Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Ian522 wrote:I wouldnt say that people here "preach against sport bikes" as much as they give friendly warnings to newbies about the power these bikes have.

It's not just the power, it's the non-linear onset of that power at higher RPM's, coupled with the bike's relative light weight. That high-RPM "pop" is one of those things that has to be experienced, it's kind of hard to explain. Hopefully a noob's first experience with it won't be their last.

Hi Matt,

I am so glad you found this forum helpful, and thank you to you for thanking us!

I like to recommend starting on a bike that is extremely controllable and predictible so that the rider can easily learn from his/her mistakes and not get themselves in trouble. I started on a Honda CB400T, which was perfect because no matter how hard I tried I couldn't seem to do anything wrong with it. Over the 4+ years that I owned that bike my focus was on developing my skills as a rider and staying upright. Had I had a crash in my first year or two of riding not only would I not be riding today (thus giving up a great hobby) but I also may not be here to talk about my experiences if it were bad enough.

I am sure you feel like you are handling your bike well, but if you don't have a good skill set when you are on those high powered bikes you may find yourself in a situation that you don't want to face just because you don't know how to react. Most of us on TMW recommend smaller bikes to start with so that the beginning rider doesn't get themselves into too much trouble off the bat but yet develops their skills according to their own learning curve (and not be forced to steepen their learning curve to meet the level of knowledge that a rider needs to handle a larger CC bike).

I totally agree with Flipper:

When people say this, it sounds to me as if they believe that throttle control, brake control and rider input are choices.
They are not.
They are skills. And skills can only be earned over a period of time.
There are no exceptions.

Andrea

MattC13 wrote:As i have posted i got a bike saturday and have already ridden about 150 miles, and thanks to the lessons and topics reviewed here i knew exactly what to expect. I have never ridden a street bike before but i do have knowledge of riding dirt bikes. I have done just fine on my Ninja ZX 7R.

Now im not trying to tell someone to go purchase a 600 sport bike just cause im doin all right with one. Im just wondering why everyone here preaches against sport bikes?

All well im getting off subject. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone here for the help and advice. enough said

Matt,

You're quite welcome for the knowledge and advice you've read and received here thus far! THANK YOU very much for posting and letting us know how much you appreciated that advice.

Many here, but not all, recommend the small starter bikes, some, like you, are/have started on non-starter bikes, but it's definately a small percentage. By starting small, a rider increases their skill level quicker, gains more confidence and can make their mistakes "safer". The vast majority of us have made mistakes on our bikes (our fault or by anothers) and we know what it's like. Since the ZX-7R is not a starter bike and you really don't want to make a mistake on that one (forsure!) you'll ride more carefully than you would on a starter bike to be safe. But by riding like that you can't grow your skill level as fast as if you started on that starter bike. That's why we recommend starter bikes. Plus, small bikes are a ABSOLUTE BLAST to ride and push to the limits! You won't be able to push that ZX-7R to the limits anytime soon...

Do take care of yourself on that ZX7R, it is a definite expert bike, Kawasaki didn't make it for a long time and one of the reasons was it's radical superbike nature. It was born and bred for the race track. If we come off as very concerned it is because we care about new bikers and want them to have a lot of fun for a very long time enjoying what we all love here, and that's riding.

The important thing is you're out there, riding, having fun and experiencing it. Be safe, take care and ride well...

Mike