Any input....son wants his first bike

[LoHo]

Who are you calling old, Gramps? Why, I should come over there with a willow switch and tan your hide...except I'm afraid you'd enjoy it.

Ray, I'm halfway through SSI training and will be maintaining neutral buoyancy in Monterey Bay in mid-June. I'll see you at Midpines before that, though. You can give me the Diver Ray version of proper diving technique...that should make for a long conversation...

[DJinNH]

Now he was trained in driving those USMC Amphibious Assault Vehicles. I just hope he doesn't get any ideas of an amphibious bike.



Don

[LoHo]

What kind of oil does that thing use? Can it be converted to chain drive?

[fredintoon]

Hi LoHo,
look at the picture, man! Like any other tracked vehicle, that thing IS chain drive.

[82xj11]

Tell your son to get a 450 dual sport and an extra set of supermoto wheels and tires for the street. A new 450 dirt bike is plenty fast. (faster than an xs11 to 90 by allot). Riding on the street is fun, but riding off road can be more fun. By getting the 450 he can go play in the dunes and play on the street.

[DJinNH]

He seems to have his heart set on the Honda rice rockets. We saw one locally here in NH that he loved, it was on Ebay, but it sold quickly. Looked like an awesome bike to me too as it was very well kept.

He's not deadset on the Honda's, just that he likes this one particular model.

Don

This is a bigger one but it looked a lot like this.

[82xj11]

can't really blame him for liking the cbr600.

[malber]

Try craigslist. You see a lot there and you won't be outbid.

[trbig]

CBR600 118 hp @ 13500 rpm. Dry weight of 345 lbs.


Yeah, the XS's 85HP would be just WAY too much bike!!??



Tod

[audijunky]

Ninja 250, or possibly a 500. nothing bigger

[LoHo]

I think the too much bike is the 500+ pounds, not the horses. Throwing the XS around in the twisties, skils-wise, takes more than for these crotch rockets.

I still think a dual sport is the better way to go. A second bike, after gaining experience, could be either a sport or a street cruiser and the dual would still be useful for play and cheap commuting.

[fredintoon]

If you don't wanna know, why ask?

Hi Don,
looking through the responses to your post there's 15 replies That's over half of the relevant ones (Not counting the posts referring to photos of military vehicles etc.) that specifically advise that a beginning rider should first buy a small or medium sized off-road or dual purpose bike and learn to ride it off-road to gain essential handling skills before hitting the highway on 2 wheels. And your son insists on getting a CBR600. There's some as just won't be helped.

[DJinNH]

Oh he's still looking around. I just said that he really likes that bike. I have no idea what he will end up going with if anything at all. Time will tell.

I've been poking around a little looking at 125's and some 250's that both my sons could learn on up here in NH. My older son will be coming home for a visit in July.

Don

[saddle up]

How about one of them Suzuki VS1000( I think it's called a storm?). Does everything well, or so I have read. MO online..
Thank you for you and your Son's service to our country. Semper Fi....Old Corps.

[Guy_b_g]

I agree with the dual sport idea.

The hardest thing to learn on a modern sportbike is throttle control...when not to give it too much..and harder yet...when not to chop it.

On the dirt a slide is pretty forgiving, and you can get the feel for it.

On pavement a slide can feel violent and sudden...and you have to know what to do. You learn in the dirt that a slide is no big deal and how to control it...what it feels like as the back tire is close to breaking loose, and what it feels like when it's sliding out.

One of the most dangerous things that happens in the street is someone coming out of a corner with too much throttle and losing the rear tire...and the most common response for an inexperienced rider is to panic and chop the throttle. The slide stops and all the momentum carried in the slide rotates the bike upright and launches the rider off in a highside. Bad enough to slide out in a lowside accident but a highside is much worse.

You have to learn how to feather the throttle, and it's a lot easier in the dirt.

Braking is another area thats easier in the dirt....a front tire slide is also much more forgiving there...getting into a corner too hot, and trying to brake when you have no traction left besides cornering traction is a sure way to lose the front end in a push.
It happens a lot more gradually in the dirt, and you can feel it coming more easily, feather the brake and use steering and body weight to recover. On the street you use the same techniques but have to have much quicker reactions to recover.

Riding in the dirt is a great way to develope the reactions and responses you need on the street. I would not be nearly as competant and relaxed on the street if not for several years in the dirt.