[sixstang]

I have been thinking about it for a long time and i have decided to get a bike this year. Last weekend I spent about two and a half hours at a local dealership looking at bikes, sitting on a bunch of them, and talking to some guys about riding. I have decided to go with a used GSXR600 after sitting on and researching a bunch of bikes. I know I'll get heat for it, but none of the other bikes I sat on were comfortable with my back (I had a really bad skiing accident last year and some sitting positions really bug me). I have developed a lot of self control after having my Mustang for almost 2 years (mostly from getting in all the trouble i have with it) and I don't want to get a bike to learn how to do wheelies and endos all day long, i just want to enjoy myself, i have no desire to keep up with anyone on a 1k or do 130 on the highway. Besides state bike safety courses, would it be a good idea to go to a riding school after i've logged a decent amount of riding hours? I mean something like the Kevin Schwantz School listed on the suzuki website.
Another thing i was wondering about was insurance, how many people get full coverage on a paid off bike?
Sorry for the long post, just trying to figure some stuff out before i go spend $4k+ on a bike.
thanks

 

[fRaGgLe]

Read this thread and then tell me why you will not end up as a statistic like the 95% or more others that by a sports bike as their first bike.

 

[hayama]

Hey great attitude. I think the 600 is a great learning bike. The gsxr 600 is still a fast bike, don't think it's not. Last time on the track there were a couple 600s passing 1ks all over the place. Bike power only, doesn't make you fast, smoothness does. I think that a riding school is the best way to learn how to really ride your bike, and what it was made for. Most importantly, it will teach you how to be a better rider, and therefor a SAFER rider. Although I've not taken one myself, I do desire to. There is a thing called "Pace" riding. It's an old "group riding" technique that will help you to learn Safely. Get with a good group of experienced riders, and talk about the pace ride. Explained simply, - The lead rider sets a pace that everybody can keep up with. A pace that doesn't have some of the group raceing between turns to catch up. The #1 reason for crashes in the mountains is ENTERING THE TURN TOO FAST. It's all about the set up. Set up with the proper speed, and angle. Look for your apex, and exit, make sure it is safe, and then go for it. You can have just as much fun, and get just as much lean, without racing in the straights. Raceing in the straights only gets you hurt, or a ticket. My friends and I actually try to hit the brakes, going uphill, as little as possible. This doesn't mean we are slow, just smooth. We know our local mountain, and have learned the turns, and know how much speed we can carry into each turn, and still be in control.
If you have time, you should be able to find a website which goes into greater detail about pace riding. Sorry for the long post, but I just watched a guy blow through a right hand turn, and almost kill himself. I hate to see that shit. Have fun, and ride safe.

 

[Jon T. Flesh]

With a bad back I would say a GSXR is an awful bike to ride period. The seating is so aggresive it is not even funny. It may feel comfortable at the dealer without riding it but 20 minutes into a ride you will be feeling it.
If you are totally fixed on getting a race replica you might look into a Honda F3, F4, F4i. They are not as forward leaning as the GSXR or Yamaha's.
As for courses take the MSF course. I would not really worry about any other courses for about a year besides the MSF advanced course. Learn the rules of the road before you learn to go faster.
IMHO none of the race replicas are good to learn on even with a solid head on your shoulders. Tiny little mess ups on a race replica are far worse than with a bike that is not geared all torward speed. I will save you a huge lecture though. But with a bad back I guarantee that the GSXR will be very uncomfortable for you.
Other bikes to look at (just FYI)
Honda VFR
Kawi EX500
Suzuki SV650
Suzuki Bandit 600

Be sure to figure about an extra 1000 for gear. IE; Full face Snell certified helmet, Leather jacket, Gloves, Boots ect.

jontflesh

 

[sixstang]

fraggle: i completely understand what you are saying, and when i said i have self control i was not kidding. i have gotten 2 tickets in my mustang totalling almost $600 and i got charged with criminal racing over the summer. i can't afford anything else and i have no desire to go through what i did over the summer again. so i'm not kidding, i'm not getting a bike to ride around like a retard. just want to have fun.
hayama: thanks for the support with what i said
and jon: my back is wierd,. i can only sit with my back and theighs at certain angles. i can't be sitting upright, the cbr had my back aggravated quite quickly. i forgot to mention that i'm a bit over 6'4". i sat on an r6 (which i would never think of buying for a first bike) and it wasn't as comfortable as the gixxer. i'm going to have to go back again, and go through everything to make sure it wasn't just that day.
thanks to everyone, anyone else have opinions ?

 

[fRaGgLe]

heh heh, with that driving record, your insurance is going to be horrific on anything over about a 50cc Vespa

 

[sixstang]

yeah yeah i know what you mean. right now my mustang is around 2800 a year (which at least insures me as a regular driver on the rest of the family's 7 cars) and my mustang is only a 6 banger! that's why i was askin about the full insurance. i was quoted only around 250 a year not including collision, which is what i think i'd like to do. i'll pay cash for the bike, so i won't have a bank telling me i have to get full insurance.

 

[angryoriental]

get full coverage. you can not control all aspects of riding on the road.

 

[Sergeant Nic]

These are always great posts to read. Everybody definately has some good advice and here's my .02. Just because you drive a mustang and you think you have "self control" doesn't have anything to do with a motorcycle. First off, a track day riding class will do you no good to start with. You need to take the MSF course and really pay attention. It takes alot of time and miles under your belt to be able to ride in the conditions that today roads offer. You don't have to worry about your "self control" so much as you have to worry about the Cager pulling out in front of you and you not jamming 50 pounds of pressure on the back brake. And another item that interests me is you say "i sat on an r6 (which i would never think of buying for a first bike)". I don't quite know what that means, but any Sport, SuperSport Bike, Race Replica is a very dangerous machine to the untrained and ill experienced rider. You can have all the "self control" in the world but when you go into a corner to hot and you've been riding for a whopping 2 months, you may end up eating some dirt or asphault and a smaller starter bike will be alot more forgiving than that 400 pound racing machine your looking at. Lastly, (I don't mean to lecture)...if you get a bike get full coverage insurance. Bike parts can be very expensive when you wreck them all at once.

2003 Gixxer 600 is sitting at the dealer with 253 miles on it because some squid said he was gonna take it easy and he didn't need a smaller bike. He's dead and his bike is totaled, anybody need some parts??

 

[sixstang]

the reason why i said i wouldn't get an r6 is because a gsx-r600 is already more than powerful enough. another 20 horsepower is more than what i want to deal with.
i'm not saying that simply by having a mustang has developed self control, but it made it so damn easy to do stupid crap. it has gotten me into a lot of trouble and i regret all of it, but it has taught me some lessons, the biggest is not pushing the limits anymore. i've done some stupid things in my car, and i'm sure i'm not the only one on that, but i gotten screwed and i don't do that anymore.
like i said before, i don't want a bike to go rip through turns or fly around a track, i'm more than happy to save that kind of riding for down the road, i have plenty of time and nothing to prove. i want to have fun, but i need a bike that is going to handle easily and that i can be comfortable on, and the gsx-r is the most comfortable for what i've seen so far.

 

[fRaGgLe]

erm, you do realise that an R6 and a GSXR600 are pretty much equal in all respects ?

 

[sixstang]

they are similar i know, but i also understand how big of a difference 20 horsepower makes on a bike that light. now i may be wrong in my assumption but i can only look at the numbers and with my butt on a 380lb bike with 100 hp, its 5.8lbs/horse and with 120 hp that drops to 4.8. that's what i was basing my statement on.

 

[Sergeant Nic]

Originally posted by fRaGgLe:
erm, you do realise that an R6 and a GSXR600 are pretty much equal in all respects ?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'm going to have to agree with this one. I think the GSXR is a little more torqueish too. So, I don't know where he's getting the R6 is more powerfull than the GSXR-600. Any experts shed some light?

 

[fRaGgLe]

Originally posted by Sergeant Nic:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by fRaGgLe:
erm, you do realise that an R6 and a GSXR600 are pretty much equal in all respects ?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'm going to have to agree with this one. I think the GSXR is a little more torqueish too. So, I don't know where he's getting the R6 is more powerfull than the GSXR-600. Any experts shed some light?</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yamaha propoganda ?

Actually I think that the gix makes a couple more ponies than the Yam.

I rode an R6 and a GSXR600 back to back, and both are like riding razor blades with jet engines. The Gix has a little more torque (it has some), and both rev to infinity

Both will push 160mph, and neither one are learner machines.

 

[sixstang]

screw it. later

[ 01-28-2003, 09:19 PM: Message edited by: sixstang ]

 

[Sergeant Nic]

Originally posted by sixstang:
screw it. later

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Hey fragle, I can't believe you admitted you road an R6

Just kidding bro..

The problem with kids today is they just refuse to listen. Sixstang said "srew it, later". That to me sounds like somebody that's not looking for advice. One thing this forum is full of is great advice from experienced people. Personally I think the Bike shops shouldn't be allowed to sell anybody a sport bike until they've completed an MSF course at a minimum. But then again, everbody want's to make some money. Well, Sixstang, if you do intend to purchase a GSXR-600, ride safe and give me your email address so I can have a contact for some cheap parts.

 

[sixstang]

wow you guys are assholes, you refuse to believe that any new rider can be responsible. i find that amazing. i want advice, that's why i have been reading this board for a while and i decided to post. that backfired. i don't want to go out and kill myself, but if i get a cbr anything, or anything relatively upright, i'll be selling it in a month because i won't be able to ride it. i learn fast, but i also realize that its going to take me a long time to get good at riding and be able to really ride a gsx-r hard. i enjoy speed, whether i'm on my skis going down a trail at over 50, crossing the 1/4 mile marker close to a hundred, or weaving through a slalom course at an scca event at 50. but i know when enough is enough and its time to take it easy, most of my friends can't grasp that concept, pretty much everyone that i've talked to bikes about lately has told me how fast a gixxer will run the 1/4 or hit 60 or that i can ride a wheelie on the highway. i don't give a shit about that stuff, if i haven't made it clear. it may be hard to believe but i don't plan on practicing endos and wheelies any time soon, i have nothing to prove to my friends and i'm not getting a bike to impress girls. i've driven some really fast cars but i've also learned my limits and i always start off slow.
if this isn't enough to make anyone even slightly believe that i can be responsible, i'll stop wasting your time and find another board to ask for help on.

 

[Sergeant Nic]

, listen bro. We're not saying YOU'RE f#@kin irresponsible. It's not about what you say you're going to do and not going to do. I don't wheelie, endo, burnout, or show off for girls. That has nothing to do with what we're trying to get through your head. On a road there are so many factors that come into riding a motorcycle it often gets compared to flying a plane. So what if you've went down a hill on some slats of wood and so what if you've drove some Mustanky in the quarter mile. Have you ever had a car pull out in front of you when you're setting up for a corner and your entry speed is 80mph? What do you do in that situation? You have no freaking idea. So what we're saying is, if you're on a bike other than a sport bike or super sport bike and you're trying to get some experience you may have a better chance at surviving the wreck, that is most likely going to happen to some new guy with a mere 200 miles under his belt. And this is one example of the millions of things that can and will happen. Does anybody remember that Chris kid that died last summer in St Pete near the bayside bridge? 21 years old, just started riding...decided to buy an R6 because he could handle it. Was riding with some buddies across the bayside bridge and went up on this overpass ramp. Next thing you know he's over the rail about 30 feet down the embankment. He died that night or the next. ANyways....I'm done ranting and raving. Nobody in this forum is an asshole except the assholes who can't take some constructive fuckin criticism or advice.

 

[sixstang]

the fact that you even ask the question about a car pulling in front of me at 80. i don't even go 80 in my fucking "mustanky" let alone do i plan on doing on 2 wheels. i haven't even thought about highway riding, i'm gonna to take it rediculously slow, its not going to be my only ride, so i don't need to get good fast. i am perfectly comfortable with spending a while in parking lots and in residential neighborhoods.
i definitely plan on doing an msf course before i get a bike, and that will probably influence my decision, i also defintiely want to ride a gsx-r 600 before i buy a bike.
but come on man, please don't spend a whole post telling me how i'm gonna find so many ways to kill myself on a fast bike. i'm asking for some help, i really do want to become a good rider, but maybe explaining why a good handling bike is bad would help. why would i want a heavier bike or one that doesn't turn as fast? this is the kind of stuff i was hoping to learn. but if you don't want to help, fine. sorry i called you an ass and got pissed but it feels like you haven't read anything i've posted , its just frustrating. just want to learn.

 

[Sergeant Nic]

Look man, this is my last reply for this topic. There are alot of people in here that know what they're talking about because they've been riding for yearS. Alot of them have made mistakes and have been subject to some serious wrecks. So when a new guy comes on talking about his first bike being a SUPER SPORT then we have to let you know why it's not a good idea. So go out and get your Gixxer 600. They are awesome bikes. I ride mine almost everyday no matter what is going on. The fact that I've logged 5000 miles on this bike in 3 months tells you how much I love the Gixxer. It is a great bike, but it's also very dangerous.