[1NsaneGSXR]

I'm looking to buy my first bike and I was wondering if any of you experienced riders could give me some advice. I want something that is not going to kill me when I get on it for the first time. I have taken a 600 F4 out for a spin once or twice. I want to buy a Gixxer but I am torn between a 600 or a 750. I was looking to modify it too after I get used to riding it. Any advice from any experienced rider would greatly be appreciated. Thankx

[ 01-26-2003, 10:10 AM: Message edited by: 1NsaneGSXR ]

 

[oldgixxer]

Well,first of all welcome to the board

.And secondly,why are you settled on a GSXR 600/750 as your first bike?These are extremely capable machines not to be taken lightly.Why not buy a nice used SV 650 and learn the ropes on that?You will drop it,thats a given,so give it some thought before you go out and buy the newest Gixxer out there.

 

[gixerking]

welcome to the board

read these threads and then read them again:
http://www.gixxer.com/forums/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000003

http://www.gixxer.com/forums/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000008

and then read the rest of the sticky threads

 

[BlackBelt]

1NsaneGSXR.... My very first Motorcycle ever was the 2002 Gixxer 600cc.... it is plenty fast for you, especially if you are planning to modify it. The 750cc would be way too powerful and difficult to ride for a first bike. and for the SV650.... not a huge fan of the looks and styling of it, Ive never ridin one myself, so I have no idea of the power and handling difference in regards to the gsxr600. Go with the 600, It is an ammazzzing bike, you won't regret it

 

[dean600]

This type of question always gets a lot of replies telling you to get a slower, more forgiving first bike. My first bike was an 02 600 and so far, I have been fine. The biggest deciding factor is maturity. Are you mature enough to not push your abilities past what you can really do. I learned respect for high performance vehicles when I wrecked my Mustang Gt. I also do a lot of bicycling and ride very defensively. I was hit by a car (his fault) on my bicycle and even though I came out fine, it completely changed the way I ride. I assume people do not see me and even if I have the right of way, I am off the gas, covering the brakes and looking for a way out if they pull out. Bottom line, I know my 02 600 was not the best first bike, but I did it anyway. If you can HONESTLY say you have the maturity to not push your abilities, you will PROBABLY (not certainly) be fine. If you cannot honestly say you have the maturity, get something slower and more forgiving. Be honest with yourself, the decision could cost you your life. By the way, I was 29 when I got my bike. I had wanted one for over 10 years but knew I was not mature enough. Good luck, be safe.

 

[fRaGgLe]

I got to say that I cannot immagine having a 600 as a first bike.

Quite honestly how you guys that start on them survive I cannot comprehend.

Every bike I've ever ridden, ever car I've driven, I've had to figure out wht its capable of, and a GSXR600 sure is capable of a lot more than I could have handled as a first bike.

Sure you can ride them slow, but just the throttle response, and the crazy fast handling at anything beyond a snail's pace will catch out the unaware all too easily, and learning how to actually ride a motorcycle will not come easily if this is where you start.

Simply you are putting yourself at a disadvantage for the sake of looking good.

Personally, I think that the EX250 is the current US pick of the learner machines.....

 

[AzGixxxer]

Originally posted by dean600:
The biggest deciding factor is maturity. Are you mature enough to not push your abilities past what you can really do.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Well written. I totally agree.

However I myself, am honest with myself, and went ahead and got a 750 for my first bike. I learn new things every day, and am okay to let someone show off or taunt me. I know that I can't do what they can do (yet). The last time I rode anything with two wheels before my gixxer was when I was 12. I'm doing fine, and going slow paying attention to how my bike reacts in multiple situations (especially with a brand new tire *slick stuff). So I would recomend getting what you think you will want in the long run (without getting cocky) and ride that for a long time without ever really growing out of it.

 

[oldgixxer]

Yeah,but what were all saying is that the learning curve on a smaller,less powerful bike is ALOT quicker then a bigger more powerful bike.Whats the point of getting a 750 and "just riding it slow"??Seems like a waste of a perfectly good bike to me.Those of you that buy a 750/1000 as a first bike will ride for years and years without fully understanding what these bikes are capable of to a highly skilled rider.Some will never come to realize it's potential.Maturity in my opinion plays a part,but is no guarantee to successful riding.What happens if your in a panic situation and grab a handful of throttle?What happens if you just grab to much throttle unaware of the results?Boom,your in a world of trouble.Only experience will play a part here guys.And to prove my point,EVERYONE that I know who has started off on a 750/1000 gets SMOKED when it comes to any type of riding which actually requires skills and experience by smaller displacement bikes with riders who can ride them.Then you see these same guys down at the bike shop ordering pipes,Powercommanders,cams,pistons,etc,because there 750 just got whooped up on by a 250 in the twisties.

Ultimately,it's your decision.If you want to get the most out of riding a bike,start small and master the bike.If you wanna just pose and look cool,by all means go and buy WHATEVER bike you want.

[ 01-26-2003, 03:59 AM: Message edited by: oldgixxer ]

 

[Steve Strange]

Well said OldGixxer

 

[Ryno]

Let's face it, even an SV is plenty fast enough to get someone into trouble.
I personally would like to see people spend a year messing around on dirt bike before they ever make it to the street. But, I know that's not going to happen.
What ever bike you get, please use your head and take it slow.

 

[Gixxerpilot7]

Everybody here has good points especially oldgixxer. I was fortunate enough to have really cool parents who bought and let me ride dirt bikes while growing up. I've been riding various types of bikes for some time now and I still feel like my 750 is well above my skill level. My advice is get something like the SV650 and ride the tires off of it. In the words of my good friend, "Make it your bitch before you move up to a bigger bike." It's much easier to ride a smaller bike hard than to go easy on a bigger bike. Any bike, no matter the displacement can kill you, but you're really rolling the dice if you start on a Gixxer. Oh, and I went down 4 months after I bought my bike. I Focused on the rider in front of me instead of looking through the corner.

 

[1NsaneGSXR]

I just wanted to say thank you for everyone that replied. Everyone did have some really valid points. My decesion though still hangs in the balance. I know for sure that I am not goin for the 750 model as my first bike though. My one friend thinks that I should get a 750 just b/c I said once I get used to riding it I plan on get something faster for my next bike. He thinks that it would be a waste of my time and $$ if i got a 600 to start out on.

 

[fRaGgLe]

Originally posted by 1NsaneGSXR:
I just wanted to say thank you for everyone that replied. Everyone did have some really valid points. My decesion though still hangs in the balance. I know for sure that I am not goin for the 750 model as my first bike though. My one friend thinks that I should get a 750 just b/c I said once I get used to riding it I plan on get something faster for my next bike. He thinks that it would be a waste of my time and $$ if i got a 600 to start out on.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Did you actually read any of the responses ????

Almost everyone considers a GSXR600 too much for a new rider.

Yet you are still sontemplating getting a 750 ???

Are you some kind of idiot ?

Listen to us, some of us are old bastards, some of us have 30+ years of riding behind us, som of us are still alive to tell the tales.

Simply the difference in the 600 and the 750 is amount of time it will take before you kill yourself, because its dammed obvious that you are not listening to the people that can give you good advice.

Here is an example, my teenage son has been riding dirt bikes for the past five years, and he has ridden bitch on my 750 since he was 12.

He has spent the past year on an EX250, before graduating to a GS500.

At a recent track day he was lapping faster on his EX250 than squids on R6's. He got black flagged for riding around the outside of a moron on a GSXR1000 !

On the street he can ride wheelies, stoppies, and out-corner almost all the riders I know.

He rode my 750 once, and when he got off it he was shaken that it was so powerfull, and so "abrupt and hard work". He actually thanked me for talking him out of a GSXR600 - not that he could afford the insurance....

Your fist bike should be cheap, and gentle, and to an extent disposable - you will almost certainly drop it, you will almost certainly do the "grab the front brakes trick, and you are almost sure to wind on too much power mid corner.

On a GSXR 6000, each of those mistakes will cost you about $2000 if you are lucky, on a 750 probably your life.

But remember, EX250's do not look as cool as the latest GSXRNINJA6's

 

[oldgixxer]

Great post fraggle!

 

[1NsaneGSXR]

well obviously you cannot read. I said I WAS NOT getting a 750.

[ 01-26-2003, 08:37 PM: Message edited by: 1NsaneGSXR ]

 

[Antagonist·5000]

Get a SV650 first, GSXR arent going anywhere

 

[the fast one]

i must say get a something besides a gixxer for a first bike if your bent on a 600 look at a cbr cheap and everywhere.
im lucky also that my parents got me started young on dirt at age 5, my dad was also a MSF instructor so i had that going for me. i had my M class since i was 16 and started on smaller bikes shadow, intruders, until i was 18 then i got the gixxer 600 and even then it was a faster than anything i could have imagined and i bout killed myself plenty of times on it but experience on the other bikes and the MSF course got me threw it and stopped me from grabbing brakes in a corner ect.

so get a smaller bike and take the MSF course

 

[fRaGgLe]

Originally posted by 1NsaneGSXR:
well obviously you cannot read. I said I WAS NOT getting a 750.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Sorry, maybe my bad, but you said that you "I want to buy a Gixxer but I am torn between a 600 or a 750." and then you said that you are still the the balance after posting some about some dickhead telling you should get a 750.

re-read the first bike threads.

I spoke to an LA based dealer recently, he was telling that of around 150 supersport bikes sold to new riders in the past year or so, almost 140 where wrecked within a year, almost 1/2 of them lasted less than 600 miles. One was destroyed with only 12 miles on the ODO.

At least one was looped in the parking lot, one was sent flying off a canyon road and down a 300ft drop, and there where 3 newbie riders dead within a year.

Quite simply a supersport bike is way too much bike for the vast majority of new riders.

We have a few exceptions on this board, a combination of luck, low mileage, and caution usually keeps them alive, I beleive also that one or two have not crashed yet....

Think about it - do you really like the odds ?

 

[the fast one]

you can go with a bigger bike but you wont learn as much as going with a smaller bike. example i had a friend that his first bike was a yamaha 750 then after a year he got a gix 1k well i had a gixxer 600 and could whoop him in everyway possible because he was to scared of his bike to ride it right. that bike ended up getting hit(cars fault) and totaled with out ever being ridden right.

 

[Sergeant Nic]

I have to get in on this action even if nobody else is gonna post or read. I am on my third bike which is ONLY a Gixxer 600. When retarded people stop and ask me at the gas station, "That's ONLY a 600" I tell them I'm faster than anything they've got in the garage. I ride with guys that drive R1's, Aprilla's, DUCK's,

, and Gixx Liter's, and until we hit a loonnggg straight you don't see anybody else in front but me. Start out with a bike you feel comfortable on and you don't mind crashing. After about 15000 miles or so if you feel you are being held back because of the bikes limits, then get a bigger bike. As far as 600's go, I think I'll be riding a 600 until a Gixx 1000 can pass me on the inside.