Whoa, stop! I'm not that dumb. No way I'd ever get a sport bike to learn on, let alone a new one (or a new anything to learn on.) But my buddy is. Help me come up with some reasons why this is a bad idea.
_Thanks in advance.
Edit * Should say first bike. Derr.
Simplest reason? He's likely to drop it at some point. We've all done it, I've dropped one of my BMWs a year or so ago and I've been riding for over 10 years...
Then get him to look up the cost of new plastic.
BoxheadTim wrote: Then get him to look up the cost of new plastic.
and it's pretty amazing how fast the back end of a sport bike can step out on you without trying.
I loaned a friend my wife's GS-550 to take his road test on. He bought himself a brandy new Ducati 900SS. I drove it, nice bike in the twisties, boring and hurt my neck on long straights. I live on a wide tree lined street; even with careful balance and 30 years of control experience, I had a heck of a time turning it around. The bars locked at an angle much less than other bikes, keep you out of tank slappers?
If all sport bikes are like this a neophite could get into trouble.
Shop carefully.
Dan
If his ego is not too big, a new Ninja 250 should be big enough for most anyone except long distance tourers. They look like a sport bike but don't have all the drama and discomfort features. Relatively cheap, for a new bike.
He should immediately get a full set of frame-sliders and start stocking-up on levers, turn signals and pegs.
Insurance is very scary. Sportbikes are expensive to insure because most are owned by kids that are more likely to do dumb things on them. I don't know how old or well off your friend is but he should look into it before buying the bike.
Statistics are not on his side. Perhaps he's ultra careful, conservative and is planning a litany of MSF courses and may never have a problem. The smart money is on at least a drop or two if not a full out crash in the first six months. The tough part is getting his ego in check to realize it can and probably will happen to him.
my first real bike was my '02 Honda CBR 600 F4i. I had ridden atvs alot and a few dirtbikes but this is my first street bike.
I got it last summer and I couldn't be happier. I don't think it was too much to learn on and the F4i is so easy to ride. I had a friend ride it home after I got it, the next day I got all my gear, hopped on it and just went slow. Granted, it might have been my mindset that helped me get comfortable on it- I know what the bike can do and I respect it. I want to keep both wheels on the ground at all time. I'm starting to trust my skills on the bike, but I don't trust everyone else on the road. I also have spent alot of hours in parking lots (didn't get a chance to take the MSF yet) just getting a feel for the bike doing slow speed turning and emergency stops. Even when I ride it today, I'm still scared of it and the crazy fast (but oh so fun) speeds it can reach. It's not just the top speed but the rate of acceleration thats addicting.
So I think a sport bike can be a fine first bike... just respect it. However I do think it's dumb to get a brand new sport bike as your first. And insurance isn't that bad really- granted you don't have a loan on it and just have the basic coverage 
A GS500F, Ninja 250, or Ninja 500 wouldn't be too bad as a first sport bike. My GS500F is "only" about as fast as my C4 Corvette was. The new crop of race replicas - even the 600 cc ones - will be faster than anything he's ever driven (even if that's a Viper or C6), and will immediately do exactly what you accidentally tell them to do. Not the easiest way to learn how to ride something when you're still getting your muscle memory to remember where the clutch and brakes are...
Matt's right. You've got a million new things going through your head as a beginning rider. Having to add "don't accidentally unleash 100 horses with a misplaced wrist movement" to the list is undesirable.
Also, echoing the above comments:
- plastics are expensive, and he will drop it
- insurance is expensive for a reason: these things get into more trouble than other bikes
In reply to 914Driver:
That's mostly Ducatis for you, they have an awful steering lock. Mind you, the BMW R100RS I just bought is similar in that respect.
A 900SS is pretty mild compared to a current 600cc sports bike, but it's still a lot quicker than most cars. People tend to forget about that...
I had a K100rs, no problems.
I agree, 600cc sprot bikes spool up like electric motors, 0 to 15,000 rpm flying the front wheel before you can say WTF.
Lets define sport bike here? The term obviously covers a wide range of territory. What year/make/model did he buy? I have certainly recommended my share of new bikes to people, and yes many of them just might fall into the sport bike definition. However that doesn't mean displacement is large (250cc, 400cc, 500cc). Also larger displacement is sometimes easier to ride (torquey 750cc vs. a peaky 600cc).
If he does buy one pull all the plastic fairings off and ride it that way or buy an after market fiberglass racing fairing that can be easily repaired. I would recommend a Ninja 250.
It's not just the power, either - the GS500 can lock the rear disc way too easily in a panic stop, for example, and 600s often have a lot more rear brake than I do. (I'm not sure why.)
The only bike I've ridden that can't lock the rear brake is my Buell 1125R. There is plenty of hardware there, but you can stand on that rear brake and you still want more. I wouldn't recommend this as a starter bike though.
kcmoken wrote: Lets define sport bike here? The term obviously covers a wide range of territory. What year/make/model did he buy? I have certainly recommended my share of new bikes to people, and yes many of them just might fall into the sport bike definition. However that doesn't mean displacement is large (250cc, 400cc, 500cc). Also larger displacement is sometimes easier to ride (torquey 750cc vs. a peaky 600cc).
Bent over, humping the tank, repli-racer CBR600. He's got little man syndrome. Dangerous anger. I think he'll respect the bike, but I worry. He's small, so a Ninja 250, old or new would be perfect for him.
Dual-sports rule as starter bikes.
You can learn how to ride in a field, then slowly work in some on-pavement time as your skill/confidence increases.
Agreed. ^
Kia_racer wrote: Insurance is very scary. Sportbikes are expensive to insure because most are owned by kids that are more likely to do dumb things on them. I don't know how old or well off your friend is but he should look into it before buying the bike.
depends on with who maybe?
a 200cc bike is 200$ a year for me. a 650 cc is $300 a year for me.
Thats a 20 year old kid with a ticket. I was hoping the insurance would be so expensive it would delay me buying a bike...guess not
The trouble with respecting the bike is that if you're not familiar with how the controls work, it can be hard to gauge what inputs are safe, particularly in a panic situation. On a Ninja 250 or GS500 (which do a very good job of looking like race replica bikes for the ego-impaired), it's hard to accidentally request enough power to do a wheelie, and usually not too hard to tell the difference between asking the brakes for more stopping power and asking them to lock up and skid.
If the throttle has to accommodate everything from idle to fast to insane to ungodly, that doesn't leave very much for the "go slowly through stop and go traffic" range.
Its the dangerous anger statement that bothers me. When you drive a car at autocross, you learn that smooth is fast. However a ham-fisted driver can also have fun. On a motorcycle, smooth is a prerequisite. Bikes will not tolerate ham-fisted techniques, you will be punished.
The other thing about starter bikes is why buy new? There is a clear upgrade path with motorcycles, buying used from someone on that upgrade path is a good idea. I have recommended bikes to people to learn on, and they sold the same bike 6-12 months later for the same price they paid initially and were able to move to something that better suited them and their skill level at that time (usually to someone just learning to ride).
Little man syndrome. He wants a fast bike. He needs an MSF course to ground him.
He IS taking the MSF thank god. I hope they show awful pictures of people who thought "they can handle it." Let it sink it that this thing can kill you, quick.
kcmoken wrote: The other thing about starter bikes is why buy new?
Depending on where you are, the used bike market(dealers and private sales) can be practically non-existant.
Unless you want a 2 year old harley with lots of extras at new MSRP or sub 100cc dirt bikes.
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