Total Motorcycle Community Forums

after sending some quality time at the bike shop in new port beach I came down to 2 bikes. A YZF600r (I could sit on that thing for weeks at a time) or a Ninja636 (looks cooler, is faster, and i love the gauges)

I'd like to add this about the yamaha
In all honesty, the YZF600R (Thundercat to those over the big pond) just plain shreds. 130 horsepower? Nope. Sub 400lb dry weight? Sorry. 10 second quarter miles? Not even close.

An awesome do-all motorcycle that has a bulletproof motor, brakes that rival almost all liter bikes, and bodywork that makes the other 600's a little long in the tooth? Definately.

For those who crave comfort, style and are smart enough to realize they don't need a TRACK bike for the STREET, the YZF is the ride of choice.

The ninja?
fuel injection and knowing that my friend's really jealous

Go for comfort. If you plan on going any distance on a bike that is not comfortable, and you arrive with a sore neck and back, will it matter if your friends are jealous?

Are you smart enough to know you don't need a track bike for the street?

Guess it depends on what you are going to do with it. I never go on long hauls, work and wife keep me close. So fun to ride is great. I don't need to worry about comfort so much, I am not on it long enough to start getting sore.

Adrian,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but won't this be your first bike? If so, DON'T GET EITHER! If not, Here's food for thought: I know a guy who rides a YZF 600 R. I guarantee you would not be able to find anyone outside of top-tier racing who could keep up with him in the twisties on ANY other bike. If you really want to be able to go fast, find a track. Get some experience, and do it the right way. Riding fast is 90% rider, 10% bike. Don't ever forget that.

I've noticed a disturbing trend on this board lately. It seems that for the most part we are no longer warning people away from larger bikes to start on. There are the dedicated old timers who have always advocated a reasonable starting bike. I can remember being conradulated for starting on a 33 hp 1 thumper. That's right a 1 piston 33 hp bike. I was told I'd made a good choice! After putting some time in learning how to ride the most out of my bike BuzZz got me to sit on a Honda 599. I fell in love, but I had some skills, I knew how a bike would respond, and I knew how to tease fast corners, and maximum acceleration out of a reluctant bike (to say the best).

Now sitting on the 599 I know I would have been out of my league if I'd started on it. I'd be wrecked somewhere... I recognize mistakes that I've made. What I thought were subtle adjustments to my arm position designed to alleviate strain created by a long ride actually had me weaving down the road like a total newb. Acceleration that I thought was FAST is slow for this bike. Keep in mind my little ls650 could outpull a mustang to 60 km/h even with him doing a rolling start.

My starter bike was enough to get me into the emergency room. I went out early, earlier then I should have. And on April 4th I hit a patch of ice. I'm still waiting for the skin on my knee to finish growing back.

Unfortunately, there will always be a salesman who will sell whatever can be sold even if it inappropriate.

In the last few months there has been a few motorcycle related deaths in BC. In each case it was a young rider with a learner's permit on a high powered sport bike.
It's so sad that they don't understand that they really are mortal. Sad for the families, too.

I met a new rider at the local bike shop who was taking some private lessons from the same instructor I had. This fellow was on his second bike. He had a learner's permit, had a few group lessons, then went out on his new sportbike and crashed it. Luckily he was uninjured, but his bike was a write-off.
He was very shaken by the experience and realized he needed more experience before getting back on a high powered machine.

blues2cruise wrote:Unfortunately, there will always be a salesman who will sell whatever can be sold even if it inappropriate.

Me: "Lookin' for a first bike.. this one's pretty nice, yeah?"
Salesman: "Oh, yeah. 1500 Kaw. Really nice bike, it'd be great for you."

...

For some reason, I'm sort've glad I didn't opt for that as my first ride.