike is easier to learn to ride, simply because it will give more feedback on what's going on at a lower speed. A more racy bike will only give you this feedback when ridden hard at high speeds.

 

[ryan22]

I learned on a Kawa ZX6-R. The 600cc class is perfect to learn on I think. They provide enough

power to give you an immediate fear and a healty

respect for the bike while not having enough to

get yourself into too much trouble.

As others have said, a 600cc bike is, generally, more bike then you will ever use as a beginner, but it also allows room for growth. My friend learned on an EX-500 and by the end of the summer he hated his bike and wanted a GSXR-750. After feeling the power, or lack there of, of the 500, he considered the 600 a waste of time and wanted to jump to the 750s which are, in my my opinion, waaaaay more then enough bike for any street purposes. Yes, the cops prolly cant even catch you on one of those if you ride well. He bought it, and crashed it all before he made his first loan payment.

I guess my point is don't buy a bike that is so small that you are going to out-grow it before the summer is even out. A 600 will give you enough power to go way faster then you ever really need to on the highway or to clutch a wheelie through town, if thats what you are into, and they are tame enough to just cruise while you learn and develop a "feel" for motorcycles.