Quote:
Originally Posted by cgrey
It's not that it's a death sentence, but it's definitely not the safest way to go. Even a minor crash can cause serious injury and may put you off the sport entirely.
Don't get hung up on the 600 number, the problem are the supersports. There are so many things to be aware of while riding that learning them on a hyperbike is a bad idea. Some concrete examples? Supersport controls are very fine and produce large outputs on the other end, sudden acceleration, very hard braking... and that's a bad thing when something goes wrong on the road and instead of calling upon thousands of miles of reinforced muscle memory and suppressing improper but instinctual responses a relatively new rider pins the throttle or locks a brake. A motorcycle is very much not a car, it's a whole new level of complexity which takes time to integrate.
The 650R is a much better choice than any 600cc supersport, it sounds similar to the SV650 (my second motorcycle). Plenty fast, great handling, but more forgiving and less punishing to ride. Sounds like your insurance would be lower, too. Keep that in mind.
A used SV might be a good option as well. The KLR650 is in the same cc range but an entirely different class of motorcycle as well. That's what I meant when I said there are other options. Versys? Vstrom?
If you've never ridden before and you're set on buying a new motorcycle, then do the MSF on one of their bikes and get the basic operations of control down. Then pick up something like the 650R.
If you have any specific questions on learning to ride, riding, or motorcycling in general feel free to PM me.
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^ This. Both the 650r and a an SV650 are awesome learner bikes.
I would highly suggest doing a few track days once your comfortable on a bike as well. You will learn more in one day at the track than a year of riding on the street IMO.