Beginning Rider Research
- Thread starter FZ6Rob85
- Start date
The main issue for a new rider is confidence, the old wisdom was to start as underpowered as possible to encourage confidence and learning and avoid panic situations. That may well have applied to all the old snatchy/grabby SS's, and still applies to today's modern high powered SS's that can get away from you.
So, yes, the FZ6R is far more powerful than a 250, but it delivers power and brakes smoothly, it forgives ham fisted inputs and is a great learning bike, IMO. It lets you know when you made a mistake, but doesn't punish you by putting you on the ground.
If you did well and felt comfortable on the little bikes at the MSF, then you will likely do fine on an FZ6R, it is a great product from Yamaha that is intended to give you growing room while you learn, and it is even reasonable to never need another bike.
Be honest with yourself, did you have trouble with clutch work and braking smoothness at the MSF? If so, then starting on a used Ninja250 until you gain that confidence is likely the best course.
So, yes, the FZ6R is far more powerful than a 250, but it delivers power and brakes smoothly, it forgives ham fisted inputs and is a great learning bike, IMO. It lets you know when you made a mistake, but doesn't punish you by putting you on the ground.
If you did well and felt comfortable on the little bikes at the MSF, then you will likely do fine on an FZ6R, it is a great product from Yamaha that is intended to give you growing room while you learn, and it is even reasonable to never need another bike.
Be honest with yourself, did you have trouble with clutch work and braking smoothness at the MSF? If so, then starting on a used Ninja250 until you gain that confidence is likely the best course.
Not sure yet, I take the class September 13, 15, and 16.
Still looking around for bikes, researching prices and insurance. So far the most affordable, easy to find, and cheapest to insure are the Suzuki SV 650, Kawi 650, and the Suzuki GS500F. The FZ6R hasn't hit big with the used market in the 250 mile radius around me yet, although there are a handful. But there is a big difference in price between used FZ6R's and the SV650. FZ6R = $4-7,000....SV650 = $2-4,000. Plus the fact that there are little to no plastics on the SV (I would likely take off the half fairing and make it completely nekked), and insurance for me is cheaper on the SV.
redprodigy35
New Member
I've ridden the GS500 a couple times -- my close friend owns one with a nice Vance and Hines exhaust. I park my 6R next to it daily. I often take notice of what a nice lil ride that is.
Don't get me wrong... Great bike. Really comfy, and low center of gravity.
HOWEVER -- The power delivery is not as refined I would say as the 6R. The whole shebang is just not as "refined". It also has a pretty firm suspension, and hence I feel like I'm on rails when I've ridden it.
But that bike for me (maybe because it's not mine and my friends) just screams shenanigans. I get this stunter like mentality on it. I feel like I can flick it around and lean it over, and brake harder than on my FZ6R. And the lil dude does pull... I just never took it as seriously as the 6R. It's not a "joke" by any means but after I drove the 6R for some time I felt like I could clown around more on the Suzuki. And this isn't my style @ all. Not the class clown type here.
My friend doesn't have the nicest things to say about it though in regards to the highway doing 65-75 for longer periods of time. Mostly complaints of wind (naked bike -duh), and vibration (2 cyl -- my personal .2).
I also cracked on him a bunch when I'm sitting around waiting for his startup time during the colder days.
Don't get me wrong... Great bike. Really comfy, and low center of gravity.
HOWEVER -- The power delivery is not as refined I would say as the 6R. The whole shebang is just not as "refined". It also has a pretty firm suspension, and hence I feel like I'm on rails when I've ridden it.
But that bike for me (maybe because it's not mine and my friends) just screams shenanigans. I get this stunter like mentality on it. I feel like I can flick it around and lean it over, and brake harder than on my FZ6R. And the lil dude does pull... I just never took it as seriously as the 6R. It's not a "joke" by any means but after I drove the 6R for some time I felt like I could clown around more on the Suzuki. And this isn't my style @ all. Not the class clown type here.
My friend doesn't have the nicest things to say about it though in regards to the highway doing 65-75 for longer periods of time. Mostly complaints of wind (naked bike -duh), and vibration (2 cyl -- my personal .2).
I also cracked on him a bunch when I'm sitting around waiting for his startup time during the colder days.
Agreed :zombie:
Pretty much what my wife did.
1. Take course
2. Buy Suzuki GN125
3. Buy Honda VF500C Magna
4. Have kids
5. Take break from riding for 6yrs.
6. Take 1-day refresher MTC course
7. Buy Honda CBR125
8. Buy Suzuki GS500F
9. Buy Yamaha FZ6R
The only bike we ever 'lost' money on was the CBR125, and if we could have kept it around we would have gotten closer to what we paid for it.
If you travel with people on larger displacement bikes, the GS500 can be a lot of work. We had an interesting experience traveling with a small group of BMW and KTM Dual Sport bikes that were 800-1100cc that marked the moment my wife decided she didn't like her GS anymore.
I would have been fine flogging it, but she didn't like having to rev it out all the time to keep up ~ they liked to travel about 140km/h and were fond of passing other traffic at will ~ something that just takes more time and thought to execute on a bike that only has 44hp.
Although we stayed with them in open traffic on the highway, they were jerks about her "not being able to keep up" in the mountains and we never rode with them again.
Last edited:
Same reason I don't often ride with the local R6, R1, and ZX-12 guys much. Well also, they do IDIOTIC things.