Hey now, I didn't say "crash" -- I said "drop". :) Come on, you never leaned a little too far over once or stall the engine and lose balance? I dropped mine making a u-turn when I first was learning to ride. I was going too slow and stalled it while the front wheel was turned. The 450 pound bike was too much for 200 pound me to hold up with one hand.
Additionally, I made the mistake of buying new. Hindsight is always 20/20, and I should have bought used when I started out. I don't think the bike had too much power when though; the YZF600R is 599cc with about 92bhp. I *did* crash once and pretty much totalled the bike. Had it been a used bike, I would have written it off as a learning experience. However, we were talking about a brand new 2002 bike -- I couldn't see being out the $8000 I paid for it. (I wasn't carrying collision) So I sunk about $1500 into repairs and am back out on the road. I'm convinced that it's the rider's responsibility to control how much power they put into the throttle. If he or she's responsible, they'll respect the fact that a bike is capable of doing 0-60 in like 3 seconds. Any bike can go fast (even the little 6bhp pocket bikes do 40 mph) -- the difference is that different bikes take longer to go fast. ;) As for the term squid, I thought that came from bikers who ride around with no protective gear or helmet. The similarity to a squid being that there is no external skeleton or armor to protect a squid's squishy body. And no wheelies on public roads and highways! That's what they made empty parking lots for! -V -----Original Message----- From: Cantrell, Adam [mailto:Acantrell@;kentlaw.edu] Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2002 01:36 PM To: CF-Community Subject: RE: Starter bike First and foremost - take the MFS course before you consider the type of moto you want to own. http://www.msf-usa.org/ They provide the motorcycles and the course is cheap. I grew up turding around on dirt-bikes and what not, so I didn't end up taking it - but for anyone wanting to just start riding on the street (with cars, buses, pedestrians, potholes, and everything else), it's highly highly recommeded for your own safetey and the people you'll be sharing the road with. on to the fun stuff. I'd have to second Vinny. The key to getting the first bike is to not get something brand new, but to not get something that will end up in the garage constantly needing repairs. You don't want to spend much more than $3k on your first. You won't look or feel very cool, but that's the point - you just want to focus on learning to ride and pick up the characteristics of being on two wheels and an engine. (my first bike was an $800 EX500 Ninja - it even had some pink on it - hehe - best little rat bike I've owned). Braking, turning, swerving around obstacles, sliding on gravel, cars pulling out in front of you, deer, children - these are all things you want to learn how to handle on a used bike. Used bikes sell for considerably cheaper in the fall than they do in the spring, so you might want to consider that as well. Check out ebaymotors to see what's in your hood. Old Japanese standards are common enough to find almost anywhere - start with one of those. Honda CB750's are awesome. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1871815624 The old Kawasaki KZ's are good too. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1872144186 If after a year you decide that you enjoy riding, then you can sell the old one and then finance the big, bad, shiny v-rod. If you decide after a year that it's not something for you, well at least you had the experience and better - you didn't lose out on much. Resell value even on a slightly used motorcycle is horrible, a lot of people make that mistake and lose out big. And don't let Vinny scare ya, you don't have to necessarily crash :) Most crashes are from people starting with too much power. The nickname for those people is "squid". If you've ever seen somebody doing a wheelie on the expressway and swerving in and out of cars - that would be a squid. Adam. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm
