Beginner's Advice Pt. II

[Phenix_Rider]

Apparently, I've been spending too much time on riderforums, and all the other noob/squid hangouts on teh netz. The rash of morons trading up after a few thousand miles of stupid posts and blowing half again what the bike is worth in mods is wearing extremely thin. Maybe someone would like to sticky this over here, if so, great.


Too many people are pissing around with pretty mods (stickers, paint, cowls, fat tires, deleting fenders, lights, custom fairings) and silly "power" mods (exhaust, PCIII, clutch and lighter chain) instead of learning not to drop it in the driveway.

I realize this isn't a popular position, but get out and ride the damn thing! Put as many miles on as you can instead of washing it and posing and doing burnouts. Get some sticky tires and race plastics and hit the track so you can learn what it will really do, instead of worrying about some car passing you on the interstate, or a cruiser with monster pistons beating you off a light. Find some empty backroads if you can't go to the track. Don't get pissed when you get a ticket though. Cops are only doing their job- your attitude makes things harder on you.

If you're making payments on a bike, at least wait till it's paid off to think about getting a bigger, faster one!

No you have not reached the limits of the bike in 5,000 miles and a (whole entire) year of riding on the street, I don't care if you're 18 or 80. Not unless you race every weekend are you going to plumb the limits of a 650's power or handling. The software -YOU, the rider- needs upgraded long before the hardware (the bike, it's engine, suspension, brakes, etc.) Books will go a long way in building your personal database, but there's no replacement for experience. NO, watching Biker Boyz, Torque, and stunt videos will not make you a better rider. Neither will scuffing your kneepucks to look good in the bike hangout. You know what? Try avoiding the hangout! Some schmuck bragging about his scars doesn't give you anything useful. A garage party doing suspension or valve adjustments is a lot more fruitful.

Your gear is the second most important thing you can spend money on. The first is rider training. An MSF or equivalent course will instruct you on basic low speed handling and traffic positioning- ensuring that you don't get hit because you were riding in a cage's blindspot, or drop your bike in a parking lot or intersection and look like a fool. A dozen tankfuls of fuel will make you a hundred times faster and smoother than new levers, stainless brake lines, or a louder exhaust. Gear keeps you from becoming an asphalt crayon when you dick up- and you will. Motorcycles tend to let you know when you make a bad input. How hard you hit, and how much skin you lose is really the only thing that changes.

Ride everything you can. You'll probably decide your bike is perfect for you. If not, you'll eventually find one that is. That's what demo days are for. There's nothing like putting hundreds of miles on someone else's bikes. You find what you like in an engine style and displacement, and what makes a bike unrideable- for you- others may love it. Talk to everyone you can at the demo- they will have ridden bikes you haven't. They will also have different impressions of bikes you just rode.

[DLIT]

What demo days lets you put hundreds of miles on their bikes?

[azoomm]

Thank you. That probably needs to be said more often than it is...

[anyexcuse2ride]

I wish I would have put my money in my suspension first, Now I am scrambling to get that done. I understand your rant and wish I did things differently than what I did. Its all a learning experience and some learn and some dont.

Originally Posted by DLIT

What demo days lets you put hundreds of miles on their bikes?

I would like to demo some and go to the track show up in the morning and ask for a demo and start taping it up and see what they say

[DLIT]

Originally Posted by anyexcuse2ride

Its all a learning experience and some learn and some dont.

Exactly.

[itgirl]

riding is definately an ongoing learning experience. knowledge is power. however, i also don't see anything wrong with giving your bike a personal touch. not everyone buys these bikes with the desire to be a faster rider. some just want the freedom of the open road and the chance to love a shiny, two-wheeled machine. oops, now my harley roots are showing.

[Phenix_Rider]

Originally Posted by DLIT

What demo days lets you put hundreds of miles on their bikes?

If you ride enough of them, it adds up. 30 miles per bike x 6 bikes... I went to Thunder in the Valley and did nothing but ride demos all day. I could have fit in a few more rides if I got there earlier.

[Phenix_Rider]

Originally Posted by itgirl

riding is definately an ongoing learning experience. knowledge is power. however, i also don't see anything wrong with giving your bike a personal touch. not everyone buys these bikes with the desire to be a faster rider. some just want the freedom of the open road and the chance to love a shiny, two-wheeled machine. oops, now my harley roots are showing.

meh. My issue is with noobs that immediately throw on an exhaust and rip out the sub throttle plates and add blingy grips and three different types of handlebars and a colored windscreen and fender eliminator and colored turn signals before they do the first oil change. The same ones that can't figure out why there's no dipstick and can't find the master cylinder sight hole and drop their bike on both sides before they've had it a month. People that can't budget money for proper gear or insurance, yet find money for the exhaust and rim stripes they "need."

But I'm beginning to understand why some riders have such an elitist view. When I hear of someone that got outrun on the freeway, or outlaunched by a bike making twice the torque in town, so they have to get a "better bike to save face." These supposed adults that fail to make the simplest financial decisions and then bitch when they get caught with lapsed insurance or no registration, or an expired license when they get hit or hit someone else.

[OneSickPsycho]

The best thing you could ever buy for your bike... Gas.

[Trip]

The 650 in stock config is very easy to outride even as just a sometimes track rider. The suspension is utter crap, the power on the straights isn't very good. To get either of these things up to par with a bike you want as a normal track rider, you have to drop some serious cash into it that will put you over the purchase cost of a 600. Personally, I wouldn't make a blanket statement that you need to be a racer to outride a stock 650. Especially in the suspension dept. A properly tuned suspension is one of the best performance mods for comfort and ridability of the bike and is very beneficial to a noobs confidence when riding the bike. Riding a bike setup for a 150 lbs person when you are 250+ lbs is not fun or will give you much confidence in your handling.