R1 OR GSXR1000 FOR A FIRST BIKE?

WHAT'S UP YA. MY NAMES ANGEL AND I JUST STARTED TO RIDE A BIKE A FEW MONTHS AGO. I'VE SEEN AND HEARD WHAT EVERY 1 HAD SAID A FIRST BIKE SOULD BE AND WHY. BUT ITS THAT THE FIRST BIKE I EVER RIDEN WAS MY FRIENDS R6 AND IT JUST FEELS TOO SMALL FOR ME. FOR I'M 6FT 200LB AND THE 600 HAS NO ROOM FOR ME AND MY WIFE. I KNOW THAT ITS A BIG JUMP FROM A 600CC TO 1000CC BUT THERE'S JUST SOMETHING ABOUT 1000CC THAT DRAWS ME TO IT. I KNOW THERE'S ALOT TO BE LEARND WHEN IT COMES TO A BIKE AND THAT IF YOU DON'T SMART IT COULD AND WILL TAKE YOUR LIFE IN A SEC. BUT ITS THAT MY WIFE IS PLANING TO GET A 600 FOR HER SELF AND I JUST THINK THAT ME BEING THE MAN AND ALL SOULD BE SEEN IN AN 1OOO NOT A 600 LIKE HER. BUT THE ? I ASK MY SELF IS WHAT BIKE IS BETTER FOR SOME1 LIKE ME WHO HAS LESS THEN 3OHR OF RIDING TIME UNDERTHEM. A R1 OR GSXR1000?  

it doesnt matter you wont be able to tell a difference in performance. just make sure you get a really nice cup and jock strap cause youre obviously thinking with your nut sac and you dont want to hurt it.  

Have you or your wife taken the MSF course or equivelant? A 600 is way too much bike for a first time rider, never mind a 1000. Get a used 500 without fairings to learn on, because you Will drop the bike while learning, and plastic is expensive to replace. Good luck.  

ANGEL -- Was that a serious question?  With your thought process, you're in for a whole lot of trouble.  I hope that you wise up and stop thinking with your ego.  Starting on a 1000cc super sport is probably one of the dumbest things you can do.  The power is mind boggling and without any real motorcycle experience or training, you are on your hands and knees and kissing the feet of trouble.

You and your wife need to get into a MSF riders course and start on a reasonably sized machine.  You don't need to keep a starter bike long.  The idea is to learn motorcycles, tweak your skills and get comfortable on two wheels before taking on an unforgiving, powerable and to be honest, uncomfortable, super sport.  You can trade in a starter bike after a few months.  You'll be glad you did.

Best of luck with whatever you choose.  And whatever you ride, ride it safe!  

Come on man are you insane? Listen to swiggs save yourself with some common sense while you can. Put your pride on the shelf and you may just be on the right path to finding your first bike. To put your question into perspective, 600cc bikes have near the same power today as 1000cc bikes had 5-6 years ago. I regularly shame guy's on 1000cc bikes who think they are king of the road. When you get to that level with a 600 than you won't even have to ask anyone which bike to buy you will just know. Get the best equipment you can afford. Trust me. Oh I almost forgot. Until you have at least a year of experiance under your belt, don't give out rides to people. Focus on your riding without any distractions  

Why is the big deal about the 1000 bike?  As long as he rides it responsibly, then it should be OK.  Do statistics show that more people die on 1000 vs the 600? I dare anyone to show proof!  

HHF:
Why is the big deal about the 1000 bike?  As long as he rides it responsibly, then it should be OK.  Do statistics show that more people die on 1000 vs the 600? I dare anyone to show proof!



You're missing the point here.  The point isn't whether or not there is a higher death rate.  The point is that 1000cc super sports are 180 hp racing machines that, with a small twist of the wrist, will have you doing 100 mph+ before you know it.  They are very unforgiving toward mistakes.  

The point is that a beginner rider, with little to no experience either with motorcycles in general or street riding, has no business starting out on a liter bike.  Throttle control and proper riding skills are difficult to learn on such a race oriented motorcycle.

If you want to learn motorcycling responsibly and enjoy the sport for years to come, you should consider starting on a machine that will allow a little room for mistakes.  You should start on a machine that won't cost you through the ear when you scratch those pretty fairings.  You should start on a machine that allows you to easily practice your skills.

You're right though, a liter bike can be ridden responsibly and it's totally his decision.  However, the smart money is starting on something a little smaller to help you learn the sport without accidentally applying too much throttle and finding yourself kissing asphalt.  Just my 2 cents.  

How about getting a cheapie bike. You can still buy the R1 or Gixer just PLEASE keep it in the garage just for a bit. The suggestions with the course looks like is a must I would think you should really do that also get a cheap bike so you can get that life saving experience.  As we see theres a lot of fun to be had but as you said your self before bike no matter what there size can have you 6ft under in now time.  Also I don't know if it is a good idea to start riding 2 up on a bike since the extra weight will make the bike feel a bit heavy.  So my suggestion is take the course, get the cheap bike I would think since your 200lbs. a older 600 should be good enough but just take it very slow so you can gain your experience speed will come and probably a couple of spills. Do you have any level headed friends that ride they could help you alot.  And then after you get the mile under your belt you probably would know for you self what bike to get you never know probably Youll get the new Beemer Superbike everybody has got an r1 or Gixer.  And then also keep in mind that even if you have year of experience and thousands of miles under your belt you still have to WATCHOUT for people, road surface, etc.  Remember are good friend Andrew is hurt because of some one not paying attention(probably on the phone) making a u turn.
GoodLuck to you and your Lady  

Please read the first stickie at the top of this forum section. It basically answers all the questions posted in this thread.

http://forums.sportrider.com/70/591801/new-riders/new-riders-please-read-this-updated/index.html  

The new Gsxr 1000's have modes of adjustment.  You could tune that thing down to a 600.  It is a good way to have your cake and eat it too.  

The problem with that idea is that not only is the C Mode not "tuning down to a 600" (it still puts out 130 hp on top in C mode, far above any 600), it's ludicrous to think that any novice rider will want to leave the GSX-R in that mode for very long. Better judgment is not something that's common to novice riders who think a GSX-R1000 is OK for a starter bike.  

I do agree that a new rider would not leave it on the C setting, however 130hp is not far above any 600.  I drive an 02' r6, with full yoshi exhaust, and it puts 120hp to the rear wheel on dyno.  The r6 is my first bike, and I just got it about a month ago.  I had never driven a motorcycle, or dirt bike ever before then.  I am at work, so not really at liberty to start typing a lot about it, but I will agree that it is much more bike than I needed for my first experience ever.  I drive very responsibly, and only dip into that power maybe once out of 10 times riding it on brand new asphault on wide open Florida roads.  It is much more bike than I would recommend to anybody, because you don't need that itch in your right hand, and it is very easy to get stupid on.  I drove my buddies GSXR1000 with power commander, full exhast, and mods I don't even know what they are, and it is more power than I could ever see anybody ever needing.  Half throttle picks up the front wheel.  It is foolish to think somebody could pick up one as a first bike, and ride it without a problem.  A lot of people are right.  Its not self control; a bump in the road could jerk your wrist.  My 600 will be fine, because I will be able to correct.  On a 1000?  Not so much, ESPECIALLY considering a newbie would be more prone to panic, and not be able to react properly fast enough.  All in all, I agree that a 600 may be too much for a beginner, but it is do-able in case by case situations.  But believe everybody when they say you WILL lay it down, so get a used one that was already laid down as I did.  I was coming around a very sharp U-Turn, and couldn't steer it right, and laid it sideways into the curb straight ahead.  Bent my exhaust, scratched up a fairing, and cracked off a sideview mirror.  EZ fix for the mirror, and the damage is minimal and not visible from 10 feet away.  Definitely get frame sliders on your bike.  I couldn't imagine having a bike without them.  

ok angel please read carefully what im about to write to you...you have no business getting on either one of those bikes...the power a gsxr1000 and r1 has is similar so there isnt much of a difference in power...if you go to a dealership and read the tags on all of the 1k cc sportbikes it will say something like these bikes are made for people who have experience which clearly you do not...go for an older model gsxr600 like 2000-2003 model...the bike is huge and 600 is what you should learn on before you jump on an r1 and put yourself in serious danger...unless you dont care about your life thats your parogative but i think you should wait on the r1 for a bit..hope this helps...  

Heres my 2 cents. If your planning on doing alot of 2 up riding buy a cruiser. 2up on a sportbike is nothing but a party foul unless your trying to show of a trophey at bike night or something. Second 200 pounds is not an issue with a 600. I have had bolth 600's and 1000's and i have to say my drug of choice is the 600's. For longer rides the 1000's will be a nicer ride. My only issue with your post was not having any ride time. I wont tell you to go by a 650 or 500 crossover bike because i never would myself. But it would be very wise to maybe even go way smaller like get a couple kawi 250 they look cool also or even a POS 500 or whatever from a local bike shop and on your free time start putting miles down. After about 5000 miles or so the transition will be so much smoother. The one big thing with having some miles under your belt is getting the reflex memory. If you want to talk stats they say the average biker will go down about 3 times during there riding years and i have to say that seems about right.(The bigger you are the harder you fall) (If you have to ask forget about it). But whatever good luck with what ever you decide  

"I do agree that a new rider would not leave it on the C setting, however 130hp is not far above any 600.  I drive an 02' r6, with full yoshi exhaust, and it puts 120hp to the rear wheel on dyno."

What you're overlooking is that attaining a claimed 120 horsepower on an R6 requires you to rev the engine to 15,000-plus rpm, and it only makes it for a moment at peak. The "C-mode" GSX-R1000 makes it beginning at 8500 rpm, and continues making that power until almost 12,000 rpm, making it far more accessible to a newbie rider. Also, even in C mode the GSX-R1000 is cranking out FAR more torque lower in the rpm band than the R6, which is really what often gets newbies into trouble more than horsepower.