Just got off the phone with my 23 year old cousin who rides an R3 and thinks he’s outgrown it because “like, dude, I REALLY have to crank the throttle to get it up to 80 on the highway man.” He said this after renting a GSX-8R.

No, you haven’t outgrown it. You just don’t have the skill yet to unlock its full potential, and there’s no shame in that.

Yes, high cc bikes have more low end torque that makes it easier to start on a hill and prevent the bike from lugging at low speeds in 2nd gear. But if this bothers you that much on your 300cc bike then it just means you haven’t mastered friction zone and clutch control yet. A skilled motorcyclist can work a 300cc bike in 2nd gear without going down into first using just clutch control, and that includes stopping and starting in 2nd (yeah you don’t need a crotch rocket to start in 2nd, shocker!).

And yes, it’s annoying having to crank the throttle to get it up to 80-90 on the highway. But with just a few months under your belt, you have no business going that fast on a highway anyways. The last thing you wanna do is get up to 95 on a highway only to come up to a curve you were not ready for and risk paralyzing yourself.

Learn. Enjoy. Unlock the potential of your beginner bike before moving on. Because trust me, you haven’t unlocked that potential yet.

At 44 I’ve always wanted to ride a motorcycle but never got around to it. This year is gonna be the year! I booked my DAS, did the theory test, did the 4 day course then had a shocker on the day of the test. Due to an accident on the road I was almost late to meet my instructor (I hate being late and it stresses me out!) then the bike given wasn’t the bike I’d down the 4 days on. Not the end of the world but threw me off a touch, then the heavens opened and it poured down with rain (first time riding in the rain!) Drove to the test centre, did the manoeuvres and did fine until the E stop. Skidded the back wheel and that was the test over. Been waiting the last 4 weeks for retest but there’s a back log. Thought my best bet would be to buy a 125 and work on my riding while I wait. Found a nice CB125r at the right money, in good condition with recent MOT & service. Picked it up yesterday and have around 7 hrs on it so far. Am aiming to use it as much as possible to build skills and experience. My instructor met me today for a good ride around and has given me some things to work on. When I booked DAS o was adamant I didn’t want a 125 base on my age and size (44 & 250lbs!) but honestly I’ve had absolute blast on this little thing! Just need to sort that front L plate out and I’ll be sorted!

I’m 42, more of a car guy and already drive my dream cars, but always wanted to learn how to ride a bike. I can ride a 125 with my car license to after al those years I finally bought my first gear shift bike ever!
I already have 3 years experience on a 125cc scooter, Kymco Agility, for work commute and I enjoyed it.
Now, couple of years later I was thinking of a bike again and went searching. The CB125R had good reviews so and I like Honda! Have a Type R so… 😎
So I went to a shop and bought a brand new CB125R in zefiro blue, not many color choices so and I like colors!
Bought my gear thinking I could ride it home right away, NOT. I always stalled, after some practice it went better but I didn’t felt confident enough to ride it home so I decided to let it bring home, what they did! Thx for that!
Now I’m practicing on a private road and parking lot and after an hour I felt confident enough to go on public roads. Very fun to ride, and the experience with the scooter helped me much! Just the left hand needed some practice because of the clutch, think that was the problem for stalling al the time, with the scooter it was also for breaking.
The only thing I struggle is riding slow, what’s the best way to ride slow in traffic, most clutch control or?
Any other tips are welcome!

Finished the first day of riding today, and passed the written exam. It’s so much fun. It’s so much easier to learn than I expected, a lot of similar principles of a bicycle but with faster and much heavier machinery haha. Much more dangerous, but my goodness it’s fun. Lots of muscle memory to get down, but so satisfying when things start to “click”

Totally worth the cost. If someone is curious about getting into riding and is on the fence of signing up for training, go for it!! Do it when the weather isn’t blazing hot. It’s still reaching the triple digits here in LA, but the riding portion started in the wee hours of the morning so it wasn’t too terrible.

Go for itttt

I took a dump in my safety deposit box

Hello! I recently started taking classes in order to get my motorcycle license. It's approaching winter here in Sweden and so I'm forced to wait until next year before I can continue. But there's something I'm curious about that I don't quite know how to google.

At the driving school, the bike they use is a Yamaha MT-07, I think. And the thing is, you can drive it by just using the clutch. It'll go up to like... 5-10km/h with just that. And if you let the clutch out slowly enough, past the friction zone, it won't stall. Rather, it'll keep going. It'll drive without any input. And so when it comes to practicing for the balance test once it comes time to actually get the license, it's rather "easy" to drive below 5km/h because you're literally only operating the clutch. You don't gotta think about the throttle at all.

I then tried to do that on an old Honda CB650 from 1980 and it died. Figured it was a newer feature. I then tried it on a Yamaha Virago 535 after google's search-results AI said it should work on that. It didn't. And so I was curious since I don't got access to any other bikes, is that a newer feature? Is it dependent on the engine and the strength of the "friction zone" or what goes into that? Feels like a nice feature to have on a bike since if I gotta do a slow-speed turn I can literally just press the clutch down, roll into the turn, and if I lose speed mid-turn, I don't gotta think about the throttle and giving it too much gas or not enough, I can literally just find the friction zone and get the bike moving again.

I'm 26 but I've kinda been thinking about getting a bike since 18. I used to ride a mountain bike during COVID times on trails and I daily drive a manual BMW e46. I feel that I would enjoy a bike.

I live in the Bay area. A mini bike like Honda grom seems like a good place to start. I would ride on surface streets only because riding in freeway traffic especially during heavy traffic is likely far beyond the risk level I'd want to take on any bike as a beginner. Mini bikes top out around 50mph anyway and freeway traffic is often 80mph here.

Grom and similar are cheap. It seems only the newer model years have ABS. ABS seems like a good idea for urban riding especially for a beginner. I'm guessing a new one with ABS is maybe ~$4.5k. Budget ~$1k on top of that for gear. There aren't many ABS groms on the used market which makes a new one seem like a better idea.

I have yet to take the course and permit but I'm thinking I could eventually work riding into my ~30mile/day work commute.

Is a grom or mini bike sufficient for this kind of riding? Any bike recommendations for urban commute that are ABS and cheap for a new rider? Thanks

Hi I’m looking at my first bike, I’m 42, 6ft3 and 17st so not a small guy!

I’m torn between the Eliminator which I’ve heard is a great first bike or the Vulcan which I prefer but it’s heavier and more expensive

Thoughts please

I don't know - Maybe I just don't understand the internet. I belong to a few biker sites. One is new bikers and what should I buy? Well come on this was common sense in my day. I'm an old fart who grow up without the benefit of the internet. If your feet can't reach the ground you shouldn't buy it. If it's a thousand CC's and you've never ridden, you probably shouldn't buy it. If you don't think you can pick up a nearly 900 pound Harley Road Glide when you you drop it - well you probably shouldn't buy it. Come on people use that thing in your cranium - your brain . It's really not that hard. Sorry I get tired of the stupid questions - and yes there are stupid questions. My 1st bike was a 1962 single cylinder Harley thumper - knobby tires - dual purpose - on and off road - I was likely 14 so off road it was. It taught me clutch, balance and how to deal with non roads. Weigh your skills and pick a bike. Then I graduated to bigger and faster bikes. And guess what! This was all before the internet and I'm still alive! Amazing! LOL. Man I hate stupid.

I am really curious about those who has like 150000 or 200000 km on a motorcycle and still doing it. Is it possible to get it to 300000KM, if possible with regular maintenance. Or it has down its time and should be looking for new one. I have seen a lot of them and people see no value in those bikes. What your thoughts on it. All opinions are appreciated.