First Bike indecisiveness

[Bx RedBull]

Pulling my hair out here trying to decide which sportbike to go with as a first bike. Torn between GSX-R600 & YZF-R6.

My uncle with 20 years riding experience, and many reviews and websites have said to avoid the big 4 of the 600s and try something like Yamaha's YZF600R or Honda's CBR600F4i. Please someone help me out with any comments and suggestions you may have. Are the Gixxers and R6s truly a No-No as a first bike or can they in fact be forgiving beginner bikes as well. Greatly appreciate any and all help I get from this.

Indecisive newbie

[VermilionX]

<re-post from your other topic>

everyone here will probably say to stay away from race bikes.

im a newbie myself... so far, im doing ok w/ my gixxer1000k6 (im only riding w/in my limits and im being very careful w/ the throttle) but i won't recommend what im doing to others.

[Sev]

http://totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=100

http://totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=6527

http://totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=2983

All of these threads are stickied at the top of this forum. Please take a couple of minutes and read through them quickly. They should answer most of your questions.

[nike_soccer]

Start Safe...don't buy a track bike for your VERY FIRST bike. Buy a crappy beater bike that you can lay down when the time comes. YOU WILL LAY IT DOWN. It's just part of biking.

[TechTMW]

Don't forget this one ...

viewtopic.php?t=583

[swatter555]

The FZR600 and the F4i are not considered supersport(race replicas), but that doesnt mean they are good beginner bikes.

You have more to learn than you can imagine at this point. If you can bear the thought of it, try and get a cheaper bike to learn on, a bike without a full fairing. You want a bike that is forgiving of mistakes and a bike where you wont smash up the fairing when you have a little spill.

Get some miles under you belt and learn the basics before you get a bike with 95+ hp and a full and fragile fairing.

As for the guy who is learning on a gixxer 1000- good luck. A guy on a 30hp Ninja 250 is learning how to ride. You are just trying to stay alive.

[Skier]

Time for some reposting!

For the sake of information, let's look at comparative ownership costs of starting on a 2003 ZX-6R versus getting a smaller bike (a 1998 Suzuki GS500E) then switching two years later in 2007 for a 2005 ZX-6R.

Start on ZX-6R for first 2 years and keep that same bike after that:

Bike cost:
2003 ZX-6R in good condition
$5675 (KBB)

Insurance:
Progressive for a 18 year old (I chose Virginia arbitrarily):
$1047 each year (liability only) [full coverage was $7290 per year!!]

Equipment:
helmet $200
jacket and gloves $300
boots $100

Maintenance:
$400

Repairs:
Estimates on cost of one parking lot drop
One OEM side fairing
$700
One broken mirror
$120

Fuel:
for the sake of simplicity lets assume that they get the same mpg of 40 although the Kawasaki probably gets lower fuel economy and the smaller Suzuki get higher.
for 18,000 miles of riding at $2 a gallon for premium at 40 mpg
$900

Total Projected Cost of starting on 2003 ZX-6R: $10,489

Start on 1998 GS500E for first 2 years then sell to buy 2 year old 2005 ZX-6R:

Bike cost:
1998 Suzuki GS500 in good condition
$2110 (KBB)
[Sold after 2 years for $1920 (price of 96 GS500)]
Net loss: $190 dollars
Cost of 2005 ZX-6R in 2 years about the same as current 2003 ZX so: $5675

Insurance:
$498 per year [$2530.00 per year full coverage]

Equipment:
helmet $200
jacket and gloves $300
boots $100

Maintenance:
$400

Repairs:
Estimates on cost of one parking lot drop (no fairing)
One broken mirror
$120

Fuel:
for 18,000 miles of riding at $2 a gallon for premium at 40 mpg
$900

Total Projected Cost of starting on GS500E then getting 2005 ZX-6R - $8881


Difference in starting on 2003 ZX-6R for 2 years ($10,489) versus
starting on 1998 Suzuki GS500E for 2 years then buying 2005 ZX-6R ($8881)
is a loss of $1608 for starting larger if you only get liability insurance.

For full coverage insurance, difference in starting on 2003 ZX-6R for 2 years ($22,975) versus starting on 1998 Suzuki GS500E for 2 years then buying 2005 ZX-6R ($12,945) is a loss of $10,030 for starting larger.

In conclusion for starting smaller, you'll save $1608 over 2 years if you buy a 1998 Suzuki GS500E and a 2005 ZX-6R two years from now and better yet you'll end up with a 2005 ZX instead of a 2003 ZX in two years.

[Itzamna]

$120 for one mirror. That's pretty ridiculous.

Anyways, as everyone said get a slower, cheaper bike for your first one. You will mess it up, it's going to happen. Much better on a cheaper bike and the insurance difference is ridiculous. I switched from a '82 Nighthawk 750 to an '03 SV1000 after 15,000 miles. The SV still blew me away at that point in what it had to offern and after 12,000 miles on it, it still amazes me how much power it really has.

All I can say is if I had started on the SV1000 to start off on, I would of been dead. Not just hurt, or broke due to fixing it, but dead. Both those bikes you listed are faster than my SV is. Most likely it won't be a good outcome.

Insurance is the worst part. I'm 22 and pay $1,400 a year for my SV. That's compared to $167 a year a paid for full coverage on my Nighthawk when I was 20. I'm willing to pay for it, but a lot of people aren't. Don't think it won't cost you a lot, because it will.

[VermilionX]

As for the guy who is learning on a gixxer 1000- good luck. A guy on a 30hp Ninja 250 is learning how to ride. You are just trying to stay alive.

not really, im doing both... trying to stay alive and learning.

[gsJack]

As for the guy who is learning on a gixxer 1000- good luck. A guy on a 30hp Ninja 250 is learning how to ride. You are just trying to stay alive.