Preperation for a move up.....

NSR125-Kid-UK · Attention Whore Joined: 03 May 2003 Karma :

Well I've had my NSR for a little while now, and I've been contemplating moving up to a larger machine. While I appreciate that moving from my NSR to a bigger bike (2000/2001 R6) is probably a Quantum leap, It's something I'd really like to do. People's warnings have probably bounced off my head a little, although many people have suggested I learn to push the NSR before getting a bigger bike. So I ask all experienced members, what specifically, do I have to do to gain as much experience at "pushing" the bike in the time between now and getting my 6?

Advice gratefully appreciated Smile

, flames ignored (ste) Laughing

.
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Ste · Not Work Safe Joined: 01 Sep 2002 Karma :

Pass your test. Then come back.

That gives at about 12 months time to play with.

I'm off to invest in some shares in the DSA.

NSR125-Kid-UK · Attention Whore Joined: 03 May 2003 Karma :

Shaun · Likes 'em bent Joined: 17 May 2003 Karma :

He is right though, your in now position to start planning or asking advice of whether you should get an R6 or not since you haven't passed your test yet, in my opinion at the moment I would tell you not to get an R6 because you haven't been riding long so inexperience would kill you or the bike. I considered holding out a bit longer to save money and get an R6 before I bought the ZXR but decided not to because I knew I'd only end up crashing it.

NSR125-Kid-UK · Attention Whore Joined: 03 May 2003 Karma :

If you remember I was considering which bike I would get before I passed my CBT. I tend to agree with you there though, only this isn't a thread about whether i should get an R6 or not, it's a thread about what can I use in my riding to better prepare me for it.
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Shaun · Likes 'em bent Joined: 17 May 2003 Karma :

You just have to gain more experience riding, its not a question of preparing for a bike its a simple case of having a summer pushing the bike you have as far as you can to get more riding experience for different situations.

Korn · Admin Joined: 01 Feb 2002 Karma :

NSR125-Kid-UK · Attention Whore Joined: 03 May 2003 Karma :

I just knew someone was gonna say that.
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NSR125-Kid-UK · Attention Whore Joined: 03 May 2003 Karma :

Shaun · Likes 'em bent Joined: 17 May 2003 Karma :

Not near misses, just make yourself a faster rider. I don't mean go out and play chicken with the first truck you see, I simply mean to gain riding experience and in time become a faster rider, is that really so hard to understand?

NSR125-Kid-UK · Attention Whore Joined: 03 May 2003 Karma :

No it's not, but I don't see what makes me a "faster rider" being of benefit, I already ride too fast Confused

. Time and place etc...
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G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

Ride.

Now for some stuff you don't want to hear:
Why do you want an r6?
Do you want it to go fast, or to look good?
- I don't see a restricted r6 being /that/ dodgy really.

While I'm not a fast rider, I can at least hold my own on a track day etc and ride slightly quickly on the road if I'm feeling like it.
However I spent a long time on my first bike, a cg125, then went up to a ns125, then klr650 (about 40hp ish), then an NSR, then the KLR again, then the ZX6, ZX9, rd350, dr.
Of those bikes the only one I haven't crashed is the zx9 and the dr (yet, but I only just got it, watch this space Smile

).
I crashed the CG a /lot/, over ten times easily I reckon.
The only times I've crashed bikes recently has been while messing about (wheelies etc). I have managed to 'save' some quite nasty 50mph-100mph 'brown pants' moments on the zx6 and zx9. I'd attribute this to crashing the cg125 a lot; I do seem to have developed some slight 'instinctive' survival reactions (good ones not bad, which you usually do), ie had a front wheel slide as I realised I couldn't quite fit between two cars, while doing a tad over 100, got my foot down to kick it back before it became too nasty; something that can't really be 'learnt' as such.
Bad survival reactions, such as chopping the throttle when your rear slides also need to be overcome: chop the throttle on something like an r6 when the rear is sliding and you're likely to highside; keep the throttle on and you'll mostly likely come out of it or at the worst low-side. BUt would you be able to control yourself enough to keep the throttle open as the rear slips away? Again, something that can only really be learnt by experience, rather than teaching.

So the obvious answer; go crash your bike Wink

(no, I'm not serious).

What it boils down to is; do you want an r6 to ride fast, or do you want an r6 to look good?
If it's the latter, then by all means go get one and either keep the 33hp in or just take it easy and don't to push it at all.
If it's the former, then whatever, I'd be taking it easy to start with, coming off the NSR. No reason you can't learn it while you're going along, but remember your mistakes can be much more costly on a 160mph bike; I'm glad I crashed my cg all those times rather than a bigger bike. So it's going to be a slower learning process, because you'll be more afraid of crashing and less willing to push the limits (or of course you'll find the limits all too quickly by crashing Neutral

)

A couple of good books:
A Twist of the Wrist II; How to ride bikes fast on track/road + why they do what they do
Motorcycle Roadcraft: The Police Rider's Handbook; How to ride safely on the road while riding fast.

Both very good books, Twist of the Wrist can teach you a lot about how to make your bike work as well as possible, while Motorcycle Roadcraft will tell you how to ensure you avoid the dangers of british roads.

With both however, you need to make sure you actually /do/ and /practice/ what they say, because it needs to become instinctive, just reading about it won't help.

Another obvious way to improve your riding is to do some track days. You get to push a bike on a road where there are no vehicles coming towards you, no pedestrians or drain hole covers, so you can explore your machine without outside distractions. Also it's a lot, lot safer place to crash; thus there should be less fear of exploring the limits of your bike.
Just don't expect to try pushing the r6 when you first get to the same degree you pushed the NSR on a track.

NSR125-Kid-UK · Attention Whore Joined: 03 May 2003 Karma :

Trackday on an NSR? I'l love to Thumbs Up

. Just con't know where, or when Confused

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Bendy · Mrs Sensible Joined: 10 Jun 2002 Karma :

So pass your test.

Can't do a trackday without a full licence.

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

Bendy · Mrs Sensible Joined: 10 Jun 2002 Karma :

Fair enough.

I thought the conclusion the last time we had this argument was that the vast majority required you to have a full licence.

carvell · Scuttler Joined: 05 Sep 2003 Karma :

I'm fairly new to biking myself, having held a full licence for only 7 months and no real big bike experiance, but I would say that what you need to do is get experiance.

There's no fast track way to get experiance, the number of different situations you face and miles you rack up on a smaller bike is inversly proportional to the number of times you will crash a bigger bike, in my opinion. Thumbs Up

I've learnt a lot riding my 125 through winter, I've had some small crashes and learnt what I did wrong etc. - so I won't crash in that situation again.

As most people have said, pass your test, and get more experiance.
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MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

NSR125-Kid-UK · Attention Whore Joined: 03 May 2003 Karma :

I did my theory!!! Thumbs Up

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mr.z · World Chat Champion Joined: 04 Feb 2004 Karma :

Well done mate, but this is where the really fun bit starts Very Happy

where abouts are you takeing your test?

I'm afraid another opinion your not going to want to read but...
Have you looked a how much insurance will cost your for an R6? i presume from you doing the restricted test you will be <21 will anyone actually insure you at all ???
If you crash it (which i hate to say is very easy to do on a bike like this) you'd be gutted (maybe even literally too Shocked

)

I reckon allot of people here have either been there done that or know somebody who has... you'd be better off with a 400 (an nc30 if you want a scarey sports bike) and get a nicer bike later..

Nobodys trying to be patronizing just realistic...

Back on topic...
Don't push the bike more than it wants to be, if you feel uncomfortable doing it then its more than likely for good reason, if you want to see what your bike will do- book a trackday like mentioned above also they will show yo how its done properly, don't do it on the road its just not worth it, even a 125 will kill you just as effectively as a 600 or 1000 Sad

Thing is going from a 125 to a bigger bike 400/600 whatever is going to take allot of getting used to, timing is different, limitations of the bike are different, get out on the road and do as much ridding as you can, just try not to get overconfident is all...

Good luck with the full test, doing your DAS will make you wonder how you kept accident free for so long without it Shocked

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Kickstart · The Oracle Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

Hi

Personally I would say gain more experience. If you are buying an R6 to learn how to ride fast then you will crash, you will hurt yourself and you will cost yourself a load of money.

Personally I would say go for a middle weight sporting bike, not a balls out modern race replica. Go for a GPZ500, CB500, GS500, etc. Get 6 months to a years experience on something like that before even thinking about an R6.

Not sure how much experience everyone else had, but I had done around 25000 miles on the road before I got round to doing my test. Col just did his test and upgraded to a ZX6R, but after well over 3 years riding.

All the best

Keith
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