Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

I would say go to the 600 theres plenty to choos from and although they are still silly quick you wont have problems with tyres spinning up mid corner or the front wheel lifting off the deck mid corner which are booth problems while you are coming to terms with the fact that it will be doing 160kph in about 7 seconds.

Thats the official time for a 04 zx6r by the way 0 to 160 in 7.2 seconds liter bikes go past me a fair bit but its a learning curve.

On a serious note. There are a diverse range of makes and models out there because all of us are unique, so realy you should assess your own abilities and requirements to guide you into your next purchase. It astounds me how many cool people go out and buy the latest and greatest F@#! off fast weapon available simply because they can and yet cannot ride out of sight on a dark night. Look at all the bikes out there new and old and ensure you get what is right for you.

To be honest my old XJ900 has taught me a lot about riding...mostly with regards to being very minimal with throttle inputs...but the reality is every sport 600 class machine made today has more power and weighs 60-80kg less

go to 1200cc. hehe.......

hoffy wrote:go to 1200cc. hehe.......

Why not just wait for the zx14?

f that.

Just shoehorn a rocket 3 triumph motor into a zx9.
Gold!

Does anyone know what licenceing system they have in Japan? It is one where you need to resit their licence test with what ever capacity bike you wish your licence to be endorsed for. In other words if you wanted to ride a 600, you would have to redo your test on a 600. If you wanted to upgrade to a 900, again redo the test on a 900. I am not being critical, but I think we have all seen riders on a large capacity bike and know how well they would do if they were to resit the test. That being the case how safe would these riders be on the road? I know riding a 250 can be boring and add to the "I cant wait till im off restrictions" dream. But at the same time if we cant do some things (like emergency stop, swerve etc) on a 250, what hope would we have on a heavier and larger bike?

I say this from the perspective of being a profession riding instructor and licence tester. I am not saying anyone on this forum would be, but you would be amazed how many people I have seen turn up on XYZ bike of blah blah capacity and say "hi I'm here for my "L's". I test them and they cant ride for sh&t. They then go on theor merry way and tell me how I dont know anything. Point is many regard being able to get from point A to point B as being capable of riding XYZ capacity bikes. All styles, sizes and types of bikes are all different and have strengths and weaknesses. Get what is important to you, and more importantly as much experience and skills as you can. Just because I'm an instructor, does not mean I'm the best rider in the world. Every time I ride, I'm learning. Any bike can be ridden, but attitude can make them dangerous.

I'll shut up now!!! geez I can go on....sorry

cheers

go the 9 and dont listen to nay sayers

Its not the pace of life that concerns me....its the sudden stop at the end....so get a 1000.


Seriously my advice would be to learn to ride your bike properly (which is not necessarily as soon as you get off your P's) then think about upgrading when you have reached your limits. Once you have learnt your limits it won't matter what bike you are riding as long as you respect it and your abilities. I had my ZX2R for 4 years and still had a blast every time I rode it. A friend of a friend used to brag about how he had done 280kmh on the freeway on his R1 but when we got out to Eastern Creek for a trackday I lapped him in a 15 minute session and the marshalls said he should drop to C group. No point having a weapon if you can't use it properly.

im sure he would have ridden equally badly on a 250


theres a common misconception that you just cant corner quickly on anything bigger than 600cc...

If you are the right height, and weight for a larger capacity bike sure go for it, your life is ultimately in your throttle hand Only you can work out what you want, test rides are a must but start off with the smaller bikes and move up, do not be in a hurry either
Remember that these things are rockets on wheels when you crack the power on, respect and a feeling of being a little scared is a good thing IMO

*snip*

Jonno wrote: a feeling of being a little scared is a good thing IMO

I always have a feeling of being scared, sometimes little, sometimes rather a large feeling

Tones wrote:Does anyone know what licenceing system they have in Japan? It is one where you need to resit their licence test with what ever capacity bike you wish your licence to be endorsed for. In other words if you wanted to ride a 600, you would have to redo your test on a 600. If you wanted to upgrade to a 900, again redo the test on a 900. I am not being critical, but I think we have all seen riders on a large capacity bike and know how well they would do if they were to resit the test. That being the case how safe would these riders be on the road? I know riding a 250 can be boring and add to the "I cant wait till im off restrictions" dream. But at the same time if we cant do some things (like emergency stop, swerve etc) on a 250, what hope would we have on a heavier and larger bike?

Same as what I said in here... http://www.ksrc-au.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6818
Wait till u see the licensing laws in Singapore.
Minimum of 8 lessons, 100 mins each. 5 lessons in circuit, 3 lessons on road. And a final assesment by the traffic police, yes the cops!

I said minimum 8, but an average person will need at least 16 lessons.
And one cannot do more than 1 lesson per day, that means u will need minimum of 8 days(if u are farking good) to earn that license.

That initial license(class 2B) will allow u to ride a bike up to 200cc.
After 12 mths, go for another (minimum)3 lessons + 1 assesment by the cops, and earn the next level of license(class 2A), which allows u to ride a bike up to 400cc.
And after 12mths, go for another (minimum)3 lessons + 1 assesment by the cops, and earn the highest level of license(class 2), which allows u to ride any bike.

If u look at the whole time frame, to get from 'no-riding-license' to 'ride-anybike', one will need at least 2 yrs, and 3 assesments by the cops in between.

Ring your insurance company & see what they reckon .

Biggest drama with the new crop of 600cc sportsbikes is the bloody seat hieghts. Shorter & skinnier unfortunately means higher apparantly.

I would recommend the New 600 twin for a 250 upgrade but i'm old n have concerns about anyone biting off more then they can chew & becoming worm food.

As for the 9r stop tormenting the kids .We all know what an amazing all rounder they are.
cheers Brett

just cause you got the power doesn't mean you have to use it all the time.
grow into it over time.
also, I look at the big bikes as not only having the power, but other advantages as better brakes, wider tyres etc , making them a more capable bike all round, even if you want to go slow to start off with.