wanna start riding motorcycles

B

Boeta B

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planning on getting myself a 2 wheeler. never driven one before only quads and bicycles. was thinking of a cheap 2nd hand (can spend up to R12k) duel purpose bike for training before i move onto something bigger. only brands line honda, yamaha, suzuki etc...none of those fong-kong stuff.

What is a good bike to start with? and where is a good place to buy in cpt?

Thanx
 
Boeta B said:
planning on getting myself a 2 wheeler. never driven one before only quads and bicycles. was thinking of a cheap 2nd hand (can spend up to R12k) duel purpose bike for training before i move onto something bigger. only brands line honda, yamaha, suzuki etc...none of those fong-kong stuff.

What is a good bike to start with? and where is a good place to buy in cpt?

Thanx
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I would suggest starting with a full off-road first and move to a semi and then road bike in that order.

A full off road will teach you very quickly about handeling and the power those machines deliver are insane. When you move to a semi you will have less power but the same ride. on a road bike you will be back to the power bit but you will have handeling completely covered since you started on a off road.

Start small with something like a CR125, KX125, RM125. If you have mastered that move to a CR250, KX 250 or RM250. Be warned the KX250 will kill you if you don't know how to ride a bike very well. From there move to a 400 Semi like a DR400 or even a DR250 I would go for the 400 though. It's a thumper (1 cyclinder) has lots of power and only a max speed of about 140 odd.

From there you can start moving onto road bikes 600 +

Just my 2c's use it don't use it.
 
I don't understand how people would want to ride bikes. They're death wishes. Lost a good friend to these a while ago and my father lost his brother as well. I know a guy who's been in a coma for a year and a half because of a motorcycle accident.

In short, save your money and buy yourself something that won't kill you.
 
SirSlothXCI said:
I don't understand how people would want to ride bikes. They're death wishes. Lost a good friend to these a while ago and my father lost his brother as well. I know a guy who's been in a coma for a year and a half because of a motorcycle accident.

In short, save your money and buy yourself something that won't kill you.
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Bikes are fun.

People who get knocked off their bikes are at fault themselves 90% of the time. I lost a friend in a Bike accident on Tuesday. Even though there is speculation as to the other person skipping the stop street I can only imagine he was doing close to 200 in a 60 km/h zone. If he was doing 60 he wouldn't have been dead today even if the guy skipped the stop street.

Article is in the Pretoria news and on Thinkbike.

I'm always of the opinion that for an accident to happen both parties need to be at fault. It's obviously different if your sitting in your car and some moron runs into the back of you as he wasn't looking. But at intersections where people jump the red light, if he drives into you you are just as guilty/stupid for not seeing that he wasn't going to stop. Does it make it right? No, he ran the light, but does it make it right if you're not looking and making sure they stop before insisting on crossing the robot because the light is green?

That being said:

We all die one way or another, doesn't mean if he's riding a bike he will die because he is riding one ;)

I have had bikes just about all my life and sure I have had some very serious accidents, but in none of them was I 100% innocent. With bikes come speed and with that speed it's dificult to stick to the speed limit. If however you do stick to it, you will have happy riding for a very very very long time. Unless you die of cancer or something like that.
 
Pitbull said:
But at intersections where people jump the red light, if he drives into you you are just as guilty/stupid for not seeing that he wasn't going to stop.
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It's almost impossible to see an oncoming vehicle at some intersections. If you're driving at 80km/h and the guy jumps the light, do you honestly think you'll be able to react in time in order to avoid him?
 
SirSlothXCI said:
It's almost impossible to see an oncoming vehicle at some intersections. If you're driving at 80km/h and the guy jumps the light, do you honestly think you'll be able to react in time in order to avoid him?
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90% of the time as mentioned above.

Yes there is the odd intersection where you can't see someone skipping a robot. But if you're decreasing speed as you approach the intersection as you are suppose to so then that accident might be avoided. I personally have made it a habit to scan the cross directions at interchanges while I approach. If it's a blind approach I slow down slightly just incase.

It's called defensive driving.

I can honestly say I have never had a car accident where another vehicle was involved. I have had numerous ones on a bike though and in none of those accidents was I riding along at anywhere close to the speed limit.
 
Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window
:twisted:
I agree fully with Pit ... defensive riding (I don't drive my bike ;)) makes all the difference. I have yet to have an off ... had the odd close call for sure, but if I had been riding like a maniac (like I see many of my fellow 2wheel bruthas and sistas do) I would have been just one more strip of strawberry jam on the tarmac
 
SirSlothXCI said:
I don't understand how people would want to ride bikes. They're death wishes. Lost a good friend to these a while ago and my father lost his brother as well. I know a guy who's been in a coma for a year and a half because of a motorcycle accident.
In short, save your money and buy yourself something that won't kill you.
Click to expand...

I don't understand why people would want to sit in their cars for hours on end every day, stuck in traffic, frustrated, going nowhere in a car they spent probably upwards of 100k on, spending around R700 on a tank of petrol and getting maybe 10-12km/L...

Obviously I drive a bike. Have for 8 years, no injuries worse than a minor scrape or bruise. Put me in a car and I feel trapped, slow, cumbersome, and not nearly manoeuvreable enough to avoid accidents.
 
SirSlothXCI said:
I don't understand how people would want to ride bikes. They're death wishes. Lost a good friend to these a while ago and my father lost his brother as well. I know a guy who's been in a coma for a year and a half because of a motorcycle accident.

In short, save your money and buy yourself something that won't kill you.
Click to expand...

I can totally understand the way you feel about bikes but I dont agree with what you are implying that if you ride a bike you're most certainly up for death? I can use at least 2 hands of fingers of the relatives/friends I've lost in the last couple of years from car accidents. I think anything that enables you to move faster than you can run can kill you. I come from a part of this country where you find some of the best outdoor scenarios and this is the reason i wanna do this. not to jump on a bike and drive to work at 200kmh hoping i wont fall or get hit by a car and die, but to explore more of nature(I envy those guys with their bmw bikes taking trips through the mountains) I love being in the outdoors but doing this in everyday transportation is getting a bit boring...
 
SirSlothXCI said:
I don't understand how people would want to ride bikes. They're death wishes. Lost a good friend to these a while ago and my father lost his brother as well. I know a guy who's been in a coma for a year and a half because of a motorcycle accident.

In short, save your money and buy yourself something that won't kill you.
Click to expand...

Motorcycles don't kill, it's the inexperienced riders (chancers, show-offs ex.) and idiot car drivers that kill. I have been riding bikes for 30 years and can proudly say that I have never been in an accident. I have however nearly been killed about half a dozen times by idiot car drivers that swirve in front of me or just think that the road belongs to them. I have however since parked my bike and started driving my car since I don't intend on being another statistic because of ignorant car drivers.

As for the OP I can say this: driving a motorbike will make you a better car driver because you will learn to be allert at all times and think for other road users that can't think for themselves.

Sent from a galaxy far, far away...
 
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Boeta B said:
I can totally understand the way you feel about bikes but I dont agree with what you are implying that if you ride a bike you're most certainly up for death? I can use at least 2 hands of fingers of the relatives/friends I've lost in the last couple of years from car accidents. I think anything that enables you to move faster than you can run can kill you. I come from a part of this country where you find some of the best outdoor scenarios and this is the reason i wanna do this. not to jump on a bike and drive to work at 200kmh hoping i wont fall or get hit by a car and die, but to explore more of nature(I envy those guys with their bmw bikes taking trips through the mountains) I love being in the outdoors but doing this in everyday transportation is getting a bit boring...
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GS600's and GS1200' are awesome bikes. They are however very expensive if you where to put it down even slowly on gravel road.

The boxer type engines they have I have seen a head come completely off in a fall of about 40km/h around a bend on a gravel road. The bars keeping the head of the road only helps if you fall on a hard and sturdy surface. A lose rock the size of a brick will hit the head right off.

Start on a cheaper Japanese off road, build up confidence on a full off road first. They are very cheap to fix if a fix is needed at all as the plastics are very durable. Once you have mastered a full off road to a level where you feel comfortable then get a semi. Same, start with a cheap Japanese one first. After a year or two when all has gone well then get a BMW.

It's not that the bike is dificult to ride. You will prob feel like a pro ridiing a GS the first time. The problem is the repairs on those bikes and you won't know how to handle yourself in a dificult piece of dirt road unless you have had a go at a full off road bike.

Just my opinion. You are by no way bound to it :p
 
Dom1n8tr1x said:
Motorcycles don't kill, it's the inexperienced riders.
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Yes, but the point being that motorcycles are dangerous BECAUSE of what you said in your post above.

I have however since parked my bike and started driving my car since I don't intend on being another statistic because of ignorant car drivers
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Dom1n8tr1x said:
Motorcycles don't kill, it's the inexperienced riders (chancers, show-offs ex.) and idiot car drivers that kill. I have been riding bikes for 30 years and can proudly say that I have never been in an accident. I have however nearly been killed about half a dozen times by idiot car drivers that swirve in front of me or just think that the road belongs to them. I have however since parked my bike and started driving my car since I don't intend on being another statistic because of ignorant car drivers.

As for the OP I can say this: driving a motorbike will make you a better car driver because you will learn to be allert at all times and think for other road users that can't think for themselves.

Sent from a galaxy far, far away...
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If there is one thing you will learn from riding a bike it's this ^^ and I fully agree.

I'm a way better car driver and more allert since I have been riding Bikes. Just riding a bike from Pretoria to Johannesburg makes you physically tired because of all the concentration you do while riding.
 
Pitbull said:
I would suggest starting with a full off-road first and move to a semi and then road bike in that order
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+100000000 - I did exactly that. I got a Big boy 125 and 160cc off roader. The guy who taught me to ride said I MUST learn off road first, THEN move over to a road bike. Start small, and dont rush things. I spent a couple of weekends at the old off road track at Killarney (It's not used much any more and free when there isnt an event on at the track) and I know how to ride off road on a smaller bike. I know how to change gears and my balance is getting to the point where I can start looking at getting a bigger bike.

SirSlothXCI said:
I don't understand how people would want to ride bikes. They're death wishes. Lost a good friend to these a while ago and my father lost his brother as well. I know a guy who's been in a coma for a year and a half because of a motorcycle accident.
In short, save your money and buy yourself something that won't kill you.
Click to expand...

Seriously, LIFE is dangerous. You can die while sitting at your desk if an air conditioner falls on your head, you can die if a meteor falls from the havens and lands on your house, you can die just as easily in a VOLVO (one of the safest cars in the world...) In the words of Van Wilder - If you take life too seriously you will never get out alive. Proactive and defensive RIDING is the way to go. Road riding is dangerous no matter what vehicle you may use, 2 or 4 wheels, but I know of plenty of Riders that have never been hit by another vehicle.

Just remember after you learn how to ride off road and you move to the ROAD - Keep it on the black stuff... and I dont mean Brandy and Coke! :P

@Boeta B – get yourself some leathers when you do move over to the road. A wise man once said…

“It’s not about IF you fall… It’s WHEN you fall.”
 
SirSlothXCI said:
Yes, but the point being that motorcycles are dangerous BECAUSE of what you said in your post above.
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The same can go for cars when you look at how many people can get killed in one car accident...

My point being cars, bikes don't kill... it's the drivers.

Sent from a galaxy far, far away...
 
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Boeta B said:
... I come from a part of this country where you find some of the best outdoor scenarios and this is the reason i wanna do this. not to jump on a bike and drive to work at 200kmh hoping i wont fall or get hit by a car and die, but to explore more of nature(I envy those guys with their bmw bikes taking trips through the mountains) I love being in the outdoors but doing this in everyday transportation is getting a bit boring...
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You can't go wrong with an old 600 Yamaha Tenere then within your budget ... if you can find one that is.
And if anyone has one to sell... PM me, I'm looking for a project bike
 
so what the minimum engine size to go for? I'm a medium guy weighs in at about 85kg. I dont want sumtihng that's gonna move like a snail with my body on it. 125? 250? (a guy in the office advised me to stay away from 125's)
 
I would say there is no need to start road bikes on anything less than a 600. Especially if you get one which is quite linear it its power output and aimed at beginner bikers.

A perfect example is the Kawasaki er6n. Of course Im talking road bikes and not dirt.
 
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There is nothing wrong with starting on a 125cc. But you will get bored of it quickly when you have mastered the handling.

Starting on a 250cc = Risky - But doable. Just take it slow.
And Im talking about Dirt :)
 
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