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The First Bike Topic.........

45K views 106 replies 84 participants last post by  TabuSoro 
#1 ·
I was recently contacted by an individual who was looking to buy his first bike.

He had decided to buy an R1 or a GSXR1000 for his first bike and had come to me for advice

I have not included his e-mail to respect his privicy. But you can figure out what was said.

If you are looking to buy a sportbike of any kind, please read this first:

Here is my responce:

Hi *****,

I'm glad you are interested in getting a sportbike. But I can tell from you comments that you have never ridden one. Sport bikes are not toys. They are not for everybody, and to ride one correctly and safely takes years and years of training and practice.

Unfortunately in the US any body can get a motorcycle license with little or no training and buy and ride any motorcycle they like. You can thank Harley Davidson and the cruiser mentality for not putting a displacement cap on motorcycle learner licenses. In the rest of the world they have what is called a graduated license. This means that you have to start on a 125cc or 250cc motorcycle and then after a certain amount of experience and training you can move up after passing a series of test. This saves lives and keeps bike and insurance costs down.

I don't know what your back ground is or want your driving or riding experiences are. But I raced cars for several years before I got into bikes. I have driven some extremely fast cars in some very demanding conditions. None of that prepared me for the first time I rode a motorcycle. A motorcycle is inherently unstable (it only has to wheels) and is capable of speeds and acceleration that rival supercars and race cars. I don't care what car you drive, it is not capable of sub-3 second zero to sixty times and is won't flip it self over backwards in the process. R1's, 954's, ZX9r's, Gixxer 1K's, and CBR6's even will.

Modern sportbikes are so fast that it's not funny. ALL OF THEM!!!! 600's, 750,s and liter bikes. 4's, triples's, and twins. It doesn't matter. They are all fast. Some are just a little faster that others and those are A LOT harder to ride. The easier a bike is to ride the more YOU will learn from riding it. SV650's are easy to ride. That's why they are such great beginner bikes. You can find the limits of an SV and that's where you learn to ride. And there is a difference between surviving and riding. You can buy a Gixxer 1K, but you will just be surviving.

You motioned 400's........ I LOVE 400's. They are the most fun you can have on two wheels. They are great. My first bike was a 400. It was an 89 Honda CB-1.( I included a picture) The Cb-1 was a great bike. It was fun, it revved to the moon, it sounded good, it had theses cool gear driven cams, and it handled GREAT! It didn't look good, it didn't go very fast, it sucked on the highway( it tuned 8000rpm @ 70), but it was fun. I could ride the living shit out of it. I could ride it as hard as I could and it took work to make it go fast. I used to ride to work every day like I was at a Grand Prix. You could leave every stop light a pin the first 3 gears to red line and not even break the speed limit. And I embarrassed a whole lot of people on R1's and Gixxers in the twistys who didn't take the time to learn to ride. It was great.

You can't do that on a modern sportbike. They are too fast. The only place where you can ride a modern sportbike that hard is on the track. That's really the only place I ride any more. I still go out on the weekends when the weather is nice every once in a while. But the majority of my riding is at the track.

The other main problem in the equation is the manufactures. They do not import small displacement bikes to the US. None of the big four manufactures import a sport 400, they claim they don't sell in the states. Suzuki makes the Katana and bandit 600's and Kawasaki makes the ZZR600. But all of these bikes are outdated, heavy sport 600's The are not good beginners bikes either. They all have full fairing that are expensive to replace if you drop it and EVERY BODY DROPS THERE FIRST BIKE! This a rule. If you buy some thing naked (or with minimal fairings) then when you drop your bike in the parking lot, it won't cost you $1200.

SV650's are not shitty. My Friend Chris Norman took a third in the last AMA Pro thunder race of 2002 on a basically stock SV650. That's against Buells and Ducatis with twice the displacement. Go to a Club race in your area, see how many people race SV650's. I bet you see more SV's than any other single bike. SV's rock. You may be a fan of inline fours, but V-twins are not shitty either. Do you watch World SuperBike????????? The series has been around since 1989 and a inline four has only one the title twice...........V-twins rule.

If you are serious about getting into bikes, then use your head not your ego. Take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation class http://www.msf-usa.org/ I'm sure they offer it in your area. Find a good group of people to ride with. Guys who will show you how to ride, not pressure you into riding over you head. Take track Schools. You can learn more about bike control on the track (in a controlled environment) , then apply it to the street. Most importantly, buy good gear and wear it. Good gear can save your life. It has saved mine on many occasions. EVERYBODY CRASHES AT SOME POINT, IT'S JUST A MATTER OFWHEN AND HOW BAD. BE PREPARED!

You still may not listen to me. You may still go out and by an R1 or a Gixxer, because you like the way it looks. You may buy it because you think you are billy badass and you can handle anything. You may buy it to impress chicks or some other stupid reason. You may not even be interested in motorcycles. This may be a passing fad for you and you just want something to impress your friends with. That's cool.

But Remember, Someone who can ride a slow bike fast is a lot more impressive than some asshole about to fall off of a fast bike going slow.

I see the same shit every spring. Because I work at a large motorcycle shop I see more of it. As soon as March rolls around a new crop of kids comes in here and buys bikes that are over there head. They wobble around on them in a t-shirt and shorts, trying to pop wheelies and then about June or July they are all gone. They have all wrecked. The bikes are all totaled and they all got hurt. Some them even got Killed. It doesn't have to be that way.

If you have anymore questions, shoot me an e-mail and I will be happy to help.

Chip Spalding
RonAyers.com
1800-888-3084
 
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#3 ·
Great Response, Chip! And excellent advice to all reading it! Newbies - pay special attention to those words!

It's super-cool that you addressed the fact that smaller bikes don't necessarily mean shitty bikes!

I'm afraid that there is a segment of the population that would be turned away from excellent 'beginner bikes' by defining them solely as 'easy to ride, easy to handle, and made for a beginner'. I know I was (and still am, in other ways) part of this group...

My first bike was a CBR600F3. And while it's not a literbike, in retrospect, it was still a bit much for a beginner. But, at the time, I was convinced that I was 'special'... surely I was capable of learning just a bit quicker than the average Joe. Hell - I had a good head on my shoulders. Why should I settle for a lack-luster, back of the showroom floor, underpowered 'beginner bike', when I could have the sexiest 6 (OK - I wasn't into gixxers then
) made? All I had to do was be careful, right?

Needless to say, I went down, more than once
I was wrong. But it took experience to teach me that. And if I had the chance to do it all over again, I'd still choose the higher performance bike.

But that's the catch. What alot of newbies (and some experienced riders as well) don't realize is that many of the bikes we recommend to start out on are just as adept on a racetrack as they are on the street. They ARE high performance bikes!

Back to the SV650... I used to call it a beginner bike. Until I rode one. Now I see it as a light-as-hell, easy to flick, high-corner-speed race bike! What it lacks in power it makes up in light weight and extremely nimble, quick steering and handling. What it lacks in drive coming off the corners it makes up for on corner entry speed. For the price, you couldn't do better. And even though I'm now racing a 750, if I had the money, I'd add an SV to my garage in a heartbeat. To be honest, I wish I had started out on one. But now I have so many 750 parts in stock, it wouldn't be cost effective to switch bikes.

Just to put performance in perspective, newbies... one of my good friends & race partners races an SV-650. On our local track, he puts down consistent 1:09 - 1:10 lap times. Oh yeah - and he's still an amatuer. The expert racers winning expert races on GSXR-750s are putting down 1:03 to 1:04 lap times. Most of the amatuers are running 1:06 or worse. And I'd say probably 70% of the guys at trackdays here on big bore bikes are putting down times worse than 1:10. Usually much worse.

Hell - It wasn't very long ago that had a hard time keeping up with this guy - him on his SV650, me on my GSXR-750
And even now, I only beat him because my bike has more power on the straights and off the drive of the turns. On turn entry, he always gains some ground on me.

So keep this in mind, newbies. There are good choices out there for you that don't require you to 'settle'.

And one more thing... if you haven't seen the look on someone's face when you pass up their 1K Gixxer on an SV-650, you haven't lived!


[ 01-13-2003, 09:04 AM: Message edited by: leanangle_750 ]
 
#4 ·
Chip? What in THE HELL are you doing? You didn't tell him that the Gixxer 1000 is THE BEST starter bike out? I didn't even see you mention the R1. Don't you know it's all about the nookie? That's what's important these days. Hell, in a matter of minutes and $10 grand or so, you can be the fastest, coolest guy on the planet! Throw in a replica helmet, a tank top and some sporty new sun glasses and you're real close to being faster than The Hand of God! And it only takes minutes and $10 grand or so. Forget wasting YEARS learning how to ride the bike. It'll pull a wheelie RIGHT OUT of the dealership, impressing your friends and family right from the get go. Yup, he'll be on his way to Moto GP success aboard the 1k or R1. Now, if he'll just print his name, sign and initial the waver below, he'll be on his way to Godliness in no time flat.

I____________________ being of sound mind and judgement do here by leave all my worldly possesions, including all parts and pieces of any motorcycle and/or gear that I possess to Devilman. Further more, I impress upon the courts to here by order my girlfriend/wife to give a daily alotment of blow jobs equalling NO LESS than three per day to Devilman as well. In conjuction with that order, I would also like to see my little sister at the age of 18 to be given soley to Devilman to do with as he sees fit. I thank you in advance and will see you all in Hell.

_____________________________
PRINTED NAME

_____________________________
Signed

_____________________________
Initial

_____________________________
Date

Go ahead and sign it,

Devilman
 
#11 ·
Regarding restrictions:
Here in Denmark we have quite hard restrictions on drivers licenses. At 16, all you can get is a license to ride a moped - restricted to 30kmh~20mph - after you've had the obligatory training and passed your test. At 18 you can take your license for bikes up to 34 hp. This is also the age where you can get licenses for cars, trucks etc. For each category on your license, you have to have 21 (!!!) lessons with an authorized driving teacher, plus some time on a closed track, plus a theoretic and a practical test. For each category...
One lesson typically costs 250-400 DKK ~ 40-60$!
At 21 or when you've had your motorcycle license for two years, you can ride bikes with more than 34 hp.
Another factor restricting bikes (and cars for that matter) is the high tax on vehicles. A new GSX-R 600 for example costs 165,000 DKK ~ 25,400$!!! On top of that comes prices on fuel (about 5$/gal) and ensurance.

By this post I want to say two things:
1: You Americans have, to say the least, pretty loose legislation when it comes to who can ride which bikes - you decide whats the better solution, and
2: Don't complain about your prices!!!
 
#12 ·
Originally posted by leanangle_750:
Yeah, SVS, but then again, we're not riding our 120+ HP bikes away from the Hash bar after bong-hitting enough Northern Lights to put down a mule


Just kidding
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">WTF
hash bars??? You must have Denmark confused with Holland...
You stupid South Canadians think Europe is one country. Dammit...


J/K...
 
#14 ·
Originally posted by leanangle_750:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by SVS:
hash bars??? You must have Denmark confused with Holland...
You stupid South Canadians think Europe is one country. Dammit...


J/K...
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">
Maybe it was me who's done one-too-many bong hits
South Canadians...
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yeah - or smoked crack...
 
#18 ·
my first bike was going to be a zx-9, then i ended up an sv650 (what the hell was i thinking). now i got a gix 750 and happy. didnt know why it took so long before i got one but im sure glad i got one.
 
#23 ·
Wow great write-up man. I'm looking to get into motorcycle riding, but I'm going to do a shitload of reading up on things before I go buying anything. I'll check into that SV-650 as well. I don't really care what bike I get as a first bike really. I've already accepted the fact that I'm going to lay it down at some point, so I don't want to bang-up a nice new bike. Thank you.

Dave
 
#25 ·
I've had my SV650S for a year and It's pretty hard to drop one. I haven't dropped mine yet.

Wen't riding in the twisties recently and the TL1000R and my SV were kicking a$$ and taking names. We had to wait for 1K4s every time. Of course it was the other way around on the freeway going home.
 
#26 ·
Just wanted to add to the posts so far and say great write-up, along with the other one's that are stickies.

I've been reading through all of the them the past few days and those posts alone have made me think about my decision to get a sport bike and what I want to start out with.

Right now I'm a cadet at the US Air Force Academy and while enrolled here, one of the rules is that we cannot own/maintain/ride a motorcycle of any kind. When I first heard that I could only think of how stupid a rule it was. But the more enlightened I get, I realize how necessary of a rule it is, the Air Force doesn't really want to waste money on someone for 4 years only for them to get mangled/killed on a motorcycle.

Once I graduate, however, one of my first major purchases will be a sport bike of some kind. Now before anyone gets any ideas, let me be the first to say I"m not going for the Tom Cruise "Top Gun" look, I'm not doing it just to be cool or try to get the girls or try to fulfill the "fighter pilot" look. I race cars and love the speed and adrenaline and want to take it a step further. I've been reading all of the sport bike magazines for some time now, trying to learn as much as I can. I've never ridden a motorcycle before other than a friends old moped. But I have no aspirations of jumping on a bike, riding for "600 miles" and saying, "hey, this is cool, this bike is just right for me, I'm not in over my head." I know the dangers associated with the sport, but with the lifestyle I'm entering into I'm accustomed to risks and danger, its a matter of rationalizing and accepting the risks. The way I see it, if you can't accept the risks that come along with riding any kind of motorcycle, you shouldn't own one.

Going along with the advice of many of the experienced riders on here, I've been eyeing the SV650 quite a bit. I saw one here on base the other day and was hoping to talk to the rider some, but I never saw anyone around. I realize that by the time I'm ready to get a bike there may be better options out there, but so far, from everything I've seen, that seems to be the bike for me. On another note, one of the advatages of owning a bike in the military is the Academy offers a safety course above and beyond the MSF that some many of you have talked about. I will definitely enroll in that when the time comes.

So basically, in a long winded way, just wanted to say thank you for the great wealth of information and insight here. I just wish many other new riders would heed the advice and not get in over their heads.


Tristan
 
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