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Awesome   What motorcycle do you plan on getting?

Wear a helmet <says the guy who dumped his Yamaha on a oily offramp>

Donkey Butter wrote:

I haven't decided yet, maybe an YZF-R6 or something like the BMW F800 GS. whatever I get it will be second hand.

I would highly suggest not getting an R6 as your first motorcycle, for the very simple reason that you will die.
I recommend a ninja 250r, preferably a 2008+ one, but you can get one a few years old for very cheap these days.  Use that, learn on that, drop that, don't die, and then get the R6 which you will be drooling about.

In CA you can not get a motorcycle license without having taken a DMV approved riding course, and I believe you have to pass a driving test as well.

++

Get into the motorcycle safety course. Ive been riding for over 20 years and took it, and learned some new tricks and tips, plus had some bad habits pointed out by some very experienced riders. Plus its fun and you get to know some of the riders who are in your area.
Also, I would highly suggest a small standard bike or scoot, and lots of practice in your neighborhood or town at low speed. Statistically, any high speed accident is a death sentence. However, you can really increase your chances at surviving an urban, low speed accident with lots of low speed situational practice and being very aware of your surroundings. Most of the time you are gonna get smacked by a car at an intersection.

I will be taking a riding course, I want to be as safe as I can out there on the road.

It's a graduated licencing thing here so there are two driving tests to pass before you get your full licence. You don't have to do any driving courses though.

I still haven't decided what bike to get but I will take your advice into consideration when choosing.

Fried Chicken wrote:

Donkey Butter wrote:

I will be taking a riding course, I want to be as safe as I can out there on the road.

It's a graduated licencing thing here so there are two driving tests to pass before you get your full licence. You don't have to do any driving courses though.

I still haven't decided what bike to get but I will take your advice into consideration when choosing.

That's good.  If you crash and die, you become another statistic against something which I really enjoy doing,
so don't crash and die

I will do everything I can to avoid crashing and dying. I hear it's not very much fun anyway.

But if you really want the sportbike look, check out the GSX650F, looks like a gixxer but much more practical and user friendly.

Any reason you are looking at a dual-surface bike?

Last edited by Random User (2008-07-29 10:46 am)

thume wrote:

But if you really want the sportbike look, check out the GSX650F, looks like a gixxer but much more practical and user friendly.

That's what I wanna get after I get my license.

Donkey Butter wrote:

Random User wrote:

Any reason you are looking at a dual-surface bike?

the reviews say that it is a good style of bike to start on. also I have ridden dirt bikes and like the idea of having one bike that can take me where I want to go on road or off.

Careful - I bought a hybrid bicycle with that same line of thinking.
It can do both - but it isn't great at either.

Buy one for paved roads, and when you can afford it, buy one for off road.

I helped scrape a bike rider off the pavement in Germany once. Not pretty. A little misjudgment. He was conscious but not lucid. And very badly hurt.

Ride scared.