why is it that people will ask for your advice on buying a bike and then totally ignore what you had to say... being in the navy we have alot of young guys with a decent amount of money to play with ive probably had 25 guys in the last eight years ask me about bikes i.e.. what should i get how do i ride and stuff like that and i will always tell them the same thing go out and buy an older used bike a 250 or 500 that you wont be afraid to drop has plenty of power to be fun and less of a chance to kill yourself.... now out of all those guys maybe three bought a used bike the rest went out and bought liter bikes 750s and the like then promptly wrecked them, one guy died not 45 minutes after he left the bike shop but thats a whole nother story... anyway sorry for the long post just wondering if anyone else has had any luck convincing new riders to start off right
You guys (everybody here) helped convince me.
Then they asked their friend who said that 250 and 500s are girl bikes and they need a repli-racer. Guess who they listened to...
The GS500 was recommended to me by my old manager, glad I listened to him :)
There is a guy on the Cycle World Forums site that has a great signature.
"What is a cooler image, you on a beginner bike or you in a box ?"
Quote from: cozyYou guys (everybody here) helped convince me.
Nice to know we helped you to be level headed and take it easy in the begining ... now lets talk about that avatar...
Cool.
Srinath.
Quote from: seshadri_srinath... now lets talk about that avatar...
Cool.
Srinath.
Don't mess with Mr. T :o I pitty the fool who messes with the T :lol:
Quote from: JohNLAQuote from: seshadri_srinath... now lets talk about that avatar...
Cool.
Srinath.
Don't mess with Mr. T :o I pitty the fool who messes with the T :lol:
Got me a GS coz you ain't gettin' me in no plane, Hannibal!
Alright enough jacks - with relatively no riding experience and no time to wrench the older bikes i had foolishly purchased previously, the GS was a great choice, and it may as well have 125hp to someone who doesn't know any better yet.
a lot of people are in a hurry to get a big, powerfull bike and that's why they go for the big bikes....those who go for the big bikes right away they just want to show off to their friends and girls...i know a guy on a ninja 250 who makes rider of 600's and 750's look like shaZam!...this guy on a ninja 250 can do all kinds of trix while riding...
arrgghh it just kills me that people wont listen to reason case in point kids just turned 18 came and talked to me yesterday cause im the only guy here that rides i gave him the standard spiel but i just saw him looking at busas on line and whats sad is he can afford it so he will probly buy one
what? a hayabusa? damn, is he crazy? :?
It's because most of the time, they are only looking for you to confirm to them that it's ok to get a big bike. They dont want your opinion unless it supports their decision.
yeah i know but why ask in the first place if you know you wont like my answer... and yes gru he does want a hayabusu and he is crazy
they probobly ask you thinking you would say "yes, a hayabusa is a perfect beginer bike"
damn kids never learn, and if they learn then they learned the hard way....
Hey, I knew a 25 year old who got a permit, bought a NEW CBR600 and wrecked it in a matter of days :roll: I told him to get a GS500 but he wanted more power.. and he did along with some nice road rash :lol: What a loser :lol:
Don't look at me, I know I'm not ready for a liter bike. I originally wanted to pick up a 250 Ninja like my cousin had (Nice bike, moved pretty good with a 210lb 6'2 guy on it), but after talking with a few friends decided that I really want a twin. Don't want a big one, 500 to 600 CC would be perfect.
The GS500 looks about perfect to me. It's got decent power, nothing to write home about, but enough to get it through traffic. It gets good gas milage, which is real nice, and I personally think the naked bike looks flat out cool. Although a front fairing will definatly be in the works for whatever bike I do get.
Maybe one day I'll want a liter bike, but the way I look at it... a lot of new cars have 1.5l to 1.8l engines. Hell, the Miata is 1.8l. Thats a car. A whole car. Now, how much less does a liter bike weigh? The power to weight ratio is going to be awesome. Until I'm comfy with the smaller bike, I'll be staying away from the liter bike. Might look at it, might sit on it, not gonna buy it.
yeah if only i could beat some of your common sence into these guys it would be great
Gees I almost got in trouble with my GS when I first got it.
I took it out on the main road (45mph) and just let it rip because I was afraid of getting rear ended and well I looked down after a few clicks and was 60+ oops. Then when I was making a right turn I went over the yellow line because I was afraid to lean it over. now if I had gotten a 600 (I didn't plan on it anyway) I might not be here. :( I got lucky no one was on the other side of the double yellow, but I have heard stories of instances where there was...
its the same way in the skydiving community.
Big parachute = safer = but fly's like a truck = almost hard to hurt yourself
Small parachute = dangerous = ferari = hurt people...but there cool
Maybe they have little winkys. ;)
:lol: :lol: :lol:
I've been riding for 3 years now. I started with a nighthawk 450, and now have the GS for 2 full seasons. I have zero interest in upgrading. AMAZING fuel economy and I can waste any car on the road from light to light. It cruises fine at HWY speeds. Cheap insurance.
What else can you want?
Ahhh yes the insurance factor is very nice on the GS!
I hate to think about that kid when he goes to get insurance on his Busa and it costs him more than the bike!!! :lol:
dont need insurance in washington
Quote from: AndyMCdont need insurance in washington
"Need" and "required by law" are not necessaarily the same thing.
Just sayin'. :thumb:
sorry insurance is not required by law in washington state
I"m a fan of the horsepower restriction and stringent licensing used in alot of other countries. I know that makes me pretty unpopular, but I started on a 180cc and then moved to the GS. Where do you go when you buy a busa for your first bike?...jay leno's jet bike? a pine box?
whatever
jake
The bile license laws just changed here, the largest bike I can get for the first year and a half is 660cc, and the GS500 is one of the biggest street bikes that are learner legal.
Before September you could only get up to a 250.
I think it's a good idea, because everyone learns to ride a smaller bike first.
I admittedly lusted after a 600 supersport bike at first. I was convinced I HAD to have a CBR or R6. Fortunately, a friend with quite a few years' riding under her belt (who owns a CBR600 herself) advised me otherwise, and suggested that something like a GS 500 would be a much better choice.
Fortunately, common sense won the wrestling match against ego on that one, and I'm glad it did. :thumb:
It's a shame that's there's this notion of "beginner bikes." Yeah, maybe if your goal is 200mph, then yes a 40hp bike is a "beginner." But that's not necessarily everyone's plan, and there's certainly lots of folks that are content w/ a 500 until they die. Of course, certain bikes are easier to learn on, but it's too bad that they're so often stigmatized as nothing more. Or maybe we should start calling the Honda Civic a beginner car... I'm all for it.
It's too bad that there are no 250cc or 400cc supersport bikes sold in the US like there are in other places in the world. I think around 65hp in a light chassis would be a great mix. I find it ridiculous that people buy bikes that are way too powerful for them. Even more ridiculous is the attitude that I sometimes got when I worked as a courier with a CBR 600. "What kind of bike is that?" "Oh, it's just a 600?"
Obviously people have different objectives when buying bikes.
Unfortunately the vast majority of prospective sport bike owners were not at Willow Springs last weekend watching (AMA pro) Tony Meiring put on an awesome display of riding in order to bring his ZX6 home 3rd in the 1000cc Formula 1 WSMC class, despite starting mid pack and being down some 50 hp to the two GSXR 1000s that finished ahead of him.
Adam
Had a guy (a kid really) come into the shop and test ride a 250 Ninja. It was good to see a brand new rider (he had just finished his MSF course) look at the smaller bikes rather than one of the five 636's out in the showroom. Something tells me this kid will have a long and successful riding career. Not like the guy I met in my Philosophy class who crashed his second bike (a CBR929rr) while doing a stand up wheelie and now refuses to get on another motorcycle. (His first bike was a 600)
I convinced the wife she needed something smaller by letting her try my ZR-7 in a parking lot. It only took a few scratches on the bike for her to see the light... Too high, too heavy.
She rides a Vulcan 500 now :D
I'll always enjoy a GS. I still own one, just not in the US, which bothers me. I'm still looking for one here with a price tag that the wifey finds acceptable.
The sheer small size of the bike makes it fun, sadly most folks here I know don't subscribe to the smaller-bikes-can-be-fun magazine (then again, this IS kansas, not too many corners here...)
To be honest; I learned to ride on a TT-R90. After I learned the basics, I rode my dads TW200. For my 16th B-Day I got a Kawasaki dual purpose250. Now I've had the GS since june and am now looking for a 4cylinder. Preferibly a YZF600R. Not a race bike but is faster and has more power. I know my limits and this may sound strange, but personally I don't think I'll evergot any thing bigger than a 600. I dont want 150+hp ever! :nono:
I know a kid who bought a CBR600 at the same time I bought my GS. What happened to him? 3 hours after picking it up, wrote it off, and nearly killed himself. What a fool. Im glad I rode my GS for a few seasons, because now Im ready to start riding the ZX9R! Yah, that will be fun. I have a taken out a freiends RC51 tons, and have learned to andle the power. Personally Id like to get a 150+hp bike, just not quite yet. The ZX9R has something like 126 hp. Thats way more than enough.
take a look at all of the engineering and technology in bikes these days... throttle response, suspensions, braking, etc... all fantastic.
so where's the weakest link in the chain? Its right behind the handlebars.
If you put an inexperienced rider on a racer-replica all the engineering in the world ain't worth jack. It's (almost) all about the rider. I'm famous among my friends and coworkers for being overly-cautious (even this can be a liability sometimes), so I felt comfortable bumping up to a 600 after one season... but i kept the GS, and which bike do you think I'll be riding more?
what I love about the GS is that its forgiving in the thorttle department, but relatively unforgiving in all the others, so you can refine your technique. with the top-of-the-line engineering on the 600's, your technical shortcomings aren't gonna come out as well... and one day you're gonna pay for it.
The first bike I wanted after MSF was a '72 CB100. I went "all the way up to 500cc" with the GS because of the added comfort on the superslab.
Never really wanted anything larger (except maybe the F650GS, or the Marine-issue KLR650 diesel).
Its really quite universal.
Some people can learn from others' experience and advice. They are genuinely asking for advice. Others only ask because they already have their mind made up and need someone to reinforce their decision. They only hear what they want to hear and not what is told
:cheers:
The people on this board, which category do you think we fit in? :thumb:
Of the female riders in my MSF class (several people already ride and just didn't want to take the DMV course test) I have my GS, another woman bought the VMax, and the third is still shopping.
On the day I gassed up for the first time, I managed to drop Xena when I was dismounting - and that heffa is as heavy as a dead man when her tank is full! (I know it's all relative 'cause I'm female but I'm no featherweight! :guns: )
Someone once told me not to buy a bike you can't pick up or push.
Hey Randi, do you have a boyfreind who rides?
I met a cat riding a sportbike back in September. Going from stoplight to stoplight, he told me his girl rides a GS and thought it was a great bike. He also got scared when he realised I was riding without mirrors. :o
A lot of people are fairly co-ordinated, and MIGHT be able to not be stupid on a bigger bike.
however, if you freak out on a little bike, you can still recover. If you freak out on a bigger bike, you greatly increase the risk of wreaking either the bike, yourself or both.
I'm a big beleiver of HP restrictions.
Quote from: JohNLAHey Randi, do you have a boyfreind who rides?
I met a cat riding a sportbike back in September. Going from stoplight to stoplight, he told me his girl rides a GS and thought it was a great bike. He also got scared when he realised I was riding without mirrors. :o
Nope, I have a husband who's looking into life insurance policies. :?
Randi, I guess this is a big town. :oops:
It was total insurance that sold me on my bike that and the fact that my brother bought a 600rr and that thing is just sick... trying to learn on that was like taming a horse you have to learn throttle control at all costs... now it doesn't seem all that bad but still when i crack it open in the twisties im not confident... now the GS I took to it like a duck on water... im always in the gas threw the corners... with in a month on it was dragging the pegs and scraping my toes on the ground. Another thing that sold me on my bike was it was 1200 Bucks not great price but Had the Fox Shox on it thats 600 in the bank. Last the bike can look bad ass if you spend a little time on making it yours.
Quote from: AndyMCsorry insurance is not required by law in washington state
Uh, Andy, better check this link out.
http://www.insurance.wa.gov/factsheets/automandatoryins_s.aspGet some insurance or get off the road.
Darren
Uh, the link says motorcycles are exempt from the Mandatory Insurance Law. :P
Are there any vehicles that are exempt from the Mandatory Insurance Law?
Yes, but they are still subject to the financial responsibility law. (This requires the person responsible for damage to another person's property or person to pay for the damages they caused.)[/i]
What vehicles are exempt from the Mandatory Insurance Law?
The law does not govern the operation of specially licensed "antique vehicles" (40-plus years old) or "collector's vehicles" (30-plus years old); publicly-owned vehicles; vehicles registered with the WUTC as common or contract carriers; motorcycles; motor-driven cycles or mopeds.
Motorcycles may be exempt, but if you are in an accident it still comes out of your pocket!
That's CRAZY!! In Canada you need $1,000,000 of liability coverage!! :o
It might be a mute point but I have found if you can get someone to take the MSF course they can usally be convinced to not be a moron I think that aside from teaching you good habits taking the course (and yes even the cheezy videos) help you to respect the power and and danger of bikes.
Quote from: GisserUh, the link says motorcycles are exempt from the Mandatory Insurance Law. :P
:oops:
I guess he can still ride.
:cheers:
I'm still in the insurance is a good idea camp, however.
Darren
Quote from: RandiBBBI have a husband who's looking into life insurance policies. :?
LOL, we just went through that (same cause: due to my riding). Now I gotta watch my back... I'm worth far more dead than alive :dunno: