Hey there,

Well i learned a nice lesson on knowing ones limits today.

I drive an SRT4 and love it so have been thinking about gettin into sport bikes for a while. So I just got my motorcycle learners this afternoon, im 26 and never road before.

I call up my buddy who has a 04 CBR 600 to ask him to teach me a few things. So he takes me for a rip and we head to a parking lot. BTW he is about 5'1" and has lowered his bike. From the minimal reading i did tonight on the forum it seems this has a significant impact on the bike. Anyways, i get on and we go through where everything is and he basically tells me to give it a try. So I went in first gear across the lot in a straight line, then turned it around and came back. All was well so then I went again and though I would do a semi U turn at the end of the lot (the first time i put in neutral and pushed it around).

Well as youve guessed this is where i got into trouble, I was in second gear not going too fast but thought I should slow down more so as I turned i applied the front brake. As I did that I felt like i was loosing control of the bike so my reaction was to pull the front brake harder. Well I stopped in a hurry and dropped the bike down, it caught my left leg as it hit the ground.


Needless to say my buddy was frickin pissed. I was and still am a bit rattled and really embarrassed/ashamed that i wrecked my boys bike . . . in hindsight I think it was a bad idea to let me get on there with no prior experience. I obviously dont know what the hell im doing which is fine cause i've never ridden before. Now I have to go to his insurance company tomorrow to report the damage. His deductible is $700 canadian and im sure the scratches will be more than that so there goes my plans of getting a bike of my own.

Overall I was so excited about getting started and my first experience turned into a disaster. At least im all right but that $700 is hard to swallow after riding for about 30 seconds. F%*# !!!!


What do you guys think?

Cheers

 

That really sums it up. Go find a little dirtbike to try or a small 250cc cruiser to learn on if Canada doesn't have a class.

I think it was a good thing you didn't get hurt worse, but a sportbike is really the exact wrong bike to learn from scratch on. The CG is too high and it has way too much of everything else. $700 is cheap considering what could have happened. Don't worry about the lowered bike, it had NOTHING to do with your crash. The way those mods affect the handling of the bike and the way you tried to ride,you never even got close tofinding the limits.

Maybe next week your buddy with the new ZX-14 will let you ride it, now that you have some experience. Anyway, pay your buddy, then take a class...good luck.

 

My buddy did the same thing to my other friends bike. Luckly he was wearing a helmet cause he fell right on the sidewalk. He only made him pay 150 tho out of what should have been over 700..

 

Lowering the bike has an impact on handling, but nothing that can't be managed and nothing that you'd noticeriding in the parking lot.

Your friend is at fault for letting you ride the bike. I would NEVER do that, no matter how good of a friend it is.

 

I think you should pay the whole 700 no matter what a gesture of good faith since it was your fault, but to be fair in return he should split it 50/50 with you since you didn't know what you were doing and he didn't help much it seems

 

I think it is great that you are willing to pay for the damages, but your buddy shouldn't expect you to pay it all. He knew that you were a new rider and he was taking as much risk with the bike as you were. If I was your buddy in this situation and I was worried about my bike I would do one of two things. I would either not let you practice on it or I would set up an agreement before that you would be responsible for the damages if you dropped it.

 

Hello & Welcome!!

 

Well that just sucks. You should be able to get a 250 Ninja for a good price, and it is a great bike to start on. That way you may still be able to afford a bike. I agree that it was crazy for him to let you ride his bike with no experience (no offense). Don't let this get you down too far. At least you weren't hurt.

 

Worst nightmare to drop a friends bike. It seems strange to me that you guys in Canadacan apply for a motorcycle license without having prior experience in ridingor enter a beginners course. I live in Australia and we have to pass a 2 day course before we receive a "restricted license".
But definitely a beginners course would be handy, considering that you'll be in riding in traffic once you purchase a bike.

 

i would split the damages and say it was stupid of him to let you ride it in the first place. not everyone is a born rider like some of us here on the forum. i hopped on a 600 F3 after never riding more than an crf50 mini bike for more than 5 minutes and took off for 2 miles on public roads to the campus parking lot to learn how to turn, stop, start, etc. the same day i was riding in traffic situations. simple as pie.