[WeaponZero]

In a word, no. While there are people who have done it and turned out ok, the majority who go that route for a first bike don’t. Read the article on the site’s homepage sidebar that says “Why 600cc’s is too much.” Avoid 4 cylinder bikes in general, although the Yamaha FZ6R has pretty well made its presence known as an exception to that rule.

If you want a strong first bike you can expect to not ever outgrow you should consider looking at Suzuki SV650s. Mild enough for a beginner, fun enough to last you for as long as you’ll ride.

[WeaponZero]

The only things I’ve ever had to replace on my SV due to a crash were a mirror and a shift lever. Total for both would have been about $140 had i gone to the dealer, but ebay was my friend. By the way, good luck with your reg/rec swap

[WeaponZero]

There’s an old rule my dad taught me that applies to both riding and driving. No matter how good YOU are, you’re not good enough to compensate for how BAD everyone else around you is.

And I add, or how much of an asshole everyone else is. Those of you who read the story of my very first crash due to kids on the side of the road throwing rocks at me will know this.

[WeaponZero]

The Magna is a pretty big & bad bike for a beginner. Hope everything goes well for you. Be safe and be fun!

[WeaponZero]

Its a standard wrapped in bodywork to make it look like a sportbike, same with the EX500/Ninja 500R.

[WeaponZero]

Sorry but when I saw the thread title the first thing I thought was the Kiss song, which is an awesome song lol.

[WeaponZero]

Its very easy to experience that adrenaline rush you speak of while travelling at safe, legal speeds as a beginner, and with bikes that have a lot of low end torque such as my SV650, its easy to keep it from fading.

The Ninja 250R is a great bike if you live in the US, but if you live in Europe or Asia it has a lot of viable competitors from companies such as Honda and Yamaha. Unfortunately only the Ninja is here in the US for some reason which really is just too bad.

I started riding about a year ago (almost exactly one year and one month actually) on my 2000 SV650. I bought it off a man who owned 3 bikes, 2 of which were set up for strictly track bikes. He sold the SV650 to me (the only unmodified bike he owned, save for a GSX-R600 rear shock) for $3k. It was fairly high mileage for a 7 year old bike, with 13k miles on it, but that was because he commuted to work on it and lived about 45 minutes from work, but it was well maintained. It came with a brand new set of Michelin Pilot Power tires on it (top of the line sport tires), and a brand new Yuasa battery. It was a sweet deal.

[WeaponZero]

I’ve gone down in my SV650 twice. Once when a couple of rotten kids were throwing rocks at oncoming cars and got me and I lost control as a result, and another time was a 25mph highside when my rear brake locked up going around a very very very slight bend. I have had the “misfortune” of crash testing both of my jackets as a result.

[WeaponZero]

All of the points stated are valid and 100% true. But you don’t have to go in the complete opposite direction either if you don’t want to. This is why I own a Suzuki SV650. It’s comfortable, has a neutral/upright seating position with only a very slight forward lean to it. It takes off like a sportbike and handles like one. Basically it offers all of the benefits of a purebred sportbike without giving up any of the impracticalities that make it bad for around-town riding or distance riding. The perfect type of bike IMO.

[WeaponZero]

Hope everything goes well for your final month before winter

[WeaponZero]

My SV has a GSX-R600 rear shock, which is a direct bolt-on replacement for the stock shock but does require you to put spacers on the rear fender to keep the battery from touching it. It has stock front forks. My SV is a first gen and the year of rear shock used was a late ’90s (97-00) generation “SRAD” GSX-R600 shock. For the spacers all you have to do is remove the 2 forward most bolts holding the fender/battery compartment to the frame and put oversized nuts in betwen the fender and frame before putting the bolts back in. This relocated the entire battery compartment approximately 1/4″ back and 1/4″ down giving you the room you need to safely ride that way. Also, put some sort of foam padding on the shock reservoir where the battery touches it.

[WeaponZero]

Youre right about the suspension (SV650 is the same way) but any lower end beginner-oriented bike will have non-adjustable suspension so unless he wants to start out on a GSXR or CBR thats something he’s just gonna have to live with.

[WeaponZero]

The engine will carry your ass quickly regardless of how much you weigh. The important thing is whether or not the bikes SUSPENSION can handle your weight and whether youre too tall for the bike or not. Personally I’d say go with like a 500R or even a Ninja 650R at your size for a more comfortable ride, theyre still mild enough for beginners, because a 250R will need aftermarket modifications to the suspension and riding position to handle your size/weight.

[WeaponZero]

the Ninja 500 (called the Ninja EX500 up until its 1995 mild revamp) has always been a great bike. However there were some reliability woes experienced by early first generation models that weren’t solved until the 1995 redesign when they changed the name to Ninja 500R. It is still mainly the same bike with the same engine and everything tho.

From what I understand the reason it’s being discontinued now is because Kawi doesn’t see a reason to produce a bike in between the Ninja 250R and 650R. The 650R is still beginner friendly enough to totally eclipse the market segment the 500R was occupying.

[WeaponZero]

Dunlops in general are a mixed bag. Some of their tires are god awful, some kick ass. Personally I think that as long as you stick with either Qualifiers or Roadsmarts you’ll be happy with your Dunlops.

I just bought a set of new Pirelli Diablo Stradas for my SV650. Going to have them mounted probably next paycheck, I’ll update then.

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