XS11 as a first bike

[fredintoon]

LOL, I really need to get better at reading the dates on these posts before throwing in my 2 cents. Oh well, made me feel good!

Hi LB,
yeah, me too with those post dates. About the XS11 as a starter bike, a newbie may have a better chance of survival than an experienced rider.
Back in the early 1930s the Nazis were secretly developing military airplane engines (a thing forbidden by the WW1 surrender terms) by shoehorning them into race cars. Alas, a race car with a half-ton airplane engine don't handle well and was killing the drivers.
The solution was to hire farm boys with no driving experience and hence no false expectations of good handling.
Same deal with the over powered XS11.

[Kronk]

A bike will only go as fast as you tell it to. A 'Busa will do the speed limit if you make it.

[xs11lover]

At 18 any bike can kill you, just like at 40. Respect is the key. My first bike was an xs850. I got to the point I thought I could do anything on it and that only was trouble.

[strom]

My SWMBO got her licence last year.
She rode around a bit on the "suffer"... an 84 very custom 350cc guzzi, but it is a pain on a bit longer rides, so I was thinking of letting her ride my 79 XS11 standard.
Given the lack of experience and lack of money, we rather opted for getting a 94 CBR 900RR. More ponies than XS11, but also more brakes and rubber. Way more forgiving when you do something stupid. Being an "older" cbr means, it has some torque even in lower (below 9000) revs. Gets better milage too.

The XS is not a good beginners bike, but it is a good bike. And it will take your head when you screw up. So take it easy the first few 1000 miles, you will get used to it and enjoy it as much as we all do.

[HobbyMan]

Still here in 2011 (see previous posts)-enough said


Dang, this is an OLD thread.