paintball or motorcycle... you choose

[sandfreestyle]

I ride an 07 R1 and love it, but I have downed it at 35mph (not my fault either). As much fun as there are, they are extremely dangerous and all it takes is one time hitting the pavement and you're done. I guess that's some of the rush of riding.

If this would be your first bike, don't buy new. Buy a used bike that is maybe 3 years old or so. You will save a lot of money and the insurance will be slightly less, very slightly if at all. I suggest an F4i, R6, or a 636. all are very popular and not to high in price. If you're buying new, R6 or GSXR600. I'd probably go with the Gixxer myself.

As for choosing the bike or gun, that is up to you. Both have the ups and downs. Personally, I would keep the emag and wait a little longer on the bike to make sure it is what you want to do. It took me 3 years to decide to buy one, and which one to buy.

[Spider-TW]

How far will e-mag $ get you on a motorcycle? If you spend a bunch more on bikes, you're probably not joy riding with chicks on the back and should be able to keep both if you wanted.

I love motorcycles, but they are highly impractical here in Houston. Definitely recreational, like a boat.

[chafnerjr]

Can't vote one way or the other. You should work hard and have both!

[teufelhunden]

If this would be your first bike, don't buy new. Buy a used bike that is maybe 3 years old or so. You will save a lot of money and the insurance will be slightly less, very slightly if at all. I suggest an F4i, R6, or a 636. all are very popular and not to high in price. If you're buying new, R6 or GSXR600. I'd probably go with the Gixxer myself.

I really hope you're not advocating an F4i, R6, or 636 for a first bike. That would be foolish. Like, really stupid.

[punkncat]

When I rode on a regular basis, I went through the same decision process.

I personally opted to keep my paintball gear, even though I played a good bit less. The amount that I could have gotten for all my gear would have been a tiny drop in the bucket next to all the "wannas" I had for my bike and gear, and thus not worth selling.

[dark blade]

well i just took a ride to the local shop... central mass motorsports. I decided that i should try bikes before i even decide on one.

I sat on an r6... didnt care for the bike at all and not to mention i heard the transmissions are clunky. I sat on a gsxr and though to myself "am i really going to be like everyone else?"... sat on the kawi ninja zx6r and the tank was sooo wide and uncomfortable to me plus not to mention the height of the bike was too tall.

Then came the cbr... i saw it, loved it, sat on it, and cleaned myself... end of story. The height was perfect, the riding stance wasn't so aggressive that i was hating it but just enough to get into a nice tuck if i need to on the course (which i will), and everything just felt right about it.


And as far as first bikes goes... if you respect the bike and respect the power, it shouldnt matter what firts bike anyone gets. Its the stupidity that kills, not the potential power of a bike that can easily be controlled with some common knowledge.

[sandfreestyle]

I really hope you're not advocating an F4i, R6, or 636 for a first bike. That would be foolish. Like, really stupid.

Eventhough those bikes are notorious for being stunters bikes, they are also nice bikes to start on and progress on. The first sportbike I rode was and F4i and I had no problems keeping the wheel on the ground cause I wasn't trying to pop it up. Can they get up? Oh yeah but only when you want them to. If they have never ridden a bike in their life I suggest a small dirtbike like an xr100 to learn the basics and then a Ninja 250 street if they dont want to do the dirt thing.

[teufelhunden]

And as far as first bikes goes... if you respect the bike and respect the power, it shouldnt matter what firts bike anyone gets. Its the stupidity that kills, not the potential power of a bike that can easily be controlled with some common knowledge.

Not true. What happens when you have the wrong hand position on the throttle (because you're a new rider) and you hit a pothole and your wrist goes down? On a 250/500, you go faster, nbd. On a bike like you're considering, the front tire may very well go in the air. After that (providing you don't go over), you're likely to completely close the throttle and get back down, but you may lock the rear.

Further, what happens when a deer runs in the road and you grab a little too much front brake? On my bike (EX-500), the nose dives and I get to think and loosen up and get some rear brake going. On one of those, with their super dual disc setups, you could be going right over the front.

How about if you accidentally pass through the friction zone too quickly? Coming off a red light with a car in front of you?

Everything on race replicas is meant to maximize performance. The controls are all twitch sensitive. Not what you want to be learning on. Plenty of people think that if they respect the bike they'll be OK. Of course there are examples of people starting on Busas and having no issues but there also exist plenty of people who got an F4i on June 10th, spent June 23rd through July 17th in the hospital, and sold the F4i on July 28th for 1/3 of what they bought it for.

Believe me. You want to learn how to control a bike and deal with the left lane assassins on a bike that isn't trying to go 90 mph in first. Plus, a standard bike will be cheaper to insure to start with and represents less of an investment should you decide you don't want the bike. Your E-Mag wasn't your first gun (or 'Mag) - you probably started on a used 98 or Spyder. Obviously not the same, but it's a decent analogy.

Check out the New Rider Forums on www.sportbikes.net.

As for sandfreestyle, I agree - if you've ridden street before (for more than a month), go ahead and grab one of the 600s. If not, you're still going to not

[teufelhunden]

Oh, and take the MSF.

[SCpoloRicker]

Buy a used Honda Hawk. Take the MSF and additional courses. Ride for two years.

Then you can think about buying a race-rep bike.

All the gear, all the time. And remember; everyone out there is trying to kill you. :)

[Lohman446]

well i just took a ride to the local shop... central mass motorsports. I decided that i should try bikes before i even decide on one.

I sat on an r6... didnt care for the bike at all and not to mention i heard the transmissions are clunky. I sat on a gsxr and though to myself "am i really going to be like everyone else?"... sat on the kawi ninja zx6r and the tank was sooo wide and uncomfortable to me plus not to mention the height of the bike was too tall.

Then came the cbr... i saw it, loved it, sat on it, and cleaned myself... end of story. The height was perfect, the riding stance wasn't so aggressive that i was hating it but just enough to get into a nice tuck if i need to on the course (which i will), and everything just felt right about it.


And as far as first bikes goes... if you respect the bike and respect the power, it shouldnt matter what firts bike anyone gets. Its the stupidity that kills, not the potential power of a bike that can easily be controlled with some common knowledge.

Didn't Yamaha detune one of there bikes from the factory (I thought it was the R1 not sure though) because there test riders were losing them coming out of corners?

[Mechanic79]

All the gear, all the time. And remember; everyone out there is trying to kill you. :)

I like that game! but yea, it's true, no second chances out there.

I've been riding since 1996. Started on a Ninja 500, then a Virago 1100 now a gixxxer 750! Weeeeeee!
I say choose which ever one feels most comfortable to you! Don't look at name, they are all good, you won't be disappointed with any of them.

[sandfreestyle]

Didn't Yamaha detune one of there bikes from the factory (I thought it was the R1 not sure though) because there test riders were losing them coming out of corners?

I know my 07 R1 has 150hp to the wheel and the new 09s have like 148hp to the crank

[dark blade]

TF... anyone who doesn't take the msf and jumps on any 600 sport bike IS going to get hurt... because of ignorance and stupidity of not takiing the MSF.

With the knowledge they teach you, you won't have the wrong grip on the throttle unless you weren't paying attenion (so it would be stupidity again) and hitting a pot hole is just a bad choice in general with a bike... you should always avoid potholes and I plan ahead when I go riding. I plan where im going and what roads to take to make it as flat, as few lights, and as least traffic as possible which is always a smart idea.

Secondly, with the abs system that honda has on the new cbr I am looking at, the rear and front brakes work in unison, when brakeing, the abs distributes the brakeing over the front and rear tire evenly and prevents lockup and flat spotting... this nearly 100% removes the possibility of flipping over the handle bars through locking the front brake out of reflex.

Lastly, friction zones at a red light... I was always taught that at a red light you should allow a second or two for the car to get a lead just in case anything like that happens. That's sometimes a common mistake or misjudgement and not usually a lack of experience. Every rider needs to know the friction zone in order to be able to even ride their bike, so forgetting it or misjudging it can happen to anyone at any time.

But I do agree that starting on a lesser bike is a good idea for most. However, I have ridden before, I have just never owned before. So this is literaly my first bike but not my first time out. My mom has owned a harley since I was 6 (which was a longg time ago) and I have used her bike to putt around in since I legally could

[teufelhunden]

idk if you've taken the MSF, but if not, I can tell ya that it's a crapload of information in not a lot of time. There will be things you miss, so I wouldn't go in expecting to retain 100% and be intellectually technically sound [can i use adverbs like that?]

Believe me, I know you don't aim for potholes :) Stuff happens sometimes though - can't always plan where you're going to be and when you're going to be there - impromptu trips to where ever that are detours from your original location, traffic on your preferred route, getting hung up late at work, etc. May not be a pothole, but maybe it's something that falls off a truck (though at that point you have more problems haha).

The ABS sounds nice, I was looking at it for one of my next bikes. However, the danger would likely lie in if you got onto someone else's bike and they did not have ABS. Possibility for reliance on a technology not present - bad things.

Didn't know you'd ridden before - as such, you're likely in decent shape to jump on the CBR. Provided that riding was substantial and not 300 miles up and down the street

Good luck, shiny side up, and check out SBN :)