First motorbike?

dougguk

dougguk

dougguk

Suspended
Joined
7 Mar 2006
Posts
136
I have passed my DAS (after not having ridden before hand!). Now 5 days on I have a full licence and can get any bike I want!! Scary prospect considering the first time I rode was 5 days ago! Im 24 and have been driving since I was 17 so it wasnt too bad.

Question is tho - what bike to get first?!!

I have always wanted a CBR600F but after rinding the GS500 which seemed powerful to me, I dont know how much more powerful that bike would be!

Is the CBR600F a good first bike - or would it be suicidal? Are they twitchy or fine if I take it slow?

I'm a careful driver so not going to go too mad (straight away anyway :P)

Thanks!
 
600/900 Hornet :)

Lots of pimpage here

I would not worry to much about how powerfull they are. Bigger bikes are safer . Cbr/Hornet/SV/Fazer etc will all suit you fine. Also check out the new Er .. Nice looking bike .

Good luck with whatever you get


Persil
 
the bigger the bike the faster you can get out of trouble, big bikes have bigger brakes, so you can stop quicker when in trouble or to avoid it, cbr 600 would be fine, but once you get used to the power (give it a couple of weeks) youll be wishing you got a R1.

R1 is a good starting point, decent all rounder, not the best handling, not the best braking, engine is good but only really at high revs so not the easiest to ride whilst not being the hardest either (try Mv F4 750 SPR its got nothing below 3k rpm)

a big V twin would be ideal, like the Sv1000s if you can find one cheap enough, lots of torque with decent handling/breaking.

people who dont have bikes usually think big bikes need to been worked up to, thats a load of rubbish, everyone I know who started of at say 400 then 600 then 750 etc, ended up wishing they had just bought the one they want as ultimatly it saves cash.

I went from 125cc (apprilia RS and a Cagiva Mito) to MV F4 750 SPR, then bought a ducati 748s (ti) and had the MV also, sold the MV as it was a pain to drive compared to the ducati even though it was noticably faster I stopped using it for like 8 months.. .. ..

wish i had gone for a 1000cc bike now instead but I guess you live and learn.
 
Cheers. Was looking at the SV650 but have always fancied a CBR. Just the insurance which is putting me off really! If I was to go for an non-faired bike then I'd choose the Hornet as I like those too!
 
CBR600F's are great first bikes. But it depends what you like. Street bike, sports bikes, tourers, motocross etc... All bikes are always going to be quicker and more dangerous than cars so you'll have to give it respect whether or not you have 60bhp or 160bhp. You might find insurance quite high though. My Yzf600R costs me less than £400 to insure, that's with almost 3 years no claims. It might be a fair bit more as a 1st time insurance and first time bike.

Depending on how serious you want to be, why not get something a little less sporty, something which you won't be too scared of dropping or scratching for the 1st year and then move onto something a bit more pretty and potent?

Some people can leap on an R1 and be fine but some people get on and get carried away and end up impaled or folded in half in a ditch. You know your personality better than any of us. :)

The cbr600f is a stable bike, not too twitchy, certainly the later ones with the revised dampers and so on. You don't have to go crazy and get ones with USD forks (I don't even know if they do it for the "f"?). The "older" R6's for example did have a very snatchy front, and I personaly didn't like riding it. I prefer a slightly softer ride, but I'm not an elbow scraping, peg lighting nutter :p It's not a TL1000s aka "Tank Slapper" either, but it's not a scooter that you can throw around whilly nilly either.
 
Get an Nc30 for the first year, that'll teach you all you want to know about cornering on a bike.
Hmm, first bike time. If your after a big twin with not to bad insurance, then Honda VTR1000 Firestorm. You've got Honda's build quality, coupled to a stonking v-twin motor. Think they are cheaper to insure than a lot of sport 600's. Comfortable for touring. Only thing that lets it down is suspension, but that can be sorted, but for normal every day riding the suspension is fine.
Cheap to pick up as well.

Robb
 
Glad someone asked this as just come on here to ask the same thing :)
Just looking at sorting my bike test out and getting back to two wheels myself as I am going to be moving jobs to the city centre so it makes sense.

Personally "narrowed" it down to the following personally as I am not keen on the plasticness of the sports bikes:

Yammy FZ6
Suzuki SV650
Suzuki GSR600
Kawasaki ER6n
Edit: Sorry forgot the Hornet 600 though looks a little dated IMO compared to the above.

Just can't make my mind up between them really, all within 20 quid on insurance all within similar price range. Dunno, think best bet will be to head to the big dealers so I can have a sit on them and see how they fit.
 
Last edited:
I'm going to pimp the YZF600R Thundercat as a very underrated bike which looks great, and is a lot more comfy for long trips an can still be thrown around twisties with ease. At around 100bhp it's not a slow one either ;)
 
Personally id reccomend a big vtwin for your first bike, all the low end torque will help you out when you have a near miss :D you can use them a lot easier at slower speeds they commute very well. The SV is probably the daddy of vtwin if your not into cruisers/customs. If i was in the market for a vtwin though id go for a Beull :D
 
If bike I got was 3 days before my test was a zzr1100(140bhp), it's all about not twisting your wrist too much before your up to it.Faser600 is a very good starter bike, try a Hornet and you'll just end up on the back wheel all the time......it's like riding a bmx.
 
I have the CBR600f and I havent had any stability problems with it at all, it hadles really well with the fully adjustable suspension all round. It is as quick as hell but only if you want it to be, you wont have any problems taking it easy, you go as fast as you twist :)

I dont have expericene with the other bikes but I certainly have enjoyed my CBR for the 3000 miles ive already done on it since jan :)

Here is a pic of mine taken only yesterday. The mods on it from a standard bike are the double bubble screen, the engraved silver heel plates and the exhaust. Other than that its a normal FX model (1999)
 
I started out on a GPZ500S, and found it too weak after only a few months. I then went to a Transalp 650 and am now on a V-Strom 1000.

As long as you respect the bike, you can start out on pretty much anything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom