[seruzawa]

I always suggest a smaller bike for any new rider, preferably used. Something like a 250 dual purpose bike like the Kawasaki. You need a bike that easy to ride and has good visibility while learning. If there are places nearby where you can practice off road more the better. Do the MSF safety course and spend some money on good riding gear.

A modern 600 is waaay faster than any car you can buy. Any new rider is going to fall at least once. It happens to every one. If you're dumb enough to buy a sportbike then you get to deal with the cost of replacing the plastic fairing.

Motorcycle riding is serious business. Approach it like you would learning to fly an airplane. Treat it as a casual diversion and you will suffer the consequences.

 

[seruzawa]

just for the record my name is Nick. the newbie thing is old already

seruzawa-i understand what your saying about seriousness and thanks for the refrence of how fast a 600 is. now this may be a dumb question but visibility? uhh anything im going to say here will be misconstrued as me being an ass sooo elaborate please. and what is a plastic fairing? im guessing the outer shell of the bike?

Oops. By visibility I mean your ability to sit upright and see all around you easily. The sport bikes with the very low handlebarsd severely restrict your ability to swivel your head to see easily to the sides and rear.

The plastic fairing is the extensive bodywork on the sportbikes that breaks when you fall and costs loads of $ to repair/replace.

 

[seruzawa]

True...

As important as LEATHER is the new textiles are great. It really depends on location and type of weather you encounter on a daily basis. I prefer Alpinestars equipment because I find the quality vs price to my liking. Joe Rocket and Shift equipment don't seem to have the same level of craftsmanship. Fieldsheer and Cortech make great gear in textiles and fine leathers, too. Like I said, it depends on conditions. Right now, in ATL its a chilly 50 degrees outside and the morning drive was on the low 30s. I would have ridden in textiles if the low was in the 40s but leathers are cozy warm below that and warm is good.
BTW- the advise you seek and receive from this site is sometimes slighly tongue and cheek but very valid. ANY bike can be your downfall. Area, traffic conditions and topography should be considerations in your bike choice. Just because a sportbike looks cool doesn't mean you should consider it if you live in heavily wood, animal dense, remote areas. Same thing holds for a dual purpose bike in say southern Arizona or metro Miami-Dade area. Riding in a National Forest is only so much fun on a sportbike when you have thousands of fire roads to explore. Or dodging semi-trucks on the interstate in southern FL is a crap shoot on a DRZ in the acceleration vs overall tonnage contest.

... but if you are on a budget Joe Rocket, etc will get you gear that will last several hard years and work for at least one crash. Better than forgoing gear altogether because you are saving for it. Just a thought.