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oldnslo wrote:Exactly what dirt-riding skills are transferable to the street? Some are, to be sure, and they definitely count, but what are they, and how significant are they in the grand scheme of street survival? Just wondering what people with only dirt experience think.

Actually I'm quite surprised that alot of people think that there is no relevance. I started on the dirt for many years and the transition to the street was quite easy. It's all about balancing the bike and familiarity with the controls, two things that require alot of focus from a completely new rider when they are trying to navigate through traffic. Alot of road-racers train on dirt bikes as well for what it's worth.....
As for the R-6 however, I agree with the rest that say it's a bad choice for a first street bike. Sure, you can be extremely careful and not hurt yourself but odds are you won't Start with something a little more reasonable and build your skills, then have fun showing the guys with the fast bikes how to ride.....

I pretty much knew the answer before asking the well-worn question, Bruce. What a lot of proficient dirt riders don't grasp are the techniques of survival on the street. Knowing the mechanics of the bike don't mean much if you haven't learned to pay attention to and properly interpret what's going on around you, for example.

oldnslo wrote:I pretty much knew the answer before asking the well-worn question, Bruce. What a lot of proficient dirt riders don't grasp are the techniques of survival on the street. Knowing the mechanics of the bike don't mean much if you haven't learned to pay attention to and properly interpret what's going on around you, for example.

True John, it is only beneficial if they continue the learning curve when they make the transition. I know I definately never did it smoothly, but I was lucky......story of my life

oldnslo wrote:I pretty much knew the answer before asking the well-worn question, Bruce. What a lot of proficient dirt riders don't grasp are the techniques of survival on the street. Knowing the mechanics of the bike don't mean much if you haven't learned to pay attention to and properly interpret what's going on around you, for example.

Well, even though you say you know the answer, lets just wear on it some more...shall we?...

"A. you understand about traction, pushing your front tire, and straightening out when your rear end tries to pass you.
B. you diligently read the surface in front of you, making decisions moment by moment.
C. you know what it's like to crash a bike, and still walk away.
D. you know about weight shift for slow-speed balancing and riding."

(Posted by a gentleman who converted from dirt to street...been riding for 24 years on the street now and was proud to say all his accidents occurred on the dirt...I only hope I will be able to say the same after 24 years! )

...boy, do I know what it's like to crash a bike (...happened on a few occasions) ...oh, and still walk away!!! Believe it or not, I've also crashed a dirtbike on pavement turning through some scattered gravel at probably 30mph...that sucked, honestly! Still have the fading scars (didn't have gear yet), but I did get back on the bike and drive it home...VERY, VERY ALERT!

Thanks for the advice. The whole "not putting my foot down" is probably going to take some getting used to, but I'm hoping (like what Toyuzu said) that one time will be enough! I would rather not be hurt or killed either, so I'm doing my homework. I finally found out that I ship out for the Airforce Aug. 9, so I'm hoping to get the bike before I ship out (which is a logical decision knowing that I will be in Texas and Southern California for my tech. training...then once completed, because I will be a skill level 3 in my speciality, I will more than likely be in New Mexico), but I'll try my best to hold off a little longer if things don't work out as planned. Oh, I was only kidding when I suggested I was any exception (hence, the smiley inserted) and truly, I'm quite fond of soccer moms! ...as are they me!

oldnslo wrote:Exactly what dirt-riding skills are transferable to the street? Some are, to be sure, and they definitely count, but what are they, and how significant are they in the grand scheme of street survival? Just wondering what people with only dirt experience think.

Well, I started on the dirt, and all I can say is that when I learned to ride street, it was a bit easier because I already knoew how to ride, and how to operate the bike and how bikes handle so all I had to learn was the rules of the road and how to avoid minivans.

Maverick33 wrote: I've been riding on dirt since I was about 11 years of age (so I've got much more experience than they had when they started) and I am now 19. I really like the R6 and...

i've owned an R6, and have a variety of riding experience, including motocrossers, and other dirt bikes, etc... i can definitely give you a few things to think about... when i have a chance i'll zap a note here a little later...

it would be good to know what extent of dirt riding exprience you have. (playbike, campground riding, or fun/competitive riding with buddies, etc... riding dunes, hills, mountains, homemade tracks, etc.)... i guess it's safe to assume you havent raced cross-country/hare-scrambles, desert, motocross, etc.. ??? what dirt bikes have you owned?? what sort of terrain are you riding on? have you been wearing full on motocross gear and catching bigtime air, boiucning off trees, over logs, through rivers, high-speed, etc...

You may be fine on an R6, as i certainly wouldn't consider an R6 to be your "first/beginner" bike sort of thing...

more later..

//monkey

well... here's more tidbits of info for "dirt to street" ideas:

a) in the dirt it's easier to focus solely on riding, whereas on the street there's loads of unknowns, and things to slow ya down... thus it's never as safe to ride as intensely on the street. In the dirt there is often lots of room for error.. you can make room for yourself more easily, compared with the street... dirt is a lot more pure fun! street is a different world for reasons of traffic mainly, but still has it's charms; i actually think street riding is my favourite because you can do it all the time, everyday; commuting by bike is WAYYY better than by car

b) the RULES in the dirt are much more basic/natural/obvious/real; the rules on the street are in many respects designed for drivers to accomodate the lowest common denominator (i.e. speed limits); more rules & regulations to pay attention too... (yawn)... or more rules to break as you deem um, necessary... necessary for entertainment value only, i s'ppose... as you relax get older, and kick back a little, like i have you may want to stop to smell the roses rather than the burnt rubber (yeah, tough call which is better!! -- actually i love the smell of hot tarmac, engines, oil, gas and rubber all mixed together - some fuels, especially 2-stroke mixes are freakin wonderful!). However, i have come to appreciate even more that i really don't mind doing pretty normal things on the street.. (i think i had to decide to just relax a lot on the street or i would've been in court fighting speeding tickets all the time, or worse) -- it's sort of like adapting an "almost riding a cruiser" mentality (which really doesnt fit well with owning an R6 for the street though). i've always loved street riding, yet in later years as my riding progressed (especially after doing more dirt riding) it was tougher to slow down. i almost always speed whatever i am driving, except later on i started to ignore the more important times to slow down (common police radar traps), and really the only places i rode slow were playground and school zones and when little kids were milling around. It takes work to back the brain down to street cruising.

c) even casual offroad riding is more like closed-course riding... maybe you'd have more fun doing some trackdays on the R6 --- money well spent (or lost if you crash)... but a good investment in experience and fun. it helps if you get a chance to wind the bike out for a bunch of laps, learn the bike a little and stretch your limits.

d) higher speeds on a streetbike and WAYYYY more traction make the riding experience different... i.e. by the time you're working hard enough to really slide a street bike around the cost of mistakes is much greater on the street. one thing i love about dirt bikes is how nicely they crash with minimal damage. sportbikes dont do that so well especially if it is a speed related incident (however buy a set of frame-sliders, they may save you some $$ in a crash). mailboxes, curbs, cars and things you can't bounce off as nicely are very plentiful on the street... you can get away with murder in a sports car, they are so forgiving, but sportbikes are now... they require attention and skill to really ride well.

one trick if youre a decent rider, i liked to ride on well-used tires, that way i had a lot more fun even on bikes with very little horsepower. makes it more like riding in the dirt. or get some more torque, the early Fireblade, CBR900RR is a pretty mellow big bore bike (almost too tame, wheras the R6 is more like a 2-stroke, but the revs really make you want to keep revving it out and you can get in tons of trouble just in the first two gears)... i haven't ridden any of the latest bigbore bikes, but i figure they are all lighter, with better chassis than the stuff i have ridden. i've ridden the Hayabusa and it's just sort of silly (it has huge pull anywhere above 4500rpm), but haven't ridden any of the current "real" 1000cc inline four sportbikes.

e) single vehicle accidents are common on the street, because when you get away from traffic, you're more inclined to push it, (whenever i am riding around others i rarely ride above 70% even if i know there habits well. the safety margin is important), and if you dont push it regularly you will make a mistake.. we all do eventually... i had only minor incidents on the street early on, and haven't crashed on the street since my first couple years riding... i saved the real fun for when i was in safer environments (i.e. off road -- some really ding dong crashes at mx tracks...)

f) all the fun you have off-road is quite often unattainable most of the time on the street therefore...

g) i find most of the current "pure" sportbikes to be wasted on the street. i'd opt for something else, and almost always have: more comfort, more usuability. of course some of the sport bikes still look much cooler, but all the good stuff is a waste on the street. I'd opt for something more all-around useful; most 1990 or newer sportbikes are worth a look; as for more current stuff the Yam FZ6, earlier model YZF600R, CBR600, etc. also big singles and twins are nice (TL1000S/SV1000 maybe if you want big torque), the Suzuki Vstrom 650 and 1000 (although they are kindof ugly)... on the street any decent rider will have no problem keeping up with his buddies on 10 or 15 year newer equipment and twice the horsepower, because it's easier to use the earlier bike to their potential... it's not like a 1990 GSXR750 wont do 150MPH and 11 second quarter miles. they handle very well. they work just fine; a friend has one of the best 1990-era bikes, the ZX7RR, which is still a great club racer bike. it's been refined over the years, and is still very competitive. the rider makes the most difference.

anyway.. hope that gets you thinking... it's hard to tear someone away from a bike they love, and the looks of the R6 are wicked... you'll probably end up buying one but with more street riding experience later on you may appreciate other bikes for their less well advertised qualities.... sort of like having a girlfriend who enjoys the same movies you might find yourself attached to the R6, and it's like watching Bruce Lee movies... after he's kicked the **** out of all the bad guys, even Bruce Lee and Co. martial arts movies can get old after awhile but some people still want to watch them like Star Wars sequels (barf). Having one cool sport bike is always nice... you may just want to get a sport-touring bike later down the road, but you can enjoy the "high" from riding an R6 for awhile... everyone likes there ego tickled... that's what the manufacturers want to give you... you can ride a bike that is in reality very similar to what Jamie Hacking and Pascal Picotte are kicking butt on at the race track. i myself think it's always best to move up the ladder from the bottom (maybe an SV650 would be a perfect street ride for you)... as you develop on the street you can appreciate the newer better, faster bikes... that's just another 2-cent tip.

ok, so that's it, except in reality the bike you ride doesn't really matter, it's YOUR throttle hand at all times that does... faster... slower... more fun... less fun... warp 2... warp 4... so just keep the brain-to-throttle connection open as the R6 might have a strong hypnotic effect on that brain-to-throttle connection...

enjoy your R6

Good points about dirt riding....you do have a lot more freedom than on the street. But anyway, I would consider myself an experienced dirt rider....I tend to fly off 6 foot jumps and slide around turns at speeds probably faster than what I should, but I only ride like this because I know how. I don't question what I am doing (most of the time ) and that lack of doubt from experience is why I can ride the way I do. When I go out riding with friends, or friends of friends who have never ridden before, I may show off from time to time, but I don't promote doing these things right off the bat...and trust me they don't follow because they aren't idiots. They know that the stuff takes practice and I am there to reassure them of this fact because I have taken some nasty spills and I don't want to rush them into the same fate...I'd say I'm a good teacher. But back to my point...no matter what bike I get, my understanding of the fact that dirt riding and street riding require new skills and different fundamentals is going to dissuade my ego from taking over and prevent me from doing something royally stupid. I know the last thing I need is to pull some dumba** stunt only to get injured myself and dig myself a financial pit. I'll try and gradually build the skills and wits to ride the bike to it's potential. Plus, there are great schools provided by Team Arizona (and I'm sure many other schools around the US) for the beginner bikers to the racers. Those would definately be beneficial if I am going to be riding a crotch rocket that has such extreme capabilities. When I dive into "new" things, I enjoy learning as much as I can about them. And it sure can't hurt to take these kinds of courses...it's only going to make me a better rider and I believe that this, in turn, will provide me with an overall more enjoyabe riding experience. I can't wait to get a new bike, but I don't mind waiting to wreck it. Oh, been riding since about age 11 (8yrs.) on 230's, 250's, and 400's...anything from jumps to 60+ mph sprints on desert terrain, farms in Nebraska, and some decent tracks around the area I live in now... Thanks again for the input.

Kinda sounds like you have your mind made up anyway and are looking for someone to help you justify. If that's the case, go do it. Be careful and enjoy.

Just remember that if you drive our insurance rates up we will come looking for you!

Well then, it's sounds like you're set for the r6. You like to show off for friends and you ride faster in the dirt than you should, but that's only cause you are confident and know what you're doing. You should certainly have the ability to handle the r6 then. I say go for it.