[ZackAttack722]

Hey i gotta question. i have a co-worker looking to get his first bike and he WANTS to get a 250 cc bike, which is fine and all, but has anyone ever had the thought that some bikes may be too slow to learn on? I mean, isn't part of riding safely knowing when and how to use the power of the bike to get out of sticky situations, ie. gunning it out of a lane on the freeway if a truck is merging/going to squish you, etc.??? I've only been on/had my 600 kat, but my initial thought to my co-workers request was that driving safely requires that kind of quick thinking/reacting and knowing what the bike can do to help you out.
I'm a new rider, too, so the textbook answer to this might be obvious, but does anyone have any thoughts???

[StevieB]

tallguy, my talk of stats is based on general stat. info, not specific info that pertains to any one study. In brief, in MOST stat. studies, MOST subjects do fall within two SD's of the mean. Individual results will vary...

No offense taken, I only wanted to point out that for MOST noobs, the advise (not based on stats, but on the writer's experiences) is sound. You don't really fit the typical noob profile, I think- my point was that you are an outlier, and thus don't really enter the picture.

Oh, and it is not my article, I just cut and pasted it here. Plagerism is NOT my bag.

[tallguy63]

Steve, I appreciate your response and recognition of possible outliers from the observations from the article. I guess there will probably never be any literature for exceptions such as responsible first time riders.

My advice for first timers.. get a bike that your happy with, not neccessarily in love with, recognize your ignorance and inexperience, take neccessary precautions, learn as much as you can, and take a safety course.

[StevieB]

Whew! When I opened this today, I was expecting to have to explain how I understood where you are coming from, yada, yada, and how I didn't really want to get into a argument here. Then I see that you got that drift. Thanks.

[Bucks23]

awesome article. my first bike was a gs500

[BarMatt80]

yeah to think that is why they have 125 and 250 cc bikes in the msf courses....maybe some logic and reasoning there.

either way, good find stevieb

[MadKatter]

Great article, thanks for posting it. I started out on a 1995 Ninja 500EX. I didn't even know how to ride when I bought it.

[kain101]

that was a very good read...but, yeah there are lots of new riders that think a 600 is a beginners bike and lots of dealers and squids that don't tell them otherwise!

[soulpatch]

I started on my Kat. I wanted a sportbike but one a little more docile then a GSXr or other supersport type bike. It was a bold move and I had to take it easy for quite some time. I spent a lot of time in my parking lot practicing shifting and braking. The MSF course helped a lot too. I took my bike for my short rides to and from work to get used to things then stepped up to longer rides and eventually highways.

Now I feel pretty confident on my bike. Only been 3 years and sometimes she starts to get away from me when I do something stupid or try to push the envelope. I will get it down eventually though. Always a learning process on the bike.

Eventually I hope to be able to really take a corner or even go knee dragging around the backroads around me. But that is a couple years off.



Overall great article though. I look back at my first year and see where a 500 would have sped up my learning curve into my Kat but hindsite is 20/20

[cove-katana]

THat was a good article. I started on a Honda Rebel 450 and I am 6'3". The bike fit fine. I am in a military town and a lot of young soldiers opt for 600cc sportbikes as a starter. IMO I think that is still alot of bike for a first timer. Those bikes are a little more powerful that a stock Kat750 with a 100 lbs less weight. I would recommend to all new riders to START SMALL and DREAM BIG. No matter what they decide just remember to RIDE SAFE.

[Erki]

Great article. I agree with it all. I started on a Yamaha 350 dual purpose. Great fun only complaint was cruising at hwy speeds was a little rough on the ol girl. Had to move on after a summer of riding it. sold it for what I paid for it and got the Kat. No regrets. Even had lots of people telling me to keep it and have both. Didn't have the room for that though.

[DeadClown]

Great article! The dialog was a nail biting experience. i was anticipating a red flag to be thrown on the field, but in fact the two of you maintained an admirable level of composure.
I have only been riding for two years and about 13,000 miles. One thing that really humbles me is when i ride in the country on streets that are unfamiliar to me and that have major twists. ()

[LoveMyKat]

Directed at me...

That article was directed at me it seems. I just got my first bike, a GSX 600 F Kat, last week. Yeah, I wanted to start with a 500 but I thought $3,700 was a pretty good deal on an 2003 Kat so I went ahead and got it. Oh well, if I get killed on so be it, but I love the darn thing, even if the starter clutch did go out right when I was getting the hang of it. No practice for a few days while my dealer fixes it. Gotta go take it there now, see y'all later.

[StevieB]

Addendum: There ARE some 600's that actually make good first bikes. I think one is the mid-90's Yamaha SECA II's, perhaps Suzi Bandit 600's, , etc. Even better IMHO are naked bikes- without even the mini fairing like on the Bandits- so that when it DOES get dropped, there is less plastic to get scratched or cracked. This feature makes Kat 600's less than ideal for noobs, but if some took the time to remove the fairing for the first 6 months, I suppose it would be better.

[Wheel yumz]

Ok, I am one day into riding. Just got my first bike yesterday, which ironically is katana 600. Never rode before, aside from a dirtbike when i was 16 that scared the crap out of me.

I have been looking for a bike for some time, and decided to offer my jeep as a trade on craigslist. I found this bike, and the description said great starter bike, easy to learn on.

So I trade the Jeep for the bike, without even test riding it because of being nervous as all hell, and had it trailered to my house. (The bike had to be better than my POS jeep.)

Long story short, I hop on and take off (very slowly) and amazingly all nervousness and anxiety leave me. It was an extremely natural learing process. Now I understand it takes many seasons of riding and practice to become experienced, and I'm not saying I'm a pro. I'm just saying I rode all day yesterday, and all day today, AND IT"S FRICKEN AWESOME.

So what i gather from this article is, this bike is supposed to be fast and unsafe for beginnners. I mean, how does this compare to other 600 bikes.