Open Letter to New Riders

[NotSoShy]

Mon chum a écris ceci il y'a a peu près 2 ans pour un site de sportbike.

I think it's well written and invaluable advice, and it has nothing to do with it being written by my boyfriend . I hope no one minds the (re)post.


So you want a sportbike huh? Before you go asking what bike is right for you, you should ask yourself a few questions first. Questions like,'Why?'. Why do you want a sportbike? Because they are powerful? Because every single one of them out there on the market is beautiful as hell? Because all your buddies are getting them? If you have no or limited motorcycle experience and are considering a sportbike, consider a few other things first. First of all, it is my opinion that any modern 600cc sportbike is NOT an entry level vehicle. I base my opinion on everything I have read about them for the past 15 years. A few years ago a motojournalist took a stock Honda CBR600, used RTV silicone and a piece of plexiglass to make a bellypan, and raced it the Daytona 200. We are talking about a stock motorcycle in what is arguably the most prestiguous race in the United States. He placed 26th. Not the best finish in the race,but certainly not last place. Yes there was 25 riders ahead of him, but there was also a good number of riders BEHIND him, and keep in mind his was a completly stock motorcycles against fully preped race bikes. That should show you the performance potential of 'just' a 600cc sportbike.


You can look at almost any manufacturer specific forum on the website and read about someone who has just recently downed their bike. Thankfully the vast majority of them are about how they walked away. A few however are done posthumously. When someone comes in asks about wanting to get a bike, a first bike, and talks about all the different makes and models of the latest sportbikes, the overwhelming response in always the same. Don't get a modern 600cc sportbike for you first bike. We are not telling you not to get what you want. We are not trying to be your parents. We are not trying to tell you how to live you life. We are simply giving advice. Advice that some of us have learned the hard way, some of us have unfortunatly learned it through the loss of people we care about.

The majority of men and women that frequent this website like to see new riders. It means that the sport we love is growing. But sportbike riding is still just that, a sport. And like all other sports there is a certain level of skills and knowledge that need to be attained before a person can truely enjoy the sport and themselves while doing it. If you have never surfed before, you wouldn't dream of going out and buying a surfboard and paddling out into the 50ft waves of a storm in Hawaii would you? If you have never been on a skateboard you go and buy one at the local skate shop and head over to the skate park and drop in on the 12ft halfpipe with 2 feet of vert? The same can be said about inline skates, mountainbikes, even running shoes and so many other pieces of sports equipment. Just because the equipment is readily available does not mean that you are ready to use it.


There is basicaly one main reason for the majority of us to tell you start with an older, smaller bike. We all love our sport. For me,it has been a lifelong passion. We all want to see our sport grow. The key word is grow. Start small, lay a good foundation and grow. So what if you spend a year or so on a bike that isn't as flashy or shiny as that brand new sportbike in the window. This isn't about what you ride, it's about the RIDE. It's about being around in this sport long enough to get skills required to handle that sportbike. I am fully aware that this website is called esportbike.com, but you want to know something? I don't beleive that there is a single member of this community that will tell you to get out if you say your new and just got an LTD 440 or Honda Rebel 450 or any 250cc streetbike that has ever been manufactured.

Take a good look around these forums, there are a lot of very good people here. I could not begin to figure out how many hundreds of years of accumulated knowledge, skills, experience, and yes even humor that there is here. Please, I implore you, use the wealth of information and advice that is available to you here. We all want you to help us in making our sport grow stronger.

Thanks for listening.

Quantumduck

[Josie]

Wow, ca fait réfléchir...

[SimonSez]

Ca fait reflechir en effet! Mais je crois que c'est une question de gros bon sens! Il faut etre conscient qu'on a une sacre machine entre les mains. Il y a aussi le fait qu'il faut un minimum d'experience requise pour embarquer sur une moto sport. Et malgre le fait qu'on se sent invincible sur une moto a cause du rush d'adrenaline il faut toujours etre sur de nos limites.
Tout ca pour dire qu'a la fin tu es la personne qui a les mains sur les poignees!

Voila mes 2cents!

[NotSoShy]

en passant....i want to point out that this was written mostly for Americans by an American, where you can get a license without jumping through hoops like here. I don't think the advice isn't applicable to us Canadians but the context is a little different......just so you know where QD is coming from

J.

[NixGsxR]

Jai meme pas encore commencé a rider mais je me dit ces juste une question de bon cens que de pas prendre les route pour des pistes de course ya moyen de se faire du fun sans mettre d'autre vie en danger la notre entk on n'en nait propriétaire et on fais squon veux avec,

so les autre on pas a subir nos folie faut juste se dire que c un méchant bolide avec énormément de puissance sauf que les voiture en avan roule pas a 250 pis quand tarrive a cet vitesse en arriere de lui ta ben beau avoir d'excellent brake tu peu aps tout controlé faique faut tjr se guarder une espace de manoeuvre et tjr conduire avec sa tete sa vaux pour toute les sport motorisé dapres moi