Quote from: jserio on September 18, 2009, 11:36:53 AM
you can only safely use so much power on the street anyways. so anything else is just a waste of money IMO.

Yeah, first you've gotta count the fun/HP ratio. Some people look for different things in bikes, and while I can appriciate a bike with only 15hp, I can REALLY appriciate a bike with 120hp. If I put mine on a graph, I think they would run parallel until they hit 110hp, then slowdown, and I think I would peak somewhere around 130, with anything more than that being too much. I'm not a huge guy, so all power aside, some bigger bikes would just be too much for me to handle based on weight and size alone. As a commuter and someone who goes on a wide variety of joy rides, I like the idea of being able to acctually accelerate while I'm cruising on the highway in 5th or 6th gear, instead of dropping down to 2nd gear and sending my engine revving up to 10k rpm. If my preferred riding was going fast on twisty back roads, I'd be perfectly happy riding 50-65hp for the rest of my life, but just because accelerating on a straightaway doesn't take any skill, doesn't make it any less fun.

Bikes with higher hp usually have better components as well, so it's not like you're only paying for more power. You usually get better suspension, lighter frame/wheels, a nicer finish. All you have to do is look at the awful welding on my GSs subframe to see where they're cutting corners. You'll never see a gsxr this side of 1996 that looks like that.

and i think the "better parts" argument you just made is one of the reasons new riders like myself want something "modern" for a starter motorcycle. i learned to drive a stick in an '87 toyota(tercel i think) and it was a pos. it sucked. wouldn't ever shift right, power steering didn't work good etc. i hated that car. and honestly, i didn't really feel comfortable driving a stick until i bought a '96 talon. (one of my fav cars) and the difference was huge. the car was just put together so much better. it was newer. it was easier to use and learn with. i don't want my first bike that i own to be some pos that i have to fight with constantly to get it to run right etc. i believe that takes away the joy of riding and hurts the learning process. a good starter should be easy to use. well put together. easy to maintain. it should be "modern".