Bye Bye R1

[Aus E30]

First bike, congrats! Crazy though. I've been riding bikes since I was a little kid (dirt) and got a 175 dirt bike as my first ever road bike to get to/from school. Upgraded to a Kawa Gt550 then to a Yam xj900 (both shaft driven).
I hopped on an R1 for the first time about a year or so ago (older model than that one) I had heard all the "Widowmaker" talk through my life and thought "Nah can't be that crazy" I cruised away slowly in first and decided to give it a full squirt and wind through second..by the time I looked down and saw i was doing 170(kmh) I was starting to run out of road, the front wheel was still light as a feather and was tearing my arms off the bars. It scared the absolute shit out of me.
I was going to buy one, but I would have definatly killed myself within 6 months :\.

[Pinepig]

DRZ400SM, sell that R1 squid rocket and get
^^^^^^^ a smile maker.

[j0oftheworld]

Supermoto for around town.. Sportbikes are only fun on the track!

[randomsv650]

My dad has an S1000RR that I've been riding pretty frequently, but my F650GS Dakar is way more fun as an everyday bike. Sell the R1, get your License and go test some bikes until you find one you like.

Longshot, but is your name Ben?

[Rsully70sev]

2 kinds of riders out there. Those that have been down and those that are going down.

QFFT!! My brother bought an R1 as his first bike, it was just nuts. I rode it a couple times when he was up from San Diego, and it's "shit my pants" scary flicking that handle. Anyways, it didn't last long. He laid it down a few days after owning it in traffic, not at high speeds just lost balance because he was inexpirienced, and tore up his fairings. Got it all pieced back together, then the mayhem started. His SDSU his frat buddy found his keys during a party, (he was intoxicated) decided to go rip down the street 60-70mph+ and mistakenly hit the front brake instead of the rear. The rear popped up and he went FLYING straight into a coma. It's power you need to respect.

This is more my style, I'm a chopper/Harley guy. Here's a few friends having some fun.

[InuFaye]

Not enough stickers, squid.

[E30Gus]

Watch out for bitches in SUV's on their cell phones. They hurt A LOT!!!!!

[BenM]

DRZ400SM, sell that R1 squid rocket and get
^^^^^^^ a smile maker.

Those are great bikes! I just picked up an '03 YZ450F that I want/am going to try to convert to a supermoto.

Longshot, but is your name Ben?

How'd you guess? :)

[Ryan...]

The first time I hopped on a 1000cc bike (07 CBR 1000rr) I thought everyone must have been exaggerating how quick they were. 4th gear doing over 155mph was enough to tell me that I 1)wasn't ready for that kind of power, and 2)there's really no reason to have 1000cc bikes on the street. This is after riding approx 40,000 miles between my three Honda 600 sport bikes (f2, f4i, 600rr)... OP will die IMO.

[Ryan Stewart]

My first street bike was the F4. Not a liter bike but a 750 with 136hp so no slouch. I cant throw stones. I did start on dirtbikes as a kid though.

My first question is how do you take the MSF class and fail the license test? Did you not do a permit prior to the class? The class, if you pass, comes with the license in most states.

Sportbikes can be rough at first. The first few weeks I was basically terrified to do anything. Then the MSF class helped a lot. Then its just time. The more time I get in the saddle (about 3,000 miles since October) the more comfortable I get with the bike and now its my transport of choice. Today is the first day I drove the car and that is because I needed to pick up a computer.

Concur on the SV though, that is the ultimate starter street bike (other than a 250).

[euroshark]

Eh, you'll be fine... unless you kill yourself.

Ride safely, don't be tempted to do stupid things where there isn't room to do stupid things, always wear all your gear and the rest is up to everyone around you!

[Grand525]

Take it easy.
We know that job market isn't that good, but it doesn't mean that you should be supporting job security of hospital employees, paramedics, etc.

[e30rapidic]

had an R6 once, quickly decided racecars were safer

[ieatpeople]

i've ridden dirtbikes/atvs since i was young, but i wouldn't even consider having a liter bike for my first streetbike. thats just asking for it.

if i buy a streetbike, i will most likely get a 1200cc+ cruiser, and try not to get killed by the idiots in cars.



i bet winding that thing through the 1st 3 gears is quite a ride though...

[CrusherCurtis]

I only tried to get the permit so I could legally ride until I did get the license (I'll be done with the class Sunday). I originally wanted a buell xb12s, like I said this came up for like half the price. Every guy I talked to started on 600's and I swear that the 600 gsxr feels just as fast as the R1. I ride it super cautiously. I'm sure I look slow to other drivers in cars.

Somebody school me on "liter bike" and "squid"