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Get a 500cc ninja or something than?

A 600cc supersport bike isn't safe for a beginner. Reason being? They're fast, they're twitchy, and every mistake could be your last. A slower bike is a lot more forgiving.

For example my bike will rocket me to 60 mph in mid four seconds, will do the quarter mile in under 13. It's pushing out around 75-80hp/85ft-lb of torque. Rough estimates anyway. And guess what? It's a slow motorcycle. Yes, it'll walk away from most sports cars in terms of acceleration to 60, or even to the quarter mile, but it's a slow motorcycle.

I was cruising in a 50mph zone the other day at a cool 73mph. When I looked down at the speedometer I could hardly believe it. In 5th gear with the throttle barely twisted I was at 70 and the low end of my engines range. I've been over 100 mph on a bike, it's sort of scary. Everything happens fast at 100mph, everything happens fast on a motorcycle. Everything happens even faster on a sportsbike. You accelerate faster, brake faster, etc.

I know I'm in a minority on this forum. I started on this bike, but at times I wish I didn't. When you wreck, and you probably will. You'll be upset that your baby is hurt. Whereas if I started on a ninja 500cc or something cheap I wouldn't have cared. But no my Harley has a dent in the gas tank and a boogered up tail light.

Do some of your friends have 600cc sportbikes?

If you buy the smaller bike, you can always sell it (easily) a season or year later and probably get back almost what you spent on it. Or you can be like so many other people who buy a 600cc sportbike, subsequently scare the living sh*t out of themselves, and sell it back with ~500 miles on it. Ever wonder why there are so many used sportbikes for sale with so few miles on them? I won't necessarily advocate the 250s, because frankly you may as well just go with the 500 version (of, say, the Ninja) to avoid getting sick of it too fast. But seriously, do yourself a huge favor: do not buy a race replica as your first bike. I know quite a few people who've done just that, and then given up on riding forever because they tried to do way too much way too soon.

G3rrity wrote:If you buy the smaller bike, you can always sell it (easily) a season or year later and probably get back almost what you spent on it. Or you can be like so many other people who buy a 600cc sportbike, subsequently scare the living sh*t out of themselves, and sell it back with ~500 miles on it. Ever wonder why there are so many used sportbikes for sale with so few miles on them? I won't necessarily advocate the 250s, because frankly you may as well just go with the 500 version (of, say, the Ninja) to avoid getting sick of it too fast. But seriously, do yourself a huge favor: do not buy a race replica as your first bike. I know quite a few people who've done just that, and then given up on riding forever because they tried to do way too much way too soon.

G3rrity is making some really great (and wise) points. It's so true, you do see many a bike with so little miles/kilometers on it and a rider who scared themselves out of a riding career just because they bought the wrong bike.

It's also true of big, heavy cruisers as well, not just sportbikes.

Mike