NFB...Anyone own a street bike?

[Josh '95 Z28 A4]

I was just wondering if any of you guys own a street bike or are interested in motorcycles and what you think about them. Lately I've been thinking about how much I'd like to get one by next summer. I really like the Suzuki GSX-R600. I've never owned a motorcylce before. I'd really enjoy a different type of motor vehicle, nice getaway from the f-body for once in awhile.

[MN6WS6]

I've got a 1999 CBR 1100 XX Blackbird, owned it since new, and it's got 24k on the clock now. That's more miles than I've put on the Ram Air in the last few years

I'm no fan of a newbie going out and buying a brand new bike. Motorcycles take a lot of getting used to, and remember the cardinal rule: There are two kinds of riders; those who have gone down and those who will go down. I guarantee you that first bike will hit the ground several times, probably within the first week. So you might as well buy a used one and learn on it so you don't lose so much money. I recommend buying an older cruiser first, which is closer to the ground and does not accelerate as fast as a sportbike. This way you can learn what all it takes to ride a motorcycle, what they can and cannot do, and can do all of this at less than lethal speeds. Plus, cruisers have a lower center of gravity and a shorter seat height, which makes for more balanced turns, and you can get your feet down quickly. Keep that for about 6 months, and make sure that you purposely ride it in the rain, ride down dirt roads, on gravel, all kinds of places that you would never intentionally go. Why? Because eventually you will unintentionally end up on those kinds of surfaces and you need to know how to change your riding habits so you don't crash that beautiful new bike you want.

Motorcycle insurance for a sportbike is higher than elephant bunghole, so be prepared to take a hit. Find motorcycle specific insurance, or switch to State Farm, which is the only large company that rates bikes by cc's and not by style. Progressive and Geico have a lot of ad money, and if you try and insure a 1000cc and up sportbike with them, YOU will be the one paying for all those ads (to the tune of $7,000 a year for full coverage)

Answer this question for me: To turn left in a car, you turn the steering wheel left. To turn left on a motorcycle, you turn the handlebars .... ?

[RangerBob]

I agree with EVERYTHING MN6WS6 said!

You have to learn to walk before you run.

Read what he said again, don't become a statistic.

Memorable rides

Driving 180 miles in a snowstorm on the interstate wearing a snowmobile suit on a Honda 175. (See I was Ranger material way back when)!

Dumping my Husquavarna WR250 going downhill through boulders and scree.

Driving my Suzuki 550 4cyl 120MPH on the autobahn, getting off the bike and realizing the chain was so loose I was lucky I didn't throw it and get spread over several meters of concrete.

I am lucky I didn't end up a statistic LOL

[AmericanZ28]

I own a 99 GSXR600

I bought the bike about 3-4 months ago, and I absolutely love it! The bike use to be a race bike, so it has quite a few mod's on it. The reason I bought it was to save money on gas (13 MPG City) because the gas prices here in cali went up like crazy. Plus I drove alot to and from school, work, and girlfriends house, and I didnt want to rack up unecessary miles on the Z. I made sure to take the proper training before I went into it though, and I got my license before I purchased the bike. Furthermore, many people will tell you that the GSXR600 is not a starter bike, and from my own experiences, this bike is no JOKE! These things are fast, they say they're race bikes with headlights! But training does help a whole lot, Ive come across sevral incidents in which the training helped me avoid mishaps . Im selling the bike as a matter of fact, I need the cash to pay for tuition and credit cards. Let me know if youre interested.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

I agree with what has been said but I would like to add 2 other thoughts.

My first bike was an 83 750 Honda Interceptor. It went down twice. Don't laugh (too loud). Once in the carport when I just flat lost my balance standing still. And once when I stopped going up hill and I was trying to figure how to switch between the front brake and the back brake. Neither hurt the bike. I never went down in an accident unless you consider the above. My second bike was an 86 700 Interceptor 6 spd transmission. There was this dead end road about a mile long that had 1 house way down at the end of it and I would go down it and do acceleration runs. One day I was winding out 3rd and when I hit 4th, the front end came up. I looked down and it was passing 120. I went home and parked it and wouldn't get on it for a month. I have another really funny but lucky story on it. Maybe later.

Another thing to consider, I know several people who bought an inexpensive bike to learn on and after 6 months had outgrown them and wanted the nice sport bike. They all had wished they had went ahead and bought the nice bike first and saved the dollars. I know it may not be the best idea but it might depend on how much self control you have. If you can control yourself into not doing stupid things, everybody does them on a bike at sometime or another, you can save some real dollars getting the nice bike first. If not, you would be better getting a beater first. A good first bike is a Suzuki GS500E. My thought on this is a sport bike is more capable of getting you in and out of trouble better. My Interceptor saved my butt once. If I had been on a slower bike, I would have gotten hit by someone pulling out of a driveway.

When you look at bikes, look at where the handle bars are mounted. If they are below the top triple tree (triangular shaped plate that holds the bar to the steering shaft), the bike is for a more experienced rider and geared for racing. If it is above the triple tree, it will be more comfortable to ride everyday. I compromised and bought the Honda interceptor. I firmly believe it is the best street bike on the road. http://www.hondamotorcycles.com/moto...delId=VFR800A3 I know I will get a lot of arguments about that but here is why. The handle bars are on top of the triple tree so you are not so leaned over. The V4 engine is a torque monster. It pulls from idle to red line which was 11,500 on my 86. Because of the low end torque, it is much more street able than an inline 4 which don't start pulling good till they get to like 5,000 rpms. The bike is a little longer than most sport bikes and tends to not lift the front wheel as much but believe me, it will if you want it too. It has very good brakes on it. Be warned that the Suzuki Katana (street version of the GSXR) brakes are not that good. There are other bikes that are faster than the Interceptor but like cars, there is always something faster on the road somewhere. I think the fastest bike right now is the Cow LOL ZX1200R. 1/4 mile in the 9s and a top speed of over 200 mphs. You have to draw the line somewhere.

Another thing to think of and this depends on the rules of your state and area. In my area, to get a license, you have to maneuver a laid out course. There is absolutely no way you could get a cruiser like a Harley through it. Also in Georgia, we have two motorcycle licenses. A 500 and under and an over 500 license. If you take the test on a 500cc bike, your license will be limited to under 500cc. If you later decide to get a 600 or larger bike, you have to retake the test. Most people will go to a way out country place to take the test to avoid the laid out course because they only have it in the big cities.

[MN6WS6]

I concur with the falling over while sitting still. I have never crashed at speed (knock on wood), it's always been less than 1 MPH Most of mine were the tire sliding on an oily spot in the road, or a foot slipping out on me, or my first couple of times were just flat forgetting "take foot off of peg, place on ground". Then there's always the old "shoelace get caught on the brake/shifter lever". That's when you learn to not wear tennis shoes anymore

The buying new/used argument is always going to happen. I know people that have said the same thing, but I know lots more that went out and bought a GSXR750, GSXR1000, R1, R6, 929, 954, etc. and totalled them within a month. About half of them were just stupid accidents, taking a corner too fast, locking up the back brake, dog ran out and they thought they could run over it, little stuff that more training on a slower bike could have taught you to overcome. The other half are idiots trying to do wheelies and stoppies in their first 6 months of riding.

I'm not going to argue with your choice of bike, your opinion is more power can help a newbie, my opinion is more power can hurt a newbie. Just opinions. However, the bars/triple tree rule has been thrown out the window of late. My Blackbird has the bars above the triple tree by about 2 inches, plus I raised mine up. There's ways to make sportbikes more comfortable without sacrificing much performance. Also, big bore sportbikes don't have that low end torque gap like the 600's do. My bike pulls from about 2500 up, much like a car, but 1137 cc's can do that

P.S. The current fastest production sportbike for the masses is the Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa. Stock they are limited to 186 MPH and run low 10's in the 1/4. The ZX12R has the same numbers, but it's 1/4 is a little slower since it has less overall power. The Blackbird comes in 3rd. The fastest mass produced motorcycle was the 1999 Hayabusa, which was the last year of unlimited speed on motorcycles. The fastest limited production motorcycle is the Y2K turbine bike, built in the USA and goes 260 MPH!

[Jeff_in_Atl]

LOL. Too funny.

Don't get me wrong, I am not arguing for more power. I said if you have the self control to handle it. Most people think they do until they roll the throttle a few times. Man it's a drug.

Hm. I guess it depends on what magazine your read. I read the ZX12 was the fastest production bike with the numbers I said earlier. Well that doesn't really matter. Through the boss hoss in there and all bets are off. That's not really a production bike. I remember Jay Leno talking about riding his turbne bike. He said a Honda car (I think) oukeed up next to him and he noticed the bumper melting from his exhaust and took off.

Any way as all can see, there is as much opinion about bikes as there is about cars. Ford-Chevy, Honda,-Yamaha,-Cow,-Suzuki (bless you sneeze)-Ducati-bmw-etc...

PS. the guy I bought my last bike from in ~1988 had a 1100 V-Max with nitrous and an FJR1100. And he was a nurse.

[Ruz]

A lot of points have been brought up that I don't necessarily agree with. In 1997, my friend and I both walked into a dealership and bought our first bikes new. I bought a CBR600F3 and he bought a CBR XX (1100cc 'blackbird'). We both kept the bikes for 3 years and even sold them on the same day...and neither of us ever laid the bike down. You just have to have respect for what you are riding...and you gain it quickly once you grab a handfull of throttle. Insurance is more for a bike over 1000cc, but I was only paying about $800 a year.

If you haven't, TAKE A RIDING CLASS. You will learn many many things that you probably wouldn't pick up on your own. Plus, its a lot easier to practice on someone elses bike! :-)

Good luck with whatever you do, and if you do get one, ride smart.

Ruz

[Stealth Performance]

2003 Honda 600 RR is sweeet or the new 2004 Honda 1000 RR

Mike

[Black97]

I grew up in Switzerland. First of all you have to be 18 to drive a car or ride a bike. You also need a beginners license and need to take driving lessons (for cars) otherwise you have no chance on passing the driving test.

Prior to even applying for a drivers license you have to go to a first aid course which takes 4 evenings.

Like many of you said it's like a drug. You pull and off it goes.

In Switzerland you also have to drive a 125 cc for two years before you can drive anything bigger. There was one loophole though at the time. You could rent or borrow a 125 to pass the driving test and then cool your heels for two years until you could get a bigger one.

I had my 125 a Yamaha RD for about a year and then I sold it. They day I had my two years in I had a 750 Yahama FZ on the road. About a year later a friend of mine bought a Yahama 1000 FZR and he let me drive it. The next day I traded mine in for the same kind of bike.

Boy it was great driving around in the mountains. On the way to the Alps we would say lets take it easy but once you were there you would just let her rip. Sometimes in the afternoon we would quickly slip across the border to Germany to wind the bike up on the Autobahn. What a thrill. I'm sure today with bike going over 300k it's even more thrilling or almost suicidal.

I never dropped mine but came close a couple of times. I drove behind my friend which had his gf on the back. He tried to pass a car which decided at that point to make a left turn without turn indicators. No serious injuries and the bike could be fixed aswell.

On a nice weekend usually somebody got killed on a bike in the mountains. Several times they placed wrecked bikes on the bottom of a mountain pass to kind of discourage people from speeding. Not sure if it helped. It did for me maybe for the first couple of turns but then thr thrill took the better of me.

Once I move to Canada I sold my bike and bought at 1000 FZR over here. To make the drivers licence over here I took a weekend bike training course at a local college. At the end you have the licence and a certificate which gives you a lower insurance rate. First half day was kind of boring since one person sat on the bike while the other pushed, just to get the feel for it. But for people who never sat on bike it was a great start.

One thing they over and over talked about was the clothing. The right gear is important especially when riding at high speeds. I had all the proper gear except the pants. I always wore my jeans. Boy when I see guys just in shorts and t-shirts a cold shiffer runs down my spine.

I haven't been riding for years since it's too boring around here, no mountains close by and the look my wife gave me whenever I took it out. So I switched to V8's. Started out with a 89 IROC-Z, went to a 81 Vette and just got my 97 T/A. Much saver.

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

97 GSXR-750. The sport bikes are not for beginners. Some have survived them just fine, others have perished. A lot of good discussion on this non F-Body post, but everybody likes speed
. A used bike that is easy to handle can get you thru the test, your first couple of drops, and can be resold for about the same price as bought with a little patience. A new bike can cost more in insurance, drop repair, and take a hit on resale in case you don't like it and decide to sell. Anything too old is hard to get parts for and might be dangerous as far as old cables, bearings, tires, etc... so getting a bike 8 y/o or so might be a good compromise for all of the above reasons. And, oh yeah, EVERYBODY wrecks a couple of times if you really try to ride it. Some of the Harley riders haven't but they putt around with their feet down half of the time. Personally, I think that is another bad first bike since they cost so much...

[MN6WS6]

Harley's. Don't even get me started...

I think we can all agree that no matter what you get, make sure it's something that you can afford and something you can afford to drop on the pavement. Take some courses if they are available in your area, and if not, get to a big parking lot or a big grassy field to learn how to ride. This way you only hurt yourself and your bike and not somebody else if you fall. Find some experienced riders and ask a lot of questions. You will get a lot of respect out of your fellow riders if you ask them to give you pointers rather than going out and learing on the fly. They will help you out because they all started somewhere, and they did the same thing when they started out.

A lot of people have this misconception that riding a motorcycle is like riding a bicycle, so they hop on one like they're Mr. Billy Badarse and immediately crash. Motorcycles have high power and low weight, and take a lot of bar input and weight shift to handle to their full potential. Be careful, and whatever you do, make sure you have the right gear before you even get on the bike! Helmet, leather jacket, leather gloves, leather boots are a minimum. The faster you go, the thicker the gear needs to be and the more gear you need to wear. Damn the heat, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'm always equipped as above, and if I'm going to be doing anything remotely close to spirited riding, the full leathers come out. I live where it's 95 degrees and 95% humidity almost everyday, so that's saying something.

We had a guy go down last weekend on a new bike doing a 90 MPH wheelie wearing shorts, t-shirt, and sandals. He lost all his toes, both kneecaps, most of the skin on his back, and will be in the hospital for probably 3 months. $300 in gear could have saved him $300,000 in hospital bills. People say "it's too hot to wear all that gear" but more than likely they haven't seen somebody missing 30% of their skin or more. You see that and you learn real quick that a $200 jacket doesn't look all that expensive anymore.

[Hyper94uznj]

Good Point MN6. I'm not a rider, but I agree - it's foolish to ride w/o the gear regardless of how hot it is.

On another note I have most of you beat:

94 Z-28 (UZ hood) A/4 - 383 (being built for high to mid 11's N/A

2000 VW TDI - 43/50 mpg with a heavy right foot (a few people here on this board can testify to that)

2001 Trek 1000 road bike - uses no gas and averages 16+ mph on the open road

Hyper