For those who started with a +600cc bike, i got one question... If u had a choice to go back when u started riding would u have started on a smaller bike???

 

nope... here is how i look at it. it takes a certain kind of person to ride a bike. they know who they are even before they twist their first throttle. if you are "that" person you will learn to ride quickly with no problem. if you are timid and real scarred then you really dont have a place on a sportbike.

take that as you will

 

I agree. That's a good way of putting it. I know there are many people who are just not suited to ride motorcycles no matter how much they say they want them. There is, of course, a limit. You don't go out and buy a R1 for your first bike even if you're good.

My 750 is treating me nice so far. If I treat it nice, it'll treat me nice. That's how I see it.

 

the cool thing about learning to ride on a ninja 250 (which i kinda wish i did) is that you learn to ride fast in the corners, cause if you dont carry speed in the corners, you're toast.

starting out on a 750, i have definitely put myself at a disadvantage cause i just make up for mistakes in the corners by twisting the throttle in the straights.

but if you're just riding on the urban streets, then i guess it doesnt matter so much. just my opinion.

edit - i am having second thoughts about my comments...i am learning to carry speed in the corners now. just took longer.

 

I'm not quite there yet. I slow down before the corners and gently ride through. Then as you say "make up for it on the straights." Hehe.

Soon enough.....

 

your 750 is pretty much just as fast as an R1, those 750s kick ****!

my friend started off on a 02 GSXR1000 and he has had it for a little over a month now and he has put almost 2000 miles on it, everytime he rides i get a little scared but he is getting the hang of it, but i see the points you guys have in cornering, he really can't do it to fast, i've ridden that thing 3 times and i corner faster than he does. the reason he got a new GSXR1000 was because it was either that or a brand new Kia, although he could've gotten a smaller bike.

 

Woohoo!!

Actually, maybe I should be a bit scared.

 

I've been riding for "a while"

If I had stayed on a smaller bike longer, I would not have wasted so much time figuring things out due to the added difficulties of a larger bike. (weigth, power, position, etc) Especially with todays modern bikes, the chassis are so well engineered you can easily out corner a sports car if you know how to ride.

Any idiot can hamfist the wick and go fast in a straight line. You may find as I did that this get old. Some people will start stunting because of this. Others will seak out the twisties and learn how to corner. IF you want to "safely" learn how to ride well, avoid the temptation and start on a smaller bike. Starting big CAN be done, but that does not make it the best way to go IMO. Been there, seen that.

 

well...it took me 10 months and 4000miles to start to get the bike to settle down and carve out the turns. I feel at this point I only have an inkling of how to corner correctly, but definitely lots and lots to learn just yet.

figment remembers my first jaunt down 455. i basically took every curve at 20mph, which means i was sitting bolt upright and making a lot of steering and throttle and brake adjustments to stumble thru the curve...

today i can take these at about 40-45 and roll on the throttle at the exit....still much slower than the rest of the guys, but its coming.

the biggest thing that helped me was LOOK FAR AHEAD and determine your entry speed (and lean angle) based on the radius of the turn.

thats when it starts getting fun.

 

Well said. When i took my class to get my racing license that was one of the things they stressed. You look where you want to be when you are through the corner. DO NOT watch someone else in front of you, if he goes in the ditch you will too. Oh yea i started out ona 900 RR. I got it for super cheap back then. No i would not do it different.

 

no...moving up to a liter bike hopefully.

 

when you guys are saying you wished to get a smaller bike so you woulda learned how to corner better? are you talking about cornering as in knee-dragging around a tight *** turn? or are you talkinga about driving normal and getting the same tight *** turn?

 

its more about training your brain and learning how to use your body to interact with the bike to get it to do what you want. a bigger bike is heavier less responsive, and also requires more attention diverted to the throttle.

a smaller bike will be more responsive to your inputs. you'll get the dynamics of riding sorted out faster i think. over time, as you get more comfortable with the bike you'll start using the throttle more and more in the twisties.

to get into that 'groove' with a machine and swoop thru the turns without thinking about it is what i am striving for. the closer i get, the more i get that feeling. there isint a name for it...its that...feeling. ha. cant describe it.

 

I agree with falcon

btw, knee-dragging I think its actually called hang-on. Not all people use this technique (i do though). It depends on what kind of motorcycle you are using as well. (it is better to use this technique on newer racer replicas)

I dont think you can learn as fast on the bigger bikes cause there is less room for you to mess up. On the bigger bikes, not enough braking or missing on the line could be highly dangerous, but on the smaller ones, there is more room for errors. Also, if you do crash (wich i believe everyone will do if you do any track driving) it will cost you less to repair. Also, usually smaller bikes are easier to do maintenance on, which is good if you really want to learn more about your motorcycle, and do maintenance by yourself IMO.

 

Smaller bikes are much more confidence inspiring fo the novice rider. So you can do more on them quicker and get over the lean angle issues everyone has when new to a bike. This is significant, important factor in learning how to corner.

On the street, knee dragging is not a good idea.
1. You should not be riding that aggressive there.
2. The road surface has irregularities that are bad on knees.

Hanging off is an important technique to learn, especially if you get into a corner too hot you need to keep your speed. Grabing the brakes will unsettle the bike and throw you over the top in a highside. Bad scene. You can practice hanging off without too much speed to see how it affects the bike...

 

yeah...like curbs....and other cars..and manhole covers which make your rear tire lose traction and kick out for a moment, sending your knee into the ground.

 

The one thing that I have noticed about the bigger bikes is when you down shift there is a big difference in what it does to a 900 compared to a 600. A 600 is more confidence inspiring, every thing seems to function the way you would expect it to. Larger bikes teach you whose boss real quick.