Any Motorcyclists?

[QuietChaos]

**Anybody know of a good riding school in Abbotsford?**

Thinking of selling my summer car and buying a bike instead when the spring weather comes around. I'll pretty much just be commuting from home to university, a 10 minute drive, so I figured it might make more sense and save some money.

The bike I'm considering is a 09/10 Kawasaki Ninja 250R. Looks decent, manageable, and from what I've read, a great bike to learn on. Plus I'm comfortable with the seat height. Only thing I'm a little afraid of with this bike is lack of stability and power on the highway, where larger bikes seem to be more confidence inspiring.

When/if I get the bike, I'll be lowering it and adding sliders. Also heard the stock tires are crap.

I don't have my motorcycle license yet, and when I get my L I won't have anyone over 25 with a full license to supervise, so I was considering doing the program at PRS over the break. Thoughts on this school?

Also, which local bike forums are the best?

Thanks!

[Nismo_line]

dont get a small bike you will out grow fast and wanna upgrade soon heard this from lots of people

[gtrjon]

hey man i used to have a 03 gsxr 600. 600s have lots of power but not too much power especially after you start riding for a little bit. I would say going to riding school is a must. they teach you alot that you would take years to learn on your own. frame sliders are great because everyone dunmps their first bike a few times. just make sure you spend money and get good gear that is comfortable and always wear it. as far as the ninja 250 having enough power on the highway I would be a little worried as well. I know the 250s are hated alot in the bike community i mean my dirt bikes are 250s lol. i would say go with something like a cbr f4i or a gsxr 600. get a 600 you wont get bored and you will have the power you need and want. stay away from a r6 though. great bikes but more for experienced riders since they are the most unstable bike to ride. hope this helps
Jon

[bobbo]

Suzuki SV650. Great bike, lots of parts available and sounds awesome with a pipe. The bike is so good infact that there is a dedicated racing series for them.
Linear V-Twin power, comfortable and plenty of parts for upgrades. Great starter bike too. It's what I put my wife on for a first bike... and yes I love my wife.

[fast316]

I've been riding for 8 years now and racing for 3. Bikes are amazing, the power and control is addicting, every spring I hop on my 600rr and take it out for that amazing first ride of the season. The bike feels so fast, the suspension hugs the road, the throttle response is unreal. I love bikes. I would say first take the bike course, you'll probably need to buy some gear to take it, but take it, it is worth every penny. See if you like riding, then look at getting a bike.

SV650 is a good starter bike, there are tons of them out there, lots of aftermarket and oem parts, they also used to have there own racing series, but recently they were discontinued. IMO a newer 600cc bike isn't too much for a noob, you really have to wring their necks to get them out of shape. That being said the bike only does what you tell it to do, they can all get you into a ton of trouble in a hurry. I've had a suzuki, honda, kawi, yahmaha, harley, picking a bike is like splitting hairs they are all so good and so close to each other (R6 is a perfectly good bike who ever said they are unstable is wrong). Right now if I had to go buy a new bike I'd hit up every dealer, sit on every bike and pick the one I think I look best on. Currently I ride a 05 600rr for the street and a 08 600rr for the track. These bikes are bullet proof, never had a problem with them, the only parts that break are the ones I smash on some pavement.

Get a bike you'll love it. Here's a pic of my toys...

[GTS-James]

i got my bike liscense last year, bought a suzuki gsxr 600, great bike to learn on, not too much power and not too little, i would definetly suggest the class, i took it and it shows you how to actually handle a bike, plus saves you a tonn on insurance.

[Tony-R32]

I wouldn't get anything smaller than a 600, and as for the cheap part, what is insurance there like for bikes?

In manitoba, it's like 3 grand to insure a bike for the summer, pretty f-ing rediculous, but i'd still like to get one, one day!

[fast316]

In alberta I pay about $900 a year for base insurance plus fire and theft coverage, $600 of that goes to theft coverage, which is a must for a bike. Full coverage for me would be about $3000 a year, but full coverage is kind of silly, if you smash your bike just fix it, bikes are easy to work on compared to cars. I'm sitting around the 10 demerits on my license, I think, definitely riding on the track more this year.

[QuietChaos]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I was a little apprehensive to look at 600cc bikes. I liked the 250R because everyone was saying that you can't accidentally pop a wheelie on it, and you can just thrash it without having to worry about losing control. Apparently it's a really fun bike to ride, more so than the SV650, and handles really well. It is super light after all.

I've got a friend who started off with a ZX-6R when he was 16 or 17. Wrecked it soon after that. Bikes are so different from cars..going fast in a car is expensive..going fast on a bike is cheap. Anyone can go out and pick up a Hayabusa. I'm trying to resist the urge to buy a really fast bike, even though they are so accessible.

I think it would be a good idea to ride the Ninja 250Rs at PRS, then decide after if I'm ready for something faster, or stick to a 250R for a while.

And I won't be skimping on gear..altogether, it might just end up costing more than the bike, but it's worth it.

How do bikes handle in the rain? Hopefully I can avoid it, but you never know in BC..

And what other options do I have for a fairly powerful bike in the 600cc-ish range that is modern and good looking (and won't kill me)? I'll look into the SV650 though.



My mouth is watering..not something I'm gonna consider right now though.

[Tony-R32]

In alberta I pay about $900 a year for base insurance plus fire and theft coverage, $600 of that goes to theft coverage, which is a must for a bike. Full coverage for me would be about $3000 a year, but full coverage is kind of silly, if you smash your bike just fix it, bikes are easy to work on compared to cars. I'm sitting around the 10 demerits on my license, I think, definitely riding on the track more this year.

Yea here full coverage is the only option i beleive!

And as for a good bike choice, as much as i love kawasaki, you can't go wrong with a Honda CBR 600 never heard anything bad about them.

[raijin-xiii]

I can't believe all the crap I'm reading in here... 600cc sportbikes are NOT learner bikes. Just because you survived riding it until you're actually decent with it doesn't make it a learner's bike.

Here are actual good learner bikes:
ninja 250R
ninja 500r
suzuki gs500f (or e if you want naked)
suzuki sv650
ninja 650r

for me, I wanted a nice bike that had great resale, something that could hold its own on the highway on my constant commutes and wasn't a ******* sportbike that rapes my ass full of insurance premiums. What I ended up with was the ninja 650r. these aren't particularly popular, but those that know of them will pay for them and therefore they keep their value. in my opinion they are better-looking than the sv to boot.



I mean, the power is more lower-end (like a street bike should be), it's not even considered a sportbike (even the sv was on the blacklist of my insurance company) but a "sport-touring" and it's basically everything you want.

Seriously Kevin, don't be a dumb **** and get a sportbike for your first. You can always get a second bike. My 650r was a rocket 0-100 and beyond (sub-4 seconds) and it was a comfortable riding position. These bikes are MUCH more forgiving than the sportbikes and won't get you killed when you make a slight mistake. It will keep you entertained farrr beyond your intro-to-riding days also.

You wanna look cool when riding right? How ******* dumb would you look for the first couple months riding a track-ready-out-of-the-box 600cc sportbike and you have to take turns going 10km/h?

EDIT: I bought my 650r and sold it at the end of the summer for $650 more than what I bought it for and it was only on the market for 2 days lol. Guess what? I'm upgrading to a sportbike next year because I have both money remaining and experience under my belt.

[DreadedFist]

Never never never get a sport bike as a first ride. As someone who has never been on a motorcycle, I can assure you this is 100% accurate. A guy I went to school with around 2005 or 2006 was on a cbr600rr at the time (I believe it was an RR, don't quote me on that). He said that the 600 would try to throw you off the back if you weren't careful/not used to the way it worked. He also said that it would throw you forwards, felt like you were getting tossed off the bike if you booted it in gear and didn't upshift before letting off, the engine braking was that effective at high RPM.

Then he bought a litre bike, gsxr1000 or something along those lines, and said this: It rips your arms off, throws you off the back, and then fucks your wife. Before you've even realized you're sliding on the pavement.

If I ever start riding, it's gonna be on a Ninja 250 for at least 6 months :P

[DreadedFist]

It's also worth noting that even the "slower" bikes will still out accelerate most cars. The faster bikes are just more impressive, in that regard... :P

Watch this one for epic good points

[QuietChaos]

Haha, fair enough guys. My last post:

"I think it would be a good idea to ride the Ninja 250Rs at PRS, then decide after if I'm ready for something faster, or stick to a 250R for a while."

I also mentioned earlier that I even have a friend who started off with a ZX-6R and wrecked it soon after. What I didn't quite realize was that the 600cc bikes were a different breed from the 650s, etc. I'll look into the 500R and 650R, but I don't think those are very easy to find over here. 250Rs are abundant, though. Even the 650R as you're describing it seems a little much for me right now. It'll be a huge transition from cars to bikes and back.

Appreciate the advice.

[fast316]

EDIT: I bought my 650r and sold it at the end of the summer for $650 more than what I bought it for and it was only on the market for 2 days lol. Guess what? I'm upgrading to a sportbike next year because I have both money remaining and experience under my belt.

So in less than a year of riding, probably less than 10000km under your belt of riding you are upgrading, why? My suggestion was skip all this and get something like a newer fuel injected 600cc sport bike. Something like an 03-04 600rr, gsxr, r6, zx6r, cost just as much as a 650r. Save yourself some time, money and hassle of switching bikes. It is more important how you learn to ride than what you learn to ride on. If you do screw up and drop the bike no big deal, just make sure you learn from it, don't get up and be like 'i don't know why I just crashed'. I believe it was Randy Renfrow that said "Bikes don't fall down, riders drag them down,"