Rudra

Guys, excellent read! No, I did not write this, link to where I found is,

Choosing your first bike ......

Excerpt from post as below:-
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"One of the most common questions new sport bike riders have is, “What kind of sport bike should I get?” This question is asked so often that I have created a standardized response to it. Please keep in mind that these are the views and opinions of one person (albeit countless other also hold them) With that said, on we go…

Getting ANY modern 600cc sport bike for a first ride is a bad idea (far, far, far worse is a 1000cc bike for a first ride.) In fact, it may be nothing more than an expensive form of suicide. Here are a few reasons why.

1. Knowledge of Subject Matter

When anyone starts something new they find themselves at the most basic point of the “beginner’s mind”. This is to say that they are at the very start of the learning curve. They are not even aware of what it is that they don't know. A personal example of this is when I began Shotokan Karate. The first day of class I had no idea what an “inside-block” was, let alone how to do it with correct form, power, and consistency. After some time, and a lot of practice, I could only then realize how bad my form really was. Then, and only then, was I able to begin the process of improving it. I had to become knowledgeable that inside-blocks even existed before I was aware that I couldn’t do them correctly. It takes knowledge OF something in order to understand how that something works, functions, performs, etc. Now lets return to the world of motorcycles. A beginner has NO motorcycle experience. They are not even aware of the power, mistakes, handling, shifting, turning dynamics etc. of any bike, let alone a high performance sport bike. Not only do they lack the SKILL of how to ride a motorcycle, they also lack the knowledge of WHAT skills they need to learn. Acquiring those skills comes only with experience and learning from your mistakes. As one moves through the learning curve they begin to amass new information…they also make mistakes. A ton of them.

2. The Learning Curve

While learning to do something, you make mistakes. Without mistakes the learning process is impossible. A mistake on a sport bike can be fatal. The things new riders need to learn above all is smooth throttle control, proper speed, and how to lean going into turns. A 600cc bike can reach 60mph in about 3 to 5 seconds. A simple beginners mishap with that much power and torque can cost you your life (or a few limbs) before you even knew what happened. Grab a handful of throttle going into a turn and you may end up crossing that little yellow line on the road into on-coming traffic…**shudder**. Bikes that are more forgiving of mistakes are far safer (not to mention, more fun) to learn on.

Ask yourself this question; in which manner would you rather learn to walk on a circus high-wire A) with a 4x4 board that is 2 feet off the ground with a wire that is 20 feet off the ground? Most sensible people would choose “A”. The reason why is obvious. Unfortunately safety concerns with a first motorcycle aren’t as apparent as they are in the example above. However, the wrong choice of what equipment to learn on can be just as deadly, regardless of how safe, careful, and level-headed you intend to be.

3. “But I Will be Safe, Responsible, and Level-Headed While Learning".

Sorry, but this line of reasoning doesn’t cut it. To be safe you also need SKILL (throttle control, speed, leaning, etc). Skill comes ONLY with experience. To gain experience you must ride in real traffic, with real cars, and real dangers. Before that experience is developed, you are best suited with a bike that won’t severely punish you for minor mistakes. A cutting edge race bike is not one of these bikes.

Imagine someone saying, "I want to learn to juggle, but I’m going to start by learning with chainsaws. But don’t worry. I intend to go slow, be careful, stay level-headed, and respect the power of the chainsaws while I’m learning". Like the high-wire example, the proper route here isn’t hard to see. Be “careful” all you want, go as “slow” as you want, be as “cautious” as you want, be as “respectful” as you want…your still juggling chainsaws! The “level-headed” thing to do in this situation is NOT to start with chainsaws. Without a foundation in place of HOW to juggle there is only a small level of safety you can aspire towards. Plain and simple, it’s just better to learn juggling with tennis balls than it with chainsaws. The same holds true for learning to ride a motorcycle. Start with a solid foundation in the basics, and then move up. Many people say that “maturity” will help you be safe with motorcycles. They are correct. However, maturity has NOTHING to do with learning to ride a motorcycle. Maturity is what you SHOULD use when deciding what kind of bike to buy so that you may learn to ride a motorcycle safely.

4. “I Don’t Want a Bike I’ll Outgrow”

Please. Did your Momma put you in size 9 shoes at age 2? Get with the program. It is far better to maximize the performance of a smaller motorcycle and get “bored" with it than it is to mess-up your really fast bike (not mention messing yourself up) and not being able to ride at all. Power is nothing without control.

5. “I Don’t Want to Waste Money on a Bike I’ll Only Have for a Short Period of Time” (i.e. cost)

Smaller, used bikes have and retain good resale value. This is because other sane people will want them as learner bikes. You’ll prolly be able to sell a used learner bike for as much as you paid for it. If you can't afford to upgrade in a year or two, then you definitely can't afford to wreck the bike your dreaming about. At the very least, most new riders drop bikes going under 20MPH, when the bike is at its most unstable periods. If you drop your brand new bike, fresh off the showroom floor, while your learning (and you will), you've just broken a directional, perhaps a brake or clutch lever, cracked / scrapped the fairings ($300.00 each to replace), messed-up the engine casing, messed-up the bar ends, etc. It's better and cheaper to drop a used bike that you don’t care about than one you just spent $8,500 on. Fortunately, most of these types of accidents do not result in serious physical injury. It’s usually just a big dent in your pride and…

6. EGO.

Worried about looking like chump on a smaller bike? Well, your gonna look like the biggest idiot ever on your brand new, but messed-up bike after you’ve dropped it a few times. You’ll also look really dumb with a badass race bike that you stall 15 times at a red light before you can get into gear. Or even better, how about a new R6 that you can’t ride more than 15mph around a turn because you don’t know how to counter-steer correctly? Yeah, your gonna be really cool with that bike, huh? Any real rider would give you props for going about learning to ride the *correct* way (i.e. on a learner bike). If you’re stressed about impressing someone with a “cool” bike, or embarrassed about being on smaller bike, then your not “mature enough” to handle the responsibility of ANY motorcycle. Try a bicycle. After you've grow-up (“matured”), revisit the idea of something with an engine.

7. "Don’t Ask for Advice if You Don't to Hear a Real Answer".

A common pattern:
1. Newbie asks for advice on a 1st bike (Newbie wants to hear certain answers)
2. Experienced rider’s advise Newbie against a 600cc bike for a first ride (This is not what Newbie wanted to hear).
3. Newbie says and thinks, "Others mess up while learning, but that wont happen to me" (As if Newbie is invincible, holds superpowers, never makes mistakes, has a “level head”, or has a skill set that exceeds the majority of the world, etc).
4. Experienced riders explain why a “level head” isn’t enough. You also need SKILL, which can ONLY be gained via experience. (Newbie thinks he has innate motorcycle skills)
5. Newbie makes up excuses as to why he is “mature” enough to handle a 600cc bike”. (Skill drives motorcycles, not maturity)
6. Newbie, with no knowledge about motorcycles, totally disregards all the advice he asked for in the first place. (Which brings us right back to the VERY FIRST point I made about “knowledge of subject matter”).
7. Newbie goes out and buys a R6, CBR, GSX, 6R, etc. Newbie is scared of the power. Being scared of your bike is the LAST thing you want. Newbie gets turned-off to motorcycles, because of fear, and never gets to really experience all the fun that they truly can be. Or worse, Newbie gets in a serious accident.
8. Newbie was actually never really looking for serious advice anyway. What he really wanted was validation and approval of a choice he was about to make or had already consciously made. When he received real advice instead of validation he became defensive about his ability to handle a modern sport bike as first ride. Validation of a poor decision isn’t going to replace scratched bodywork on your bike. It isn’t going put broken bones back together. It isn’t going graft shredded skin back onto your body. It isn’t going to teach you to ride a motorcycle the correct way. However, solid advice from experienced riders, when heeded, can help to avoid some of these issues.

I’m not trying to be harsh. I’m being real. Look all over the net. You’ll see veteran after veteran telling new riders NOT to get a 600cc bike for a first ride. You’ll even see pros saying to start small. Why? Because we hate new riders? Because we don't want others to have cool bikes? Because we want to smash your dreams? Nothing could be further from the truth. The more riders the better (assuming there not squids)! The reason people like me and countless others spend so much time trying to dissuade new riders from 600cc bikes is because we actually care about you. We don't want to see people get hurt. We don't want to see more people die in senseless accidents that could have been totally avoided with a little logic and patience. We want the “sport” to grow in a safe, healthy, and sane way. We WANT you to be around to ride that R6, CBR600RR, GSX-1000, Hayabusa, etc that you desire so badly. However, we just want you to be able to ride it in a safe manner that isn’t going to be a threat to yourself or others. A side note, you may see people on the net and elsewhere saying “600cc bike are OK to start with”. Look a bit deeper when you see this. The vast majority of people making these statements are new riders themselves. If you follow their advice you’ve entered into a situation of the blind leading the blind. This is not something you want to do with motorcycles. You may also hear bike dealers saying that a 600cc is a good starter bike. They are trying to make money off you. Don’t listen.

By the way, the short answer to the question, “What should I get for a first bike?” is as follows;
1. First choice, a used bike that is 500cc or under. A new 500cc bike is good, but it would suck if you dropped it. Plus, it will depreciate in value the second you drive off the dealers parking lot…not good when you want to resell it for that brand new R6, GSX600, CBR600, etc.
2. Any used OLDER 600cc sport bike (like 1980’s, early 1990’s).
3. Go here Used Motorcycle Evaluation Guide for the most compressive guide on “how to buy a used bike” that has ever been written.

I haven’t even mentioned riding gear. Get it. Wear it. People who wear tank tops, flip-flops, and shorts while riding don’t look so cool when it comes time for a skin-graft (or when a bee goes up their shorts). There are two types of motorcycle rides: those who have crashed, and those who will. Dress for the crash, not the ride.

A number of people have emailed me recently and asked the following question, “I have ridden a friends street bike a few times, and grew up riding off-road bikes. With this history, would I be OK on a modern 600cc bike?” The answer is “No”. Off-road and street riding are totally different worlds. Granted, someone with off-road history knows things like shift patterns, how to use a clutch, etc but the power, weight, and handling of street bikes are a different ball game altogether."

-chr|s sedition
Boston, MA

sunilg

Topic approved.

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TenHut

This is a good article. I remember reading this when I started my biking (not so long ago )

That said I am tired of almost every other article being aimed at a noob about to enter the world of motorcycling..do u really think that the only ppl crashing out there on the roads are NOOBS ?
The prime problem in unsafe riding is obvioulsy the level of skill but the level of skill is a function of ego..so the bane of the entire problem is ego and noobs or newbies are not the only ones with big egos. I have come across riders who arent noobs but have an even bigger ego when it comes to biking. I have come across multitudes of these experienced riders and all that in my very short experience. I dont know how many more I am to bump into in the future yet. I will prefer riding with a noob than with a rider who has tons of experience but has an even bigger ego.

Then there are those who cant stand to see that a noob is actually improving and getting better so they will reject your ideas of biking outrightly and do some wicked stupid shit on their bikes just to prove that they are the ones calling the shots...and CRASH !
They had the experience to become better riders but they chose to rest on their past laurels and they bloated their ego by constantly telling themselves that they are THE experienced ones.
I hope I never fall prey to this sort of mentality.
It is very easy to shift focus from improvement to basking in the glory of your bike or your knee downs ...but the moment you do that..noob or not...your downfall has begun.
In the times of universal deciet, telling the truth is always a revolutionary thing to do. Not so much in the sense that you are being a revolution by telling the truth but much in the sense that the listener will most certainly simply rebel against what you are telling. You remain the noob asshole..the experienced rider remains the experienced rider...untill you pass him the next corner...and then you are an even bigger asshole to him than ever before !

Wear gear...suit up...kit up..wear ur gaurds..say your prayer..but dont forget to have an open mind towards learning. If you fail to have an open mind, that gear or that prayer is not gonna save you for long any which way. I promise !

My take : noob or not..if the focus in motorcycling is on improving ones riding ( a life long process ) then you will always be safe on the streets and on the track. If the focus is on ANYTHING other than improvement, you are a toast in 2 mintues if you are on a Superbike. Best advice still being given to me is : start small and focus on improvement. That is motorcycling to me and I like it that way !

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hifisharu

@Ten: Truer words never spoken before!! Totally agree with you on all points. No man is too big for his shoes or should I say sbk Always a student of greater learning

Rudra

@ten hut: concur with your point of view..
there are many reasons riders crash irrespective of them being noobs or experienced riders..not enough skill, Survival reactions as Keith code puts it, thinking they are past the learning stage and ego ofcourse being one of them too, etc.. for a fact, there are no prizes or points for being a more faster, skilled rider or a safe rider on the road, except to ensure a safe, fun filled riding career. There is nothing wrong or belittling about backing off from an unwanted and unprovoked street race, there is nothing uncool about keeping to your own comfortable pace when riding with a group of friends, after all its your ride..

Very often, riders of big capacity sport bikes in premier racing classes would go and ride a 125 cc or 250 cc dirt bike..its to revisit the basics of throttle control and get a feel for what the bike is doing.. this is not to say everyone riding bigger capacity bikes should do the same but its a point worth noting "Keep the basics always in mind" 135 cc commuter, a sporty pulsar, a high revving 600 or a torquey power monster open class litre bike..

have been riding for close to twenty years with my fair share of falls, consider myself lucky at the same time sensible enough to remember the lessons that were taught..

There have been instances where the ego had taken over, funnily , ego seems to increase proportional to the horses between the legs for some riders, but in reality to ride long , hard , safe it just has to be the opposite

fireblah

I still remember my two days training with honda on cb400. What an amazing bike that was ! It felt like I am one with the bike. I have not felt that confident on any other bike.(not even blade), but still its a shame a bike like that is not available in India.
I am waiting for honda to get that bike to India. Believe me, I would be the first one to buy.

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abhis3k

I started with this one. Still I am not used to its full power. But I absolutely agree with the points TenHut made. It is a everyday learning experience with me.

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Rudra

@fireblah: remember the P220 as the bike have had lot of fun with..maynot post the big numbers but its one good ride..still have it back home
@abhis3k : have gone through the ranks myself and sure the learning must never stop

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