Just the other day I almost ended up in the hospital. I was stopping up at a light (rather quickly since it just went yellow/red). While I was braking, I looked in the my mirrors and saw the guy behind me approaching very quickly. I let the brake out and go into the intersection a bit. If I had not seen him and not let the brake out, he would have rear ended me for sure. Lesson learned, when braking quickly (you should NEVER slam the brakes on a bike) look in the rear view for morons. Also, a CBR600 is NOT a good learning bike. The CBR600 is a RACE bike and with some minor modifications, you can race motoGP with one. A couple years ago some guy bought an R1 off the show room floor, modded it a bit and qualified for MotoGP. Any supersport bike is not a good starter bike. Take the situation I had, a beginner would have slammed the brake, locking them up and high sided the bike. I've been riding quite a while so I know what to do in those situations. I know to look behind me when I stop and I know how to stop quickly without locking the brakes. I couldn't stop as quickly as I can now when I first started. Thats just one example, I could go on for a while if I talked about other aspects of the bike (especially throttle).

 

well, the bike is now in my garage (it's not easy fitting a Ford Expidition, a Pontiac Grand Am, and a CBR600 in one garage, but I managed lol).. I know it's not the best starter bike, but does anybody really think I'm the first to do it? And 2slo, I don't have full coverage (can't afford full coverage if I'm keeping my civic lol), so I just got liability... a little over $600/year. The first thing I'm getting for the bike (after all my gear) is going to be frame sliders. And luckily for me, there are plenty of places to practice riding (like the school's bus parking lot, which is almost always empty when school isn't in session), and plenty of roads around here that see less than 10 cars per day. And if anybody's wondering, I do plan on taking the MSF course as soon as humanly possible.

 

Your not the first to start on a 600cc superbike but bikes are not a game. It is very easy to get injured/die on a bike. Its not like a car where if you screw up you have a steel shell ,seat belts, and airbags to protect you. On a bike, you have nearly zero protection (other than helmet, jacket, gloves, etc). Anyway, Bikes get stolen ALOT so liability insurance isn' the best idea but since you park it in a garage, it shouldn't be a problem. I would keep a VERY close eye on it when you park it somewhere else.

 

I know how dangerous bikes are... I know two people pretty well that have been seriously hurt on a bike (one of 'em spent a month in the ER and they weren't even sure he was going to make it)... I plan on being as cautious as humanly possible while on the bike... I know that it's not really me I have to worry about as much as it is the drivers around me... and trust me, I'm going to be pretty light on the throttle... I have a feeling I'm going to be a pretty big ***** when I'm riding around. And I'm not too worried about the bike being stolen... the county I live in has the population of, say, a medium-to-large-sized city... I live in a town of 2,600 people lol.I plan on riding the bike to work every day once I build up a little skill/confidence, but I'm not too worried about it being stolen while I'm at work, either.. I do construction in a retirement community... I'll put it like this: with my car, I leave the doors unlocked, windows down, and key in the ignition every day (unless it's raining lol).

So anybody have any helpful advice for a new biker? I don't care if I've heard the advice a billion times now... repetition is a good thing when it concerns safety

 

I couldn't agree more. I lost a couple of friends too, due to motorcycle accidents. I think 600cc is too much of a bike for the inexperienced rider. I would get something smaller. And I also hope you're not getting that bike to show off. I know that it's what I would want to do when I was 18.

I'd also strongly suggest, not to try and save money on gear and never buy a used helmet either. Your gear should cost you around $1000

 

If your got the bike to show off, I suggest you sell it now. It is usually those people who are most likely to get into accidents doing stupid show off type things. Don't skimp on gear. I already said that its a bad idea to buy a used helmet so I would suggest buying a new helmet that fits you well and is well built. Also, buy a leather jacket with armour, leather gloves, and boots. You should consider buying leather riding pants if you go on lots of rides and especially if you hit up the twisties.

 

trust me, I don't plan on showing off... it kind of goes back to the me-being-a-***** thing lol... the biggest reason I got the bike is because everyone I know that rides tells me how much fun they are (and you can't really argue with 55-60mpg, either)... I'm going to be ordering my leather jacket, riding pants (I'm going to try to find leather), leather gloves, and riding boots in the next day or two.

And there's a few reasons I chose the cbr... for one, I've heard that even dealers will admit that, even if you're just learning, you'll be bored with a 250 and want to trade it in in less than a month. Also, where I live, it's almost impossible to find usedsport bikes for sale, and even harder to findsmaller (like 500s) bikes.

 

I hope you have already tried all the stuff you are buying from online. It would suck to get it and then it doesn't fit. I also recommend reading books on sport riding. Currently, I am reading Sport Riding Techniques but there are alot of other good books out there.

 

unfortunately, there's basically nowhere around here to get gear, or else I'd save some money on shipping costs... I have a good idea on size for everything, so I think I'll be pretty good.... Actually, the only thing I'm actually worried about fitting right is the boots (I know with snowboarding boots, a size 12 from one company could be completely different than another company's size 12). Anyway, I got my class-m permit today (yay!), so Ican legally ride. Unfortunately, it's supposed to be rainy until Friday, so I don't even get to go out to the school to ride until the weekend. And if anybody's wondering, the only public streets this thing's going to be seeing for a week or two will be the two seperate roads I have to go on to get to the school (maybe a half-mile if you go the long way... almost no traffic, either)... then, once I have the basics down and get used to riding, I'll take it to the streets (under 7,000rpmfor a while... I don't need to get anywhere in a hurry)

 

I'm registered for the MSF course...Classesstart the 6th.