Of course.. I have to wait a year or so... my friend's dad is looking at a bike, and my friend is trying to talk him into buying a 2nd bike "for his mother" who will never ride it, so my friend can ride it around... He wants an r6 (he has no riding experience), I told him that was stupid, and referred him to this board (you guys are great), and sold him on the masterpiece that is the GS.. now, this kid's dad has more money than he knows what to do with, so the bike isn't a problem... my friend told me that if he ends up with a GS (likely) he'll ride it for a year, get his r6, and sell me the GS for cheap (read "free") because they don't need the money at all... so I'm excited... and yes, it's 4 in the morning... college kids don't sleep....

they drink.

a years a long time to wait...

At least you got him started in the right direction.

I like the angle, but a year is a long time to wait.

Tell him to ride it for 6 months after he gets it.  Assuming he puts at least 3,000 or so miles on it, he should definitely be competent enough at riding to avoid the types of learning mistakes that plague newbies on crotch rockets.

That way, he gets to upgrade to his next bike faster (at a decent learning interval), you get your new bike faster (and less used), and you guys get to go riding together sooner on your shiny new bikes.

Also, I'd steer him to the honda or kawi line of bikes as for his next one.  r6's do look neat, but the new 600cc CX Ninjas look Soopa-phat

Better yet - have him get a used GS500E, ride it for 6 months, do his dropping.  Then get a brand spankin' new GS500F (most of the looks of an inline without all of the street-bike drawbacks of one), and sell you the GS for cheap.

ahh yes, but I'd rather have an F.. so I told him to get the F... but I see where you're going, I'd rather see him end up on a GS than an inline 4... we'll see how it goes...

I'll lay you good money he'll drop it in the first couple of months anyway.  Just get X5's fairing, or that Brazilian kit.

the brazilian kit is beautiful, and I'd love to take the time to put it on... but chances are good that I'll drop it sometime in the first few months too... I figure I'll take the fairings off when he gets it, tell him to ride it naked, take my own advice once I buy it, then, once I feel more confident (the bike's a little tall for me, I'm 5'3 with a barely 29 - 30" inseam), I'll put em back on.. although the aluzio is a great idea for the future, once I'm a decent rider...  Of course, if I can get an '04 or '05 F for like $500, I guess I can drop the $1500 for the fairing, and still have a helluva deal on a bike! =)