[Big Sky Girl]

Hello. I’ve been surfing this site for hours and found so much helpful information I decided to join in on the fun. I passed my MSF course this weekend. Was on a Zuk DR200SE and was very comfortable on it. Other than that, only a handful of hours on a dirtbike covers my experience w/motorcycles (I rode quads a lot as a teenager).

I am new and apologize for the double post (I originally posted this under “Introduce Yourself” but am thinking that wasn’t the right place for my questions.

(By the way, is there a way to ‘search’ the content? Am I overlooking it?)

I’m looking for thoughts on the new Yamaha FZ6R as a first bike. I was leaning this way after several told me I could handle it – if I am careful, which I tend to be. It’s ‘tamed down’ compared to the YZF-R6 (something like 50 less HP, I think.) Afraid of accidental wheelies on this thing, though.

As I’ve been reading, I’m thinking smaller CCs is the way to go and the Ninja 250 sounds good…as I do want to have fun, not be scared of the power, and develop great skills. Here’s my question and I keep reading different opinions on this. I live in the country in Montana, and want to be able to do several-hour trips to Spokane, WA or even weekend trips. I’d most likely be doing mostly freeway riding, and there are a LOT of big rigs here. (However, I’m sure I’ll be in town a lot too.)

I want something that handles well, that would be great for the freeway as well as in town, that I won’t regret buying (whether it’s a 600 or 250 cc) in a couple months.

I’m worried the 250 will:
1. be a hard ride (physically) if going on long trips (yes, I understand to get off and rest every 100 miles or so) – but I’ve heard larger engines are smoother to ride.
2. be blown around too much at 75 mph freeway speeds
3. that I’ll get tired of it. I spoke with a girl at a bike shop that got one as a new rider, and wanted more power and upgraded to something bigger in a month.

I’m totally confused now about which route to go. I’ve read post after post and thread after thread and am just not sure I’ve found the right bike. The Zuk 500 sounds good, but it’s cold here (today it snowed in late April) so if they still start slow in cold, that would be an issue. I’ve sat on the Ninja 500, and it lays down too much for me.

I’d appreciate any thoughts. Especially if anyone knows about the FZ6R. I wasn’t sure where to post this question, so please tell me if I need to move it to a different forum (like the general one).

OOH – one new question not in my original post – do frame sliders really work if you drop/slide your bike? Just wondering if I get a sport bike and drop it w/sliders if I’d still have to replace fairings, because that may influence my decision.

Thanks!
Big Sky Girl

[briderdt]

…I had it down to 3 bikes: Ninja 650, SV650s, and the FZ6R (I had this irrational aversion to carbs). I pretty much thought of them as equal. I’ve since learned different, and I’m glad I got the bike I did (SV650s). But… That FZ6R is a nice option that’s not so agressive as the race-tuned I4’s. And I like the styling of the undertail exhaust.

Here’s the thing on the Ninja 250 – pretty much it’s going to hold its value no matter how long you hang onto it. So if you get tired of it in a couple months, just sell it (and given that the “season” is just starting up, you might even be money ahead in the end).

Frame sliders will definitely save your plastic (or at least minimize the damage).

Oh, and I’m kind of having dual thoughts on my “next” bike — it’ll either be something like a Ninja 250 that I’ll rat out, make it into a street fighter, or else I’m going to get a Buell 1125R… Yeah, not even in the same direction.

[Big Sky Girl]

Thank you! Can I ask what was the difference between those three bikes that you discovered? I haven’t seen much of a difference. If I go with a 250 or 500 to start, one of those three will most likely be my next bike (later this summer or definitely next spring!)

[briderdt]

With the V-twin on the SV650, it has more low-end power, so revving it to higher numbers to get it “off the line” isn’t required as much as an inline-4. There was a lot of “on/off” to get accustomed to with the throttle, which may or may not be present in the Ninja and FZ6 (I haven’t ridden either one). That’s not to say that I wouldn’t have been happy with any of the three — I probably would have been ignorant of what either of the other two had to offer anyway and just played the hand I was dealt.

[Matt]

Personally, I think the FZ6R is a great looking bike. I’m not convinced it is a good bike to start on for several reasons (power, size, but largely cost, both to buy and maintain).

Don’t outright discount the 500s though. The Ninja 500 isn’t terribly cold blooded, and if you find it leans you forward too much, there are risers that’ll bring the bars up and towards you. I’d sit on the 650s&600 to compare with though, because while I find the Ninja 500 is lower than them, it has no more forward lean (just more knee bend).

Also, with the Suzuki GS500, she’s cold blooded to start (gotta idle it for 3 minutes with choke before you can ride, which isn’t anywhere near as much of a hassel as it sounds), but it’ll run just fine in the cold. If your only concern with it is the temperature, I’d give it a second look. See if you can’t find a local board and ask if anyone has personal experience with the GS500 in your environment.

[Big Sky Girl]

Thanks, Matt! I hadn’t though of risers for the Ninja 500. I’m still learning all the ‘tricks’ you can do to make a bike more comfortable and stuff. I’m going out next week to try out the 250s and 500s.

[bigguybbr]

Don’t discount the fz6r as a beginner on the power front. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s a real pussy cat below 5000rpm. The clutch is smooth and it’s also pretty tough to stall which is nice when you are starting out. The internet is a little light on information on this bike with it being so new, which kinda sucked before I bought it.

The big trouble with it as a beginner is it’s weight. It’s kinda heavy at 467lbs wet weight. It can be a little nerve wracking at first when you try out your parking lot practice maneuvers at low speeds and you feel like you might tip. It’s very well balanced however, and you’ll find the bike is easy to handle once you get a few sessions with your leg over it.

On the new bike front for a beginner, I understand the whole, “don’t buy anything too nice cuz you’re just gonna ding it up” argument. I also know the kinda person I am, and anything out of the ordinary that goes wrong with the bike I’m going to blame on the previous owner for having done some jack ass move that has caused whatever problem it may be, rather than just accepting that it is wear and tear. I’ll end up with a grudge against the machine and will end up getting rid of it.

When I started on motorcycles, I wanted to get into motorcycle riding, and not motorcycle repair, as I had enough things to learn from the get go, and wanted to start our with a trouble free experience.

So if you can swing the money, and you like it, go for it.

[Big Sky Girl]

Thanks for the input. I have to ask, what color did you get? I want the white one (whether that’s now or later)!

Ok, the engine is gentile under 5K rpms…one of my concerns is accidently popping a wheelie. (I know it can be done on anything, I’ve seen someone ride a wheelie on a scooter.) Is it all about smooth throttle control? My first time on a small 100cc dirtbike I popped a small wheelie while practicing smooth starting and it freaked me out. Is something like that likely to happen on this bike?

[bigguybbr]

I highly doubt you would pop a wheelie on this without a conscious effort to do so. Unless you are breaking very hard using only the front breaks to compress the front forks then immediatly releasing the break as you dump the clutch and pour on heavy blip of throttle while shifting your weight back then you won’t end up with the resulting combination of power, weight transfer, and the suspension decompression that pops your front wheel off the ground with a 467lb sport bike.

Doing a wheelie on a 250lb dirt bike or even a slightly heavier dual sport is a much easier thing to do with so much less mass to move around.

If you feel like you are going to somehow get the front wheel off the ground, just pull in the clutch. It cuts off the power to your rear wheel, and thus ends your wheelie-worries.

Also, my bike is black, because as everyone knows, black goes faster

[Big Sky Girl]

Well, I spent a day and sat (again) on every sport bike out there that wasn’t a super sport. The next day I bought a Ninja 500. (Maybe it was the 09 that seemed to lean more? Or maybe it was that I had gotten on it after sitting on a 650). Anyways…I found an ’06 Ninja 500R w/only 500 miles, with a full set of gear except boots (the gear will fit hubby) for $2,800. I think I got a great deal, esp. with all the gear and considering it’s basically new.

As BADLY as I wanted the FZ6R, the Ninja’s weight and balance felt more comfortable for me for a newbie. I know I’d be afraid of the larger bike and dropping it. The Ninja is a perfect fit for me to start on.

I need to adjust the idle – it wants to die when I’m stopped if I don’t have the choke slightly on, or slightly rev the engine. Other than that, I love it. I went on my first two rides yesterday and I’m hooked!

It’ll do great on the freeway and I can get a good year of learning and confidence under my belt and move up to the FZ6R next year. Plus, it fit my budget! Yay – tax returns! LOL

All I want to do now is ride! The only hard part was getting it onto the center stand. Geez, you would have laughed watching me trying to do that. Hubby had to help me!

Thanks for all your input!
Big Sky Girl

[bigguybbr]

Enjoy the new whip!

[UrbanGrape]

Yes it’s a good first bike. There is no reason to go with a 250 unless youre really short and cant seem to manage the other bikes because of height limitations.

There is no chance of popping a wheelie. It can be done but you have to want to do it – just like on a bicycle.

The power is there but it’s not at all overwhelming and the bike handles very well. It handles cornering great, pickup in town and on the highway are exceptional. Uphill it pulls fantastic.

As far as getting blown around by the wind, well youre going to be blown around in the wind no matter what bike you have. Once you can handle the motorcycle it’s just a matter of working with the bike and the wind but youre not going to get blown off the highway as long as you know how to ride.

The bike is not heavy as a lot of people say. There are no problems with quickly learning low speed manuvers (turns and whatnot). – Those that would say it’s too heavy really should be thinking about a membership to the gym before buying any motorcycle.

Yes frame sliders really do work. As far as a high speed crash or even moderate crash you will undoubtably damage the fairings no matter what you install on your bike, but for a low speed tip over or just a drop the frame sliders are an excellent thing to have. I have the no cut frame sliders on my FZ6R and they have saved the bike even at a spill at 30mph. Pretty cool things.

There are a lot of misconceptions on the internet on which bike to go with for a first bike. The biggest misconception is that a 600 machine is too much for a beginner. Not true. The FZ6R is the perfect starter bike.

[Rab]

I own a very similar bike to the FZ6R, the Suzuki GSX-650F.

Yes, they have user-friendly power bands, but as others have pointed out, these bikes are way too heavy for a newbie and the center of gravity is *not* way down low like on a cruiser.

I’m 6′ tall, ~180 lbs, have ~50,000 miles of daily motorcycling experience gained over about 4 years and I couldn’t hold up my GSX-650F when I stalled and was caught off-balance while trying to get over the curb and onto my driveway. Before that, I almost tipped my Triumph Bonneville on more than a few occasions when stopping on oddly sloped sections of road. When these motorcycles get beyond a certain tipping point, there’s nothing you can do to stop them from falling over. Trying to keep the bike upright would be even less possible for a woman.

As newbie’s are much more likely to get themselves into these potential tip-over situations than experienced riders, these heavy motorcycles are definitely *not* the bikes to learn on.

Someone who has just finished an MSF course is far from being a competent motorcyclist and still has an awful lot of learning to do and many mistakes to make.

Here’s a good, if slightly dated article about using a progressive approach to learn to ride a motorcycle.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/good_first_motorcycles.htm

You *can* learn to ride on a Hyabusa, but it’s not advisable; nor, to a lesser extent, is learning on a 600+ c.c. motorcycle. It’s far easier (and much safer) to learn on a light and nimble motorcycle and get something bigger when you have gained more experience.

Oh, and BTW Big Sky Girl, you shouldn’t be thinking of taking long trips anywhere on a motorcycle until you’ve first learned to ride one properly. That means post-MSF parking lot practice, local road practice, practice in town in heavy traffic, riding in the rain and wind practice, practice in the twisties and practice on the freeway.

Don’t try to run before you can walk or it could end in tears, pain, disability, or even death.

[CBBaron]

There is no reason to start on a bike bigger than a 250 either. The Ninja 250r has plenty of power and speed for operating on any road in the US. The combination of very forgiving engine and drive train and light weight make it a great starter bike. And due to its resale value you lose little if you decide to sell. Even buying new and selling a year later your cost is still modest.

Bikes like the FZ6R are not heavy but still the 250r is at least 50lb lighter and slightly lower also. This makes it more forgiving when you make a mistake at slow speed maneuvering.

I’m 6’2″ 220lb and the only real disadvantage to the 250r is it is a little cramped for my legs.

Still the FZ6R is a much better bike for a beginner than the supersports despite sharing an engine configuration and size. It really a combination of engine tuning and riding position that make the supersports so ill fitted for the task.

The GSX-650F is considerably heavier than the FZ6R which makes it great for a small sport tourer but I could see that making it more of a handful for the beginner. I know I’ve caught my bike several times when I’ve made a slow speed mistake.

The Ninja 250 is light enough I can easily recover from those types of mistakes. And because it is easy I can also push myself more in those situations speeding the learning process. That I see is the big advantage of a small bike to start. It allows you to learn faster with confidence because you are not as scared of the bike.

Craig

[Author]

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