Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: Starter Bike, suzuki gsxr 600, kawasaki ninja 500

Question
Im 19, 5.8 and weight about 150lbs. Ive been riding a 150cc moped, for the past 3 and im sick of it. I see all of these people with their suzsuki hayabusas, and their yamaha zx-14's, and im jealous. I plan on taking a motorcyle training course before i purchase a bike. But i just wanted to know if i should get a crotch rocket type or a more traditional chopper type. any help you an give me would be great!

Answer
The Hayabusa and ZX14 are bikes to aspire to, but they will not be good "beginner bikes."

Your experience on the 150 will be a good start. Go take the BRC to get a feel for riding a street motorcycle. At that point, you should look for a smaller sport bike to start out with.

If it's sport bikes (NOT "crotch rockets," that's a term used by people who don't know much about motorcycles) that you're lusting after, start with either a Kawasaki Ninja 500, a Suzuki GS500, or a Suzuki SV650. Plan on riding that bike for 2-3 years at least.

Once you've developed a familiarity with that bike and have some good skills under your belt, you might be ready to move up to a 600cc sport bike like the Kawasaki ZX-6 or a Suzuki GSXR 600. These are essentially race bikes with license plates and are not terribly useful on the street, but they are cutting-edge technology and great fun if you have the skills and self-control to handle them.

After 2-3 years on a 600, you'll probably be ready for a bike like the 'busa or the 14.

The trick is to ask yourself NOT "what is the best bike?" but "what is the best bike FOR ME?" Right now that's a starter sport bike in the 250-500cc range.

Bigger sport bikes 600-1400cc tend to mask control problems and technique errors, which gives a rider a false sense of their ability. When everything goes south and you're faced with a life and death situation, you may not be ready for it.

Starting small is the best bet. It is way more fun (and educational) to ride a slow bike fast than it is to ride a fast bike slow! Commit to spending the time (4-6 years) on smaller bikes and then you'll be ready for the bike of your dreams.

Hope that helps.

Pat