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What if there were gravel on it though?

Assuming you cannot avoid the gravel

Slow down as much as you can before you hit the gravel. Allow it to run wide a little. Both of these will put the bike more upright.

When you make contact with the gravel ride through without adjusting the throttle or touching the brakes if at all possible. If you find you need to then keep it as gentle and as progressive as possible.

It is the same for any surface that has been compromised.

Kal wrote:

LOL great pic!!

Hey Kal I always figured you must be really tall. You told me once you occasionally deadlift your GB like a foot off the ground to amuse the bystanders.

I can deadlift a small bike too but not as much as a foot due to my height. In order for me to lift it a foot off the ground, it would be more like an upright row as I am short. There is no way I could upright row a bike.

To deadlift a bike that high, not only do you gotta be strong, you gotta be pretty tall, which you clearly are.

Hm, anyone know if the little boy got his GSXR? Real curious to see how that one turned out...

Most of the time they just fade away and we never hear from them again. That means they either gave up on getting a bike, or money forced them to get a small bike and they can't face us with that, or they got the sport bike and killed themselves. only one or two have came back and said "I told you so".

Johnj wrote:Most of the time they just fade away and we never hear from them again. That means they either gave up on getting a bike, or money forced them to get a small bike and they can't face us with that, or they got the sport bike and killed themselves. only one or two have came back and said "I told you so".

.....and then quickly fade away again.......I really have to start flogging life insurance policies to this squids, with me being the beneficiary of course.

i agree with beginners not getting a 600cc sport bike for a first bike. but i'm just wondering from you guys with more wisdom. how do y'all feel about something like the fz6r which is targeted to new riders? or the fz6 which is sometimes listed as a "grey area" bike? just curious what y'all's take on bikes like these two are.

I've never heard the FZ6 marketed or referred to as a beginner or gray area bike. While it is a "detuned" R6 motor, it's in no way a gentle machine. It makes ~96 hp and ~60 ftlb of torque.

Compared to the other "gray area bikes"

Sv650
~70hp and 42 ftlb torque

Ninja 650
~64hp 48ftlbs of torque

That's a sizable difference from bikes considered almost acceptable for a new rider if they have that "extra edge" (read too much bullshit to get over themselves). Check out the stats on an actual R6, might convince you further.

Remarkably, and perhaps unfortunately, the 2009 FZ6R is indeed targeted at new riders on Yamaha's website, specifically offering "features that make it easy for beginning riders to get started."

Reading up on this particular motorcycle and comparing it to my FZR, I certainly can't imagine it to be any more forgiving. Yamaha's feature page even notes that the FZ6R has an earlier R6 in its background, and says something about meeting the "demands of today's motorcyclist". Well, here in the US, that usually only means one thing: bigger/faster.

I believe that the wet weights of mine and the '09 FZ6R are rather close (correct me if I'm wrong, please), and although Yamaha claims that the bike is updated and tuned for efficiency, the FZ6R gets around 43mpg as advertised on their site, whereas riding at around 75-80mph for extended periods of time will get me slightly above 50mpg on the FZR.

Granted, I am making all of these comparisons based on what I read on Yamaha's website, so even I am taking whatever I say here with a rather large grain of salt, but I'm just a bit surprised to see that they would market a motorcycle like the FZ6R as a beginner's bike, considering the comparison to the FZR600R, which from my experience, is obviously NOT something one ought to start off with.

I personally love my "beginner" bike. I bought a 2009 ninja 250r, it still has get up, its not a pusy bike like some people think. I have already wrecked because I was, believe it or not, going too fast for my experience level. But i got right back on it the day it came out of the shop and since have made more and more progress than i think i could ever get from learning on a 600 sportbike. 600 sportbikes are definetly not a beginner bike. My boyfriend has been riding 600s for years now and they still surprise him!