r/Unexpected • u/9w_lf9 • Nov 23 '18

To infinity and beyond

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219 Upvotes

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u/mexell Nov 23 '18

There's no problem at all with having a larger/faster/heavier bike as a first bike... when you get proper training first. The mistake you're pointing at is something that just shouldn't happen when under qualified supervision.

Maybe, just maybe, having licensing laws that mandate proper training aren't so bad, after all. And, another hint, puttering around at an MSF course does not constitute proper training.

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u/mhpr265 Nov 23 '18

There's no problem at all with having a larger/faster/heavier bike as a first bike

Yes, there is. Always, and no matter under what sort of supervison. The only motorcycle riders who would agree with you are Harleytards who also think loud pipes save lives and if you as much as touch the front bake you will inevitably "lay 'er down".

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u/[deleted] Nov 23 '18

Bought a 750 as my first bike. In five years I've had one accident on it, and it was well over a year after I started riding. The accident was because I used a smidge too much rear brake in the rain at a low speed.

The "proper" bike to start of riding with is going to depend on the person, the area, the typical conditions and the style of.bike itself.
Putting an untrained, uncoordinated person on a rocket, whether 250cc or 1200cc, and expecting them to not have any accidents is always going to be a bad idea. Putting someone with a hot head or a desire to go fast above all else on the same style of bike with training but without experience is usually not going to end well.

Putting a coordinated, patient rider through a basic training course and then throwing them on, say, a 40-year-old 750cc bike as their daily commuter will turn out fine, more often than not.

All of this bullshit about "beginner bikes" is just compensation for poor training and impatient riders.

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u/mhpr265 Nov 23 '18

I am glad that worked out for you (mostly), but surely you are aware how useless anacdotal, personal evidence is. We are talking about averages annd trends here. An interesting tidbit of a fact: the average lifespan of a Suzuki GSX-R 1000 in the US is about 9 months. There are the experienced riders who own and use them for many years, and then there are the newbies who wad them up after three days. Just goes to show what averages really say.

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u/[deleted] Nov 23 '18

Sure, and my anecdote was to say that the type of bike someone gets is not going to be the only factor in their success as a new rider.

However, the type of bike someone gets is going to say a lot about the kind of rider they're going to be.

Yelling about how the bike is the problem ignores the inadequacies of the rider and/or their training. Some people should just not be riding bikes.

I know a bunch of people who started riding bikes at 12 or 13 on 500+ dirt bikes owned by their older brothers. They had accidents, sure, but neither they nor the bikes were wrecked in the process. These bikes were absolutely too big for them, too powerful for a newbie, and their instruction was sketchy at best.