Looking at buying my 1st bike
 

Hey guys/gals, looking at getting my 1st bike after this lawsuit finally goes through from when I got the shit rear-ended out of me (both vehicles totaled lol) on S. Battlefield Blvd by some dipshit 17 year old not paying attention and plowing into my 2001 GMC Jimmy going 50-60mph (I was stopped at a red light behind 10-15 other cars). I'll definately say though, I'm glad to have finally gotten rid of that piece of shit SUV lol.

Anyway, at the moment, I'm looking at getting this: 2011 Yamaha FZ6R

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/assets/c...3_6abb82e3.jpghttp://www.yamaha-motor.com/assets/c...4_8ef5c1d8.jpg

And now the questions....

Has anyone had any experience with this and/or have one?
How long do tires last on a street bike, typically? Miles?
Where can I go to get riding lessons?
What does maintenance usually consist of?
Any other advice you can probably give me?

And no...I'm not looking at speed or any of that other crap, and sure as hell don't want a Harley lol (I'm not saying they're bad), but would definately like to get as much info as I can about them before actually purchasing. :)

Re: Looking at buying my 1st bike
 

1) They're great bikes; you can demo them on the track through Nesba. Just keep in mind that even though it looks sorta like the SV650 and Ninja 650R, it's actually reasonably quick; quicker than it looks.

2) Depends what kinda tires, what riding conditions, etc. For example, on my streetbike- my pilot powers wear quicker in the middle during the winter, since all they do is spin when the roads are that cold. In the summer they wear quicker on the outside since I'm attacking the twisties. Are you commuting, or using it for fun?

3) TAKE THE MSF COURSE! It's 15 hours- about half in the class room, the other half they get you on little 125-250cc bikes and teach you to ride from scratch. You also get a small (possibly negligible, not sure though) discount on insurance for having an MSF certification, and you bypass having a learners permit and go straight to having a license. Costs ~$165

4) Maintenance: manuals usually recommend change the oil every 3k miles, oil filter every 6k miles. You should clean and lube your chain regularly- My manuals have all recommended about every 400-600 miles. Also adjusting the chain tension... some people give numbers for how often you should check it. That's retarded... check it REGULARLY, adjust as necessary. It'll explain how in your manual.

5) Other:
-If you're going to let it sit for an extended period of time, put the battery on a battery tender and put the bike on stands so you don't get flat spots on the tires. For very long time sitting (ie all winter), run it empty of fuel, then fill the tank. This way you have no fuel in the system, but the tank is full so you don't get any rust in there
- Invest in good gear that fits properly. At the very least, ride with a helmet, mesh jacket, and gloves. I generally ride with my leather jacket, but if it's super hot I'll pull out the mesh. Also any kind of boots that cover the ankle are recommended. Budget at least $500 for gear (this is just to start with; you'll want to upgrade eventually, but no sense spending $800 on a helmet when you don't even know what you're looking for)
-upwards of 95% of riders don't regularly check/adjust their tire pressure, and as a result they have low tire pressure. This will screw up every aspect of performance and your gas mileage as well.

Re: Looking at buying my 1st bike
 

One thing to consider- you probably will end up dropping it at some point (might be first day you get on it in the parking lot, may be 2 years down the road hitting gravel, or anything in between), so many people opt to buy a used bike as their first bike. I just picked up an older R6 with a few cosmetic flaws, and I love it cause I can have fun on it and push it hard without worrying about the damage that'll happen from if I wreck it. Having much more fun with it than the newer R6 I had that was perfect.

Re: Looking at buying my 1st bike
 

If you've never ridden, get a Ninja 250, flog the hell out of it, get comfortable, and then step up to something bigger.

Re: Looking at buying my 1st bike
 

You would think by a accident like that a light bulb would light up in your head and you would say "holly shit....!!!.... there are way too many dumb drivers out there and if I were on a bike I would be dead right now!" But not you! You get em trooper

Re: Looking at buying my 1st bike
 

The fz6r is a solid bike. The engine is basically an older R6. It is very fast for a standard 600 model.

A new bikes value depreciates significantly as soon as you buy it so don't expect to pay 7400 for it and sell it in a few months or a year for anything near that.

You should get a little break on insurance since it is classified as a standard bike by most insurance companies.

Depending on what kind of tire you run and how hard you ride you can generally expect between 5k to 10k miles. I get around 6kmiles out of Michelin pilot 2CT's and about 8k out of michelin pilot road. Giving a set of Shinko 006's their day in court now.

What the previous posters said also.

Keep the rubber side down and shiny side up.

Re: Looking at buying my 1st bike
 

By that logic, no one should ride a motorcycle. Considering the fact that what happened to him could just as easily happen to any of us.

Re: Looking at buying my 1st bike
 

I mean its just a gamble that you get to decide if you want to take or not.

Re: Looking at buying my 1st bike
 

Awesome! Thanks for the info guys! And yeah, that accident still has me freaking out at times, especially when I see someone coming up from behind when checking my rearview mirror. Before that guy hit me, I saw him coming from at least a good 1/4 - 1/2 mile away. He slammed on his brakes when he was about 20 ft from hitting me, but that didn't help much. I got taken to the hospital by ambulance for neck and shoulder trauma, while he (as far as I know) still went to school while daddy's car got towed to probably a junk yard since there wasn't much left of the front end lol.

Re: Looking at buying my 1st bike
 

Commuting mostly, til I get the hang of things.