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That bike looks so much better than these modern day sportbikes.
If you'd like to see the truly ridiculous in terms of styling, look for a pic of the short-lived Suzuki B-King.
There are a fair number of older sportbikes that look better than the angular insectoid modern bikes.
A couple of bikes that I keep my eyes open for are an original Interceptor and the first generation GXSR.
And anything looks better than the B-King. Of all the bikes Suzuki could have brought over, the B-King?
While I don't necessarily agree with the bird brain in the video, I will say that all sportbikes are fast so if you're the type of person that's going to whack the throttle open and book it up to 100+ mph on a crowded freeway then it doesn't really matter if you're on an SV650 or a Busa. You're still going to be in deep shizzle when someone changes lanes on you unexpectedly.
What bird brain isn't taking into consideration is that new riders don't really have a firm grasp on just how fast a high powered sportbike is and how quickly you can get to 100mph. The other issue is the weight of a Busa. An SV650 feels light and easy to ride whereas a Busa or ZX14 feels heavy and cumbersome.
I recommend a 400 cc Scooter. This will let the newbie learn about turning, stopping and safe driving without having to figure out a clutch and manual transmission at the same time. After they spend a year learning how to ride in traffic they can get a conventional motorcycle.
I have a Suzuki 650 cc Burgman Scooter. I really like riding this thing and have already scraped something while cornering faster than I should. My only complaint is the thing is very sensitive to changes in freeway grades. Holding the throttle steady can result in unexpected speed changes. Overall I like the machine and do not need anything faster.
^ i also like to mention and recommend a scooter. 150cc even. get to know yourself as a rider, and the kind of "big bike" you want with no guess work
so far as the video i did not even watch it, having heard the same arguments and suggestions of why a rider should start on a liter bike. these usually come from riders who did, or experienced riders who figure they could have, "got bored" with a 250, or what have you
more good reasons not to start on a liter bike or big, heavy cruiser imo. just one of the reasons i like to tell people is because you want to make learning to ride and all that goes with about the ride, and not the bike. RIDING is not about the bike. when it becomes about the bike to the newbie rider they may never ride again if they drop or crash the bike with injury. even a minor injury. even falling softly hurts and can give one pause for thought
i have talked to several former riders who started out on 600cc supersports and 750cc gixxers and 1000cc superbikes. they no longer ride because they dropped / laid down / crashed the bike and got a bit hurt. some more then others. but when speaking with them they get fear in their eyes and have used words like "beast" and "wild" and "dangerous" to describe their former bikes. to which i just mentally shake my head
because that doesn't describe any bike i can think of. its not how i see bikes at all. all motorcycles are perfectly safe to operate and ride. but you have to have enough riding experience to know and understand that before you go crashing your first 1000cc motorcycle. and if you make it about the bike and not riding and crash / lay down your 1000cc superbike, where do you go from there? chances are ego and injury will not let you "back down" to a lesser cc bike, or scooter. your riding days will indeed be short lived. and i think that is sad
i rode 150cc scooters all over SoCal for over 3 years before moving to a motorcycle. a 250cc Vespa, too. i learned to ride and learned to love it, single bike crash once. healed up in five weeks (badly sprained / bruised right hand and wrist) and hopped back on the scoot. when it came time to get a motorcycle i knew what i wanted and had no question about whether i could safely operate it, handle its power, what it was, or if i could ride it home 12 miles in rush hour traffic on a busy SoCal Friday. i picked up my 100HP 600cc Yamaha and rode it home having never rode, shifted, or operated a motorcycle before. still riding it today. have a feeling if it had been my "first bike" i may not be riding today, period
but you never know
Last edited by AverageJoeMamma; 05-22-2015 at 05:17 PM..
The Thread should say, Why you shouldn't start on a liter bike. You have to walk before you can run. This thing will run before you are ready to handle it.
Please sign an Organ Donor card before you ride the beast. Even with all the extra control devices on modern motorcycles you can get into a crash so fast you will wonder what happened if you survived. For an absolute beginner I recommend a 400 cc scooter with an "automatic" belt drive and decent size wheels. That will let you learn the basics at reasonable speeds.
Then you can transition to a mid size bike for quicker acceleration and greater speed or to a cruiser if you find you like that kind of riding. First learn how to ride in traffic, on bumpy roads and, eventually, in expressway traffic. Also Wear All the Gear All the time. This means a helmet, long pants, closed toe shoes (boots preferred), scrape resistant jacket (hyper cloth or leather) , goggles to protect your eyes and good leather or synthetic gloves. I know this can be a PIA on a hot summer day but you are far likelier to fall when you are learning to ride than any other time.
Learn to ride a safely as you can and then enjoy many years of motorcycling.
FWIW - The guy in the video is wrong. Dangerously wrong.
Was riding behind a complete newblet on a Ducati Sport Classic (probably the best liter bike for a newblet). Just painful to watch. God's gift to motorcycling passing on a double yellow and then of course having to get over in front of me because he couldn't make it in front of the truck I was behind. Actually, he could have easily but didn't have the confidence. I wouldn't have gone for it on my Ninja 250 but it would have been an easy pass even not starting it as he did across a double yellow with the CBR. Weaving around in the lane on the straight because that's what the cool kids do to keep their tires warm or something. Then we get a corner. Bike leaned over about 20 degrees to the right of center, hanging off the bike with the knee out, upper body leaned the wrong damn direction so far I'm pretty sure at a few points it was past center although difficult to tell as he was moving around so much, arms locked in terror. I'm not sure what's worse. The matching ninja suit or the suns out guns out he had going on. And remember, he's doing all this behind an ag truck. Liter gods help him if he actually has to take a corner at a decent rate of speed like that.
Maybe more bikes should have a toggle switch that cuts down power like the Suzuki Hayabusa. Chop off 30% of a 100 h.p. bike and it'll be easier to ride at a sedate pace.
The V-twin cruisers are torquey but they just don't have enough cornering clearance for me.
Honestly, are there any that don't these days? Problem is it requires the user to toggle said switch. The ones most likely to do it are the ones who are the least to need it.
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