There is a BIG difference going into a curve on a 250 vs an F4i...please trust me on that one...on a 250 it will go wherever you want it to just by leaning....yes I know, same concept as any bike but trust me...totally different feel.

Most new rider mistakes are with the throttle...a handful of 250 throttle will scare the bejesus out of you vs a F4i full throttle wheelie, dump, crash, you get the idea.

I guess I'm biased as I rode a 250 for almost a year before I bought my F4i but my time in the seat of that was invaluable as new rider..and yeah at 42 I started late in life in riding a bike...I think that helped a lot too but again I'm biased lol



Goose

 

It's about playing the odds guys. Admit it, no matter what bike you were on when you took your first ride on the highway, you were scared ****less when some jerkoff blind cager tried to merge into you at 80mph.

When you've got no experience with this sort of ****, it's invaluable to be on a forgiving bike so you can react and get the hell out of their way without worrying about what the bike's going to do if you squeeze the brake too hard.

Sure, you'll probably handle the situation just fine on an F4i. But you're more likely to handle it better on a more forgiving bike. You have enough to worry about with all the terrible drivers on the road, why should you have to worry about your bike too?

 

hi
I am a new rider also I have riden a small bikes back in my country (no more than 150cc). I know the concept of shifting etc.
I think F4i is a great bike even for new rider, just respect the power, dont be stupid, take it slow and dont try to show of becuase the bike is forgiving to the certein point. KEEP BOTH WHEELS ON THE GROUD/ PLEASE.
get a responsible rider to teach you, dont ride with kids, and dont speed too much. I am in new york and its scary to ride since there is so many cagers that dont know how to drive. I wish everyone who drives a car could get on a bike for one day, it would change a lot.

peace
be careful it your life at stake.

 

hi i have been riding a 96 cbr 600 for 3 months now, and never rode anything under. I recently purchased an 02 cbr 600 and notice the power diffrence, but then again am not dumbfounded onto whats goin on, I think a 600 would be a great nike to start on, with prior riding expirence, but for somone who has never ridden, a 250 or 500 would be good to learn the basics

 

I started on a Ninja 250....I had some brain farts on that bike that probably would have hurt me bad on my F4i........grab a handful of throttle by accident on a F4i and you'll see the diff between the 2 bikes that is for sure.....find a used Ninja 250, ride the snot out of it and sell it and probably get most of your $$ back



Goose

 

Bumping this thread back from the dead, almost a year later. Thank you very much for all the advice guys!

Perhaps it's worth my while to post back in here with the decision I made and it's outcome, as many others will certainly consider an F4i as their first bike and probably come across this thread.

In the spring of 2008, I came across a black/red 2004 F4i with 4,700 miles for a decent price. It was previously dropped with very light scuffs, and in great shape overall. I bought it (300 miles away from home), and had a friend ride it home for me. At that time, I only had my learner's motorcycle license, and although I was signed up for the MSF, it was about a month or two away.

I remember that day like it was yesterday... I tried riding my bike around in my friend's neighborhood (very little traffic), and it was very difficult since I didn't know what I was doing, I could barely turnit, etc. I got it up to 30mph and thought it was INSANE. I was dead set on riding before my MSF, so I had to teach myself how to ride. I bought 8 orange pile-ons, went to a parking lot with them, and spent about 5-6 hours doing figure-8's and zig-zag's around the cones, at low speeds, progressively approaching the cones together in order to raise the difficulty.

Then, I hit the roads. That was a lot scarier than I thought it would be . It took a good month for me to get used to the fact that there's cars around me and to not be terrified of them. I rode slow, very slow, I barely leaned the bike, etc. Essentially, I did what they call "respecting the bike and the power" and it made for a very scary (although fun) experience. At all times, I felt like the bike's potential was way beyond what I could control and I don't even think I went over 5K rpms in my first month. With only 3 weeks to go before the MSF course, I had a mishap. While going about 20-35mph, I lost control of my steering which was wobbling left and right. To this day, I still don't really know how I managed to do that. I dropped the bike, and it slid along the road, saved by the frame sliders. Damage was < $500 luckily. I hurt my left hip, bruised up left leg, almost dislocated myright shoulder and sprained my right thumb. I was upset, unimpressed with myself, and fighting my body from wanting to black-out. After a quick visit to the hospital, nothing serious was wrong with me, and I went home and took the next day off work to rest and recover. All that to say that I'm lucky, lucky that I didn't hit a car or get hit by a car, lucky that my bike only got scratched, etc. I'm certain that if I wasn't wearing my full gear, I would've broken my hip and dislocated my shoulder.

A few weeks later, I went on a trip to BC, and rented a Suzuki GS500 for a day. What a world of a difference. After 5 minutes on that GS500, which initially felt like a bicycle compared to the size of my F4i, I was already more comfortable to ride it than my F4i. It was forgiving, it was easy to turn, it didn't jolt me with every slight twist of the throttle, etc. I could take turns and actually lean into them.

A week after that, I finally took the MSF. I learned what countersteering meant. I learned what emergency braking meant. I learned why you can't brake while turning. And I thought to myself... I can't believe I rode on public roads before knowing these concepts, with an unforgiving sportbike at that.

Fast-forward to today, a month after storing my bike for the winter season. I rode a total of 7,000 miles in 2008 on my F4i. I've always "taken it easy" and could never keep up with other sportbikes, even on leisurely-paced group rides, because they'd always lose me in the turns. It took until almost the complete end of the season for me to have the guts to get rid of the chicken-strip on the right side of my tire (onhighway on-ramps, middle of the day with full visibility, etc.). It's been a great riding year, and I had a lot of fun, but it's very frustrating not to be able to keep up with people, having to "respect the bike" cause you can't ride it to its full potential.

In a nutshell, I now understand why the majority of bike guys recommend small, lightweight 250/500cc bikes such as Ninja's, GS500's, Buell Blast's, etc. Having ridden that GS500 made me realize how much quicker it inspires confidence, how easy it is to handle it, to turn/lean with it, to learn and have fun and not be afraid "of the monster under you". Do I regret getting my F4i as a first bike? No. Would I have learned a lot quicker and better had I bought a better starter bike? Absolutely. I am your average first-time-rider-on-a-sportbike statistic: bought 600cc sportbike, dropped it, scratched it, got away with it, learned much slower with it, would be a better rider today had I listened to "wiser" advice, etc. So I won't be one of those that say "I was fine so you should be fine". This is a true sport bike not a beginner's/learner's bike. I hope my experience can be of help to you, if you've read this far!

Note: I just about always rode with full (textile) gear on, even in the warmest of summer days. Helmet, gloves, jacket, pants, boots. Out of 7,000 miles, perhaps only 25 of them I wasn't in full gear, and what I mean by that, is that I was wearing jeans instead of my riding pants.

 

Great info for new riders, thank you for sharing.

 

I had never been on a bike before. I took the MSF one weekend, bought my F4i a couple days later, and rode it home on the highway. What is so scary? When I got it onto the highway I was amazed at how comfortable it felt at high speeds. Two weeks later I was doing group rides through the twistys in Julian and doing just as well as anyone else. The F4i is a great beginner bike with almost zero learning curve. A week is all it takes to get comfortable, max. There's absolutely no reason to go with a Ninja 250 unless you're incredibly short or light and can't handle a moderately sized bike.

All this talk is just an attempt to scare beginners off by making it seem like it's some sort of accomplishment to ride a 600cc bike that you need to graduate up to, but seriously... the Ninja 250 is like a friggin scooter. A 600 is just fine to start with.

 

Mark, I was in the same situation as you - took the class, bought the F4i, and went out and rode it a couple hundred miles. Sure, I had the basics down, but I wouldn't go anywhere near saying I was comfortable with the bike in a week.

There's a difference between being comfortable on a bike and knowing how to handle it properly. When it comes down to it, riding abilities take time and experience. With that said, a smaller bike will be less forgiving in certain scenarios, they are easier to maneuver, they have a more natural riding position which is better for beginners, as it takes weight off your hands, and will instill confidence in most people quicker. Nobody wants to be nervous when on their bike.

The fact is most of these things are opinions, from people like us who have been there and done that. 405hp has an AWESOME first-hand experience story that is a perfect example of not knowing the basics, and how much easier it was on a smaller bike. People's experiences are different. Some, like us, were fine with the F4i as our first bikes. But it is still a SPORT bike. It WILL knock you around if you aren't careful, and it will be expensive to fix.

 

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