so the noob will not ride too far and they'll have to spend the rest of the day searching for him in the woods
Beginning Rider Research
- Thread starter FZ6Rob85
- Start date
Better to search for your friend in the woods than have him get impaled rolling through a picket fence.
Someone should make a new rider specific indoor/ outdoor course with multiple traction surfaces, banked and heavily padded walls, special areas for turning and maneuvering, throttle control and take-offs, high visibility & low visibility, with all indoor areas specially ventilated to avoid accumulation of exhaust gases and fluid vapors. No searching for friends in the woods, no crazy cagers trying to run you down, no picket fences waiting to skewer your spleen, just people practicing to improve the varying levels of riding skills they may have.
A lot of good advice here....
My experience... I went looking at bikes (15 years ago) and liked the R6.... talked to the dealer at the lovcal show and he suggest the R6 over the R1 and shared a few of the utube type stories. So I was set on the R6....Before I bout I wanted my license (Massachusetts MSF) took the class on the 250 and thought this would be easy on a big bike.
Well some cowrokers got wind of my bike exploits and suggested I buy a 450 honda night hawk for my first bike as the R6 really isnt all that comfortable (I ride a lot). Went and sat on her 450 and it was HUGE compared the the 250 from the class. bout it for $500 put battery, plugs, oil and gas in it and away I went...
! year laater i was ready for an upgrade.... my garage burnt with the bike in it... so Off to the honda shadow 1100...that lasted 5 years and 60,000 miles before jumping back to this 6R...
Moral of the story it all depends on what you are comfortable with...I went with the cheapy night hawk 450 incase I laid it down...which I did. cheap to fix, abundant spare parts, cheap on the maintenance too.
Good choice on the msf class thought!
My experience... I went looking at bikes (15 years ago) and liked the R6.... talked to the dealer at the lovcal show and he suggest the R6 over the R1 and shared a few of the utube type stories. So I was set on the R6....Before I bout I wanted my license (Massachusetts MSF) took the class on the 250 and thought this would be easy on a big bike.
Well some cowrokers got wind of my bike exploits and suggested I buy a 450 honda night hawk for my first bike as the R6 really isnt all that comfortable (I ride a lot). Went and sat on her 450 and it was HUGE compared the the 250 from the class. bout it for $500 put battery, plugs, oil and gas in it and away I went...
! year laater i was ready for an upgrade.... my garage burnt with the bike in it... so Off to the honda shadow 1100...that lasted 5 years and 60,000 miles before jumping back to this 6R...
Moral of the story it all depends on what you are comfortable with...I went with the cheapy night hawk 450 incase I laid it down...which I did. cheap to fix, abundant spare parts, cheap on the maintenance too.
Good choice on the msf class thought!
they should aim them at a 6 foot ramp...now that would be funny!
I want to thank everyone who replied to this post. Your prior experience and knowledge will help me immensely in my future purchase decision, and I'm sure it will help many other current members and guests to this forum as well. There is already a wealth of information here, this forum and its members have done a great job of amassing this information and helping to encourage and welcome new riders like myself. Thank you!:thumbup:
I agree 100% with Martin. The 6R is my first bike since doing the MSF 4 years ago and I felt a little apprehensive the first time I took it out. That went away a few minutes later. The powerband is very manageable and the transmission is very forgiving. I am 5'10" and about 200 pounds and have no problems whatsoever with the bike's weight. In fact I find it very easy to maneuver slowly (under power or just walking it). I think you will bore quickly with a 250 or a 500, but if you are set on one for your first bike there's nothing wrong with that. The bikes used at MSF here in PA were 250 Suzuki's and I was bored the first day and I had never ridden before. I guess you'll know better once you ride the bike at your MSF. I think everyone should take a MSF course regardless of their background. Like my MSF instructor said, "Anyone on a bike can go fast, not everyone can go slow on one". That is one of the core values they instilled in us in my MSF course. It is so true! Doing a figure 8 in a small box at idle speed is not easy. We had people with years of experience struggle because they never learned slow maneuvering. Going fast is definitely easier and also addictive. Good luck.
No 500cc love?
I started riding motorcycles about a year and a half ago, but had 2 years of 150cc scooter experience prior. Right out of my MSF I got a 92 GS500 for about a grand with brand new tires. Carbs weren't perfect, but they were good enough. I just sold it for about the same price, and insurance for the whole year (including theft, etc) was $112. Cheap to maintain, light, and the 92 is naked, so no expensive plastics to break. I (and many websites, and MSF instructors I talked to) think it's the PERFECT beginner bike.
If I didn't love the look and sound of the FZ6R, I would still be fairly happy on my GS. I do miss how nimble it is and considering lowering the front of the FZ. But back on topic, the GS has more power than you will ever need, it's a great looking bike, cheap, and VERY forgiving.
I've heard similar things about the Kawasaki EX500.... but it's really ugly.......
I started riding motorcycles about a year and a half ago, but had 2 years of 150cc scooter experience prior. Right out of my MSF I got a 92 GS500 for about a grand with brand new tires. Carbs weren't perfect, but they were good enough. I just sold it for about the same price, and insurance for the whole year (including theft, etc) was $112. Cheap to maintain, light, and the 92 is naked, so no expensive plastics to break. I (and many websites, and MSF instructors I talked to) think it's the PERFECT beginner bike.
If I didn't love the look and sound of the FZ6R, I would still be fairly happy on my GS. I do miss how nimble it is and considering lowering the front of the FZ. But back on topic, the GS has more power than you will ever need, it's a great looking bike, cheap, and VERY forgiving.
I've heard similar things about the Kawasaki EX500.... but it's really ugly.......
I've never ridden a 500cc bike to say if it's necessarily a better beginner bike. I love my 6R and am glad that I got it as my first bike. I agree the ex500 is ugly. I'm not sure why they haven't updated it as they did with the 250.
Las model year of the Ninja 500 was 2009. I think they might be redoing it to make it more current on the fairings and other specs.. Unless they are thinking that with the Yami 6R, they will compete in the 600 class as a beginner bike being the 650 now since it is detuned also. There really wasnt an extreme much performance difference between the 500 and the 6R anyways, so maybe they are deciding to axe it and just compete this way.. That would leave the sole 500 as the GSX-500F (do they actually still even make that also??).
They discontinued the GS500 as well. I think 2010 may have been the last year.
Guess they are more or less saying it's a 250 or 600 to start then. There used to be a few 500's available. Better option for a bigger noob.
I think a lot of it depends on how and where you think you'll ride.
When I got back into riding after 10 years, I got a 250 supermoto type bike. But I rarely drive on LA freeways and almost never ride on them except for a few short stretches to get out of town. The light bike is great turning fun on all sorts of roads. I don't care that I never go much over 65-70mph. I want to upgrade and am actively looking for a new bike because I'd like something that's comfortable for longer distances, but I'm really in no rush.
The one thing I've noticed when I've been on bigger bikes lately is that mistakes are going to be a lot more costly and dangerous. There are probably places where that would not be the case, but in LA traffic with a 600, getting on the throttle a bit too quick will kill you. On my 250 that's not an issue, so I can be a bit more relaxed most of the time and I believe that's really helped my riding come back. Saying "it's not the bike, it's your wrist" sounds nice, but if you haven't been riding for a while, your wrist is going to make mistakes. How costly will those be? In part it does depend on where you are and what you're riding when it happens. And I say "when" not "if" because it will happen.
Had I lived in a place with less traffic and more open roads I'd probably have gone bigger right away. Where I do live, I'm almost thinking that keeping the 250 will make perfect sense, even when I have a bigger bike.
So the reality is you have to ask yourself some hard questions about what you're going to do with the bike and where. If you're not sure, I'd say start small and used. If you need to sell it for little or no loss in six months, so be it.
The other thing about the smaller bike is it gives you a chance to really think about whether that style bike is really what you want. The more time I spend riding the more I think that an FZ6R (or any other "sport" style bike) might not be what I actually want in the end. I can't say so for sure, which is why I'm still here, but I'm finding myself leaning more and more towards something a bit less "sport" and a bit more "touring" focused.
When I got back into riding after 10 years, I got a 250 supermoto type bike. But I rarely drive on LA freeways and almost never ride on them except for a few short stretches to get out of town. The light bike is great turning fun on all sorts of roads. I don't care that I never go much over 65-70mph. I want to upgrade and am actively looking for a new bike because I'd like something that's comfortable for longer distances, but I'm really in no rush.
The one thing I've noticed when I've been on bigger bikes lately is that mistakes are going to be a lot more costly and dangerous. There are probably places where that would not be the case, but in LA traffic with a 600, getting on the throttle a bit too quick will kill you. On my 250 that's not an issue, so I can be a bit more relaxed most of the time and I believe that's really helped my riding come back. Saying "it's not the bike, it's your wrist" sounds nice, but if you haven't been riding for a while, your wrist is going to make mistakes. How costly will those be? In part it does depend on where you are and what you're riding when it happens. And I say "when" not "if" because it will happen.
Had I lived in a place with less traffic and more open roads I'd probably have gone bigger right away. Where I do live, I'm almost thinking that keeping the 250 will make perfect sense, even when I have a bigger bike.
So the reality is you have to ask yourself some hard questions about what you're going to do with the bike and where. If you're not sure, I'd say start small and used. If you need to sell it for little or no loss in six months, so be it.
The other thing about the smaller bike is it gives you a chance to really think about whether that style bike is really what you want. The more time I spend riding the more I think that an FZ6R (or any other "sport" style bike) might not be what I actually want in the end. I can't say so for sure, which is why I'm still here, but I'm finding myself leaning more and more towards something a bit less "sport" and a bit more "touring" focused.
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The GSX-500F is long gone. There was a GSX-650F until a few years ago, which was mostly just a restyled Bandit.
Kawasaki has got a 400 outside the US. Looks a lot like the current 650. They're moving toward 250-400-650-1000 as their lineup for "standard" ergo bikes outside the US. For now we have only 250-650-1000 and of course miss out on some of the naked versions they sell elsewhere.
Sounds like the 400 would make a great beginner bike for bigger guys. It's existence is partially driven by the need for a bike that meets Euro and Aussie "beginner" bike limits without artificial restriction, which I'm guessing is also part of the reason they don't feel the need to sell it here.
Ninja 400R - Street/touring - Model 2012 - Canadian Kawasaki Motors Inc.
Never overestimate the intelligence of LA drivers. Many of them are really smart, but most of the time 90% of their intelligence is going to their cellphones and only 10% to driving...
The key point is if you over-throttle it a bit in traffic, which can be caused by something as minor as an unexpected bump in the road, what are the consequences. On my 250, close to nothing. On a 600 I-4? Could be catastrophic in my typical riding situations. Since you will, as a new rider, have some of those things happen, it's important to put that into the context of where you ride and what the risks are. The bigger the inherent risks on the road, the more I'd lean towards a smaller bike. But I recognize that there can be a flip side. If you must be riding LA freeways even as a new rider, being underpowered and in the far right lane all the time is a risk in and of itself. What makes sense? Really only you know. It's all a matter of thinking through what kind of riding you really think you'll be doing for the next year. Don't worry about beyond the next year. You will probably guess wong.
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There are plenty of betweener bikes still out there on the used market, quite a few Suzuki and Kawi 500's, as well as Honda CB 350, 450 and 550's. Many of them are still quite popular, especially with the resurgence of the Cafe Racer style. I've seen a few heavily modded Cafe's based on Kawi, Yamaha, and Honda chassis here in NE Ohio.
I spent a lot of time looking. The bike that really fit me well was a Suzuki GS500. Must have looked at a dozen of them. Did not see one that I was willing to buy. Either they were trashed in ways that were unacceptable to me (not talking pure cosmetics here), or the owner was ridiculous about how much he thought it "should" be worth.
But that's the LA market. Other areas are different. I found the sweet spot here to be 2-4 year old bikes.
