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Me and my bro have ridden mini's as kids, dirt bikes, and ATV's all our lives. Now in our mid-20's we decided to get into sport bikes. Not taking in many resources we went to a local dealer and knowing our situation, he talked us into buying 2 Ninja 650R's. WOW.

While these bikes allow for all the acceleration we can handle and more right now, we did not buy sport bikes to drag race. The roads here wind and curve often and hard. While trying to learn all these new handling and aero characters of sport bikes, the 650's require us spending way to much time focusing on the throttle and clutch. At this rate, it may take months just to enjoy the bikes comfortably.

These are by no means any kind of mega machines but for the true newbs no matter how much experience on other machines or riding types these are no starter bikes. I really only wish I would have found these forums before finding my dealer.

All I got to say is to the newbs out there, listen to these older guys and not these death wish kids who want all the power and no experience.

Glad you agree with the advice and like the forums

Interesting review- thanks for the insight.

Cool, I've heard from other 650r riders that these arn't truely mild mannered enough for a true newbie finding their way into motorcycling. What if someone grabbed a 600cc or 1000cc RR bike if it was their very first time riding any type of motorcycle. Hopefully it wouldn't be to much of a wakeup call for them.

A lot of people consider the Ninja 650r and Sv650 as beginner friendly, if not a "grey" area bike when it comes to horsepower and mannerisms. Its interesting to hear your point of view with your previous experience.

I'm still happy I came here first and decided on passing up the Yamaha r6 I wanted at first.

In the list of next bikes that I have, the 650R is on there for SURE.

It's an outcast amongst some of the other bikes though, I'm more into bikes that are standard first, sport second.

The Ninja is sport look, sport feel, standard seating position, but it just rocks.

I'm looking more towards: Triump Speed Triple, Bonneville(for old school love) Suzuki Bandit, SV (if i found a GREAT deal on a katana or gs500 etc i'd go for it)

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NUTZ_J98 wrote:Me and my bro have ridden mini's as kids, dirt bikes, and ATV's all our lives. Now in our mid-20's we decided to get into sport bikes. Not taking in many resources we went to a local dealer and knowing our situation, he talked us into buying 2 Ninja 650R's. WOW.

While these bikes allow for all the acceleration we can handle and more right now, we did not buy sport bikes to drag race. The roads here wind and curve often and hard. While trying to learn all these new handling and aero characters of sport bikes, the 650's require us spending way to much time focusing on the throttle and clutch. At this rate, it may take months just to enjoy the bikes comfortably.

These are by no means any kind of mega machines but for the true newbs no matter how much experience on other machines or riding types these are no starter bikes. I really only wish I would have found these forums before finding my dealer.

All I got to say is to the newbs out there, listen to these older guys and not these death wish kids who want all the power and no experience.

Wise beyond your years, young grasshopper.

I'm REALLY glad i found this site before i bought my first bike (just 3 weeks ago). Of course I took the MSF which also gave me the right advice.

anyway. just take it easy out there man! if you can, go sign up for a MSF course. even if you've ridden those other bikes for years, it'll teach you some real good foundation techniques that will help you.

NUTZ_J98 wrote:Me and my bro have ridden mini's as kids, dirt bikes, and ATV's all our lives. Now in our mid-20's we decided to get into sport bikes. Not taking in many resources we went to a local dealer and knowing our situation, he talked us into buying 2 Ninja 650R's. WOW.

While these bikes allow for all the acceleration we can handle and more right now, we did not buy sport bikes to drag race. The roads here wind and curve often and hard. While trying to learn all these new handling and aero characters of sport bikes, the 650's require us spending way to much time focusing on the throttle and clutch. At this rate, it may take months just to enjoy the bikes comfortably.

These are by no means any kind of mega machines but for the true newbs no matter how much experience on other machines or riding types these are no starter bikes. I really only wish I would have found these forums before finding my dealer.

All I got to say is to the newbs out there, listen to these older guys and not these death wish kids who want all the power and no experience.

Congratulations. You sound like a mid-20s rider who will actually become a mid-30s rider.

I am a new 650R owner myself, and I like you grew up on mini bikes, etc. and had a lapse of 20 years of riding. Now 40, I have started again and I cannot tell you how easy I find this bike to ride. Maybe it has to do with how crude the bikes I was riding 20+ years ago were but I cannot believe how easy this bike rides. Curves @ 60+mph are a breeze and the power is just a flick of the wrist. Yes, a true newbie should start of with something less, but if you have a least a few years of ride under your belt, the bike is fine. Try keeping with it for a while before dumping it.