Honda Motorcycles - FireBlades.org banner

Young inexperienced rider

17K views 106 replies 38 participants last post by  feelfree 
#1 ·
Hey guys my first ever post on this website.
I am a 19 years old kid with desire to go fast. Had a zxr250 for my first bike. Rode that for about 5 months. Just finished my last year 12 exam, couldn't wait to get home and reward myself with some riding. went too fast around the bend. panicked hit the curb. No major damages.
Lesson: ( don't get too excited when riding. shove up your emotions in ur riding boots :p)

So i just bought an 07 CBR1000RR. I dont want to crash it. I will respect that machine. will always be doing speed limits.
as there are many more experienced riders here, Is there anything i need to know, to ride a 1000cc straight after a 250. in particular the Fireblade.
I would dearly appreciate your advice :)

Taza
 
#2 ·
first thing to remember is the 1000rr is over 3x the engine, with a much more snappy clutch, and a far more sensitive throttle. unlike that 250, if you tell it to go, it will go, with or without you! its very easy to get in trouble with them.

5 months on a 250 just isnt enough practice to get on a litre bike in my opinion. even for someone that has been on a 250 for a few seasons, jumping to a 1000 would be absolutely absurd IMO. they are just too different in almost every way. my advise is to put the 1000rr away and get a 600 before getting on that 1000. inexpirence+litre bike = BAD
 
#4 ·
Judging by the fact that you voice your inexperience is a very good indicator of your responsibility level for a young man.

Having said that, a 1000rr is a strong machine that requires experience, no if ands or buts, it is a litre bike that can get out of control quickly, the CBR line is the most forgiving in this class but still extremely tempermental.

Without sounding like an old Grandpa I have been riding bikes for 23 years, the last ten on my 929, I just rode the 1000rr two weeks ago because I am going to upgrade and it took me a few minutes to realize the twitchiness of the bike, please be careful, there is a fantastic book called Proficient Motorcycling that you should read, it is the most comprehensive book of its kind I have read and it will be instrumental in helping you keep the rubber down:rant::rant:

Take care
 
#5 ·
With many years of experience, I can tell you that the 1K is a monster compared to a 250. I know that when I went from 1100 Cruiser to an 1800 cruiser it was a huge upgrade. Even going from the 1800 cruiser getting my first Sport bike (94 900) it was a huge change, and a whole difference in machines. My advice to you is sit up on the tank, and be careful.
Welcome to the org.
 
#9 ·
Hey guys my first ever post on this website.
I am a 19 years old kid with desire to go fast. Had a zxr250 for my first bike. Rode that for about 5 months. Just finished my last year 12 exam, couldn't wait to get home and reward myself with some riding. went too fast around the bend. panicked hit the curb. No major damages.
Lesson: ( don't get too excited when riding. shove up your emotions in ur riding boots :p)

So i just bought an 07 CBR1000RR. I dont want to crash it. I will respect that machine. MAYBE.... will always be doing speed limits.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rolleyes:
as there are many more experienced riders here, Is there anything i need to know, to ride a 1000cc straight after a 250. in particular the Fireblade.
I would dearly appreciate your advice :)

Taza
.
 
#12 ·
I am a 19 years old kid with desire to go fast.
Taza
I jumped from a 1980 cb900c to a '06 blade, which is quite a difference. My blade is only my second bike. I would recommend being extremely careful for the first couple of months and not doing anything stupid, ie racing, stunting, letting your friends ride it, etc. Be aware of your limitations and do not get happy with the throttle. The desire to go fast will get you in a lot of trouble on the streets.

If you are extremely responsible with no tickets, accidents, or other run-ins with the law then I would say you will be fine with the bike. If you like to go fast and disobey the rules then garage it and get a 600 or less. Wear your gear and take a training course as well, as these will go a long way in keeping you alive.

BTW, I'm only 18, but am extremely responsible, have a perfect driving record, have held the same job for three years, and graduated valedictorian of my class. In other words I'm responsible and respect the bike and my life. Do the same and you'll be fine.
 
#16 ·
I just had one of the best reads of my life, some great advise that actually make sense.
Things i learnt:
1- Sensitive on throttle and clutch
2- heavy and hard to handle, but most forgiving in the category of litre bikes
3- 3x (the power of a 250)
4- no matter what your age is, if you are responsible, yes u can have a clean record and a good career. :)

Things that i will do to make things better:
1- Get sum training, ( in the area that i live, motorcycle deaths are 37% higher than this time last year :( so council is offering a free motorcycle safety course for all the riders in the area)
2- Get advanced superbike training
3- I have already bought the full gear (head to toe) :p
4- i will try and set "gear change warning light" on 6000 rpm, so it will flash as i get to 6000 rpm and not exceed it!
5- Always be responsible and only go to my ability.
6- Read books about it.

7- Thank you guys, for sharing your stories and advises here, as it has made a huge difference in my perspective of the bike that i have.

Ride safe :)

Taza
 
#19 ·
I'll be the first to admit that 3,000 miles isn't much and that I'm not a great rider. I would get destroyed on a track. But I've gone 3,000 miles without my liter bike getting me into trouble. I've got enough sense not to do 120 on a public road like most kids my age would. If you don't get on the bike hard, its really no more dangerous than any other motorcycle. I just get tired of people assuming that because I'm young I'm incompetent and can't do anything correctly. It really pisses you off when nobody has any faith in you. I've got way to much to live for to screw it all up being stupid on my bike. And besides, those plastics are way to expensive to be scratching up.

As for the bird incident, sorry to hear that. It doesn't matter how experienced you are, there is always a risk of something like that happening. Where I live its all the idiotic other drivers you really have to watch for. Traffic around Houston is the worse I've seen anywhere. I'll be doing 80 on the 65 mph interstate going with the flow and be getting repeatedly past by cars going 100mph plus. Then five minutes later you'll be at a dead stop while they remove the bodies from the road. I honestly cannot wait to get away from Houston and move north to college...
 
#23 ·
Start slow and train yourself in a parking lot from time to time. Try to figure out what you can do with the bike. Check if your breaking and cornering is sound taking into consideration and assuming that your clutch control is good already.

I was young one many many moons ago and know how tempting it is to open it up and go fast.
 
#25 ·
a buddy of mine just got a 08 r6 and he already thinks its too slow for him after 150 mi of riding for the first time. Needless to say i stay away from him when we ride. I had a 07 zx6r for 4yrs and now have a 954rr and to tell u the truth this blade is more snappier in every gear unlike my 6r and i cant even imagine a 07 1000rr after u have only ridden a 250 for 5mo and not to mention you wrecked it!
 
#31 · (Edited)
Thats exactly what I was saying about him jumping from a 250 to a 1k, I learned on a 95zx6r rode that for about a month and it broke down then 2 years later which was last summer I got the 900 and I have had 2 spills and more than a few butt puckering moments.

Most of them were from ill judgement or inexperience and one of the spills was just a stupid hurts moment.... and my bike was running maybe 75% cant really imagine getting this bike in like new condition and starting last year. But I feel I could manage now and I do wish I had a little more on the low end grunt although I dont want to sacrifce acceleration or top end:crap:, the bikes revving at like 6-7.5grand on the highway at 70-85 and it burns up alot of gas or maybe its just this being my first bike Ive really rode any amount of time:idunno:

Maybe all that will change after I get it back together....thinking of raising the compression to....a newer gsxr 750 sounds nice too:D
 
#27 ·
Im 20 and just got my first street bike 2-3 weeks ago (1997 Honda BlackBird 1100xx). only experience i have is the trails. been rideing four wheelers and dirtbikes since i was knee high on a pw-50. i was rideing and still rideing a yz250f which i race. let me tell you HAHAHA the power is so dang wicked nothing to compair. NUMBER ONE THING!!!!!! respect the bike you have to respect the machene if you dont it will kill you. but since i got mine have put 4k miles on it at the most 3 weeks of ownership. Just take it easy tho and youll be alright if ur confident in your self and you know how. just always be on your game. nobody in this world is thinking of others they are just going to point A to point B. and they will not look for you. you have to be on your game all the time. good thing is with all that power if you know your clear you should be able to move out of the way pretty fast in a sticky sitiation. (if you know how to handle her):smilebig:
 
#28 ·
Honest opinion... I have been riding since the age of 14...Sell the CBr1000rr.. you don't have the experience for a race bred machine with only 5 months on a 250....Your equation is going from crawling as a baby would to running a sprint race and all as a baby still.. I am not being nasty or an ass.. Just being very honest.. Do yourself and your family a favour.. get yourself an intermediate bike.. 500 or 600cc move up the ladder.. get the experience first.. Don't become an statistic on a wall.. or a photo..
 
#30 ·
I have been riding bikes since i was a kid, i pretty much grew up riding bikes and crashing them. so i am not that bad at it lol
I test rode many 600's before buying this. the gsxr600 k6, and the 08 r6, they are amazing bikes, but i did not feel a major difference between them 600's and my old 250!!
if i was to get a 600 i would get bored of it in 2months and had to upgrade again. They are too revy, they sit on 6500 rpm on freeway speed, which is not very comfortable.
i will go do a superbike course, i should be fine after that!
 
#32 ·
I don't think the jump is necessarily a problem. I don't believe that a bigger bike is a problem either.

I believe it's all a matter of good training, a show of responsibility, and maturity.
Hell, many folks tell you to learn on a smaller bike and yet I teach with 500cc bikes and learned myself on a big bike.
 
#36 ·
Hey guys my first ever post on this website.
I am a 19 years old kid with desire to go fast. Had a zxr250 for my first bike. Rode that for about 5 months. Just finished my last year 12 exam, couldn't wait to get home and reward myself with some riding. went too fast around the bend. panicked hit the curb. No major damages.
Lesson: ( don't get too excited when riding. shove up your emotions in ur riding boots :p)

So i just bought an 07 CBR1000RR. I dont want to crash it. I will respect that machine. will always be doing speed limits.
as there are many more experienced riders here, Is there anything i need to know, to ride a 1000cc straight after a 250. in particular the Fireblade.
I would dearly appreciate your advice :)

Taza
unless you live in Germany and ride on the Autobahn.....you cant have it both ways. ;)

also...what is a zxr250? I guess you were riding a EX250-J or most commonly called a Ninja 250R (if it was a 2008 or above)

first thing to remember is the 1000rr is over 3x the engine, with a much more snappy clutch, and a far more sensitive throttle. unlike that 250, if you tell it to go, it will go, with or without you! its very easy to get in trouble with them.

5 months on a 250 just isnt enough practice to get on a litre bike in my opinion. even for someone that has been on a 250 for a few seasons, jumping to a 1000 would be absolutely absurd IMO. they are just too different in almost every way. my advise is to put the 1000rr away and get a 600 before getting on that 1000. inexpirence+litre bike = BAD
it is actually 4x the engine....unless he decides to get a 750cc. :D

but in all seriousness...it is quite a jump from a 250 to a 1000. I had a new 2003 R6 as my first bike, moving up to an Aprilia RSVR Factory, Aprilia Falco and Honda RC51 with no issues/damages in about 40,000 miles of riding, so it can be done. Just be safe and enjoy whatever you ride!!
 
#37 ·
also...what is a zxr250? I guess you were riding a EX250-J or most commonly called a Ninja 250R (if it was a 2008 or above)


but in all seriousness...it is quite a jump from a 250 to a 1000. be safe and enjoy whatever you ride!!
Zxr250c is the older models of the new ninja 250R, they have in-line 4 cylinder engine,redlined at 18000 rpm, so had a bit of go in it! i think the stopped making them in late 90's or 2000!

yeah its a big jump! i will b careful. you have a safe ride too :)
 
#46 ·
I really don't see what the big deal is. I have zero ride time. I jumped on my 900 hit 3 expressways and rode over 40 miles to work as soon as I put the tag on. Personally, I feel like you can ride any size bike as long as you respect it and be extremely careful. Ride with in your means. Don't act like you can ride when you know you can't. I got past by a female rider with heels on. That was a downer:thumbd: u ride that thing good luck!!!:thumb:
 
#69 ·
I really don't see what the big deal is. I have zero ride time. I jumped on my 900 hit 3 expressways and rode over 40 miles to work as soon as I put the tag on. Personally, I feel like you can ride any size bike as long as you respect it and be extremely careful. Ride with in your means. Don't act like you can ride when you know you can't. I got past by a female rider with heels on. That was a downer:thumbd: u ride that thing good luck!!!:thumb:
It doesn't take balls to ride beautifully.

My advice for the young lad is to keep your ego in check. Don't let female riders intimidate you. heehee:poke:Kidding.

I agree that it's not the bike in this case, it's the rider.
- Take the course and practice, practice practice.
- Don't let peer pressure with group rides get you out of your comfort zone.

And stay WAAAAYYY farther back than you need to until you can pull off a CONTROLLED emergency stop if necessary. Swerving out of danger is great but sometime accidents happen when the driver sees you at the last second, panics and hits their brakes - you can swerve right into them. Better to learn to trust and control those mighty brakes.

Good luck, ride safe, full gear ALL THE TIME and remember you're still so young, you've got years ahead of you to get everything just right - take it slow.

Then when you're feeling up to the task, take it to the track, that's the only place to speed. :eyebrows:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top