I dunno, in honesty, I think 1000's are overkill. I used to ride with a few lads, all on 1000's when I got my 600. They always disappeared until I got my confidence with the bike, then they were behind me through any string of corners. Then I stopped riding with them as I felt the high speed "Look how fast I can go" overtakes would stop my fun, either hitting me or them f**king it up and me having to wait for ambulances, go to funerals etc

But that said, the extra torque is an amazing feeling. My '6 would lift but never felt torquey, these lift... with s**t loads of torque, pretty much whenever you whack the throttle open

________________________________________

Red Rallye - Rolling "restoration"

Wishbone Polybushes available

haha, I know the craic... I went and bought my R6 before booking my test or lessons!

________________________________________

Red Rallye - Rolling "restoration"

Wishbone Polybushes available

The short answer is no! I was the only one on my CBT who couldn't ride a (geared) bike!

I'd certainly buy a CBR600, I would always recommend buying something you want, rather than a 400 to "learn" on. You can learn buy dropping the Honda!

I can honestly see why people would suggest a less racy bike, but you can quite easily kill yourself on a 125 if you miss your braking point or get target fixation (probably #1 cause of bike crashes).

It's like anything, you'll learn it in time. The key is keeping it smooth and not letting yourself get carried away.

Everyone wants to open one up, so when you do, you make sure you have loads of space and you're not likely to send yourself into a hairpin at 140+

I crashed mine within the first 6 months of ownership. I went into a bend and the road was covered in s**t, so I got thrown off. Smashed my arm to bits, had it plated, repaired the bike and didn't think twice about it.

I sort of lost my train of thought a bit there, but yes get one!

________________________________________

Red Rallye - Rolling "restoration"

Wishbone Polybushes available

Just go for it mate! Just take extra care to learn a little slower, unless you're thick as f**k, you'll not really cause yourself any REAL harm!

I mean, I've scared myself before. My first time knee down was by just riding quicker than I had before! I never hang off a bike either, I was tucked in, obviously my weight was into corner, but I didn't have knee out, felt and heard the scrape... s**t myself, but you know to keep it going and keep looking through the corner. By the next corner you've calmed down and you're back having fun

Build up your skills slowly. You'll want to know when dumping the clutch will result in one wheel action and you'll want to know how hard you can brake before locking up... often you'll want to find this out somewhere "safe"

________________________________________

Red Rallye - Rolling "restoration"

Wishbone Polybushes available

my friend has an R1 as a first bike and is still alive

________________________________________

306 rallye reproduction decals (full sets/individual decals) | 306 b-pillar textured vinyl weatherstrips
306 slam panel esso stickers | 306 yellow / orange / pension fund red side door badges
gti6 inlet manifold badges | 306 rear boot badges (p2/p3)
winner of Extraction of toys from prams with outstanding vigour award 2009 [source: gti6 owners club]

Like you say, its the right hand that makes you go faster!

It's a different experience to learning the limits on a car, with good tyres it's hard to push the limit's of grip on a bike, if it slides and you don't know what to do, then you'll probably fall off, but you'll have to be tanking it to find that.

More often it'll be the road conditions that will come into play. Low-siding on gravel etc

Because you're sat on top of it and exposed, you'll think you're going faster than you are and I think it does help ease you into it.



It's worth mentioning that you could always get the bike restricted? Used to have to do it if you had a full license but were 21 or younger (first two years riding?)

________________________________________

Red Rallye - Rolling "restoration"

Wishbone Polybushes available

Always fancied a road bike but it would have to be a supermoto as I love my crosser and would want the best of both worlds from it.

Are 600's really uncomfortable on longer journeys, say a couple of hours or after half a day of riding?

________________________________________

340 horses

That's a thought, although I'm sure I'd feel differently when I got the thing

I think you're right though, if you're going to come off it's going to be because of something outside your control, a 400 is more than capable of taking a corner wrong as a 1300 is.

Hmm, want a bike now. Dammit.

________________________________________

Membership expiring soon, get in contact on our new little forum project.

I wanted a white black and sky blue limited edition but settled for the west one instead

________________________________________

In my garage just now

2003 BMW M3 & 2009 L200 Raging Bull
& Audi Q5 S Line
AX stock rod & Saxo Stock rod
Sold the bike an charged rallye an bought a caravan, midlife crisis or what!

Didn't know so many of you were into bikes!! Sounds like a lot of you have some really nice ones, I like your collection you have mellow, would love to see them sometime, and Chris, your CBR in the "west" colours!! .

Some decent points being made here I think, I personally don't think there is any real need to limit the power of your first bike, whatever you buy, you're going to be going pretty damn fast when you give it the beans no matter what it is. If you come off then.. that's all she wrote .

I think the style and condition of the bike is probably more important than the power when getting your first one. Most DAS schemes will have you riding something like a Yamaha xj600 diversion, or Suzuki gs500, and so for example if your first bike is a hornet 900, you'll probably feel in fairly familiar territory However if you bought a GSXR 400 you might feel a little uneasy for a while despite it being less powerfull.

And obviously reliability is a factor, having spent their money doing their test. Many people will spend a few hundred quid on a bike with a ferocious engine, but a body held together with tape and cable ties, and shot tires. This won't inspire confidence and could put people off bikes.. or worse, put them into hospital
I would just go get the bike you want straight away. Get it in good nick and treat it with respect while you build up confidence.

Just my two pennies

________________________________________

2005 Peugeot 206 GTI 180

2008 BMW K1200R

I've had a gsxr600, sv650, triumph Daytona 600 valmoto rep and my current RSV that I've owned for 7 years now

Longest ride to date was on the gsxr where I rode from Somerset to Bruno in the czech republic in 2 days, in hindsight we should have taken 3 days each way.