RE: Wanting to buy Crotch Rocket
My friend Dave started out on a 900. He did end up dropping it, but only because his buddy ran a 600 into him. He had never ridden before, when he got it. Of course, power to weight doesn't mean diddly if you don't give it any nuts. And if you have any brains at all, you're going to be too scared to give it the nuts the first time you get on it. I was smoking him all over the place on my old 750 the first couple of times we rode. Once he got the hang of it though, i was toast.
His was a '93 CBR 900, though. The power of that bike was comparable to a new 600. A new 900 is a whole different class. Even that old 900 was insane. I rode it once. I went about 3 miles. I got on it, and immediately went through some curves at a speed i'd have never dreamt about on my bike, and the bike wasn't even close to the limit. Then it stalled, and i had to stop and turn the fuel back on. In that time, about 6 or 7 cars passed me, and i was about a mile from home. I got it started, got back out on the road, and promptly passed all of the cars, got safely back into my lane, and slowed down to turn into my driveway. And, i didn't give it WOT and i didn't rev it out. It was a 45 zone, the bike had no speedometer. I was probably going 100-120. When i hit the brake, the whole bike started shaking. Damn warped front brake. Then when i slowed down and pulled in my driveway, i kept swerving back and forth, because of the damn steering dampener. That bike was very uncomfortable. My feet were way to close to my rear, all my weight was over the front wheel, so if i lost traction on that front wheel that's all she wrote, and the brakes were warped. But when you roll on the throttle, all is forgiven.
Some people can just ride, and some can't. You can usually tell whether they can ride by how well they drive a car. People that are more mechanically inclined, and not intimidated by any machine, can usually hop on a bike and learn to control it fairly well, fairly quickly. Other people get on it, get scared, and don't know what to do. For the first class of people, it doesn't matter too much what they start on, as long as they know their limits. For the second class, they shouldn't be riding in the first place.
But, for a good starter bike, i'd say that SV650 is a good recomendation. It should have enough power in it to satisfy you for awhile, once you get the hang of it. I wouldn't get a harley, myself, and i wouldn't get a crotchrocket. That's because of the riding position. If you get a "standard" bike, where you're sitting more or less upright (like my bike), you'll be in the best position to control the bike when something bad happens. The SV650 is more upright than most crotchrockets, but not as upright as say, a nighthawk 750, a 919, or an FZ1. I hit some grease on my bike one time, and all of a sudden i was sliding (going like 10 mph though). If i were on a crotchrocket, i'd have probably laid it down immediately, but i was able to shift my weight and steer a bit, and keep my bike up, because of my riding position.
Bikes rule. I want another one. But i have to buy a house and a boat first.
on your face.