Prakritij

hello Xbhpians,
I'm Prakritij Hazarika from Assam, working in Kerala for the last 2 and half years.
I am very passionate about Automobiles and I want to become a good/sensible rider/driver.
My biggest dilemma is that I'm yet to learn how to ride a bike. Reason being not able get my hands on one to pamper(don't want to damage someone else's). Rode scooter a few times and I know how to drive. Now that I want to buy a bike, I'm planning to join a Driving School(I have my DL though) to learn to ride.
One fine day while surfing, I stumbled upon this fabulous biking forum called "Xbhp" and got hooked to it ever since. Kudos to the creators, moderators and the members for maintaining such a forum.



When I told about my plans of gifting myself a bike to my family and friends, their first reaction was that how will I handle a bike which will be heavy for me (being at 49kg) as normally bikes weigh 120-150kg. Though I have convinced all, I'm in doubt myself now)
Being a huge fan of Yamaha R1 (which is off limits), I'm planning to get the next best thing in India, the Yamaha R15. Will it be OK to buy it as my first bike with 0 biking knowledge?

Hope to get my doubts cleared in Xbhp

ThanQ.

P.S.: Happy New Year to all

Aryan

Query Moved and Approved.

I believe it won't really be a problem with you handling the R15 as your first bike. Once you have actually learnt to ride, then it would be like a reflex action!

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Puneet1

just be careful and practice riding in mornings when traffic is scarce and you should be fine .

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krishkanthr15

I had a similar story to u dude. Let me share

My weight is around 57kgs and I am 5'11. I was very passionate about bikes but didnt know how to ride geared bikes. My friends never gave me their bikes as i didnt know how to ride and no one was bothered to teach me. So i got frustrated many times. Atlast, i demanded my father to get me a new bike. As usual, they refused but after a month of persuading they decided to gift me a bike last June on my birthday. At first, i decided to go for the Pulsar 200(which was my dream bike till then) but then i thought how could i control such a heavy bike that too without knowing how to ride!!! I wanted a powerful bike but as light as possible. Atlast, i found my perfect machine the Yammie R15. The first reaction of everyone including my parents was that i had gone mad." Son, how can u ride such a huge bike???" was everyone's feeling...

I got a few tips from the mechanic(he was shocked when i asked him how to ride a bike) which helped. OK then i learnt it to ride within a day. After a week, i was able to go in traffic and crowded areas. Everyone was shocked to see me and thought how i was riding a R15. After a month i was almost perfect with my bike. Then i started riding other bikes and gained confidence with them also. Now i feel that i am a good rider and can do a few stunts.

So, my advice to u will be this. Get urself a R15 and start riding it. U will never regret it. It is the easiest bike to ride and u can learn easily. Also given your weight, it will be easily to handle compared to other bikes.

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2009 YAMAHA YZF-R15

I hate people driving fast, thats why i overtake them !!!

braindead

you dont need too much muscle to ride. especially on the road. new riders sometimes adopt an uncomfortable, stiff style of riding. so long as you work around it, it takes very light control inputs to ride.
you may need some muscle to pick up a fallen bike though.

always use a helmet, ride at a speed you feel comfortable at. small crashes are inevitable (and sometimes funny). eg: you will drop your bike in a parking lot at least once. all of us go through it.

let the fact that you are going to drop your bike influence your choice of the bike.

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Abhishek

jugnu_sidhu

Dropping experience is inevitable.
while i started to learn i had my first fall in this manner, i rode 10km in a good manner but when i got off the bike i was so excited that a forgot to put the side stand and tilted it and left it

dineshsamtani

Dude i would suggest picking up an old bike and riding it for 10-15 days before riding a R15... learning a bike on R15 can be kicking the bike's A$$ unintentionally....

Just ride some friend's old bike for 10-15 days..... get thoda confidence on gear changing and throttle and clutch etc.... in the mean time book you R15....

And love your bike when u get it....... take good care of it from the 1st day itself....

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Respect the nature and it will respect you back.....

Cheers!!!!
Dinesh


First Ride to Malshej Ghats.....

tibby

Prakritij, firstly Welcomt to xBhp!

Like krishkanth mentioned, the R15 seems suited for you. The bike is quite light-weight & pretty easy bike to ride around too.
If you don't know anyone who can help you learn the bike, I'd advise stay away from buying the R15 as your learning bike, simply because its spare parts are costlier than than of other bikes (a fall or 2 is likely if you don't have proper guidance available. I'm not saying you will fall, just that you might ).
If you're going ahead with the driving school idea, then having the R15 as your first bike is perfectly alright. However, I'd suggest you to learn riding a bike from a friend (maybe some xBhpian might be willing to help). The driving schools here charge some 2k for it, which is an insane price to pay according to me. You might as well learn on your own bike, & pay 2k for damages..

Learning to ride a bike is not at all difficult, assuming you can ride a bicycle. Please practice patiently on empty roads & lanes first, & then slowly move to less crowded, and then more crowded areas. Also, learn riding on up-slopes, as it requires clutch-throttle-brake co-ordination.

Hope this helps.

PS:
1. I too learnt riding a bike about 2 years ago, & that on a brand new Discover. I took the delivery of the bike, but didn't know how to ride home on it. So i sat pillion, while my father rode it
2. Out of curiosity, what does your name mean?

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My views on the YZF-R15 V2.0: http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/news/198...tml#post699240

My test-ride experience of the YZF-R15 V2.0: http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/news/198...tml#post725556

The pleasure is when your rear wheel slides, and you bring it back; and when the front wheel lifts, you take your time bringing it back.

happybiking

@ Prakritij : Am just a few pounds heavier than you(read 51kg) and don't face any issue with even P220/ZMA(150kg+). As for R-1-5, its just 120kg and superbly built to suit almost anybody...Go for it without any second thoughts...

P.S : Check out The Doktor's(Valentino Rossi) pics. He too is skinny like us but have you heard anybody quesioning his biking abilities :

Edit: Welcome to xBhp

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...Back to HIBERNATE mode...


1200kms : Across Tamil nadu & pondicherryl

To the end of land!!!

Breakfast Ride!!! Mulshi Lake...

Prakritij

@Aryan, Puneet1, krishkanthr15, braindead, jugnu_sidhu, dineshsamtani, tibby and happybiking,
thanQ all for the support and the much needed advice. I'm feeling much more confident now by your words (and the mention of the Doc)
Saving up for the R15 now. Hope to get my hands on one by August.
Though costly, I've decided to go for it mainly because of its superb handling Deltabox (also because of the R factor)

@tibby, you have a PM

thanks again