Should I get a motorbike

Freakish_05

Freakish_05

Freakish_05

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Joined
1 May 2006
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810
Location
Bristol, UK
Hoi guys!

I have the oppertunity to pick up a 2yr old Fazer 600 (plus loads of accessories) for £2k. I've always liked bikes and this seems like an ideal oppertunity :D

Now atm I'm driving a Corsa 1.7 DI so I fully accept that riding a motorbike (especially a 600) will be very different! If I go through with it I plan on taking a Direct Access course (5 days of riding) so that I can hop on this Fazer straight away! Now, surely it can't be that simple. Pay £100 a day for a week and you're let loose on a 600cc motorbike? Surely not!!!!

Now many people have made the transition from car to bike? Are accidents really that frequent? I need to put my parents mind at rest before they will let me anywhere near this thing!!! :p
 
Firstly you'd have to get it restricted. However the Fazer still works very well when restricted. Secondly you'd have to do the restricted licence A1 IIRC. However if you are over 21 you can do the DAS course and hop onto a Yamaha R1 or equivalent if you so wished.

Secondly it depends on how mature your driving is. If you feel you can control yourself and not rag it like a prat everywhere then I see no problem - if you feel you're going to go a little mad then I'd suggest refraining and waiting a while.

I own both a car and a bike and I use both a lot - I cover thousands of miles on both each year and *touch wood* haven't had any big incidents on the bike. Had a couple of slow speed scrapes, but nothing that you can really see.

It takes a lot of maturity, observation and skill to ride a bike properly - how do you *honestly* feel to yourself about putting yourself in that position?
 
I rode bikes for about 10 years and absolutely loved it


Would I recommend anyone else to do the same ? No chance , looking back I am astonished that I am still here after some of the close, and more than close , encounters that I had
 
At 18 I definitely wouldn't recommend it. There is absolutely no point in buying the fazer as you wont be able to ride it.

I've just done a direct access course (£600 all in) which got me from knowing very little, onto a performance bike. However until you're 21 you can't do that.

I like to think I'm an experienced driver. I've lived and driven in London for two years without a scrape (miracle as it is), and I've probably done around two hundred thousand miles in my 10 years since I passed my test. I think my observation is very good. However moving to a bike has put this all to a whole new level.

I don't think at 18 I would have been mature or experienced enough to do the things I am now (at 27). I mean put it this way. You've got control of a rear wheel drive vehicle with sub 4 seconds 0-60 where if you skid the wheels even slightly, you will come off and possibly die. Entering a corner a bit too fast, or a split seconds lack in concentration can lead to your death. Christ, it terrifies me when I think about how dangerous the bike is. People on here go on about spinning their rear wheel drive cars in the wet. You do that on a bike and you're hitting the tarmac.

Ultimately its up to you mate, but if you want my opinion, I'd stay away until you have a bit more experience on the roads and the testosterone has eased off a bit and you can start thinking straight. :)
 
I kind of agree with Bug One about going onto a Fazer - if you do I can call you a FOC'er (Fazer Owners Cluber).

At 23 I got my first 125 on the road and I spent almost a year rideing a 125 then got a 600, that year on a 125 was invaluable, if i'd gone out and done a DAS right away i'd probably be a lot worse off now if alive at all. The number of times i've almost been taken out by someone who wasn't paying attention or who thought they wanted to test the theory that two objects can not occupie the same space at the same time isn't even funny - being pulled out on by a car on a wet night when you are wearing a police issue day glow vest and have hit your horn/gone to full beam isn't funny, neither is locking the back wheel up, hitting ice, oil, diesel, white lines, mpv's with women who are messing about with the kids in the back while driving, small furry animals/kids running out infront of you not to mention the thieving scum who will try and have your pride and joy away, the 800 ('Busa)-8000(most 600's on an 020 or similar) miles you get out a tyre the short service intervals, stupid dealer prices and laughable build quality.

So should you get on a bike ? HELL YES! They are the most amazing and exhilirating things to ride, I took the old 125 out a few months back before I sold it 'for petrol' 20 miles later I got off with an ear to ear smile and the nearest petrol station is less than a mile round trip.

Your A1 actually gives you the likes or a restricted NC29/30 (VFR400 or baby blade) and those things can move! A restricted fazer will do nicely as it'll only loose some of the top end and certainly not that much, though the 'new' fazer's engines have to be revved (ala new R6) to get them shifting quick.

*edit* a smaller bike may also be cheaper to ensure, do the test and get insurance on a c90 and wait a year, your premium will more thn likley half when you come to actually insure a real bike.
 
Yeah get one. My instructors just told me to buy whatever I wnted rather than worrying over it and buying a neutered SV650 or such like. You only live once after all and in the same tune ya only die once, so who cares if it's at 98 in an old farts ward or at 25 in a smear along the M6 :)
 
Will this be your first bike? If it is I would not buy the Fazer 600, start off with a 125 Honda CG. Learn on that. Then progress up power/performance. There is a HUGE difference between a 125 and 400cc, let alone a 600c sports bike. Foolish to jump onto that for your learner bike.
 
squiffy said:
Will this be your first bike? If it is I would not buy the Fazer 600, start off with a 125 Honda CG. Learn on that. Then progress up power/performance. There is a HUGE difference between a 125 and 400cc, let alone a 600c sports bike. Foolish to jump onto that for your learner bike.
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I jumped straight onto a R6 as pretty much my first bike, obviously I done a few hours of lessons on a ER5, but it doesnt really compare to the R6.
I think you can jump onto a 600 sports bike as a first bike, but you have to have the right attitude.
 
Depends on the person.

However, jumping on a big bike right away can turn you into a point and squirt type rider. I've had a 125, 400, 600, 750 and now a 1000 over the past 6 years and feel I've benefitted from having a smaller bike to teach me how to thrash the complete and utter **** of it, plus how to corner. I feel if I jumped right into a 600 without having a 125, I'd have not gained that experience. Doesnt mean you wont be able to ride the 600 though, throttle works both ways.
 
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