Novice riders..

2372 Views 35 Replies 21 Participants Last post by Rikodeine, Feb 24, 2015

zexer

Discussion Starter · Feb 23, 2015

i know I'm new here and somewhat new to street bikes. (been on em before just never owned one till now) but i was talking to my aunt (married in aunt) she's 26 i believe. Out of the blue says she wants a R1. like wtf? she's no taller than 5'6 120 lbs girly girl. she has no experience on a bike what so ever. i tried to tell her that it would be way to much for her and that a 250 or at max a 600 would be good. but no. she says "i like fast power machines" and won't reason at all while I'm over here doin

what are your guys thought? i think she is crazy and being quite stupid.

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Venge

· #2 · Feb 23, 2015

That is probably not the best idea. First of all, she should go and try to sit on one at a dealer, since that may solve the problem immediately.

Secondly, while I'm not someone who thinks you NEED to start on a 50cc trainer to learn how to ride, I couldn't, in good conscience, ever advise that a brand new rider with 0 experience start with a 1000cc superbike.

Honestly though, this doesn't sound like a real situation. By that I mean I know people who've drooled over bikes before with no intention of purchasing. If it is, you need to start watching videos of sportbike crashes together. That's my medicine when I need to stay level and sane.

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zexer

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 23, 2015 (Edited)

real situation lol i saw that she posted a pic of a r1 on instagram and saying some stupid shit tagging a friend of hers asking when the first lesson is. so i texted her and got the scoop and was just blown away by how she took my advice and refused to listen.

i just posted this just cuz i am dumbfounded by her answers and with her having ZERO experience on any kind of street bike an made me do a epic facepalm. I'm sure some others can relate to a situation like this wether it be a friend or family member or something. just thought it would be funny to share.

DatNyerr

· #4 · Feb 23, 2015

She sounds hard headed and like shes not willing to listen to any advice, which isnt a good combination. Sadly, those are usually the people that learn the hard way. You'd think at 26, shed be alittle more mature and think rationally about this since these machines can kill you. Does she even want to take the MSF course and learn how to ride or would that be too slow for her? Just make sure you have a camera ready if she does get the bike because i wouldnt be surprised if she whisky throttles into a parked car.

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yellowdart31

· #5 · Feb 23, 2015

Yeah I would just convince her to take the MSF course. I would concentrate on that because if you can get her to do that the course will bring her to light on ALOT more than you can just verbally. If she passes the MSF and STILL wants to start on a 1000cc sport bike than act like your trying to help help her and tell her all the truths of a 1000cc when she's trying to pick one, like how sensitive you need to be with the throttle, they are more unforgiving and can easily hurt you in a corner if you don't have experience yet etc etc. If she still refuses to back down than you've done all you can. She's going to have to learnt he hard way.

Or you can just sabotage the bike like break her starter relay when she buys it...but you didn't hear that from me

Off Camber

· #6 · Feb 23, 2015

I can't blame her, I want a new (2015) R1 too!:devious

Let her take the MSF course first. It should open her eyes to the realities of motorcycle riding. Talk to your uncle about the seriousness of the matter, maybe he can convince her otherwise.

The key thing is, if she is serious, you want her to be successful. The best way to achieve that is with a smaller, more upright bike. A 300 Ninja ABS would be nice.

ZXROM

· #7 · Feb 23, 2015

Lol Venge is right, just let her sit on one and feel the weight, once she realizes she can't handle it, she will get cold feet. Then let her on a 250 - which is low and light.

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Jperez

· #8 · Feb 23, 2015

Guys but she posted a pic of an r1 on instagram so she must really be getting one :/

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Venge

· #9 · Feb 23, 2015

zexer said:
real situation lol i saw that she posted a pic of a r1 on instagram and saying some stupid shit tagging a friend of hers asking when the first lesson is. so i texted her and got the scoop and was just blown away by how she took my advice and refused to listen.

i just posted this just cuz i am dumbfounded by her answers and with her having ZERO experience on any kind of street bike an made me do a epic facepalm. I'm sure some others can relate to a situation like this wether it be a friend or family member or something. just thought it would be funny to share.

It's kind of funny but there's really something you can do to help here. The only question is what...

I'll share my method:

When someone I know wants to start riding, I can't help but encourage it. I love motorcycles and motorcycling more than any other earthly material passion. However, once all the encouragement has settled in, I opt for a dose of realism to tune or slow someone's roll, if necessary.

My favorite technique is to go through every piece of protective equipment I have, describe its design and the nature of the injury it's intended to prevent. This usually involves visual descriptions such as "see how this wrist bends? a gauntlet can help brace..." or "the armored side of the boot helps protect your ankle from being crushed, shattered and torn apart under the bike."

This serves two functions:
1. ATGATT
2. A healthy respect for what this machine can do to the squishy human body with almost no provocation.

The same technique can be applied to the machine:
"The R1 has an incredible amount of power. A common occurrence for new riders is a whiskey throttle. A whiskey throttle on a smaller, lighter, slower bike is less dangerous than on an R1, which will rend your squishy human body with almost no provocation."

Then, watch these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqndJr1zOpk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9zNUPDmnz4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmHK0XFCPVI

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Ey3l45h

· #10 · Feb 23, 2015 (Edited)

Get her a 300 cross out the three and sharpie in a 10. She'll never know.

Ey3

PainfullySlo

· #11 · Feb 23, 2015

1) advise her as best you can that it is a bad idea. Try to be convincing without being forceful or pressuring her.
2) let natural selection take its course

Ey3l45h said:
I'll add that in the hands of any mere mortal a 600 and a 1000 are identical in acceleration up to 1xx mph, and all motorcycles are governed by the same forces, and can only go the same speed through a corner.

Ey3

I have to disagree. The 1000 has a much easier time overcoming the coefficient of friction of the rear tire, especially when twisting the throttle at lean.

Reactions: 1

zexer

Discussion Starter · #12 · Feb 23, 2015

Venge said:
It's kind of funny but there's really something you can do to help here. The only question is what...

I'll share my method:

When someone I know wants to start riding, I can't help but encourage it. I love motorcycles and motorcycling more than any other earthly material passion. However, once all the encouragement has settled in, I opt for a dose of realism to tune or slow someone's roll, if necessary.

My favorite technique is to go through every piece of protective equipment I have, describe its design and the nature of the injury it's intended to prevent. This usually involves visual descriptions such as "see how this wrist bends? a gauntlet can help brace..." or "the armored side of the boot helps protect your ankle from being crushed, shattered and torn apart under the bike."

This serves two functions:
1. ATGATT
2. A healthy respect for what this machine can do to the squishy human body with almost no provocation.

The same technique can be applied to the machine:
"The R1 has an incredible amount of power. A common occurrence for new riders is a whiskey throttle. A whiskey throttle on a smaller, lighter, slower bike is less dangerous than on an R1, which will rend your squishy human body with almost no provocation."

Then, watch these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqndJr1zOpk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9zNUPDmnz4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmHK0XFCPVI

she said she wants to take the MFS course which is good. she can learn the basics of riding. but still i think she wouldn't be ready for a R1 lol and that gsxr guy cracks me up! right in the dealerships parking lot.

zexer

Discussion Starter · #13 · Feb 23, 2015

Jperez said:
Guys but she posted a pic of an r1 on instagram so she must really be getting one :/

well like i said i saw her post a pic of a bike on social media and i asked her about it an we just got talking on the subject thats how this thread came about..

Randall1028

· #14 · Feb 23, 2015

hehe yeah I'm sure she's all obsessed right now...wait until that insurance bill hits. First year rider with a 998cc bike? That ain't gonna be cheap.

Nothing is more of a wet blanket than hearing that number you have to pay for insurance on your new sportbike. (thank goodness for State Farm).

Glad she's open to the idea of the MSF though. Who knows, once she gets on their trainer bikes, she might realize she doesn't need all that power. I'm sure we all wanted to start out on the meanest, baddest, bike we could find, but then common sense kicked in for us.

Reactions: 1

Mikezx6

· #15 · Feb 23, 2015

I'm not a believer in the whole it's your first bike buy a 250. Truthfully I think it's a waste of time and money.

I understand the logic behind it but to me it just seems like a waste. I know quite a few riders who purchased 250s for their first bikes and they out grew them within the first couple of months, and when they went to sell their 250s to upgrade they wound up losing half of their investment.

I personally started on a 600, and will likely remain on a 600 my entire life. For what I do and how I ride there's a huge notable difference between a 250 and a 600. But not much of a difference between a 600 and a 1000.

Every person is different but if she wants to buy a 1000 and she's confident she can handle it, then let her.

PowerGroove

· #16 · Feb 23, 2015

I sell these things for a living. I've managed to do a pretty decent job of being informative and usually manage to break the "I need a liter bike for my first bike" idea into the skulls of 95% of those I talk to.

In the end you just have to let them do what they're going to do. When people become that hard headed simply step back and don't worry about it. I recently made a sale that still has not settled with me. 22 year old guy came in a said he'd had a little experience on his brothers bikes and rode dirt blah blah blah. He wants a new R6. I've had the guy in multiple times and tried explaining why the R6 isn't really a good starter bike, but he keeps going back to it. Now before I go much further, I know there are some smart 22 year olds out there.... this guy wasn't one of them. Stuborn... not smart. He ended up getting approval on the loan. And we delivered the shiny new R6 to his house.

When my driver got back he tells me "dude... the guy asked me how to put it into gear." My heart sank. I'd sold a death mobile to a kid with absolutely no experience and very little common sense.

My point is... people are going to do what they're going to do. Best to just try voicing your concerns and trying to persuade with facts and good advice. If they take it then great. If not... move on. They're gonna do stupid shit if they want to.

Let her get a liter bike. My guess is she'll crash it on the first day. And learn a little lesson in the process.

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Ey3l45h

· #17 · Feb 23, 2015

PainfullySlo said:
I have to disagree. The 1000 has a much easier time overcoming the coefficient of friction of the rear tire, especially when twisting the throttle at lean.

True, but the speed at which a two wheeled vehicle can go around corner with radius x has nothing to do with the hp. It is a function of the radius of the corner and the testicular fortitude of the rider(lean angle).

Ey3

asterix

· #18 · Feb 23, 2015

Ey3l45h said:
True, but the speed at which a two wheeled vehicle can go around corner with radius x has nothing to do with the hp. It is a function of the radius of the corner and the testicular fortitude of the rider(lean angle).

Ey3

Yes, but at lean, the torque of the r1 can easily apply more than enough force to overcome the coeff of static (well, rolling, really) friction.

And no, not about balls. That's when you fuck up, because you stop thinking and paying attention to feedback.

Reactions: 1

Jperez

· #19 · Feb 23, 2015

PowerGroove said:
I sell these things for a living. I've managed to do a pretty decent job of being informative and usually manage to break the "I need a liter bike for my first bike" idea into the skulls of 95% of those I talk to.

In the end you just have to let them do what they're going to do. When people become that hard headed simply step back and don't worry about it. I recently made a sale that still has not settled with me. 22 year old guy came in a said he'd had a little experience on his brothers bikes and rode dirt blah blah blah. He wants a new R6. I've had the guy in multiple times and tried explaining why the R6 isn't really a good starter bike, but he keeps going back to it. Now before I go much further, I know there are some smart 22 year olds out there.... this guy wasn't one of them. Stuborn... not smart. He ended up getting approval on the loan. And we delivered the shiny new R6 to his house.

When my driver got back he tells me "dude... the guy asked me how to put it into gear." My heart sank. I'd sold a death mobile to a kid with absolutely no experience and very little common sense.

My point is... people are going to do what they're going to do. Best to just try voicing your concerns and trying to persuade with facts and good advice. If they take it then great. If not... move on. They're gonna do stupid shit if they want to.

Let her get a liter bike. My guess is she'll crash it on the first day. And learn a little lesson in the process.

At the end of the day, if it wasn't you who made the sale, someone else would have. At least you tried talking some sense in the guy, so whatever happens after that is on him. I hope you at least made 5 pounds off the guy :lol:

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lance22me

· #20 · Feb 23, 2015

> i was talking to my aunt (married in aunt) she's 26 i believe ... 120 lbs.

Way cool that she wants an R-configuration bike. In the event that she can't be talked out of the R1, make sure that you get her first ride on video. That vid might become an internet classic.

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