From: timl@zulu.mti.sgi.com (Tim Layman)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles,ba.motorcycles
Subject: Re: First Bike Opinions
Date: 12 Jan 93 02:06:09 GMT
Reply-To: timl@mti.sgi.com
Distribution: usa
Organization: Mips Technologies Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: zulu.mti.sgi.com

In article <1993Jan12.003908.11268@netcom.com>, jvasquez@netcom.com (Jeffrey P.
Vasquez) writes:
|> 
|> Hello all,
|>  
|>     I need to purchase a "first bike" motorcycle for a friend of mine
|> and teach her to ride (yes, I can make her take the NTSF course, but she
|> wants to learn the fundamentals first).  I wanted to solicit some
|> opinions on first bikes.

Good, make her take it.
 
|>     I'm thinking of following the same course with her.  That way after
|> she's done with the Enduro, I can keep it as a fun bike.

	Sure, an Enduro bike would be fine to learn on. I'm a fairly new
rider myself and I can tell you that after you learn the fundamentals
you need quite a few riding hours before you feel comfortable on a bike.
Also, she will need to practice her street skills around town and practice
the driving test at the DMV. The best place to learn street skills is at the
MSF course (1-800-CCRIDER) (or is it CCRYDER?) And of course the best way
to get your riders license is to practice it forever at the DMV after hours.
The Enduro bike should do fine for these purposes. (I mean learn the street
skills and riding skills at the MSF course. Then practice them for about
6-9 months on the road before you get her a "big bike".)

|>   Now, IMHO, the
|> final bike she rides is _not_ a consideration in terms of learning to
|> ride, however, if one of you disagrees, I'll tell you what she'll be
|> driving ultimately.  Her primary bike will be a KZ ZX-6.  She may also
|> drive an HD FatBoy (provided she is capable of picking it up).

Of course two very similar bikes... :^) Are you serious? a FatBoy? That is
a fairly large bike say 600-700lbs? Whatever! How strong is she?:^)
I don't have a problem with the ZX-6 as long as she has spent enough time
mastering
the street skills and riding skills on the enduro. (For instance I have been
riding
for about 9mo. and I now feel I am ready to move to a larger bike. (oddly
enough
I was considering a big Harley maybe even a FatBoy but I think I like the Dyna
Wide Glide better:^)  On the ZX-6, it may be a little more challenging to ride
than say a standard 600cc bike that is tuned more for lower RPM power. But you
guys can be the judge of that.

Personally I feel that it is more important to be able to flat foot a bike
than to be able to pick it up if you drop it. If you can flat foot it (at
least to a reasonable amount of foot, none of this tip toe stuff) then when
 you hit a stop light you
stand less of a chance of dropping it. (Can anyone pick up a goldwing:^)
How do the rest of you feel. I've only picked up one bike and it felt
damn heavy. It was the Kaw 305LTD that I dumped in MSF class! And that was only
a 300lb bike. I picked it up but it wasn't real easy.

Anyway back to getting a lot of foot on the ground. If you are tall enough
for your bike it makes those low speed stop and go manuvers around curbs 
and the exits from parking lots easier.
For instance when leaving a parking lot, they usually have a drainage area off
of a crowned road surface. If you have to stop in the middle of one of those
things your front tire can be on one side of the ditch and the rear tire on the
other
side of it. This will make the distance your foot has to travel to the ground
greater so when it does hit, the bike is at a steeper heavier angle. Now, if
you are already a little short for the bike, you may be at to steep of an
angle and lose it!

|>  
|>    I welcome everyone's opinion on this.  I am by no means trying to
|> represent myself as an authority.  Thanks for your input.

I'm not an authority either. Like I said I just started last March. But
I do know what worked for me. (by the way, my first bike is a 1986
Yamaha 600 Radian.) I've also been lucky enough to have friends who let
me test ride their bikes like a Honda VFR 750, a Kaw Vulcan 750, and a
Yam VMax 1200. I had no problems with any of those bigger bikes once I had
enough riding time under my belt.

	Good Luck,

	Tim
|>  
|> Regards,
|> jeffrey
|> jvasquez.netcom.com
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles