New Rider
New Rider
Hi I've been riding dirtbikes since i was about 8 (I'm 16 now) and just obtained my motorcycle license. I really want a kawasaki ninja zx6r, but im well aware that that is too big of a bike to get started on since street is so much different than dirt. Dual-sports have always interested me, so i am thinking of getting a suzuki drz400s for my first bike. Would it prepare me to get a zx6r in a few years or should i think about a ninja 250? thanks
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Koss
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- Location: El Paso, TX (Help me!)
Dual-sports are a great choice, as is the DRZ... you can't go wrong with any dual-sports as a first bike in my opinion.
So let me just throw around some street bikes that would fit the bill nicely.
Ninja 250, 500, 650
Hyosung 250 or 650. (They have cruiser, standard, and fully faired sport bike models in the line up)
Suzuki Gs500, Sv650
Buell Blast 500
Can't go wrong with any of those bikes. Just sit on as many as you can, get a feel for how heavy or light the bike feels, ask the forum about their opinions of whichever bike... take the MSF beginners course, get a license, buy really good gear, including a helmet, jacket, gloves at the very least... but also boots and pants.
Theres other motorcycles out there that I didn't list, namely cruisers, that are good beginner bikes also. Its just I dont know enough about them.
So let me just throw around some street bikes that would fit the bill nicely.
Ninja 250, 500, 650
Hyosung 250 or 650. (They have cruiser, standard, and fully faired sport bike models in the line up)
Suzuki Gs500, Sv650
Buell Blast 500
Can't go wrong with any of those bikes. Just sit on as many as you can, get a feel for how heavy or light the bike feels, ask the forum about their opinions of whichever bike... take the MSF beginners course, get a license, buy really good gear, including a helmet, jacket, gloves at the very least... but also boots and pants.
Theres other motorcycles out there that I didn't list, namely cruisers, that are good beginner bikes also. Its just I dont know enough about them.
http://www.livevideo.com/Koss
Consider your mission objectives for your new bike. I've ridden a DR-Z400S and a DR-Z400SM back-to-back, and either will make a great first street bike. If you are going to keep your current dirtbike, I'd carefully consider the SM as a better option for your transition to supersport street bikes. It is a MUCH better street bike than the S. On a tight, twisty road, it will easily keep up with a GSX-R 600. Been there, done that. However, the SM is much more civil on the street than the S, and much more comfortable in the commuter role than the GSX-R.
If I had the money, I'd get the SM for myself. It will do everything I need it to do as a daily rider. I already have a big tourer/cruiser (Boss Hawg, once it's back together) for the touring duties, and I just bought an old-but-cherry XR500 for trail riding. I'm looking for something from 350-500cc, either a motard, or a dualsport or dirtbike to make into a motard to use in the daily driver role.
I've watched many people go through bike after bike after bike, looking for one bike that would do all they wanted. I think the DR-Z400S is way too oriented towards dirt to be a good commuter or a transition bike for crotch rockets. On the other hand, the DR-Z400SM is way too oriented toward street to be a good dirt bike. Pick your poison. The GSX-R is a great sport bike, but is a marginal commuter and sucks for touring.
They way I see it, a lightweight 200-500cc motard can't be beat for daily riding. They are quick, stable, economical to operate, and easy to handle in town and on country roads. I think if more people would try a motard, they would be a lot more popular. People who do buy buy them keep them forever. Why? Because they work well in the real world. I know several people who ride motards every day, even though they have fancy cruisers or touring bikes and/or killer dirtbikes in the garage. I think if you buy a DR-Z400SM, you will keep it a long time. You might buy and sell a few dirtbikes and sportbikes over the years, but the SM will become your old friend that gets the most miles, year in and year out.
I've had everything from 2-stroke motocrossers to a twin Harley fuel streamliner to a Goldwing to a Rickman framed 836 stroker version of a CB750K4 open class roadracer, and the three bikes I rode the most over the years were a SL100, a XL250, and a SL350, all converted to motards. With 600,000 miles behind me, I'd say between a third to half those miles were on those three bikes. Why? Because they fit the mission objectives: dependable, easy to handle, economical, safe, and comfortable as daily riders. Isn't that what you really should be looking at in a street bike? The DR-Z400SM is all that, plus has the capability of embarassing most sportbikes in the right conditions as a benefit.
Save the supersport bike for after college, when you are mature enough and have the experience to better avoid becoming a statistic. My guess is, if you hold off on the sportbike, you'll keep the SM for it's utilitarian commuter qualities and save your sportbike's miles for sportbiking, if you don't simply forego riding a sportbike on the street (where sportbikes simply don't belong in the first place because their design simply fits no street-logical parameters except picking up under-age lot lizards) and go straight to a dedicated roadracer.
By the way, around here people have spec class roadracing with the DR-Z400SM, which is a GREAT way to learn to ride a sportbike. Safe, too.
If I had the money, I'd get the SM for myself. It will do everything I need it to do as a daily rider. I already have a big tourer/cruiser (Boss Hawg, once it's back together) for the touring duties, and I just bought an old-but-cherry XR500 for trail riding. I'm looking for something from 350-500cc, either a motard, or a dualsport or dirtbike to make into a motard to use in the daily driver role.
I've watched many people go through bike after bike after bike, looking for one bike that would do all they wanted. I think the DR-Z400S is way too oriented towards dirt to be a good commuter or a transition bike for crotch rockets. On the other hand, the DR-Z400SM is way too oriented toward street to be a good dirt bike. Pick your poison. The GSX-R is a great sport bike, but is a marginal commuter and sucks for touring.
They way I see it, a lightweight 200-500cc motard can't be beat for daily riding. They are quick, stable, economical to operate, and easy to handle in town and on country roads. I think if more people would try a motard, they would be a lot more popular. People who do buy buy them keep them forever. Why? Because they work well in the real world. I know several people who ride motards every day, even though they have fancy cruisers or touring bikes and/or killer dirtbikes in the garage. I think if you buy a DR-Z400SM, you will keep it a long time. You might buy and sell a few dirtbikes and sportbikes over the years, but the SM will become your old friend that gets the most miles, year in and year out.
I've had everything from 2-stroke motocrossers to a twin Harley fuel streamliner to a Goldwing to a Rickman framed 836 stroker version of a CB750K4 open class roadracer, and the three bikes I rode the most over the years were a SL100, a XL250, and a SL350, all converted to motards. With 600,000 miles behind me, I'd say between a third to half those miles were on those three bikes. Why? Because they fit the mission objectives: dependable, easy to handle, economical, safe, and comfortable as daily riders. Isn't that what you really should be looking at in a street bike? The DR-Z400SM is all that, plus has the capability of embarassing most sportbikes in the right conditions as a benefit.
Save the supersport bike for after college, when you are mature enough and have the experience to better avoid becoming a statistic. My guess is, if you hold off on the sportbike, you'll keep the SM for it's utilitarian commuter qualities and save your sportbike's miles for sportbiking, if you don't simply forego riding a sportbike on the street (where sportbikes simply don't belong in the first place because their design simply fits no street-logical parameters except picking up under-age lot lizards) and go straight to a dedicated roadracer.
By the way, around here people have spec class roadracing with the DR-Z400SM, which is a GREAT way to learn to ride a sportbike. Safe, too.
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you.
qwerty, thank you very much for you opinion. i have researched the drz400sm (i overlooked it before as being similar to the s yet costing around $500 dollars more, stupid me) and it seems it is VERY suitable for my needs. Just one question, is it still capable of doing off-roading if the tires are replaced?
I didn't ride the SM offroad, and if I had one, I wouldn't even try. If the street tires were replaced with the same size knobbies, I expect the handling would be very different than the S. The tall, relatively narrow tires on the S provide quick, stand on the pegs, motocrosser-like handling, bouncing off berms and such. The fat SM tires would be more like riding a mini-bike, i. e., point where you want to go and torque over most any obstacle, with your butt glued to the seat and your feet never leaving the pegs. However, offroad tires on the SM would obliterate its handling qualities on the pavement.
I feel if you can only have one motorcycle, go with the S if you aren't willing to give up the dirt. Hold off on the sportbike idea until later. If you want to go ahead with the pavement racing, go for the SM.
An idea that might let you have your cake and it it, too, is to have a set of wheels, chain, and sprockets for the pavement and a set of wheels, chain, and sprockets for the dirt. I don't know exactly what parts differ on each model but there's a good possibility wheels and gearing are the only differenced.
I feel if you can only have one motorcycle, go with the S if you aren't willing to give up the dirt. Hold off on the sportbike idea until later. If you want to go ahead with the pavement racing, go for the SM.
An idea that might let you have your cake and it it, too, is to have a set of wheels, chain, and sprockets for the pavement and a set of wheels, chain, and sprockets for the dirt. I don't know exactly what parts differ on each model but there's a good possibility wheels and gearing are the only differenced.
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you.
Hahaha.qwerty wrote:(where sportbikes simply don't belong in the first place because their design simply fits no street-logical parameters except picking up under-age lot lizards)
Cause as we all know chookchasers need a foot or so of suspension travel for effective road use...
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/header.gif[/img]
First off, what is a "chook", and who or what chases them?Mintbread wrote:Hahaha.qwerty wrote:(where sportbikes simply don't belong in the first place because their design simply fits no street-logical parameters except picking up under-age lot lizards)
Cause as we all know chookchasers need a foot or so of suspension travel for effective road use...
Second, where I live the soils are unstable. It isn't unusual to have sections of road surface with a 4-inch (10cm) vertical between one section and the other. Then, there are 6-inch deep potholes where political croonies used sub-standard concrete that turned to sand and blew away, entrance and exit ramps with curbs, poor drainage allowing foot (30cm)-deep puddles on the rare occasion it actually does rain, suicidal coyotes and armadillos, and a host of other common road hazards. 10 inches of suspension travel is often a delightful asset on a street bike.
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you.