[uncle_bernie]

What is the sound of one ego flapping in a dejected wind…

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

Sport “style” bikes aren’t my particular cup (I think I’ve been previously castigated for calling the seca a sport bike) of tea but that bike just looks, to coin a phrase, sick Really cool…enjoy it!

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

Well, the biggest difference I’d have to say is maneuverability. Jet skis are a lot more like slalom skiing and require a lot more practice to ride well standing up and turning it results from re-positioning of the rear water jet to the left or right, so, basically you’re kinda pushing the back end around. Same thing with a SeaDoo, although a jet ski since it’s smaller and narrower is a lot more maneuverable that a SeaDoo. The wet bike however is guided by turning the front ski. I found that doing power slides across the water, a lot like a flat track rider does on a bike was a lot smoother on a wetbike than on a jet ski. Jet skis tended to skip across the water like a stone what you got them sideways.

In the end, they’re all fun and the newer SeaDoos are scarily fast. The last one I rode topped out at 54mph (~87kmh) and doing 180’s at that speed on the water is like riding an insane bull into a burning barn…on the water…or something. In the end though, my fondest memories and the most fun I’ve had on any personal watercraft is that wetbike. I’ve still not ridden anything on the water quite like it.

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

I don’t think so. In the book Proficient Motorcycling by David Hough (no, I don’t get residuals for pushing his book) he talks about acceptable levels of risk. When you get on a motorcycle you just accept a higher level of risk but, and this site is a good place for this, you have to arm yourself with all the tools and knowledge you can to minimize the risk that exists as much as is in your power. You aptly point out that motorcycles are DANGEROUS but that a lot of things in life, including cars, can be dangerous as well, and, if you saw the false sense of security under which motorists on Houston freeways are driving their cars you might come to the conclusion that cars can be even more dangerous than bikes. At least on a bike, unless you’re an idiot, you’ll think twice or five times about riding to close to the bumper of that car in front of you.

Hey man, you do what you can do,. Put the information out there for people and hope they pay attention. Ultimately, most of what happens on a bike is between our ears and with this site you’re trying to put stuff in there that will help folks. Nothing wrong with that.

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

Dunno where you live but a first trip onto Houston freeways on a motorcycle engenders what I imagine would be the terror + exhilaration of skydiving for the first time. My first time I remember seeing the exit, saying what the hell, twisting the throttle and reminding myself to hold on. There’s noting like hitting one of those long, sweeping, curving exits at 70mph when you’re going from one freeway to another

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

Basically, as far as I’ve been told as long as the helmet is both DOT and Snell approved you should be fine. From what I’ve read Snell has stricter standards. I bought my helmet on sale from the Motorcycle Superstore site for $39.95 and it is both DOT and Snell approved. Someone else may have other more real-worldly advice to give, but, at the very least make sure the helmet has both approvals and is comfortable.

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

Very cool that you’re reading and are aware of your abilities. I’ve just run into several people who have little or no riding skills considering bikes that are way above their riding abilities and while I love speed, love hard cornering, and love the wind in my face I also love not being in pain, so, I just try to suggest that people err on the side of caution. You sound like you have done your research and know yourself pretty well. So, with all that, good luck out there on the road!

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

Welcome and hello Frank from Texas, I am Bernard from Texas…born in Galveston to be exact. And, yes Ben, since President Gas is in office and most of the oil companies have headquarters here, we generally have lower prices than the rest of the country….

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

I bought a Suzuki S40 for my first bike and am not sorry one bit that I did. It’s a 650 but a single cylinder 650 with a fairly forgiving powerband so while you *might* still get yourself into trouble, it isn’t quite a easy to do as on some other v-twin 650’s or 600cc sport bikes. The weight, seat height, and wheelbase are almost exactly like a 250, but it’s got enough power to maintain top end speeds better than a smaller bike. Do a lot of reading. The more you get stuck into your brain before you ever put your feet up on the pegs the better.

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

There’s tons of good information our there if you look for it. Here’s a few things to check out if you’re interested.

1) This site has a lot of good articles. This article especially will give you a good historical perspective in a short time about how far modern bikes have come from their humble beginnings.

2) Donald Burger, a Houston attorney, created a blog which chronicles the first 18 months of his motorcycle riding experiences. He rode every day for 18 months and blogged about every single ride. There’s really good observations about mistakes, techniques, and how to really think out there on the road. You can read about it here.

3) As they say, reading is fundamental. There are lots of good books and dvd’s available. My personal favorite is “Proficient Motorcycling” by David L. Hough. I highly recommend it.

Other than that, you seem like your approaching this the right way. Good luck out there on the road!

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

Just yesterday I was reminded of this fact as I’ve been a little lax about practicing the hard stops. I was pulling out of a parking lot onto a freeway feeder road and looked up to realize that a line of cars in front of me had come to a dead stop. I grabbed the front brake and stomped on the back brake a little to heavily and the back tire lost traction. I skidded about 6 or 7 feet but thank god I had enough room that I stopped with about four feet to spare.

I had been feeling pretty cavalier lately thinking “hey, I’ve got this stuff down”. I’m just glad that the experience that brought be back to humbling reality didn’t result in injury or accident. Back to the parking lot for regular practice thank you very much.

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

Wilkommen, as the germans are wont to say…good luck getting out on the road.

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

I bought my current bike on the Thursday before the weekend I was to take the MSF course. Man, I know what you mean about the temptation. I started the bike in the driveway just to hear and feel it, and “rode” to the end of the driveway, duckwalked it back, rode to the end of the driveway…. Anyway, you’ll feel much better riding it after you take the course. They teach you so much in such a short time!

Anyway, I like the classic looking bikes more but that blue “shore is purty”. Good luck and good times out there on the road

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

I think EVERYone who is looking to buy their first bike should read this article. Sport bikes in general, from what I’ve read and from some videos I’ve watched, are more temperamental than a standard or cruiser bike. Therefore, I feel it’s even more imperative that you stick to a smaller, lighter bike if you’re intent on getting a sport bike for your first motorcycle. I’ve only been riding steadily (I rode friends’ dirt bikes here and there growing up) for a little over two months now but have realized in that short time that you shouldn’t kid yourself…mistakes are going to happen. Those mistakes tend to be a lot easier to get through without gravel in your ass on a smaller, lighter, less powerful bike.

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

[uncle_bernie]

One thing I think you have to be really be aware of, and this is from my *extensive* two months of *real* riding experience… (i.e. Houston freeways with lots of cars and occasional road debris and people who aren’t looking and unexpected ends to curving freeway exits), is the fact that with the increased power and speed of the FZ6 you are looking at is the increased chance that you’ll get yourself into trouble on the road. Not to mention that *if* you do get into trouble it’s quite likely that it will be at a higher rate of speed and acceleration which means a decrease in your chance to not sustain serious injury. Not to be a downer, but that is a reality as others can attest to on this site much better than I can.

Buy a bike that you’re into and will be a little forgiving at first because you will make mistakes. Hopefully, if you’re reasonably careful and you’re on a bike that isn’t above your riding ability you’ll be able to learn from those mistakes while still rolling in the saddle and not skidding along the ground.

Also, I don’t think anyone who plans to ride regularly should skip the MSF course. I have already had to use techniques for quick stopping, swerving around freeway debris, and outrunning loose dogs three different times already (actually, the outrunning of the loose dogs, since I knew what to do, was pretty damn funny because it worked EXACTLY as it was supposed to!)

Anyway, good luck with your future riding endeavors and, as a guy here in Houston named Donald Burger (do a search for “Donald Burger Honda Rebel”, his blog is pretty informative) says, “Don’t Forget To Think!”

~He who laughs last didn’t get the joke…

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