[bigguybbr]

Yeah my friend that I ride with from time to time has a black r6 with all the reflectors removed and it looks dead sexy, but I do enjoy being visible and legal.

[bigguybbr]

Geico was crazy high for a year for me aswell. State farm seems to go by age and displacement, not the style of bike. So at age 29, my FZ6R costs me $384 for the year.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Wow you sunk a ton of dough into gear, and you haven’t even kicked your leg over the saddle yet? I’m all about being safe, but I might have held off on some of those high end purchases until after MSF. What if you just dumped a load of cash on gear, and you find out riding isn’t for you? I remember there were some people in my class that found that hard lesson. There were some that found that the experience wasn’t as romantic as they had made it upto be in their head. There were also those that found they really lacked the balance and coordination to operate on 2 wheels.

I dunno, it’s good to be safe but I would take the class before you continue the label whoring. Just my opinion.

[bigguybbr]

– got the black one, because as everyone knows, black goes faster (and it was $100 cheeper made it worth it since i never really care about color)

-I’m about 6’5″ or 6’6″ depending on the day, and it was pretty suprising how comfortable this bike is.

-Like I said there is a fender kit out there for the XJ6 diversion, I just haven’t gotten it yet.

-I financed my bike through an outside bank just because I got a better deal. The Yamaha deal is ok, just make sure not to make minimum payments or you will be soooooo upside down on your loan.

[bigguybbr]

I’m probably the person you have heard talking about it on here, as I think i’m currently the only one of the forum that has one.

I have said a million good things about it’s comfort, the upright posture, how forgiving it is, and how easy it is to learn on, so why don’t I just touch on the the little annoyances that have come up durring the first 1500 miles of riding it.

1- No center stand. This is really annoying. You need to get a rear stand in order to lube the chain.

2- If you are tall, you REALLY need a double bubble. The wind hits me right dead center in the chest and is a real pain at 75+ mph

3- The rear fender is retarded big. Look up XJ6 Diversion Fender Eliminator Kit.

4- If you are broad chested, enjoy the view of of your shoulders and elbows in the rear view mirrors.

5- The lack of aftermarket support, the bike just hasn’t been out long enough to have upgrade parts yet.

6- Sound. This is both good and bad. Your neighbors will love you that this bike is so quiet. At the same time I still wish for a little bit more volume that lets me know that something other than an angry hampster is under me at sub 5000 rpm.

7- The rear fender is so big homeless people have taken residence under it.

8- The weight took a little bit of time to get used to. I didn’t trust leaning in enough on it for my first couple weeks, and it took some serious plp hours before i did. With patience this is nice as it makes it more stable at high speeds in the wind as it doesn;t get pushed around much.

Anyways, I really do love the bike. I didn’t buy it with the expectation of riding it to work all the time, but it’s been so much fun and so comfortable that if I check the weather in the morning and it doesn’t say rain, I’m throwing on my gear and heading into work on it. If you have any specifics you want to ask please do.

[bigguybbr]

My frame being steel rather than aluminium doesn’t seem to give me any trouble triggering the lights. I get to test that enough on my way into work everyday.

[bigguybbr]

You can always get a jump start on Laconia!

I think that starts the 13th or 14th…

[bigguybbr]

Just got back and all I can say is that it was flippin’ schweet!

It was a really nice weekend weather wise up in Lake George NY, and the beautiful scenery up in the adirondacks was spectacular. I rode around like crazy around the lake and the adjoining areas when I wasn’t checking out all the vendors that were hocking their specialty bike goods. So a few good and bad things about going to a rally.

Good – Sooooooo many bikes to see, estimated about 50,000 this weekend. Now this was a touring rally, so most were goldwings, ultraglides, concourses, and those big BMW tourers and such. Also got to see some cool side cars, trailers etc. In among the touring beasts were some great sport and cruiser bikes and some really crazy custom choppers. Tons to see, plenty of friendly people, and a big big party every night. The riding out there is also amazing. Tons of twisty mountain roads provide hours of amusement and definitly got the odometer spinnin’.

Bad – With all the bikes on the road, it became a mad dash to pull out into traffic to do no more than 10mph (at best) on the main drag. It was kinda a stop and go drill like exercise in feathering the clutch and staying balanced without touching your feet down, just drawn out to a half hour or so at a time.

The other bad element of the rally, is it tends to bring out all the bikers that give bikers a bad name. You’ll see everything from the “loud pipes saves lives” guy that thinks since he has the loudest drag pipes around, no safety equipment or riding courtesy is necessary and he can ride as recklessly as he likes because he has loud pipes.

You also end up with a few of the crotch rocketeers high revving antics doing burn outs in the middle of traffic then losing control when the tires suddenly find traction. That’s an embarrassing sight when you are sitting on a sport bike yourself. There are also the guys that drive way too fast. One guy didn’t get the chance to learn his lesson

[bigguybbr]

And on the topic of weight control, as someone who attends weight watchers, you get excersize activity points for riding a motorcycle. So with a 3 hour ride upto Americade, I can enjoy a nice steak dinner once I get there tonight and not feel guilty about it

[bigguybbr]

Maybe i’ll hold off till the beginning of next season to take it then. I’ll use it as more of a refresher.
I get to see my riding coaches from my BRC around all the time, and i was doing the BRC course on my own bike for a while before and after I took the class.

I doubt the offsets were any more pronounced, they just feel that way when you aren’t on such a light bike. My bike resists being thrown side to side at lower speeds and I really have to push the handle bars and adjust my body position to get it to move. It’s still a fun excersize though.

[bigguybbr]

FZ6R is a good starter bike (it’s actually what I ride).

The FZ6 is a entirely different bike, not just a naked version of the fz6r (FYI the naked FZ6R is the XJ6 Diversion and isn’t sold in the US). The FZ6 has a completely different motor, and really has too much horse power to be considered beginner friendly.

[bigguybbr]

If no one here has any experience I’ll have to take some pics and write a bit on the experience.

[bigguybbr]

I had a link to it in a post i made about a month ago. I use eyeglass lens cleaning wipes before i ride when it’s cool out. The ones i can nab at work are all anti fog, and come packaged like moist towlettes so i always keep a few in my riding jacket. They are safe on the plastic of the face shield, and are even good for cleaning it up after you ride through a thick patch of bugs.

[bigguybbr]

OMG you make so much more sence now JoJo!!!!

No wonder you wouldn’t look at a lowly unsexy 250cc cuz you are more worried about the ladies than learning to ride. I’m sure you’ll look sexy when you drop your bike in their driveway, or dump it with them on it!

[bigguybbr]

It’s not a bad bike at all to begin on. Also with you being so light, it’ll be all the bike you need for quite a long time.

[bigguybbr]

The blast is just an entry level bike, so as riders progress (or think they have), they move up to bigger and better and sell off their entry level bike.

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