Hia people… I signed up a few months back but have had limited input on this site… will def contribute now though…
I started riding 1st time in November 2006, and started on a 2005 R1… it sounds nice but as many know its very difficult. I ‘practiced’ (dont laugh) and eventually passed my test on my 1st attempt in April 2007, 2 days later I swapped the 55 plate R1 for a 2007 Midnight Black R1! woo hoo!!!
I’m sure loads of you will know when I say I became a ‘****y’ rider straight away… just coz I got a piece of paper saying I know how to indicate etc etc…
After having a few very close calls, misjudging bends, running out of road at high speeds, I mean 70mph drivers pulling out in front of me… not letting go of the throttle while trying to brake and not understanding why it wont stop… not being able to start it at a petrol station for 30min or so not realising it wont coz I aint put my stand up!!
I think I’ve been extremely lucky in avoiding any serious injury probably coz Ive always been mature when it comes to riding/driving, and if I cant do an overtake like my mate has, I wont!
My point is for new and young riders… start on a small bike!! I aint gona lie to you and say its no fun, but the risks sooo outway the benefits! I’m probably only here coz my 2 year old still needs his ol’ man!
I know for a fact, I’d be a much better rider if I had started on a 400 and slowly worked my way up…
Ok, you got me, I was borred at work and just wanted to kill time!
I know for a fact, I’d be a much better rider if I had started on a 400 and slowly worked my way up…
I absolutely agree with your post
I remember going from my 125 which I had mastered onto a 400N Superdream & it felt like a rocketship Missing out on this process robs you of valuable experience & fun on lesser machines as your knowledge/ability grows.
A GP racer works his way through for a reason unfortunately for some a litre bike is more impressive to be seen with, whether they can ride it or not
hi thats a bit of a beast for u r first bike.besides being a s…y yamaha lol.but the most sensable way is start smaller but if u r carefull and dont run b 4 u can walk u will be fine.its when u start to loon about on it its when it will jump up and bite u ass.take it slowly and u will be ok.ps when u can ride correctly then u will know green is the colour
I completely agree - everyone I have spoken to who have been thinking about riding a bike I always advise them to do their CBT then get a 125, get used to just riding, knowing the road and who you share the road with, learn by your mistakes and generally learn that sixth sense you need to enable you to ride. Then once your ready, do your DAS and move onto a bigger bike. I did my CBT in September last year, bought a CBR 125 and carried on ‘learning’ over the winter and finally got the guts up to do my DAS in April when I passed first time. But, believe me, I’ve done most, if not all, of all the things you have mentioned. But you live and learn.
hey mate. know we’ve been chatting about this seperately but also thought it might also be worth hiring a cheap low powered bike for a week or two and put in the miles?
sorry but i dont agree with that. 125cc in general are very underpowered and relatively unstable at speed (unless we start talking about derestricted RS125’s etc). personally i weigh a good 90kgs. a 125 maybe weighs that. thats not a good ratio
you have little option to accelerate out of problems of being boxed in etc. you also dont learn much about throttle control on machines that are that underpowered as its pretty much on the stopper all the time. i had to go back to one for a good few weeks last year and had to ride from chelmsford to east london. it scared the crap out of me in general, got buffeted about by the wind something chronic, would only do 60mph on a 70mph road and got stuck behind slow moving vehicles. it also wont get up to speed quickly which puts you at risk of cars etc that are getting impatient with your progress.
the CB 500s were a hell of a lot easier to ride than the pokey 125s we did the CBT and first road rides on at the place i learnt.
I’ve worked my way over 14 years from 100cc up to 1000cc and wouldn’t have done it any other way. It is a little worrying hearing that someone was spinning around town on an R1 who didn’t know why the bike wasn’t stopping when he had the throttle open though!
Good advice all the same and we all know you’re right, but no one has any business getting an R1 as their first bike, it’s asking for trouble.
I think a 125 is too underpowered for London traffic myself too…Although I started out on a 100cc scooter before riding an illegally derestricted Aprilia RS125.
The 4 stroke 125s like the CBR 125 (sorry to those that own them) are a bit slow. A derestricted Aprilia RS125, Cagiva Mito 125 or Honda’s original (and superior than the CBR) NSR 125 would be ok though.
If you want sports, then the best capacity to get after your test is probably a 400 although they don’t make 'em anymore for the UK market and you’ll struggle with their diminutive size if you’re a bit large, but they’re a great introduction to the sports world. Sometimes I wish I had bought the Kawasaki ZXR 400 that I was originally after.
Anyway mate, the main thing is that you realise you need more experience and hopefully are willing to do something about that.
I passed my proper test last November and ride an xv535, but I had a go on a friend’s R1 recently and it was seriously scary!
When I first got out on the road on a 125 it was scary but I don’t think I was experienced enough to have even thought about accelerating out of a problem - if I’d been in trouble, I’d have been down because my automatic reaction would have been to slow down, not speed up.
I’m glad you’re taking things seriously on your first bike, it’s a good plan whatever you ride first. Though the reason I went for what I went for was that I’d cry if I’d dropped or damaged a brand new bike so went second-hand so my mistakes wouldn’t be too expensively painful.
I think the case with me was purely “more money then sense” and the fact I could boast an R1 as my 1st ever bike! But people who know me will tell you I have a very mature approach to riding, (lets forget buying it in the 1st place wasnt mature ).
I reckon if I had started out on a ‘slower’ bike I’d be more comfortable with my R1 now and probably will be taking my riding to the next level… but as that is not the case I’m usualy left behind on rideouts, stall the engine at the lights, dont know how to take corners (hopefully gona deal with that wen I do my 1st trackday with Johnnybravo & ricky) AND MOST ANNOYINGLY CANT DO A WHEELIE!!!
But I’ve done it now and cant turn time back… I know I cant stop anyone from doing what I did… if you are considering an R1 or similar for 1st bike, just remember if it throws you off, that will probably be it… sounds scary I know, thats coz it is! Have patience and work your way up!
Oh one last point, I’m 28, an engineer, passed 3 mths ago, and do less then 1000 mikes on my bike per year, parked in a locked, bricked garage, datatooled, tagged, anchored and still I pay over £1500 for insurance!!! (fully comp)… that alone should put you off!!!
Right whose gona teach me how to take corners!!?? I’ll buy you an ice cream if you do!
I think that when you pass your test you should be restricted to 33bhp for 2 years, so that you get used to bikes, riding and learn the road.
I hear to many stories of people never riding before they do a weeks course and pass the DAS and then go out and buy a r1 superbike thinking they can handle the power and then crash.
Ive been riding since i was 10 years old, ive ridden all sorts of bikes over the years, and in the last 5 years i did bikesafe and i did the I.A.M advance riding course and test. With all that i am still learning new things about riding everyday.
If I’m honest, I would buy an R1 right now if the insurance wasn’t so blimmin ridiculous!! I was close to buying one a few months ago but people here rightly told me not to, even the guy in the bike shop didn’t want to sell me one - that’s gotta be saying something, lol.
The deciding factor was I would be embarrassed to have a bike I couldn’t ride I’m currently having fun thrashing my R6 and will upgrade when I have some no claims to ease the insurance burden
Hehe - you forgot to metion your dirt and quad bike experience!
But anyone that gets an R1 just to say ‘that was my first bike’ wont get much kudos from a bike crowd…especially when you are picking bits of it out of a hedge…
I never bought the bike to showoff to ther bikers, infact I didnt know places like Ace, this website, biker meets etc took place till way after I picked her up! I always thought the most I’d do is ride it to work and back home and clean it over the weekends, and thats it!
In my head I had it all justified… I thought, if I buy an R6 or something smaller, I will eventually still want an R1 or similar… so why bother taking that route of buying, selling etc, just jump straight for the R1 and dont take the piss with it… however I have dropped my R1’s 3 times now, twice my 1st one and once the one I have now… luckily on all three occasions I wasnt on it and they just kinda fell… well they wouldnt have if I had the stand down, but thats another story!
I’m 28 and can safely say I’m pretty grown up when it comes to most things in life… you have to be when you have a child of your own… what worries me is the fact that any 21 year old with a weeks worth of riding experience can go out and buy a superbike LEGALLY!!! I can remember what I was like when I was 21… its scary just thinking about it!!
"I thought, if I buy an R6 or something smaller, I will eventually still want an R1 or similar… so why bother taking that route of buying, selling etc, just jump straight for the R1 and dont take the piss with it… "
My car has 300bhp and weighs half a tonne, that’s 600 bhp/tonne, that’s about the same power to weight ratio as an R1 and a 90Kg rider and if I’d jumped into that after driving a Focus or the car equivelant of a 125 learner bike, I’d have found it almost impossible to control, even an M3 is way down the ladder in terms of braking, acceleration and cornering, the feedback the car gives is completely different and it will bite, even when it had only 170bhp it could be a handful.
Fair play to anybody who thinks a litre bike is good to learn on but given my experience with the car I bought a 600cc bike and it’s plenty fast enough for me for a year or two (If it survives that long, of course )
drivers pulling out in front of me… not letting go of the throttle while trying to brake and not understanding why it wont stop… not being able to start it at a petrol station for 30min or so not realising it wont coz I aint put my stand up!! 
onto a 400N Superdream & it felt like a rocketship 
Missing out on this process robs you of valuable experience & fun on lesser machines as your knowledge/ability grows.
Once you feel that way and can ride safe it’s time to move up 
I’m currently having fun thrashing my R6 and will upgrade when I have some no claims to ease the insurance burden 