[S4L1914]

Hello folks, this would be my first post, but i have ghosted around here a while and read many a threads. I think my post my be a little unique though because most of the "taller riders" threads deal with guys that are 6'3 or 6'4.

I'm 18, 6'8 and weigh a mere 190lbs. I know the suggested bikes for most beginners are the 250's and 500's, but there are some comfort issues with some of these bikes. I do like the sv650s which is probably going to be my choice of bike (who knows it'll be a month or two), but I don't like the 05's black frame. I know first off what most are probably thinking, don't go new and this is a vanity issue, but..... I have certain reasons for wanting to go new and as for the vanity thing.... I can't help but want to get something that atleast appeals to the senses (If I got what looked the best I would go for an r1, sweet lookin bike with in black). Anyone know any good options for this? I hope to be able to get an 04 model, but I don't know how hard that will be(financing wise).

I also realllly like the 05 kawasaki zzr600, I haven't sat on a zzr600, but I've sat on a zx-6r and it was very comfortable, but I don't know if you guys would recommend a zzr600 considering it is a 600cc I-4 bike (as compared to the sv's vtwin motor).

To end this, right now I'm interested in the yzf600r(never sat on one or seen one though), the sv650s, and the zzr600(same deal as the yamaha). I've sat on the sv650s and I like it and I've heard good things about the bike, but I just don't know if I really do like it? make sense? probably not, but lets just say it doesn't "tickle my fancy" as the zzr600 does.

Sorry for the long post, I'll appreciate any input. I also sat on an f4i and I love that bike, but insurance wants an arm and a leg(I know its not a good choice, but it's still a nice bike) :bawling:. I got quoted at $400 for liability on the sv650s (not bad to me), and I need to check out state farm.

btw I DO plan on taking the MSF course before I get my bike. :waytogo:

 

[ENP83]

Damn 6'8? I say go to some shady college with rich alumnis and work on your shooting skills (basketball)...and just "borrow" an alumni's bike for a while :lol:

I'm 22, and I took the MSF course when I was 18, got my first bike a week after I took that and it was a YZF600R. My second and current bike is an '03 SV650S, it really is a much better beginners bike...I think a new rider (myself included too) would definately develope more skills on a SV than YZF600R/ZZR600, and maybe a bit quicker too. Plus, the SV is more fun for 98% of the time...when you're in and around town with it's lighter weight/narrow frame(feels small)/v-twin character and midrange torque/shorter gearing.

I know you want new, so did I...I wanted a new '01 GSXR600 but luckily a friend talked me down....slightly. My YZF was only a year old and barely used but it was a couple grand less than the new GSXR. Which made a lot of sense because I (like many others) did drop my first bike several times before finally laying it down at slight speed. If you get a new $7,500 bike and drop it and lay it down and then sell it in a year or two you're going to lose thousands(and even if you don't ever drop it). If you bought a used SV and rode it around for a year or two you could possibly sell it for the same price you bought it for almost. Plus you drop a brand new bike you'll be really pist at yourself, you drop a used bike thats already been dropped and has a couple scratches on it....as long as you didnt break anything thing you'll just chalk up one more scratch of character.

 

[1slowF3]

Welcome to the site! :waytogo: Please fill out your profile :wink:

MSF course... good choice! :applause:

With sport bikes, engine size has very little to do with physical size of the bike. For example, a GSXR600, 750, & 1000 have virtually identical riding positions. If the 600 isn't comfortable for you, the 1000 won't be either. It's like switching from the V6 mustang to the V8 for more leg room.

The bikes you mentioned (YZF, SV, ZZR) are good ones. I would highly recommend you buy a used one. They're typically cheaper to insure and that first scratch won't break your heart. Given your height, you might also have a look at the Bandit 600 or FZ6.

Personally, I'd recommend you keep that ZZR in your heart, but buy and GS500, Ninja 500, or perhaps a Bandit. Keep it for a year or so, ride the wheels off of it and learn all you can. Then once you're comfortable, upgrade to what you really want. Keep in mind that the ZX6 makes roughly double the power of the Ninja 500.

If you really like the '05 ZZR600 and just can't wait, find yourself a used '00-'02 ZX6R. Excepting the front fairing stays, it's exactly the same bike.

 

[TravellinJones]

Eighteen years old? Better get a firm insurance quote before buying any bike, especially a supersport.

Welcome to esport. :grin:

 

[S4L1914]

Insurance is no problem and has been quoted multiple times from different companies for multiple bikes.

My problem with going used is that for example, I can get a 2001 sv650s for 5000, but I can get a 2005 for 6400. I also seen a 2003 sv650s for 6200...I'd rather just go new.

I also would like to get a bike before the seasons starts, so I get the most out of the bike. Forkin up 5000 cash would take a little longer and I would miss out on some nice days :frown: Been wanting a bike going on two years now I'm gettin impatient...

When dealing with a person instead of a dealer. Is it at all possible or atleast not risky to work out some kind of deal with payments. For example, lets say the guy wants 5000 for his bike, I pay him $2500 upfront and take the bike home with a written agreement between us that I will pay him the rest within a certain period of time(not years). Just wonderin, it would put more food for thought

 

[Pacifico]

Bikes need to be broken in, unlike cars these days. There's going to be a 1000 mile (min) period where you'll have to keep it under a certain RPM. That number varies with each bike. Used vs new - if the previous owner was responsible and did this right you've avoided having to putt around for what seems like forever. Then again, it may just be the proper break in for the rider as well.

Financed bikes require full insurance coverage, not liability only. Very pricey. As for a loan arrangement through a private seller - that would depend on the seller but don't plan on getting posession of the bike til it's paid in full. Also eliminates your bargaining position.

Good choice of bikes though. Sounds like you've got your priorities right. Welcome to the site / sport.

Pacifico

PS I'm 6'3 and have no real problem fitting on most sportbikes, though they're shrinking fast these days. Michael Jordan is a big road race fan and rides Duc's (of course), argueably the most uncomfortable torture racks known to humanity. That said, eat something!

 

[S4L1914]

Suzuki, yamaha, and kawasaki don't required full coverage when financing a bike. I've tried eating, nothing will put on weight :808993-banghead:

 

[Pacifico]

Not calling you a liar mind you but I'm skeptical about that. Where will the money come from if you wad it up and it's not paid for? Damned open minded of them if it is true, but I'd check that fine print carefully.

Re weight, wait a couple years, beer will do the trick :grin:

Good luck with your bike. Keep us posted.

Pacifico

 

[MyKa]

I currently am finacing a '05 ninja. No insurance req.

EDIT: Location, Florida

 

[Pacifico]

:blush:

My bad. Seems risky to me but there it is.

So say you've got $2K paid into a $9K bike and (God forbid) you and Soccer mom in her SUV meet the hard way while she's hitting "send" and making an unscheduled left. You're fine, bike's toast. Who pays for repairs or the total? Is the OEM building their own coverage into the payments? Someone has to be insuring it, that must be it. Wonder if they show a loss from it and write it off....hmmmmmm

Sorry for the misinformation. This is news to me.

Pacifico

PS, Micah - don't ever, ever, ever change your avitar :waytogo:

 

[S4L1914]

Just curious here, but with the frequent example of Mrs. Soccer mom and all...

Unless I'm picturing this wrong, why exactly wouldn't you just hit the brakes on the bike? I know the bikes have good brakes.

Secondly, I've never had an accident thankfully and well I'm not too sure exactly how insurance works.
Lets say Soccer mom does pull out infront of you, totals your bike, and it's her fault. Wouldn't her insurance pay for your bike?

Btw: I think the sportbike makers make better profit from not requiring full coverage insurance. For example, a new cbr600f4i would cost me $3000-$4500 a year for full coverage...well lets just say that would keep me from getting a bike. So this works in favor of the insurance company to keep "kids away from dangerous toys," but not for the bike companies that make money off the "kids that want dangerous toys." :2cents:

 

[ENP83]

If I didn't have to have full insurance coverage on a supersport/race replica theres no way in hell I would pay for full insurance....not at age 21 like I am. I've never had ANYTHING AT ALL on my driving record, no tickets/accidents/claims....nothing,nada,zip,zero,zilch. Yet the cheapest insurance I could find on a 600 was $2,500-$2,800...most places wanted lower $3k. That's just flag out ridiculous. First off, it's not going to get stolen...not where I ride, not where its store and not the way I ride. Second, if the soccer mom in a SUV hits me her insurance will be paying for it. Thirdly, if I lay it down I'm sure as hell not going to turn it into the insurance company anyway....if I did that with my current insurance company (at $2500-2800 of a 600) they'd probably drop me, no joke. Even if they didn't drop me, they'd just raise my already high rates to an even more ridiculous amount. Fourth, if you lay it down (as long as you don't do pshyical damage to the engine/frame) theres really not that much to replace and used parts/race parts/aftermarket parts/ebay parts and just putting up with scratches and dents go A LOOONG way over forking out the serious cash to replace everything with brand new OEM parts.

That all said, theres no way in hell I'd ever tell a new rider to do this. Let's say you own the bike for a few months and lay it down...HARD, the frame is bent, forks bent, wheels bent, ect...and now after this wreck for one reason or another you don't want to ride anymore....you're out some SERIOUS cash, atleast several thousand dollars.

S4L1914, where are you getting those bike prices from?

ebay Motors: BRAND NEW 2004 SUZUKI SV650S in North Caroline for $5,399 North Caroline is DEFINATELY close enough. same bike, but ad on cycle trader instead of ebay this time

eBay Motors: 2000 SV650 with UNDER 3,000 miles for just $3,200!!!!!!!!!!!! <-This is what you need to be looking at for the first season of riding, you could sell it the follow season and lose $100 or two instead of $1,000 or two.

eBay Motors: Be just like Boomboom, '03 copper in North Carolina under 2,000 miles....I doubt it'll go for over $5k

Cycle Trader: 2003 Silver SV650S $5,120 2,200 miles, already has frame sliders installed. In Virginia

01 SV650S $4,670 in Georgia

Don't buy a brand new bike for your first bike, like me you'll have plenty of chances later on to buy brand spankin new bikes after you get the drops out of your system and some motorcycle experience/skills. FWIW I dropped my first bike several times and then laid it down, my second bike I never dropped but it has been knocked over twice by other people and I laid it down. When I "threw" my 2nd bike down an offramp I had already been riding for 3 years, covered over 20,000 miles...knew what I was doing, but didn't make the best decision...sh*t happens. So sh*t happens even after you've got a few miles under your belt, the chances of sh*t happening withing your first year are far greater too.

 

[S4L1914]

I agree with everything you said there about insurance. I got quoted as high as $6000 :808908-wtf: for full coverage on a bike. If I had $6000 to waist on insurance every year on a bike......

Anyway those prices I listed of the bikes I seen were from cycletrader.com - That top sv650s(2004) from NC was probably the best deal I've seen, but that's still new to me(like I said I would prefer an 04 suzuki over an 05). I was also thinking about going new for getting good gear discounts too. I want to go new also because buying used would take more time and more time means(For some reason) higher insurance quotes.

 

[Pacifico]

I apologize for the bad example, yes, her insurance would pay (in most states) in that case......assuming she's insured. How bout we use a wet corner, gravel in the road, or just plain panic causing a solo crash. No third party. Who pays off the bike?

Fact of the matter is a huge, huge percentage of young sportbike riders go down at least once. Insurance is insanely high for such a risk because it's almost a given that they'll have to pay. Medical coverage is most of it. Rates where helmet laws are in effect tend to be lower. If the OEM is the one insuring a total loss, they're clearly covering nothing beyond their investment - eg, the bike. Meaning you're on your own medical wise. I'm assuming they loose money on the insurance side of the equation given their rates have to be relatively low and their claim rates likely high. That said, if they wrote off the loss, offset the loss with add'l sales or perhaps both, the incentive might be there. Again, this is news to me, I thought full coverage was a mandate on financed vehicles of all kinds. At 18 years old you might be under your parents medical, might not. I'd check.

Bikes stop far better than cars if the conditions permit. A bike's contact patch is a couple inches, a car's, a few feet. The bike will try to stand on the front wheel in a panic stop rendering the rear all but useless. Modern sportbike tires are much stickier than all but the best car tires. Given a good rider, good conditions and equal reaction time the bike will stop faster. Trouble is more often than not the bike rider is the one getting the surprise, not doing the surprising and the few miliseconds it takes to form a plan and react can be a huge factor. Do the words "it all happened so fast" sound familiar. They really don't see you, be careful out there.

A side note, your posts are thoughtful and well articulated. :waytogo: follow your instincts and you'll do fine.

Pacifico

 

[ENP83]

Hmm, I don't get the more time equals higher insurance quotes thing. $5,399 was about what I paid for my year old YZF600R that I got as my first bike when I was 18 but again that wasn't a smart move, I'd really say find a cheap SV like that one fore $3,200...ride it around for a year and THEN get something new if you want, or an ever so slightly used 1 year old bike like I did. You can still get a loan on a used bike through a bank...and if you get a $3,200ish used one, with a sizable down payment you can pay it off fast and your payments will be very small...which is good so you can buy gear, gas, maintance, insurance ect. Plus with your first year of riding, anything you can do on a brand new '04 of '05 SV650S can be done on a '99-'02 SV650. Even if you hate the 1st generation bikes still, whats one riding season to figure it out and learn some basics? Look at esportbiker MikeTheBikes, if you're like him you'll have 40+ years for riding brand new bikes :lol:

 

[SpikedLemon]

State farm doesn't care what kind of bike you have... just how big the engine is... Sometimes what kind of bodywork/accessories you have on it. In the end, the F4i might be cheaper.

I'm 6'3 ~220 and felt cramped on the SV650. I found the SV1000 to be much better. I really have no idea why people keep trying to mis-inform people that the liter bikes are just as small as the 600s... They're not. The R6 feels like I'm sitting on a Chihuahua; the R1 felt more like a motorcycle - one that I felt safe sitting on.

For the "starter" bike category for a taller rider: I think you've got the right idea - take a look around and try them all on. The ZZR600, YZF600R, CBR600F4i, Z750, Sv650 are all for comfort. On the SV650... well: the tank cutouts were rather poorly placed for my legs.

 

[ENP83]

State Farm also cares if you're bike is turbocharged or not.... :cwm27:

You felt cramped on the SV650 but the SV1000 felt much better? They're EXACTLY the same size ergo wise. Same seat, exact same frame size wise, same gas tank, same fairings, same footpegs, same windscreen, same dash, same guages, ect ect. When people say literbikes are the same size as 600s it's beacause a lot of the times they are. Like the '04 ZX10R is phsyically smaller than the '03-'04 ZX6R and DEFINATELY smaller than previous ZX6Rs. Or take the GSXR range, when comparing bikes from the same generation...lets say '01 and '02, you can swap gas tanks, seats and fairings from a 600 to a 1000 with zero modifactions, why? Because they are the EXACT same size...no if ands or buts about it. I will say the R6 felt smaller/shorter ergo wise than a R1 though....but EVER so slightly, however i did notice it and im usually not good at noticing things like that.

 

[Twitch]

doesn´t the sv´s have adjustable seats??? that might be it... just for the sv.

suzuki says sv1000 has low seatposition, while there is no comment on the sv650. i sat on both, but didn´t felt a difference, but who knows...

 

[Dunno]

This may sound like it's coming from way out in left field (as most of my posts do), but would you consider starting off on a Dual-Sport? My height was a concern when I started riding a few years ago, too. That's why I picked up a Kawasaki KLR650 for my first bike.

I know sport bikes are way, way sexier, but there's some advantages to starting on a dual-sport.

1) You'll fit on it better

2) You can ride on all kinds of surfaces (pavement, dirt, gravel, whatever) and that will help you learn bike control. The first time I rode in the rain, I didn't worry too much about feeling the back end come out a bit because I'd felt it on gravel before.

3) Dual-sports typically don't have snappy throttles and hair-trigger clutches that can become a major pain in the ass for a newb.

4) They're much cheaper to insure. When's the last time you saw a news story about a bunch of crazed kids stunting on the interstate with dual-sports?

5) You're buying your first bike, not your last. Beat the hell out of your dual-sport for awhile, then pick up a CBR600 (or whatever), and put Heli Bars on it.

 

[S4L1914]

I have to agree that liter bikes feel different than 600's. Like the one guy mentioned, I sat on an r6 and felt pretty cramped, but the r1 felt much more comfortable. For example, between the two, if I put my foot on the back peg, my knee would hit the handlebars before they would be turned all the way. No liter bikes I've ever sat on have I really came close to this.

As for the dual purpose idea, I've rode dirtbikes, I wanna streetbike. :809028-ridin:

Glad to see you think I have the right idea spikedlemon. I do think I need to find some of these other bikes and see how I fit on them. I don't think I had a problem with the leg cuts when I sat on the sv650s, but then again, ironicly enough I sat on a sv1000 without realizing it and I too liked that better? /wwwthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Maybe, if the sv's come with adjustable seat height, then the different sized bikes come stock with different seat heights??

btw: If I could get a cbr600f4i I would because so far that's been my favorite bike. Insurance on it is a killer though, but the cbr fit me well and I liked where the handlebars were on it. I've sat on a buncha different bikes and I don't pay very good attention to detail, but I do believe the sv650s has this same idea with the handlebars? The way the handlebars are set it just kinda feels more natural to me.

I also appreciate all the info guys and I noticed someone said that it doesn't make sense that insurance would rise the later I wait? I ABSOLUTELY agree, but directly from two different insurance companies, they told me that if I wait passed the february/march area, my insurance premiums will most likely go up... :808908-wtf:
I think its a ploy to suck more money out of people that buy motorcycles when they're going into season.