- This topic has 13 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 5 months ago by BouncingRadical.
which bike
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October 6, 2009 at 9:30 pm #3489denzilParticipant
hi there iam about 5.5 tall medium buld and was thinking what bike to get i like the honda cbr 600 or the suzuki gsxr 600 iam having lessons and will take my test soon,I know your going to say get something with less power but ive always wanted a 600cc.
October 6, 2009 at 10:21 pm #22695briderdtParticipant…then why not wait until you know you can ride it without (a) dumping it, or (b) killing yourself with it?
It’s not like the manufacturers are going to stop building them.
And it’s not the engine size that’s the problem on these things. Heck, the SV650 has a larger displacement engine. But it’s considered a somewhat beginner friendly bike due to the power delivery (consistent, even power delivery over the RPM range).
October 7, 2009 at 12:05 am #22699eternal05ParticipantI’m not some lame safety nut. I love track riding on my GSX-R600, but it’s NOT a city or commuter bike (after a while you’ll hate riding it around town), and it’s not a beginner bike. You don’t have to get a balls-less bike right off the bat. There are plenty of friendly 500-650cc bikes that are fast as hell, fun to ride, and great to look at. Sportbikes, on the other hand, are hard to handle, hard to ride smoothly, and extremely unforgiving to mistakes.
Seriously mate. Don’t become a statistic. Do yourself a favor and start with a used SV650 or Ninja 650R. Get good. THEN upgrade if you still want to. You’ll save a lot of money in bodywork, and maybe your life.
October 7, 2009 at 12:45 am #22696Gary856ParticipantTo me what makes a 600cc sportbike much harder to ride at low speed than a standard is not the power, but the low clipons that put your body in a crouched down positon. That makes low speed steering and downhill cornering difficult. It takes some practice to delibrately turn/lean a 600cc sportbike. A naked SV650’s throttle and strong engine braking can make it feel more abrupt than a 600cc, but the upright and wide handlebar of the SV makes it a lot easier to steer.
In terms of which bike is better, these modern bikes are so closely matched and so polished, you really can’t get a bad one. In magazine comparison tests they look at things under the microscope and exgerrate the differences. Those small differences count on the race track, but in everyday riding I feel it’s just important to pick a bike you enjoy looking at the most.
October 7, 2009 at 4:07 am #22701briderdtParticipantI started out on a SV650s. Yup, the sport-bike version. And I was doing “okay” after I got used to the on/off feeling of the throttle. Then I took the MSF class on a Honda 250 Nighthawk, and was about to pitch the bike in favor of a Ninja 250. But I stuck it out. And now, a year later, I’m almost to where I think I’m getting kind of smooth with it, and that I can trust myself enough to take a passenger in short trips around the neighborhood.
My ideas of “upgrading” are to one of 3 possiblities (at this point, always subject to change):
*A used, wrecked Ninja 250 to rat out.
*A Buell 1125r. Love the look of that bike. And it’s a V-twin also.
*A Yamaha FJR for some all-day comfort and for easy 2-up riding.But really, I’m not in any hurry.
I’d caution you to not be in a hurry either.
October 8, 2009 at 12:45 pm #22708Zig308ParticipantI’ve ridden a CBR600 and it’s a lot of bike to start on. I ended up with a Yamaha FZ6R which is more tame, manageable, and offers a more comfortable seating position without dropping a fortune. It’s easy going in the low RPM’s, but gets going in the high RPM’s.
October 8, 2009 at 2:21 pm #22710WeaponZeroParticipantI’m going to be blunt. If you’re absolutely dead set on a 600cc sport-style bike for your first bike, get either a Suzuki SV650SF, Ninja 650R, or a Yamah FZ6R. They’re the only ones that are “tame” enough for beginners and even they’re pushing it.
But if you insist on starting out on a pure-bred racebike then you’re probably going to do one of two things: Scare yourself silly and not get on the bike again or horribly injure yourself in a crash. These bikes are not for beginners and there’s a reason for that. You cannot learn the fundamentals of riding on a bike with that kind of power delivery.
You NEED to start out on something tamer. That’s just a fact. And while there are people who have proven to be exceptions to this rule, they are few and far between.
That being said, there’s a few things you need to understand about racebikes:
1. They were designed for handling&corners at high speed. Meaning that if you live in an urban environment you won’t be able to do what the bike was meant to do because your riding will consist mainly of going in a straight line for a short distance then stopping at a stoplight. Getting out on the highway means being bent over into a racer’s tuck position which is NOT comfortable. You will have a sore back after a short amount of time.
2. The ergonomics mentioned above mean being in the “racer’s tuck” which is better for aerodynamics but actually makes the bike HARDER to control at normal speeds you see on the street. Furthemore, it is extremely uncomfortable and you will be in pain after a while. There’s a reason bikes made for long distance touring have upright seating positions.
3. They’re just plain impractical for street driving. Their suspension was designed to function on well maintained, perfect roads. Wasn’t designed for soaking up potholes, riding over brick roads, riding in the wet, and things like that.
In short, buying a GSXR or CBR for your first bike is impractical, stupid, and suicidal. If you want one because of the “image” then you’re buying one for the wrong reasons and because you have this fancy bike but don’t know how to ride it you won’t be welcome in a lot of riders’ circles.
October 12, 2009 at 4:44 pm #22804Bob HarleyParticipantDead men tell no tales. And riders who get injured and stop ridding usually don’t say much either. On the other hand, the guy who is the exception to the rule, “I started on a litre class sport bike!” keeps talking and talking and talking. It is naturally to make our decisions based on the concensus of opinions of the people we associate with, hopefully our closest friends, whom we trust. But a concensus is not always right, it just may be popular or situational. I have a close friend who started on a litre class bike. I have two things to say. 1) He has the innate reflexes of a samurai warrior without even trying. 2) Even he described the R1 as a “bi@tch” to learn how to ride on. Last week I meet a guy who wanted to ride, but after his close friend died on a GSXR the wife forbad him from riding. I asked what happend and he told me that while making a left hand turn, parellel with a moving big rig, the tires slid in the light coating of dirt on the asphalt, and bike with rider went under the wheels of the truck. Since that guy died, I can’t ask how fast he “really” took that corner, but (and i don’t mean to be callous) the results speak for themself.
I think that riding a bike is inheriently unsafe outside of a closed course. Street riding has two primary risks factors, The Rider and Traffic. And only The Rider can take into account for both. Can you take into account the crazy car that runs the red light and hits you? Meh, life isn’t predicatble, but then again you would be on a bike if wanted to prepare for that. They make many nice models of SUV for that, including a miltary grade Hummer. What you can prepare for is the gear you wear and bike you choose to ride, and then riding safely and being alert to all traffic around you anticipating the bad decisions that other unobservant drivers will likely make. I find that in heavy traffic I ride my bike slower and more cautously than my car. Car gets hit, I file a claim. Bike gets hit, I get to ride in a white van to one of two places…
My final thought on masculinity: I does not take “B@lls” to ride a “Real Man’s” Bike. It does take “B@lls” to stand up for youself and not be embarrassed in front of your friends and say, “for my first bike I’m gonna buy this (lame?) beginner bike and wait a couple seasons before i upgrade to a more serious bike.”
My final thought on Human nature: I expect that in the end you will buy the bike you want regardless of any advice given by forum members here. I’m not encouraging you to do so and recommend you give this serious thought. Also, buy yourself some good gear and WEAR it. Be alert and practice often. Good luck and take theses posts as accumulated wisdom and not as criticism.
October 12, 2009 at 5:02 pm #22805eternal05ParticipantThis is a great post above from Bob Harley. I wanted to add another bit of wisdom. Nobody here will tell you not to get a GSX-R or CBR. They just don’t want you to get one FIRST. And it’s not because they hate you and want to deprive you of fun. It’s because they’ve been there before and know how hard it can be to control one of these bikes. For reference, I started out on a Ninja 250R, and not because that’s the bike I really wanted. I had my heart set on a gixxer from day one, but I made myself work for it. After a year on the Ninja, I bought a gixxer on sale, and as I tell everybody, I still do all my city riding on the Ninja. It’s more comfortable, easier to manage, and a lot more fun to ride in the 20-45mph range.
Anyway, start with a bike that will really teach you to ride, and THEN worry about this:
October 12, 2009 at 5:30 pm #22806megaspazParticipantpost some vids already!
October 12, 2009 at 5:41 pm #22807eternal05ParticipantWhat did I JUST post? Gettin’ all greedy on me
October 12, 2009 at 5:51 pm #22808megaspazParticipantWANT MOAR! get used to it…
October 12, 2009 at 6:19 pm #22809eternal05ParticipantOk, fine, but only because you asked so nicely
October 26, 2009 at 12:42 pm #23024BouncingRadicalParticipantThat’s an awesome picture!
Good advice from all above too, there is no rush to get the most badass bike asap. You’ll enjoy an aggressive bike more with better skills learned on a tamer bike.
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