Alright, here's my issue. Im selling my gs500 due to it being a complete pain in the arse and fears of not being able to resell it if I wait a year (high mileage and wear).

While looking at older CBR600's, I kept stumbling on sites from the UK. Apparently over there, they restrict the power of a large bike down to 33BHP for a certain amount of time if youre a new rider.

So my question is, could you apply this to a large bike you want to learn on? Like, if I found a great deal on a 92 CBR600, but was concerned about the power, could I just restrict it down until I felt comfortable riding it? Also, yes I realize its not the most practical thing to do. But I'm a college student with limited funds, and a hunger for sportbikes. I just want to know 2 things. Can it be done, and how drastically will it change the bike.

you definitely could, I'm sure it would last a whole 3 days before you said "what am I doing?!" and ripped it off haha

seriously though, I don't know exactly what they do, but they're either restricting throttle movement, or restricting the motion inside the carb. If you could find a way to keep the throttle from rotating very far you could be alright.

Anothier easy thing to do, IF you have the self control to do it, is give yourself a break in period. When you buy a bike they tell you to spend 300 miles without going over 3k rpm, then another 300 miles not going over 6k rpm, then 300 not going over 9k rpm. i know it's good for the engine, but I always feel like half the reason they're recommended is so manufactures avoid law suits from people killing themselves too fast. It gives you time to get used to the bike without too much power. Try buying the 600, and if you trust yourself to behave, just ride for the first few months without going over 6k rpm. It'll still be fast enough to keep up with traffic on the highway, but you'll stay in the friendly half of your engine.

'96 CBR 600 F3:  Best Bike I Ever Owned!!  Still kick myself for getting rid of that one.  I know Jared loved his F2.  It's hard to go wrong with the CBR 600's.  The F2's are a lot easier to work on (much less tech goodies).  The F3 model carried the suspension over from the F2 but had a lot of engine mods.  Nowadays I would opt for an '04-06 F4i if it is in your budget.  I know that has absolutely nothing to do with your post but I felt like sharing   

-Jessie

Yeah - My F2 was great -point and click steering almost- lots more power than the GS -Same wheelbase and almost the same seat height as the GS if memory serves too.

Handling was confidence inspiring.  So +1 to what Jessie said...

The restriction is often done in the carbs- (limit the slides from opening all the way).  If you can restrict an F2 or something similar- I'd think it'd be a good bike to start on.

Even without restrictions, the old F's were pretty forgiving if you stayed out of the throttle.

-Jessie

Quote from: BaltimoreGS on February 01, 2012, 07:27:31 PM
Even without restrictions, the old F's were pretty forgiving if you stayed out of the throttle.

-Jessie

Yeah....true.
They  have to be "certified" as restricted  - compulsory HP limits til you have more experience ( not a bad thing in my opinion..). They wont go on the honor system..."sure I'll only use 33 hp...I swear!".

How it will affect the bike... it just wont have the big top end rush -It will handle the same... it'd be like riding a really Great handling Gs500  I guess is the closest thing.

Maybe you could just let a bunch of slack out on the throttle cable so that when it's WOT on the handlebar, it's actually only about 30% or so?

I think a decently easy way to restrict the throttle would be to drill a small screw into the housing on the right handlebar, just make sure you don't hit any wire. Throttle tubes have a raised spot there the end of the cable is attached so if you put the screw in the right spot it would keep the throttle from rotating past it. The carb would be the ideal spot to stop the movement, but unless you come up with something creative, I'd rather risk messing up something on the handlebar, than messing up my carbs.



Also, finding a bike with a stock exhaust(or buying one and putting a stock exhaust on it) will help keep the power down a little bit. You could also adjust the jetting slightly. Basically, look around forums to see what people do to make their bikes faster, and do the opposite haha.

The way bikes are restricted to meet new-rider, young-rider regs is by fitting a fairly simple washer into the fuel delivery system, there is a lot of forum space devoted to how best to get around the restriction which is also pretty simple if you research it.
In theory any bike could be restricted but it usually occurs at the "middleweight" end of the market, 500-750cc. On some bikes the difference is hardly noticable but most people can't wait to be rid of it.

One of the spin-off effects of this in the UK is that people take the "Direct access" route which involves a few days of intensive training, pass your test, no restrictions. This (in theory anyway) raises standards but also entry costs but many people, including me, think it's worth it. personally i would not restrict throttle movement or drill the bars - think it through.

Quote from: Cal Price on February 02, 2012, 02:41:58 AM
personally i would not restrict throttle movement or drill the bars - think it through.

I definitely wouldn't go as far as drilling into the bars, I was just thinking into the control housing.

Yeah Cal- They put a washer between the carbs and head to restrict the flow -I'd like to see what they fab up to keep them in place  - Carb cap spacers are done too ( less often )- Washers are cheaper I guess-or they are harder to defeat for the guys who don't want to tinker.

They put a throttle stop on some of the FI bikes (makes sense...easy and simply reversed).

If someone finds a *specific* reference how to do it, on, say, a suzuki 600rr, I would love to see it also.
Someday, I would love to ride one of those things... with emphasis on ride, rather than wheelie-flip myself off the thing

So if I could pick this bike up, even unrestricted, it'd be a decent bike to start again on? Right now I only have about 400 miles experience

You would be fine. The people I usually worry about are the guys who say "I've had this GS for 6 weeks and I just need something faster!", it's the people who can't accept what a bike is capable is and over estimate their abilities. Considering you're aware of what it can do, you'll be fine.

Honestly, flipping isn't really a concern(once you've spent more than 5 minutes on a bike and understand how the clutch works). The part that will get you is when you forget how fast a bike will go from 15mph to 60mph coming out of a sharp turn, right before another sharp turn. You accelerate to get out of the turn, and before you know it you're at the next turn and it's too late to hit the brakes. That's where my previous recommendation comes in, buy the bike, and just don't go into the 2nd half of the rpms. Max yourself out at 6k rpm and the bike will be as friendly as a GS, with brakes that work twice as well.

Yes, the F2 is a very forgiving bike and has no where near the power of a modern 600cc sport bike. Sport Rider did a good retrospective on the F2/F3 a while back:  http://www.sportrider.com/features/146_0912_1991_1998_honda_cbr600_f2_f3/index.html

-Jessie

Thanks for all the help everybody. I've passed up around 10 absolutely beautiful CBR's because of my concern about the power. This is going to make my summer incredible! Living at my fraternity, working 20 hours a week, and going on 500 mile rides EVERY weekend. And a couple 1000 mile rides. Well, time to start emailing those craigslisters and seeing about checking out their bikes!

Even better. My insurance for the year? 187 now, and only 350 with that bike! 20 years old and I have better rates than half the US hahahahaha. But, alas, the  200$ a month to insure my truck kinda kills everything...

I'd seriously go for the F4i to get away from the carbs.  I have an F2 and had an F3.  If I didn't have to mess with those carbs ever again, I don't think I'd shed a tear.  I'm surprised you are concerned enough over the power to consider a restrictor.  Yes my bike can be scary fast even as old as it is but, I think it is more up to you and how you handle it.  Or, you know you could do like the great Shepa and put a 600cc in your GS!  Who would of thought of that?!  That crazy Shepa.

Quote from: BaltimoreGS on February 02, 2012, 11:32:43 AM
Yes, the F2 is a very forgiving bike and has no where near the power of a modern 600cc sport bike. Sport Rider did a good retrospective on the F2/F3 a while back:  http://www.sportrider.com/features/146_0912_1991_1998_honda_cbr600_f2_f3/index.html

-Jessie

Damn man.....that was MY bike (93 Red White and Blue)... Stolen from me 13 months after I  got it...(disc lock and cover on it....didn't have an alarm yet.....)

Quote from: NoSecrets913 on February 02, 2012, 11:52:18 AM
Even better. My insurance for the year? 187 now, and only 350 with that bike! 20 years old and I have better rates than half the US hahahahaha. But, alas, the  200$ a month to insure my truck kinda kills everything...

That's nuts, I've been riding for 10 years, took the msf, married and own a home and I think they still try to charge me more than that for full coverage on a sportbike haha. Haven't checked in a year or two though. I usually just get liability, but my yz426sm is only $75 a year for full coverage, so I figured why not haha.

Why is your truck insurance so high when the bike is so low??