New Riders Beware!!

[OB_FalconDriver]

Saw the saddest sight of my life today at my local dlr. He had a '99 Busa w/ 434 miles on it (still had temp tag) sitting in their garage ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED! Some dumbass with no brains thought he'd be cool to own a 'Busa as his first bike. Was flying down a straightaway and couldn't make the turn, locked up the rear brakes, fishtailed the bike, then put it in the guardrail. Frame was cracked in 5 different places and front tire was pushed into radiator/oil cooler. The guy was lucky to live at all, but will be in the hospital for the next 8-10 months.

NEW RIDERS BEWARE - DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!! And for God sakes start off with something smaller and a little more tame. The worst part of it is this dipshit is insured through the same local insurance co. as me so my rates'll probably get jacked up for having such a fast machine.

 

[OB_Cisco San Jose]

I second that,buy a small bike and practice,practice,practice.Small meaning 250cc and below,get yourself a cheap bike that you won't cry over if you dump it and you can fix cheap.Take a motorcycle safety class and riding school,the $150-$250 you spend might save your life and your pocket book later on down the road.Good luck all new riders.

 

[OB_crazy bill]

i cant exactly agree with this completly. i bought my first bike 8-9-99 . it was a zx-6r.rode it for 5 weeks then went and paid cash for the love of my life...my busa!i ride my busa like it should be ridden. i have been 180 and loved it!the closest experience to riding a fast bike i had befor was when i used to race my banshee.i also have been much faster in my dragster than most busa's will ever go . could these have prepared me for being a busa owner. maybe. i think the biggest thing is "common sense".dont do 180 on a stretch of road you dont know....just use your head at least alittle.so far i have outlived the expectations of all my friends and i plan on making them all feel really bad for making the prediction they did. they dont call me crazy bill for nothing...but im naturally fast as hell....

 

[OB_Dingo]

I agree with Crazy Bill.

Let's not tag all new riders as being one and the same. It's a case of those that know what they are capable of, and those that do not. Granted, most do not, but that's the key to the argument.

People should sit down, and figure out just how they drive. Riding fast is one thing, riding stupid is another.

I have a fraction of the experience most people seem to have here, but am plodding along just fine. The key is to feel out the bike as you go, not go balls to the walls under any circumstance and let the bike dictate what is going to happen.

If someone is out to take a bike, any bike, to its limits, then they definitely should start on a small bike and work their way up. They are destined to drop and roll, because the only way to learn the limits is to go beyond them from time to time. Not a good thing when pushing triple digits.

If someone drives like I do though, then this bike is perfect. It's got plenty of torque for making corners in a higher gear than normal . . . the clutch is forgiving, and the bike acts exactly like you want it. If I was ham fisted, I'd be in too deep, but I'm not. I can feel the throttle and know what's going to happen when I use the throttle, because I'm telling the bike what to do, not the other way around.

The only way I'm going down is if someone pulls in front of me (ugh, shierts comes to mind) and I can't find an escape route, there's a mechanical problem, or I'm too tired from an all-night shift to catch that wayward patch of oil or sand. But then, when I get tired, I move pretty slow, so I increase my margin for (before?) error anyway.

That's the way to do it if one gets a big bike quickly. Know to take your time and know that time IS your friend in this case.

 

[techwood]

To all you Abusers new to riding, I both applaud and pray for you (and all 2 wheel riders).

The problem is not just learning how to get from point A to point B without falling over. Most accident involved riders fail to demonstrate control of their cycle in EMERGENCY situations. Swerving, braking, controlling a slide, avoiding obstacles - these are not inate human abilities, they have to be learned. Learning them on ANY large displacement motorcycle just makes the possible consequences more severe.

When I bought my second cycle, the individual that sold it to me gave me a card with a phone number on it: 800-446-9227. It is the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. I called it, signed up for a course, and took it. I thank you, Bill W., for caring enough about a young, enthusiastic, and inexperienced rider, like me, to tell me about that training. It has saved my life more than once, on that, and a number of other bikes, since.

... and may God bless us. Each and every one!

 

[OB_Dingo]

Hear hear.

I took that course when I got my first bike, and didn't regret it for an instant. I'd love to take on other courses too, cause there is ALWAYS something good to learn. Now . . . if my pocketbook would just be more helpful, hehe.

Did I mention respect? Gotta have respect for any bike, otherwise it'll bite one in the butt pronto, no matter the displacement.

 

[OB_speed]

Hmm is this FalconCop posting under a new name as to get people to actually listen to him... I love the internet.. anonymously yours... I can be what every I want today with out really having to do anything important.

And I DONOT agree with this at all. You CAN learn on any motorcycle, the bigger it is the more common sense you have to have to survive. My first bike was 92GSX-R1100.
Call me what you will but I am alive and riding .. It all comes done to personality & common sense. the smaller it is the lighter it is so the eaisier it will be to handle but the heavier it is the more stable it is on the highway.

Statics of speed show that as speed increases the probability of death goes up exponetially. Thus a bigger bike just gets you to the higher speeds faster! It not that the speeds are any higher.

 

[OB_Dr Busa]

I know girls with very little experience (in riding...a bike that is) that ride big bore sportbikes and they never crasch. The Busa is a very simple bike to drive if you know your limitations. Girls know their limitations, guys don't or at least ignore 'em.

 

[OB_emattson]

You can learn on any bike. Smaller bikes are easier to learn on. There is no substitute for saddle time. Braking and corner entry speeds are the most common mistakes I've seen "newbies" make in my 28 years of riding. They were the cause of my accidents in the early years. I started in the dirt. Skills learned there are applicable to street riding. Whatever you decide, taking a safety course is smart riding.
Later,
Nailz

 

[techwood]

Just because YOU can, would you encourage every new rider to start with the top-of-the-line model, because it's the "best available"? If you were a dealer and directed new riders to the biggest, baddest, fastest machine in stock, so you could make more money, and they promptly went out and got killed, would you consider it "blood money"? If your best friend got a bike "just like yours", because YOU can, and got killed, would it bother you?

If YOU can, I'm happy and proud for you. Perhaps you are an above average person mentally and physically. Unfortunately, most of us are of the average variety. While I believe that all people are created equal, it is obvious we are not created with equal abilities.

The reason I originally posted in this thread is because my brother-in-law, 22 yrs old, got a Busa as his first bike in August. It is now in the shop and he still walks with a limp, but is alive, thank GOD.

My purpose in posting is not to embarr*** him, or you. But I cannot, in good conscience, recommend a "superbike" as anyone's first ride. Darwin's theory works just fine without my help, thank you.

Again, peace to you, and all who join our 2-wheel ranks.

 

[OB_Konrad]

Going fast and slams on the rear
brake...duh. That guy would have gotten
hurt on most any modern bike. Its not
the Busa's fault, it can be ridden very
safely and is user friendly at low speeds.
You just have to use some sense

[This message has been edited by Konrad (edited 07 October 1999).]

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

I think the point about natural ability that Techwood and others have made is a good one.

For the average person, it's unarguably true that starting with a smaller bike is much safer. The disp***ionate numbers of insurance stats tell you it's so.

But if a new rider has shown a life-long athletic talent for sports that require excellent hand/eye co-ordination AND has mastered other machines such as mountain bikes, race cars, aircraft or go carts, it's entirely possible for him to hop on a Bus as his first ride and be a much-better-than-average rider in a couple of months.

But how many new riders have a history like that?

If a new rider won't accept the advice of very experienced riders on an issue like this, then he's probably got the kind of personality that will get him in trouble on ANY bike he chooses.

First you get good. THEN you get fast.

 

[Guest]

Dr. Busa,
I agree with you, on the girl subject my girlfriend owns a gsxr1100 and she never crashes, or pushes herself p***ed her limits< I find the people that crash the most are the huge Ego folk, that will always push themselves beyond their own threshold. If you have a big Ego in a competive arena you will surely throw "caution to the wind."
I feel that pushing yourselves to your limit is great, but when you push p***ed your limit you are flirting with disaster. The More you learn the better rider you become, I definitely think everybody improves themselves by pushing their own limits, but please don't exceed them it could kill you or your buddy.

 

[OB_KawAbuser]

Say what you want but you should not even attempt a big bore sportbike with out having ridden and crashed a dirtbike.

Dirt bikes are a lot safer to crash on than street bikes when learning. I would rather highside RM than a GSXR anyday. Dirt bikes teach you how to handle a bike and the concequences of failure for going bezerk. The speeds these busa are capable of are mind bending, a dirt bikes are bar bending.

From a nicer KawAbuser

 

[OB_Dr Busa]

Dirt bike...is that the same as Kawasaki ?

 

[Guest]

Falcondriver
Are you talking about the one at Sunrise??
I saw it to, nasty sight. By the way I live in Norfolk. email me and we can ride.