I got one of my best buddies to get himself into the world of motorcycle riding, this was just a few months ago. He even started out getting himself a very nice f4i, which I think is an overall excellent bike (I owned one before I got the one I have now). Anyway, he got the hang of it fairly quickly, but by no means has he mastered the very limits of the motorcycle (he still drags his shoes on slow turns and like 25 feet before coming to a stop, which I think looks very funny). But anyway, I think he's become intimidated with mine and this other guy's bike we ride with (a 929), and he's decided he already wants to upgrade because his f4i is not "fast" enough. So on saturday we go to the local bike dealer, originally just to look at a new helmet he wanted to get, but the visit ended up being about him getting a bigger bike, he almost even got a brand new 1000rr. I was a little embarassed at what my buddy was telling the sales guy, who appeared to be an experienced sportbike rider. For all of you sales guys that read this you probably know what I'm talking about, the typical I want a faster bike, yada yada yada...Not to mention that he was going to end up paying a bunch of money to finance another bike. But being the nice guy the salesman was he disuaded him from doing that and told him there are a bunch of mods he can do to his bike to get more power out of it. But anyway I felt like a total deuchebag in front of the salesguy and and the finance guy, who's also a rider, because of everything my friend was saying. I know they were thinking "this pair of squids have no idea what they're doing". But I didn't want to say anything to my friend because... well.. because he's my buddy... I guess I didn't want to bust his bubble. I trying to figure out how I can guide him, haha, put him on the right tracks. Because I know he is one of the things I despise the most out there... a muthaf*ckin' squid...

 

This is a tough one, people like that rarely want to listen to reason.

 

Just tell him there's no rush to upgrade and tojust relax and enjoy what he's got for a couple years. A good friend should listen.

A 600 has plenty of power for almost everyone, ESPECIALLY a newbie. Rather than dropping 10K on a new 1000, tell him it's a lot less $$ for a PCIII and a custom map, an aftermarket pipe, a K & N, and maybe a sprocket change too (down the road). Another way to tap into the 600's power is to simply keep the RPM's up, i.e., downshiftingfrequently as needed.

 

Tell him that it's a huge difference in every aspect. I had an F4i, until I crashed and totaled it, but it really was an awesome bike. Loved it! The only thing I didn't like about 600's is the lack of bottom end and midrange power. They handle great, and I'd like to get another 600 in the future as a track only bike.
Jumping from a 600 to a 1000 is huge. Tell him about the need to work it harder in corners because of the bigger tire and the slightly extra weight. It's also much more twitchy than an F4i, as you know.

 

Just make sure you keep emphasizing the point that he's not ready for a liter bike. Heck, if he just started, that 600 should be enough for a while. If he's really already thinking it's slow, he's going to be in serious trouble on a 1000. Keep him away from it.

 

Your friend is an idiot. You will be posting about his wreck shortly. Get a new friend.

 

reminds me of a friend of mine... he saw some pics of my 929 on facebook and decided he wanted to start riding. he's still living down in Houston, and i'll be moving back in about 9 months (hopefully) so he wanted to get something now so we can ride when i get back down there. he started looking up bikes on cycletrader.com and sending me the listings just to get my opinion since i know (slightly) more about bikes than he does, and i was disappointed to see that he had narrowed his search to a couple GSX-R1000s and R1s, and i think there was a CBR1000RR in there too. i called him and told him he better stay away from the liter bikes because i don't want to fly down for his funeral, and told him that a 600 will have more than enough power for him (he used to ride quads and thinks that this qualifies him for a liter bike). so he started looking up some 600s, found a couple he wanted, and then asked me where the best place is to buy chrome accessories and neon lights and sh*t like that. i asked him if he'd looked into any gear and he said no, should i? it was hard for me to tell him, but i just had to let him know he's on the fast track to becoming a squid, hopefully he takes my advice and gets at LEAST an older 600 and not something new.

 

LMAO, I hope not

rmr1923, that guy sounds just like my friend, he's from Texas too. I just don't want to sound to him like I'm the bike expert/know-it-all, because I'm far from it. But I do know a little better than to get into something like that right away.

Don't you all think that there should be some sort of indoctrination for people that want to get sport bikes? Like have some sort of requirement before you can go up in cc's?

 

Friends don't let friends ride stupid. There's going to be a time when he's out riding by himself and wants to show-boat for some ladies (or men, if that's what he's into, haha), or race someone, or something... and he's going to loose it. If I were to recommend something, I would say, make him take the MSF, then find a local track and get him out there. The speed and thrill of that (added with the full gear and relatively "safe" speeding environment) might just be what he needs to relax some on the streets. That'd be MY hope anyways. 'Speed' (in a straight line) isn't everything... otherwise your friend might as well get a Hyabusa and punch his own ticket for a one-way trip to hospitalville, or worse.

 

If you trust him not to crash, you could swap bikes for a ride. When he sees that you're faster and smoother on an F4i than he is on a 1000RR, maybe he'll get the idea that the reason his bike is 'too slow' is because the rider needs to improve.