1000cc Sport Bike as a first motorcycle?

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NorthernPete
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#21 Unread post by NorthernPete »

camthepyro wrote:I wonder how many new riders you've killed handing out advice like this. It's "procreating" ridiculous. A 1000cc+ sport bike is unneccesary on the streets PERIOD.

Your little example with the Honda is nice in theory, but in reality, it's useless. First of all, having that much more power on hand isn't going to make that big of a difference in that situation, because either way, it's your reaction time (or lack there-of) that is key. If you have a honda going at 85mph coming up behind you, and you see it coming when it is 100ft away, that gives you roughly 1.25 seconds to react before it hits you (assuming you are stoped, sitting at a red light or something). Now, it will take you at least a half a second to: figure out you have to move, send the signal to your muscle, and actually move your wrist. That leaves you about 3/4 of a second to move. Now, pretty much all bikes, are going to go roughly the same distance in 3/4, it's after the bike is actually moving that the differences in acceleration become apparent.

So, in your example, the power of 1000cc bike over a >500cc bike isn't going to help you enough to be worth the risk the rest of the time. And even if it was, situations like that are much, much more rare then situations where an excess of power are hamful.

There is a reason everyone recommends smaller bikes, and most of the time it has nothing to do with maturity, responsibility, or control. It has to do with going over a bump, panicking or whatever, and accidently twitching the throttle. Which on a "small" bike won't make a big difference, but the difference can be fatal on a "big" bike.

If I had been on and R1 or similar bike when I had my accident last week, I would probably be in the hospital. Not because of my irresponsibility, or lack of control, but because I had been accelerating at the time, and I would have been going like 50mph, instead of just 30mph when I started braking.

Stop giving out bad advice to new riders, because what you're telling them is greatly increasing their chances of DIEING. Yeah, if he gets that bike, he'll probably be fine, but there is no reason to increase his chance of DIEING that much. No, he will not get bored of a >1000cc bike in a couple of weeks. That's just stupid, if you get bored of a "small" bike that quickly, then you're probably only using 1st gear. If that reasoning was valid, why would anyone be driving sports cars? A 600cc sport bike, is faster then that vast majority of cars, and has better acceleration then all of them, so why don't all sport car drivers get bored of their sports cars within a couple weeks?
+1
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#22 Unread post by kabob983 »

camthepyro wrote:I wonder how many new riders you've killed handing out advice like this. It's "procreating" ridiculous. A 1000cc+ sport bike is unneccesary on the streets PERIOD.

Your little example with the Honda is nice in theory, but in reality, it's useless. First of all, having that much more power on hand isn't going to make that big of a difference in that situation, because either way, it's your reaction time (or lack there-of) that is key. If you have a honda going at 85mph coming up behind you, and you see it coming when it is 100ft away, that gives you roughly 1.25 seconds to react before it hits you (assuming you are stoped, sitting at a red light or something). Now, it will take you at least a half a second to: figure out you have to move, send the signal to your muscle, and actually move your wrist. That leaves you about 3/4 of a second to move. Now, pretty much all bikes, are going to go roughly the same distance in 3/4, it's after the bike is actually moving that the differences in acceleration become apparent.

So, in your example, the power of 1000cc bike over a >500cc bike isn't going to help you enough to be worth the risk the rest of the time. And even if it was, situations like that are much, much more rare then situations where an excess of power are hamful.

There is a reason everyone recommends smaller bikes, and most of the time it has nothing to do with maturity, responsibility, or control. It has to do with going over a bump, panicking or whatever, and accidently twitching the throttle. Which on a "small" bike won't make a big difference, but the difference can be fatal on a "big" bike.

If I had been on and R1 or similar bike when I had my accident last week, I would probably be in the hospital. Not because of my irresponsibility, or lack of control, but because I had been accelerating at the time, and I would have been going like 50mph, instead of just 30mph when I started braking.

Stop giving out bad advice to new riders, because what you're telling them is greatly increasing their chances of DIEING. Yeah, if he gets that bike, he'll probably be fine, but there is no reason to increase his chance of DIEING that much. No, he will not get bored of a >1000cc bike in a couple of weeks. That's just stupid, if you get bored of a "small" bike that quickly, then you're probably only using 1st gear. If that reasoning was valid, why would anyone be driving sports cars? A 600cc sport bike, is faster then that vast majority of cars, and has better acceleration then all of them, so why don't all sport car drivers get bored of their sports cars within a couple weeks?
+1

First off, your rationale is flawed. A 1000cc bike is pretty much the same size as any 500cc bike. A goldwing on the other hand is a beast compared to any smaller bike. So size-wise a 1000cc bike isn't going to benefit you at all. That civic is going to hit an object roughly the same weight, it doesn't matter how much power is between your legs.

Not only that but it's alot easier to make a terrible mistake with a throttle like that. What if you panic seeing that honda and open it up all the way? I know there are alot of people out there who probably would. I even know a guy who did in a similar situation. So, now you're accidentally moving much faster than you were prepared for and you're likely to hit something doing 50 or 60 as opposed to 20 or 30.

You can talk about "being responsable" and "learning slowly" all you want, but when a new rider on a bike bike is put in a freak out situation he is simply MUCH more likely to kill himeslf on a big bike as opposed to a small bike.
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#23 Unread post by Bachstrad37 »

King Frog says:
Sport bikes in my opinion are much safer then Cruiser BECAUSE of the HP and ability to get out of harms way.
Your opinion is flawed due to the fact that you didn't add the variable of control. All the power in the world is useless if you're not skilled enough to wield it. Too much and it's likely to work AGAINST you than help you.

King Frog also says:
NOTHING is worse the wasting money on a bike you want to replace after a few weeks.
Now that statement is just stupid. I'd consider his life a bit more valuable than a bike. Given that I don't know him, I'm pretty sure his mother and his family would agree with me.

As of late, reading your various posts make me ill. You're extremely callous in your statements. Why is that?
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#24 Unread post by kabob983 »

He's very squidish...I mean skiddish.
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#25 Unread post by DivideOverflow »

A 1000cc sport bike gets horrible gas mileage by the way... not to mention it will do 100+mph in second gear...

I get better gas mileage in my car than my buddy does on his R1. He averages 30mpg around town (ouch!).

Oh, and +1 on what the other guys said. A liter sportsbike is way too much for a 19 year old. Plus, insurance will rape you.
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#26 Unread post by m1a1dvr »

I just have to say the whole hitting a bump is true. When I was home on leave my buddy offered me to take his Ducati 750SS for a ride. And I hit a bump and rolled of the throttle a bit to much. If I would not have caught it as quick as I did there is a good chance I would have been in the trees. I am a new rider by far and I know that even a 600 is too much. So I dont know how anybody could learn on something that has more horepwoer than my truck.

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#27 Unread post by KarateChick »

Whoops - what the heck am I doing? Sorry bout the double-post
Last edited by KarateChick on Thu May 11, 2006 9:54 am, edited 2 times in total.

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#28 Unread post by KarateChick »

Not to get off topic i hope but would someone explain "Troll..."?

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#29 Unread post by maxman05 »

Sorry guys, I didnt sign on to the forum for a while so I wasnt able to respond. Wow, I had no idea how many replies I would get about my question. Well I can assure you I'm not a "troll", I generally wanted to have my question answered and I appreciate all your opinions. I did my reading and I am looking at things in the 500-600cc range now. Possibly a Ninja ZX6RR or a YZF R6. Any opinions on those bikes?
Thanks for all the help.

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#30 Unread post by camthepyro »

Those two bikes are going to get the same responses the R1, they're all way too fast for a beginner. Trust me, I just started riding last week (and I have already had one accident), you don't need anything more than 500cc while you're learning. You can get a bike under 500cc, and then sell in it 6 months or whatever, for the same price you bought it, and then get that Ninja you want. You will be surprised how fast a "small" bike will go. I can almost guarantee that my little '82 Nighthawk is faster than any car you have been in, and it's considered a "small" bike.

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