[quote]BluePfaltz wrote:
Here in Jersey they are mandatory. As well as Connecticut, and New York, but not Pennsylvania. There are some anal-retentive people who take their helmets off when they cross the PA border…
But no, I would certainly wear a helmet. It seems though in most cases the helmet doesn’t help shit, but I’m going on speculation. [/quote]
The helmet helps. Ride along a dirt road behind a truck (or on a road with sand like in Florida) and then tell me if it helped or not. Rocks and sand at 60 mph feel like someone is shooting you with bb pellets.
I am all for riding gear most of the time, but I would love to see most here keep all of that on while riding along the beach at 10mph in Florida with 85 college girls in bikinis asking for a ride on the back.
Let’s be a little more realistic.
I want people to ride with gear as safety is no joke, but I’m not going to lie about it either.
600 is an awesome beginner bike, get a 03,04,05 GSX-R (my personal fav body style of the gixxers) i had an 05 600 for a brief time and i still hit 172 on it so dont let anyone tell you its not fast enough. Granted id fight anyone to the death for my zx-14 LOVED it soooo much more than my old busa, or any other bike ive had. But holy hell those 600’s are a BLAST
Prof X you’re 100% right, i wear my shit when i purposefully go out to really ride or when cruising country roads because of bugs and shit but slow rollin by the lake and cruise-ins no thanks ill take my chance not wearing gear and pickin up the honeys. and ive wrecked with and without it on both ways still suck
It’s the idiots who don’t wear helmets on the freeway that make me shake my head in disbelief. I’ve had way too many rocks hit my helmet to be that stupid, let alone the overall safety issue.[/quote]
[quote]BluePfaltz wrote:
I just got my license (class : E) here in Jersey, so it’s time for me start shopping. There is a dealership up by me on Rt. 17S that sells Suzuki, Kawasaki’s, and Yamahas. All nice, but I admit I’m a novice and am not sure what to look for…
Please help point my compass towards something a newbie should ride.[/quote]
Get a 600 for your first bike. When I got mines the insurence was about $24 a month with State Farm. I had a GSX-R for my first bike and now days they are making those things faster.
[quote]BluePfaltz wrote:
inkaddict wrote:
I have heard good things about the new Kawi Ninja 250’s, they look pretty cool and they’re not insanely powerful, but if you think you can handle something with some more power, the SV would be great, they’ve got power and are a little more upright, so you’re not so leaned over like you would be on a GSXR or CBR or any other rocket. Also, check state farm out for full coverage insurance, they’re the lowest that I’ve found, a lot less than other like progressive and geico and the other ones.
Shop around, take the MSF class if you haven’t already, you’ll learn a shitload. I took it, I had never ridden before, and I feel really comfortable on my GSXR600 after only a few months of riding. Good luck with your choice, shop around, and put up some pics when you decide to take the plunge.
Ink
I too have heard the Ninjas are great beginner bikes, the only problem with them that I heard was that they are easy to stall and the bar tends to lock up on certain traffic conditions; and driving here in Jersey isn’t exactly a cakewalk. Is this true?
ProfX, That’s what some guy tried telling me today at my Gym…
Hes rationale was If you don’t go fast and heavy you’ll never build up the strength to match the stress… I know he wasn’t talking about weights on that one, and I don’t believe everything I hear either.
[/quote]
Stay away from the 1K or anything with an R in it for your first bike, hell maybe even your second.
I had a roommate who had ridden a 1978 750 something for 2-3 years then didn’t ride for 3-4 years and though buying a brandnew Honda CBR 954 RR was a good idea. He claimed he’d never use all the power and that he wouldn’t be one of those idiots ridding wheelies down the highway so he’d be fine with that much power.
4 days after he bought it I get a call from him about 9:30p, all he said to me on the phone was “I’m at the gym come get me and bring your truck?” I’m freaked out wondering WTF was going on. I get to the gym to find him bleeding everywhere from road rash and the bike on it’s side seriously F’d up. Turns out Mr. I’ll never use all that power wanted to tear out of the parking lot like a fool when the front wheel came off the ground and he had no idea how to control it so he let out of the gas and grabbed the break causing the bike to come down too fast and he panic reved it ripping the front wheel up again which threw him to the ground in nothing more than gym shorts and a T-shirt. The bike took off through the parking lot on it’s side until it was stopped by a light pole which broke the back rim when it hit. He was lucky all he got was some serious road rash and $3k in damages!
The moral of the story is RESPECT the bike no matter how good you think you are the bike is the boss.
im gonna go ahead and second or third or whatever pretty much everything that everyone has said. stay away from liter bikes, get some gear, take and MSF class, and dont be a squid. hook up with some responsible riders to teach you how to ride and SAFELY have fun.
some say a 600 is good for a starter bike, but the new 600’s are as fast as liters were a few years back. a 600 back in 1989 might have been a fine learners bike, but not so much now. i speak out of experience.
[quote]grappler_123 wrote:
hook up with some responsible riders to teach you how to ride and SAFELY have fun.
[/quote]
Good point. I forgot about that. When I first started riding, I was surrounded by other riders who had WAY more experience. One in particular is the main reason I learned how to maneuver so quickly. He was older than me by about 10 years and rode responsibly…but he still liked taking some risks. If it hadn’t been for people like that, I would have been way behind whether I took a course or not.
Your best teachers are other responsible riders. Trust me, there are more than enough irresponsible ones out there so don’t get them confused.
If some idiot thinks it is a good idea to do wheelies before you’ve even learned how to turn a corner at greater than 10mph, stay away from that fool.
most people get a bike for the feeling of riding in the wind, or whatever. what they find out after riding for a while is that sport bikes are really good at three particular things: stunting, drag racing, and road racing. They are, in fact, built for road racing, but do just fine at the other two.
If you are gonna stunt, do it in a controlled environment, not on the freeway please. and get ready to pay a bunch of money for stunt cages, new sprockets, etc.
If you are gonna drag race, do it in a controlled environment. I love as much as anyone the thrill of twisting the throttle on an onramp or giving it a little on the highway, but there are too many factors out there to push your luck on a public roadway.
If you are gonna road race, like I like, do it in a controlled environment. Again, I like to get out in the twisties and have a little fun, but I never push it too much.
Also, get to a track day or two. You will learn more in one track day than a year on the street. Its the best $100 or so you will ever spend. So much fun, and the one place you can really see what your bike is capable of without serious risk of death or severe injury. BTW, if you ever take a newer 600 to a track, you will quickly understand that even a 600 has way more power and potential than most riders, even experienced ones, can even begin to tap in to. Thats why I still ride a 600. Until someone on a liter shows me that they are significantly faster than me on a track, I will continue to ride 600’s.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
First, don’t listen to guys who tell you that you need to get a 1000 as your first bike. Nearly every guy who told me that when I first started ended up destroying their’s somehow. I started slow with an R6 and kept that for two years. It was great and allowed me tpo work out the kinks as far as riding. In fact, if you can fond one, I would get a USED 600 as your first bike. Chances are great that you will drop it at least once even if it is by accident in the garage.
Leave the 1000’s for experienced riders who know the feel of a bike well.
My current bike is not for beginners. I have no doubt I would have damn near killed myself if I had bought one of these as my first ride. 1000’s today are like small AirForce jets.[/quote]
X, I’ve toyed with the idea of a bike for a couple years now. Trusting your advice above, it seems to my inexperienced eye like those smaller engine bikes are too small for someone like us. I don’t want to look like a circus bear on a tricycle (I think you actually said that once LOL) and, after all, just b/c it goes that fast, does’t mean YOU have to right (this coming from a guy that just had his BMW @ 165 mph and rides his ATV like he stole it). What are your thoughts?
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
Professor X wrote:
First, don’t listen to guys who tell you that you need to get a 1000 as your first bike. Nearly every guy who told me that when I first started ended up destroying their’s somehow. I started slow with an R6 and kept that for two years. It was great and allowed me tpo work out the kinks as far as riding. In fact, if you can fond one, I would get a USED 600 as your first bike. Chances are great that you will drop it at least once even if it is by accident in the garage.
Leave the 1000’s for experienced riders who know the feel of a bike well.
My current bike is not for beginners. I have no doubt I would have damn near killed myself if I had bought one of these as my first ride. 1000’s today are like small AirForce jets.
X, I’ve toyed with the idea of a bike for a couple years now. Trusting your advice above, it seems to my inexperienced eye like those smaller engine bikes are too small for someone like us. I don’t want to look like a circus bear on a tricycle (I think you actually said that once LOL) and, after all, just b/c it goes that fast, does’t mean YOU have to right (this coming from a guy that just had his BMW @ 165 mph and rides his ATV like he stole it). What are your thoughts?
[/quote]
I used to get jokes all of the time when I had my R6. the bear on tricycle jokes were the most common. I don’t get that on the 1000 even though it isn’t THAT much bigger than the R6. I think the CBR is a little wider which gives me a better look on it. I get more compliments now on the bike.
Every once in a while, someone will say something like, “someone as big as you needs a Hyabusa or a cruiser”…and they may be right…but I love my current bike. If I get another one, it probably will be some sort of cruiser, but I plan on keeping this one as long as I can.
The value of an MSF course cannot be overstated. I have been on a bike nearly all of my life and I walked away a smarter more skilled rider. Stay away from idiots that think that being a skilled rider means splitting lanes at high speed or doing stunts in the parking lot.
Unless you really want a rocket, I would urge you to look hard at a used jap cruiser in the 650-750 range. They are cheap to buy and insure, pretty reliable and have decent resale value.
[quote]Mister T. wrote:
Professor X wrote:
grappler_123 wrote:
hook up with some responsible riders to teach you how to ride and SAFELY have fun.
Good point. I forgot about that. When I first started riding, I was surrounded by other riders who had WAY more experience. One in particular is the main reason I learned how to maneuver so quickly. He was older than me by about 10 years and rode responsibly…but he still liked taking some risks. If it hadn’t been for people like that, I would have been way behind whether I took a course or not.
Your best teachers are other responsible riders. Trust me, there are more than enough irresponsible ones out there so don’t get them confused.
If some idiot thinks it is a good idea to do wheelies before you’ve even learned how to turn a corner at greater than 10mph, stay away from that fool.
Where did you guys find these responsible riders?[/quote]
In Florida, you simply had to have a bike and people would come to you. I find it harder to meet riders in Houston. People are less open. There is generally a common thread between most riders (aside from the usual sportbike vs cruiser wars), so meeting someone who rides will eventually just happen.
I was just lucky. I met those guys in the shop while I was buying it. They invited me to the place where most would hook up on Sundays before riding as a group. Things took off from there.
[quote]Mister T. wrote:
Professor X wrote:
grappler_123 wrote:
hook up with some responsible riders to teach you how to ride and SAFELY have fun.
Where did you guys find these responsible riders?[/quote]
Guys I worked with. We agreed up front on group rides to stay near the speed limit and work on perfect cornering before any hooliganism.
Canyon carving and kneedragging are a lot of fun and do not require breaking laws, particularly not to the extent that your bike will be impounded. Go slowly ride the roads you intend to carve, looking over the road for gravel and dirt. Watch at the hour you intend to carve and see what traffic patterns are. Watch to see if the farmer gets a hay shipment that will block the whole road or if the shadowy parts stay wet. And don’t get stupid.
If you want to go really fast, take it to the track.
I agree with PX, get a 600, and if this is your first bike, or you have ridden very few times, i suggest getting some sliders, because you will lay it down if you are pretty new.
Where did you guys find these responsible riders?[/quote]
Most of the guys that work at your local dealer will be excellent riders(and blisteringly fast), or total posers. Shouldn’t take you long to figure out which. After that, chances are those guys that work at the dealer will know a lot of vets well that you will more than likely run into if you ride with the dealer guys. At least, that’s how I managed.
