To all of you that say "It's all in the wrist.", or "It's all about self control."... horse crap!
First of all, to learn self control and your limits on a bike of any kind you have to push the limits. If he has never had a motorcycle he has no idea what kind of control to exercise. How much twist of the right wrist is too much? He wouldn't know. Could be that the first time he experiments with that, he overtwists on a cold tire, or in a corner and busts his butt. EXPENSIVE way to learn if you ask me.
Also, how many of you actually started on a busa as your very first street bike? I did... I probably had less than a few hundred miles under my butt on other folks' bikes on the street when I bought Train. To be totally honest about it I have to say that the busa's forgiving nature to a small degree, and moreso just pure dumb luck pulled me out more often than skill or common sense did in the first six months on a busa. I doubt very, VERY much that anyone else who started on a busa could honestly say that they never got in over their head in a way that they wouldn't, or couldn't have on a 600.
And yes, a 600 will hit 150 plus, but it won't try to rip you out of the seat and spit you onto the road gettin' there. The landscape gradually speeds by on a smaller bike, where on the busa (and/or a litre) the landscape WARPS by almost instantly when you twist up. It's soooooooooooooooooo easy to be at warp speed before you even realize it on a busa that you can end up in trouble, hurt, or dead before you can make the decision to roll off the throttle.
Trust me, I haven't always held this view of it. When I was a newbie myself and starting on a busa I too used all the same "excuses" and one liners (Self control... All in the wrist... It only goes as fast as you tell it too... yadda yadda yadda...) to defend my decision of having a busa as my first bike. I also told newbies those same things. It's funny how as the miles stack on and my riding experience grows I see more and more what the older, more experienced guys were talkin' about when they said what I'm saying now. Someone in this thread even mentioned that it's usually the older guys with X number of years and that started out on smaller bikes that argue against a busa as a first bike... Well, hmmmm..... Maybe those years of experience give them a little credibility... ya think?
Funny as it sounds, the more miles I get under my butt, the more appealing a smaller bike becomes to me. At one point I considered selling the busa and getting a 600 so I could go back to basics and concentrate on learning to ride really good. As much as I loved Train, and as much as I love the 10, I still wish sometimes that I had a 600 to ride for a while. It only takes one day of riding the twisties with a few more experienced guys on smaller, less poowerful bikes and playing catch up in the straights to make you realize that in the corners it's all about the rider.
Lastly, besides all the power and speed points in this arguement, I have to say that bike weight was one of the biggest things that bothered me about the busa. By the time I sold her I was ok with it, but wasn't exactly happy about throwing it around in the twisties. To begin with though, the weight and size of the busa intimidated the heck out of me. I feel like that really slowed my learning curve down. I was reluctant to practice the low speed, parking lot speed stuff for fear of dropping and scuffing the busa.
A heavy bike isn't the ideal platform to develope motorcycle balance and confidence on. If you don't believe me, just take a look at the clowns you see wobbling around on those brand new, big fat Hardleys at intersections. You can tell which ones don't have a background in riding, and which ones just bought their instant image maker and don't have a clue. Same on a busa. You can tell who bought their busa as an image enhancer and who the real riders are. That goes for any bike really, but I can't explain to you in words how much lighter the 10 feels than the busa and how much easier it balances at low speeds than the busa did.
There are so many excellent reasons to start on a smaller bike and work your way up. Some of them are just "understood" by the folks who have rode both and probably can't even be explained to someone who's just starting out in riding. I have outlined a lot of differences between the 10 and the busa, but truth be known, they're so different that I'd have to write a book to ever get close to covering all of the differences and that's if I could even find them all. I know how different they are and can feel it, but just can't put all of it into words. My seat time on a 600 is limited to a few runs on my bud's 6RR but that was enough to be able to know that the 6RR and the 10R feel as different as the busa and 10.
It's funny how differently I view this topic now as opposed to how I viewed it back when I was gettin' started on the busa. If you read the old threads you will see my old, outdated arguments for the busa as a first bike. I'm glad I've survived riding long enough to learn what I've learned.
