new rider, want a 600!!!! why not?

Question

Ok Ive been getting blasted by everyone because im a new rider and i want a 600 gsxr, If i stay off the highways and just cruise in parking lots and around town for the first year whats the big no no in that as long as i dont act stupid with the dam thing, The first and only bike i have ever rode was a 97 ninja zx <==(i think, it was a 600 ninja bike though) 600. Yeah it was scary, yea its a mean sob if you give it too much gas, but that fucer scared me enough to respect it and i didnt even get above 35. Im quite aware that im not aware of what they can do and i dont have any intrest in fully finding out anytime too soon, but the rest of the smaller bikes look like as* so why cant i just get a 6 and take it easy, you know 2 miles an hour so everybody sees me and slowly work my way up the ladder, I am pretty sure a 500 or even a 250 has more than enough to kill a stupid person that just cranks it as soon as they start out, what dif does 170 mph make to 125 if your slidin on the ground??

your pretty much a done deal unless your on a track either way, true the get up there quicker but keep in mind i wont even be testing speeds over 55 mph for the first season, its mainly going to be a go to work and around town crusin thing untill my handling skills are polished, and i do plan on takeing the safty course offerd at our community college here too before i get my license so i expect that to help out a bit

wow motomum exaclty what i was thinking who do your sons race for or is it just a weekend at the track kind of thing

look dumbas* i said a 600 not a 1300, I want to look good while learning and THEN go fast, not be a uncontroable blur that suddlny smacks into the back of a truck at a stop light

Answer 1

As long as you are allowed to ride a 600 I would say you seem to have the right idea and don't think you are invincible. You seem to recognise that motorbikes are dangerous and not something to use as a di*k extension. But if you do go ahead remind yourself to always think that way as it is not just how you ride but the other idiots on the road. I live with the worry of motorbike injury every weekend as I have two sons who race motocross. I could wrap them in cotton wool and not let them do it, but it is a passion for them and every precaution for safety is taken. Mind you my youngest at the moment has a broken arm from doing supercross and earlier this year had a broken collarbone. So don't worry about the other people and what they think just enjoy your bike and be responsible.

My youngest is the one that wants to do the sport for a profession ( so of course he is the one with the most injuries) He has support from Kawasaki Specialist Racing, but is just moving to honda as he rides an 85cc and a 125cc and will be racing a 250cc as well next year. Unfortunately kawasaki havent upgraded their 85's for a number of years so reluctantly he has gone onto the Honda. He was meant to be racing in Sydney Australia for the supercross next weekend but then he broke his arm. He is just going to be back in time for our Junior nationals. His big brother has more sense and does race but not quite as much of a maniac. They race nearly every weekend.

Answer 2

Why not? Most experienced motorcyclists (like me, 40 years, I own multiple bikes, including a fast sportbike) will tell you to start out on something that isn't so responsive to control (throttle, steering, brake) inputs. A cruiser is a better first bike.

A 600 sport bike has a lot of power. That power comes on suddenly at high rpm. Most accidents happen to new riders. Most accidents happen around town. Many accidents happen to young men who want a really fast sporty bike (which a 600 is, the liter bikes aren't _that_ much faster) for a first bike. Getting one and never using most of the throttle is not a likely thing, no matter what you say now.

That is why you're getting serious advice not to do it by some of us. Motorcycling is dangerous. A new rider on a bike like a 600 sportbike is _way_ more dangerous. We'd like to have you around to enjoy the sport.

Whatever you do: Get seriously good safety gear and wear it, all the time. Jeans and a thin leather jacket doesn't cut it. Almost every motorcycle rider falls off sometime. Dress for that. Take a training course. Google "Motorcycle Safety Foundation" or check with your local community college.

Do note that I answered this without any thought that you'd pick it as "best answer". Or that I'll ever meet you.

Ride safe.

[EDIT] To the guy below. I wouldn't recommend that _anyone_ start out on a 600 sport bike. No matter how "mature". It's simply a lousy idea.

Answer 3

You answered your own question in the last sentence. The size of the bike doesn't matter much when you're sliding into a wall, so by that logic you should get a literbike, right?

WRONG! Here's why: a GSX-R600 is a RACE BIKE, not a bike for a newbie. It doesn't matter that you've scared yourself on another bike before, a race bike is too much input for your fresh brain to consciously handle all at once.

Supersport motorcycles are made to integrate with a skilled rider and handle speeds well over 100 MPH, but you need to have EVERYTHING internalized in order to control a bike that goes at the speed of thought. One simple mistake that a good racer can recover from will make you panic and crash, and on the street you don't have the benefit of a long sandy runoff area- you hit concrete barriers, ditches, and other cars!

Logically, you must be lying to yourself about why you want a Gixxer. You think that you can "polish your skills" in one year, but I can assure you that not even Valentino Rossi is fully polished. You might even get beyond Squid status after 3-5 years if you don't kill yourself, but thinking that a year is all it takes shows how little you actually understand about motorcycles.

So it stands to reason that if you think you'll be a pro in a year, then you can handle the occasional twist of full throttle- you know, just to see how it feels, right? Once you get accustomed to the acceleration, do you HONESTLY believe that you'll still be puttering around the neighborhood at 35 MPH? Squids always think that twisting the throttle makes them cool, but have no idea how to CONTROL the bike at speed.

You didn't mention anything about what gear you'll be wearing, which is what will save your @ss when you go down. A helmet doesn't do any good with a T-shirt & shorts, pal. You also neglected to even ask about proper training, like classes from MSF or ABATE. They have basic and advanced courses, and will get you thinking about the right way to ride.

And lastly, why would you want to go slow on a fast bike? If smaller bikes aren't "cool" to you, it sounds like you just want a piece of Butt Jewelry to show off with! You want your first bike, not your last one.

Now think about something else: you hear stories from people that were fine with a supersport as their first bike, so it sounds like no big deal. But what have you heard from the people that were NOT successful with a 600cc "beginner" bike? NOTHING, because they're not around to tell their story, Junior! Maybe, just MAYBE, there's a good reason that you're getting a load of crap for wanting a Gixxer; ever consider that?

Answer 4

As a teen, I raced Motocross. As an adult, I don't ride ... so take my answer with a grain of salt ... I'm probably not "your kind of guy". Truthfully, I think you will buy the bike you want because most bike decisions, in truth, end up being style/statement decisions.

That said, here are some of the reasons you might choose a more sedate 450-600cc scooter for your first ride. 1) All bikes in this range are fast compared to most cars, 2) All bikes in this range can break traction in a wide variety of circumstances, 3) You need to learn new skills such as: a) ALWAYS remembering that cars don't see bikes, b) building a feel for coordinated braking (i.e. using front and rear together), c) building a sense of traction and the "edge of traction", d) various motorcycle specific road strategies that no one teachs but must be learned by trial and error, 4) the gsxr style of bike adds barriers to learning these skills: a) the "leaning-forward, stretched-out" position makes lower speed manuvers "less natural" and discourages head movement for checking around you, and b) encourages you to ride with a "go fast" mentality, 5) the "racing tuned" engine adds barriers too: a) there is a lot of power, b) the power comes on in a rush which makes it easy to break traction by accident (this is usually bad), c) when you break traction, more power, more rush, and more cylinders makes makes things get out of hand faster and even for experience riders makes it slower to reestablish control. All a lot to deal with when you are making a left hand turn, and you are with a group of other riders all pushing a bit fast because the light just turned red and the new rode lets your bike stretch its legs a bit, and you thought the manhole cover was dry, and etc.

Anyway, just my thoughts. Buy your bike, have fun, and be safe. Other drivers count on you to maintain control and be predictable.

Answer 5

I'm not sure why any of us even bother answering. It appears that you have your mind made up. The overwhelming advice is that a beginner should not start on a race bike like the GSXR, yet you seem to have a number of rebuttals why it can't be that bad. For a mature person, I'd possibly say a lower performance 600cc bike might be acceptable, but not preferable (The GSXR doesn't fall in that category). If what bike you have and what it looks like matters so much to you, you are way to worried about your image and that will affect how you ride as well.
You've heard the advice repeatedly....get a smaller bike to start. If you don't want to hear it, don't ask the question.

Answer 6

Go for it. If you put in your time off the public roads, you should be fine.

But get some frame sliders. I believe they're the sportbike equivalent of crash bars, and will help prevent or minimize damage to the bike if you go down.

The majority out here recommend starting small, and without personally knowing the people asking, that's probably a good idea. But I'm on the other side of the fence. I think learning on a 125 or 250 in class is fine, but once you're out of there, you should get a bike large enough that you won't be bored. That's my $.02 anyway!

Answer 7

You wouldn't be the first one to survive learning on a 600, but you are making things rather hard on yourself. It's much easier to learn on a bike you aren't scared of.

Here's an essay posted to a sport bike website that explains the difficulty of a 600 cc supersport as a first bike much better than I ever could:

http://bcsportbikes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45571

Answer 8

It won't take a year to get use to a 600. They are very good bikes to learn on, and good bikes for advanced riders. If you respect a bikes ability to kill you, it wouldn't matter what you learned on. I learned on a CBR 600, and I would recomend a 600 to learn on. It will also be enough bike to still be fun years from now when you are more skilled.

Answer 9

dude, take a motorcycle safety course and buy whatever bike you want. A friend of mine even found a motorcycle "racing" course.

Answer 10

get ya one of these
http://www.hyp4r.com/hayabusa/hayabusa.htm