[quote]XiaoNio wrote:
Take the MSF class. Get a Ninja 250 or a 500. Learn how to drag pegs with it and get yourself into and out of bad spots. Sell it in a year for as much as you bought it for. Then buy race rep of your choice. It’s a lot less glamorous than hopping onto a CBR-RR or GSX-R, but it’s a lot safer.
A 600cc race rep is a serious machine. Most will outrun and out brake all but the fastest cars. Youcould give a 16 year old kid the keys to a Ferrari Enzo, but they won’t be able to do much with it. They haven’t developed the skills to handle one properly near the limits. Similarly, you might be able to ride a 600 or liter bike, but when something bad happens, will you be able to handle it safely? The guy above me says you don’t buy a car to crash it, so why buy a bike to drop it? Well, riding a bike is a lot harder than driving a car. Everything happens a lot faster and you don’t get the stability of 4 wheels. A race rep is on the fine line of performance and can be unforgiving.
It’s not even just the engine, it’s the suspension geometry and the brakes. A more forgiving and cheaper bike means you can push your limits more gradually without the bike biting you in the ass. And if you have a bad crash,it’s also not going to hurt your wallet as much.
In a car, you make a mistake, you lock up the wheels, it skids a bit, you shake up your nerves and life goes on. In a bike, you lock up the wheels, you stop turning, the bike might get traction and throw you off, it might slide under. A lot of things you can get away with in a car, can be damaging, costly or even fatal on a bike.
I know because I traded my Ninja 500 for a gorgeous Ducati with some giant Brembos up front after 2 months of riding. I’m going around a turn, a van runs a stop, I grab a little too much brake, the front tire locks up, bike wobbles, bites in and throws me over the front. Bike slides 30 feet. That’s scraped knees and bruised wrists for me and about 2 grand in damage to the bike.
Can you start out on a 600 or bigger? Yes. Will you learn more safely if you start smaller, slower and less sporty? Probably. If you buy a used 250 or 500, you can abuse it and resell it without losing any value. You might not look cool riding around on a doofy bike for a few months. But if that keeps you from highsiding your bike if a car cuts you off, then I think it’s a pretty worthy sacrifice.[/quote]
for the win! ^ The first sentence is gold. And buy used. You WILL drop your first bike. I have yet to meet a single person who hasn’t dropped theirs, when they first started to ride. Riding is a skill that has to be developed with time in the saddle, just like anything else.
As for brand, they are all close to the same. Different people like different bikes. I’m a Yama Hammer fan because I used to work as a mechanic, obviously a bike shop. PM if you want more information.
FYI that’s a picture of me in '04 at Spokane, WA.
