Want to Buy a Motorcycle (Ninja ZX-6R). Is This Truly Stupid For a Beginner?

In the long an short of it ... The best Motorcycle is the one you live to wake-up
and ride.Or occasionally dream about.
It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that.
This isn't rocket science.

 

There is a limit to how well you can control the bike, you'll never really know where that limit is until you cross it. Eventually you'll put down whatever bike you buy. At that point you'll either stop riding or have a better respect for riding. I wouldn't get a 1000cc like a Hayabusa (which at it's time was the fastest production bike made; it surpassed the Honda Blackbird) until you you have had that experience. I'd also start with a good used bike, because it won't be as shiny after you do.

Also, be aware AAA doesn't tow motorcycles. AMA isn't that useful either. Best support I found was with Honda Rider's Club. It's under priced and a great value. They will tow (lift) your bike to the nearest repair facility (even if it's just a dead battery or flat tire) for a very affordable annual fee. Had a problem once on a Sunday in San Diego, got a free tow all the way to my place north of Los Angeles. Only downside, they won't cover non-Honda bikes.



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I definitely understand your view point.

They used to make some bikes with a switch to turn the ABS off. Now it seems some are starting to have linked front and rear brakes with now choice for the rider

I prefer non linked brakes and being able to turn the abs off but again even being old I still have good reflexes and ride a little crazy at times.
I have slowed down a bit in my old age but just not ready to stop playing on the twisty roads yet.

 

The California Highway Patrol once made the mistake of telling me that if I didn’t stop on the last overpass heading South before the Mugu Rock, they wouldn’t chase me.

The road behind the Daytona Beach airport is like two or three sharp turns. Almost everything around here is a straight line.

Old people have to realize, one day they might drop and not get up. Got bad ticker, motorcycle or thousands of pounds of metal threatening the world?

A cool bike is great, but not having all the metal is always dangerous.

Knew this guy once back in the eighties who got hit by a van, his helmet rattled when picked up, had three cracks, and blood all inside, if he didn’t have the helmet his head would have popped like a grape. I have only rode without a helmet once to see what it was like. Some guy who knew someone who lost his jaw talked me into the full face thingy.

Saw some kid without a helmet the other day, cool bike, stupid kid.

 

It is more fun to ride a slow motorcycle fast than a fast motorcycle slow. My current favorite ride is a '09 Yamaha WR250X.

 

Don't worry about me. When it is time to hang it up I will but for now I am both physically and mentally able to handle what I do.

I remember well my first experience with a serious motorcycle accident. I was at a local fuel station getting some treats (candy and soda) and a tractor trailer pulled in and did a turn around going out across both lanes. A bike with a passenger came around the turn and wasn't able to stop fast enough and possibly was traveling faster than the posted speed limit. ANyway the bike went under the trailer right at the landing gear. Being young and curious about everything we stayed and watched the clean up. At one point I noticed a helmet in the weeds and thought I should pick it up and give it to the police who seemed to be searching for something. Guess I shouldn't have because it was the operators helmet and still had his head inside.

Now think about that for a min and ponder why I don't always wear a helmet. I have been hit by cars, Hit Deere and basically lost it over the years and to date don't have one scratch in any of the helmets I have owned that wasn't put there because it was knocked off the shelf in the garage. Staying safe on a bike means not getting on it to begin with and that is the one thing that is written in stone.

 

I think he should wear a helmet.

Have scratched a helmet, as my head bounced along the ground at highway speeds. Lost a pocket on the jeans, and ground the metal ring half way through on one boot. Funny thing is it happens so quick there is no time to decide to turn the other butt cheek. I got up and walked over to my bike and ran into a chain link fence separating the road from the onramp, had to walk about fifty or so feet to get around it. I went one way the bike the other.

A guy in my squadron got decapitated too, and I heard he hit a fence. Weird stuff happens. Totaled a car once in a six-car pile-up on I-285, the offending economy car was sitting on top of a bale of hay (all wheels off the ground). If I had been on a motorcycle, and did what I did, I would be dead hamburger meat instead of having to have rhinoplasty.

I think he should wear a helmet. Put a Mohawk on it or something.

 

I don't agree or disagree with anyone who choses to wear a helmet! I honestly feel that until your a good rider and comfortable with all kinds of situations you most likely should wear a helmet. At the same time I wont call someone stupid for not wearing one even if they are in areas that I myself would actually prefer to wear one. You must understand not everyone thinks about the risk the same as the next person.

 

If buying a racing motorcycle dress the part, if stunts, get armor for the bike…

 

I get it.Like Weeeeeeeee..... Vroooooom Vroooooom ... Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Look Ma,no hands.
Ok Timmy ... you can drop it into 2nd gear now and see what it feels like to
go 12 mph.

 

I had fun racing a Busa to the end of the block and back. Guess who won. Oh yeah, guess what hold the record on Tail of the Dragon?

 

Truth, I love to flog my 650 V-Star whereas if I do the same thing on my 1300, things turn "felonious" real fast.

 

Seen This?

[video=youtube;jXsoAdh5P5g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXsoAdh5P5g[/video]

 

Have you been drinking again?

 

You should find a place that rents motorcycles and then start out on a 175 cc bike. Ride this for about a month on the backroads. Stay off main roads and highways.

Then you will be ready to graduate to a 250 cc next. Ride this for about 6 months. You can buy a used one and sell it when you are ready.

After 6 months on a 250 cc then you can try a modern bigger bike and live.

Otherwise you will be dead on the road within 6 months.

Motorcycles are the #3 cause of death in the USA from non-disease deaths.

#1 is skydiving.

#2 is private aviation.

So that's the league of danger that you are playing games with your life in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=475i2a5Uz7Y

 

Great advice. Well said sir.

 

Motorcycle riding involves skill sets that you need to learn.

You need to learn them on a small lighter bike rather than a big bike.

A big bike is anything over 250. But even a 250 is a big bike for a novice.

 

My beginner "bike" was a Yamaha C3 scooter. Racked up 70 miles on it running around the neighborhood. You'd be surprised how many catcalls a 40 year old, 225lb guy gets on one of these.


There is an advantage starting small and working your way up.

 

I'll say it again. Get what you want, racier the better, cuz its light and nimble. LEARN slow, you actually have a twistable wrist, along with an opposable thumb. DO NOT APPLY more throttle than you are comfortable with. Do not ride in rain, or at night till you are comfy. You will lose a lot of bread buying your way up.

You will get comfy soonish. You will have the bike you want. I have a racing R1. With 160hp at wheel. 360 lbs sopping wet.

I can go REAL SLOW. OR fast. I am an adult. If you cannot TRUST yourself, not to throttle yourself into trouble, YOU GOT NO BUSINESS on any CC,

Be adult, think ahead, don't go faster than you can think ahead. Take a course right away though. Practice countersteering HARD. Do stoppies, till you feel the hardest stop you can do without raising the rear.

There is NOTHING inherently dangerous about a sportbike, but the squid riding it.

 

It's not the motorcycle, it's the brain dead morons on their cellphones all around you.

 

This is the correct answer. I rode for 60+ years and was a MSF instructor. If you start with a 175 or 250 you will find within a week you're ready for something else. Next will come a 450 or a 500 and in a few weeks you'll be trading again. After two or thee trade-ins you'll finally have the bike you want. I could ride my Heritage or BMW as slow as the kid next door could ride his scooter. It's all in the right wrist. Get the bike of your dreams.

 

Modern bikes are as varied as the people wanting to ride them.
I started off on smaller Honda cruisers my wife had, then went with a modified Yamaha R-6---that I've kept for over a dozen years.

My younger brother was trained on my R6, then he bought his own. Both of us are very cautious riders. And I've never rode mine over 110 MPH.

New R1's have a switch to make them less powerful.

 

My wife rode a 250 for 3 years...she loved it, and would still own it if it hadn't been wrecked. It was a fully highway-capable bike (topped out past 100), and lots of fun. You DON'T need a 1000+cc bike, een for long-distance touring!

 

Listen to your friend. I have ridden all my life and the mix of inexperience and a hot bike is deadly. Heck, experience and a hot bike can still be deadly. Had to sell my Suzuki TL1000, my lady friend was glad because she thought I would kill myself on it. Just lost a friend as he went around a corner and hit a road grader head on. I know a number of people with disabilities from motorcycle crashes. I have had a couple but have been lucky.

 

Not so at all.In the cruiser world a 750 cc bike is considered small.
Trust me on this.At any bike event where Bikers go a 750 cc bike is
considered like a joke.I have 2 {1800 cc} bikes and my around town
bike { Honda CB 1100 } It is a phenomenal bike.Best brakes on any bike
I ever owned.Very nice to flick around { steering } as the starting is
golden.Starts like an Olympic gold medalist EVERY TIME.