Thanks for info about the GS500. I diddn't know that it was underpowered underneath it's shell. i think i may look into the kawasaki 500 enstead.
You are a Beginner and want a 600cc+ sportbike? READ THIS!
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Live2Shift
- Rookie
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2006 7:22 am
- Sex: Male
- Location: North Carolina
haha no, it's not all about the looks. it's the experience of being on the road that appeals to me more. but in all honesty, and don't kid yourself either....it's nice to have a good looking bike that you can look at and go..."yep, that's mine." lol
Thanks for info about the GS500. I diddn't know that it was underpowered underneath it's shell. i think i may look into the kawasaki 500 enstead.
Thanks for info about the GS500. I diddn't know that it was underpowered underneath it's shell. i think i may look into the kawasaki 500 enstead.
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Random Seed
- Regular
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:59 pm
But those people will not listen to anything that makes sense, they'll just continue to spew whatever BS they heard once. Pointless, so you can't worry about them, they'll never change.touge_dorifuto wrote:You should remind them that without Honda and the CB750 we'd most likely still be in the stone age of crappy v-twin bikes that leak.
Random Seed
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xtreme24seven
- Tricycle Squid
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:29 am
I have to say that when i read this article i was relieved to see that i have a reason to be having a hard time learning to ride.
For my very first bike i did get a ninja zx6r about a month ago. I have gotten pretty much all the basics down (turning in various situations, not stalling the bike lol..etc) I am done riding for the year as far as i can tell. It has been raining for a week and a half and i dont trust myself riding in the rain so im about to get the bike ready for hibernation in a heated garage. I fully realize i shouldn't have started on a 600cc class bike but that choice is far past me now. Thanks for posting this article! It helped me realize why i was having so much trouble. I am still a very inexperienced rider but i hope in the spring to take an MSF course or such.
For my very first bike i did get a ninja zx6r about a month ago. I have gotten pretty much all the basics down (turning in various situations, not stalling the bike lol..etc) I am done riding for the year as far as i can tell. It has been raining for a week and a half and i dont trust myself riding in the rain so im about to get the bike ready for hibernation in a heated garage. I fully realize i shouldn't have started on a 600cc class bike but that choice is far past me now. Thanks for posting this article! It helped me realize why i was having so much trouble. I am still a very inexperienced rider but i hope in the spring to take an MSF course or such.
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BlueBomber
- Elite
- Posts: 213
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:56 pm
- Sex: Male
- Location: Canandaigua, New York
Backing Up The Article...
Reading the replies there are a few misconceptions about the article that seem to have arisen.
This article talks about the problem with 600cc and up, SPORTBIKES.
The person that dumped their 600cc Honda ZVX or whatever they're calling their small cruiser these days...that had *nothing* to do with the bike's power, and everything with your inexperience in looking through a turn. Take the MSF Beginner RiderCourse. Listen to them. Tell them about your accident. They'll say the same thing.
Then go buy another 600cc honda cruiser if you like it. The problem was your cornering ability, not the bike's power.
Other's have mentioned this but the article SAID NOTHING ABOUT A 600cc BIKE BEING GOOD! HOLY CRAP PEOPLE!
Even if you *are* tall and *are* fat (I can say the word far, because I'm fat thankyouverymuch) you can still learn a heck of a lot on a smaller bike. Just make sure you sit on lots of bikes and try their pegs and riding positions. And maybe go to the gym.
Remember, the article said nothing about sport bikes being BAD. They're just powerful, and they're tricky. Learn on a smaller sport bike, or another type of bike, or both. Once you know how to handle everything perfectly (or, you know, really well) then think about trading up.
I've got more to say, but not on the topic of replying to the errant straglers.
\/\/
This article talks about the problem with 600cc and up, SPORTBIKES.
The person that dumped their 600cc Honda ZVX or whatever they're calling their small cruiser these days...that had *nothing* to do with the bike's power, and everything with your inexperience in looking through a turn. Take the MSF Beginner RiderCourse. Listen to them. Tell them about your accident. They'll say the same thing.
Then go buy another 600cc honda cruiser if you like it. The problem was your cornering ability, not the bike's power.
Other's have mentioned this but the article SAID NOTHING ABOUT A 600cc BIKE BEING GOOD! HOLY CRAP PEOPLE!
Even if you *are* tall and *are* fat (I can say the word far, because I'm fat thankyouverymuch) you can still learn a heck of a lot on a smaller bike. Just make sure you sit on lots of bikes and try their pegs and riding positions. And maybe go to the gym.
Remember, the article said nothing about sport bikes being BAD. They're just powerful, and they're tricky. Learn on a smaller sport bike, or another type of bike, or both. Once you know how to handle everything perfectly (or, you know, really well) then think about trading up.
I've got more to say, but not on the topic of replying to the errant straglers.
\/\/
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BlueBomber
- Elite
- Posts: 213
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:56 pm
- Sex: Male
- Location: Canandaigua, New York
My start...
This is how I started out...(am starting out...)
I first did a lot of reading. I bought books, I ready websites, I emailed off a bunch of questions. I talked to sales reps, I talked to shop owners, I talked to bike owners, I talked to shop mechanics.
I did very little forum reading, but that's because I hadn't found any really good forums until I found this place last night. (though I did read TMW's beginner's guide)
I visited every motorcycle shop within a hundred miles (excluding a few harley shops, I've seen everything Harley has to offer after the first two, and I don't have that kind of money...and I don't really care about the Harley name, sorry) I sat on a ton of bikes. I'd write down the names of every bike that I liked, along with the prices I saw in the stores, and which store I saw that particular bike in. I picked up the literature from the shops.
I went online and found each bike's manufacturer's site and made note of the stats for each bike as well as options.
I made a list of features I would like, and bikes that had those features, what kind of bike I could get those features in, and what kind of price I would be paying.
When I narrowed it all down I was left with pretty much one choice.
Suzuki Boulevard M50. The new line of Marauder. An 805cc cruiser that is fuel injected, liquid cooled, shaft driven on a set of tubeless tires and a sense of style that is all it's own. The best of the Cruiser feel, with the best of the Sport Bike attitude, in one really nice package. Hell it's the sister of the c50 one of the two bikes that Motorcycle Cruiser Magazine said "may be the world's best cruier, ever" and one of their complaints was no tubeless tires...which my bike has.
So why such a "big bike"? Well for one, the displacement is large, but the horsepower is nothing compared to a 600cc sport bike. So that's a large part to consider.
Also consider that I am very much the exception in terms of size and weight on a motorcycle. Remember how the article said "unless you're 6'3" and over 300 pounds"?
Guess what? I'm 6'3" and 317 (down from 325, so yeah I am hitting the gym, and I know I'm fat, I'm working on it!) I need a bike with enough grunt to haul my tall fat butt around.
I took the MSF RiderCourse. Their one larger bike (never got to find out what it was) happened to be broken down over the course of the 4 days I took my class. That's right. I was on a 250 Sucuki Marauder (GS250). Yes, I feel bad for that bike too.
But it did hold up to me. It did push me around. I did learn a TON from that bike. If I saw one for sale for 500$ in decent condition I might but the thing just for putzing around on. But it could never sustain a highway speed with me perched on top. To be honest a 600cc cruiser would have been really pushing it.
So I found a bike that's big enough to cart me around (The bike thinks I'm carrying a passenger and maybe some saddle bags but I'm under the load limit). But one that's not too powerful, it's too heavy, and isnt' too responsive.
My bike *is* powerful. But I respect that. I practice my swerving and emergency braking. I remind myself to look around a lot. I try to be as smooth as I possibly can be. I know the PROBLEMS with starting with a larger bike and I try to compensate for them.
Just as a reminder the problems with a larger bike are not all due to power (speeding up or slowing down) they are due to things like confidence. It's easy to keep a bike going straight. It's a good feeling, and it gives you confidence because you can hold this big beast of a bike in a straight line. Too bad the bike's doing that without you isn't it?
Weight. Bigger bikes weigh more. That makes a bike harder to balance, harder to push around your driveway/garage/parking lot. Harder to deal with in emergency situations because there's simply more bike there to move.
smoothness. It's easy to not be smooth when you can simply roll on the throttle and eventually catch up your road speed and engine speed. It's easy to think you're smooth when you can just toss on more power and even thing out...eventually. But as I OBVIOUSLY learned on my tiny little GS250 in my MSF class...smoothness isn't hard to learn, but makes all the difference. Being smooth is often the difference between and nice swerve/downshift/emergency brake and hitting a car/truck/person/animal. Smoothness also stops you from making dumb mistakes (like I did, locking up the rear wheel with a too quick downshift) or going into panic mode.
The best first bike is the one you like and can learn on. It certainly doesn't have to be your dream bike, but if you HATE it, you won't ride it. If you don't FIT on it, you won't enjoy riding it. If you're too FAT for it, then it's going to be a pitiful experience that can partially overcome by smoothness, which really is a great lesson for you. If you're a big guy with access to a tiny bike...you might want to mess around with it just trying to get smooth. It'll help a lot later down the road. But I certainly wouldn't buy it.
\/\/
I first did a lot of reading. I bought books, I ready websites, I emailed off a bunch of questions. I talked to sales reps, I talked to shop owners, I talked to bike owners, I talked to shop mechanics.
I did very little forum reading, but that's because I hadn't found any really good forums until I found this place last night. (though I did read TMW's beginner's guide)
I visited every motorcycle shop within a hundred miles (excluding a few harley shops, I've seen everything Harley has to offer after the first two, and I don't have that kind of money...and I don't really care about the Harley name, sorry) I sat on a ton of bikes. I'd write down the names of every bike that I liked, along with the prices I saw in the stores, and which store I saw that particular bike in. I picked up the literature from the shops.
I went online and found each bike's manufacturer's site and made note of the stats for each bike as well as options.
I made a list of features I would like, and bikes that had those features, what kind of bike I could get those features in, and what kind of price I would be paying.
When I narrowed it all down I was left with pretty much one choice.
Suzuki Boulevard M50. The new line of Marauder. An 805cc cruiser that is fuel injected, liquid cooled, shaft driven on a set of tubeless tires and a sense of style that is all it's own. The best of the Cruiser feel, with the best of the Sport Bike attitude, in one really nice package. Hell it's the sister of the c50 one of the two bikes that Motorcycle Cruiser Magazine said "may be the world's best cruier, ever" and one of their complaints was no tubeless tires...which my bike has.
So why such a "big bike"? Well for one, the displacement is large, but the horsepower is nothing compared to a 600cc sport bike. So that's a large part to consider.
Also consider that I am very much the exception in terms of size and weight on a motorcycle. Remember how the article said "unless you're 6'3" and over 300 pounds"?
Guess what? I'm 6'3" and 317 (down from 325, so yeah I am hitting the gym, and I know I'm fat, I'm working on it!) I need a bike with enough grunt to haul my tall fat butt around.
I took the MSF RiderCourse. Their one larger bike (never got to find out what it was) happened to be broken down over the course of the 4 days I took my class. That's right. I was on a 250 Sucuki Marauder (GS250). Yes, I feel bad for that bike too.
But it did hold up to me. It did push me around. I did learn a TON from that bike. If I saw one for sale for 500$ in decent condition I might but the thing just for putzing around on. But it could never sustain a highway speed with me perched on top. To be honest a 600cc cruiser would have been really pushing it.
So I found a bike that's big enough to cart me around (The bike thinks I'm carrying a passenger and maybe some saddle bags but I'm under the load limit). But one that's not too powerful, it's too heavy, and isnt' too responsive.
My bike *is* powerful. But I respect that. I practice my swerving and emergency braking. I remind myself to look around a lot. I try to be as smooth as I possibly can be. I know the PROBLEMS with starting with a larger bike and I try to compensate for them.
Just as a reminder the problems with a larger bike are not all due to power (speeding up or slowing down) they are due to things like confidence. It's easy to keep a bike going straight. It's a good feeling, and it gives you confidence because you can hold this big beast of a bike in a straight line. Too bad the bike's doing that without you isn't it?
Weight. Bigger bikes weigh more. That makes a bike harder to balance, harder to push around your driveway/garage/parking lot. Harder to deal with in emergency situations because there's simply more bike there to move.
smoothness. It's easy to not be smooth when you can simply roll on the throttle and eventually catch up your road speed and engine speed. It's easy to think you're smooth when you can just toss on more power and even thing out...eventually. But as I OBVIOUSLY learned on my tiny little GS250 in my MSF class...smoothness isn't hard to learn, but makes all the difference. Being smooth is often the difference between and nice swerve/downshift/emergency brake and hitting a car/truck/person/animal. Smoothness also stops you from making dumb mistakes (like I did, locking up the rear wheel with a too quick downshift) or going into panic mode.
The best first bike is the one you like and can learn on. It certainly doesn't have to be your dream bike, but if you HATE it, you won't ride it. If you don't FIT on it, you won't enjoy riding it. If you're too FAT for it, then it's going to be a pitiful experience that can partially overcome by smoothness, which really is a great lesson for you. If you're a big guy with access to a tiny bike...you might want to mess around with it just trying to get smooth. It'll help a lot later down the road. But I certainly wouldn't buy it.
\/\/
I've seen this happen with newbies who under-estimate their bike's capabilities.
http://www.fugly.com/videos/112/BoxHillCrash.html
http://www.fugly.com/videos/112/BoxHillCrash.html
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you.