I think it all depends on your comfort zone. I would get a 600rr for my first bike since I'm still in the market for my first bike. You just have to take it slow in the beginning though.

 

for your height - you'll probably want a 600 or larger.. a 500 doesn't have the power to do a comfortable sustained ride on the highway in my opinion. great for scooting around town, but it is kinda little for you.

you don't need a supertuned bike. there are plenty of crossovers - sport tourers that are much more comfortable.. aren't as twitchy, and much more comfortable to ride longer distances.

Classes are great for basics, but you're on 250's.. and it's hard to put one of those down. once you get the weight of a 600+ and you're not in a controlled environment, that's when things get interesting

just my $.02.

 

I coworker of mine started on a cbr600rr as well and has managed great. It was his first bike ever and pretty much what he learned on. I think if you are responsible and smart about it you won't have any problems.

 

First of all, it's all about how much risk you want to accept and how good of a rider you want to become.

For both issues, a 600 cc supersport bike is not ideal. To all the people that are saying that the Kawasaki 500 is too small and too weak (someone made a comment about not having highway power?!?!?); that 500 cc Kawasaki parallel twin will easily out accelerate your S2000 AND it's roomier than the CBR F4i and 600rr.

First of all, cc size has almost nothing to do with actual physical size for a bike. For example, a Suzuki SV650 is more comfortable for larger riders when compared to a Suzuki GSXR 1000. Also, comfort has to do with your body matching bike ergonomics more than the size of the bike alone...you'll have to sit on them and ride them for a while before you figure out which type of bike fits your body best.

Sitting on it on the showroom is NOT a good way to judge comfort. What feels good for 10 minutes may not be what feels good an hour into the ride. Again, after your first few bikes you'll figure out what your body is most comfy on...just don't mistake larger engine for larger dimensions of the bike...they don't correlate.

Now on to safety and skill...a supersport is NOT ideal to learn on if you want to become a good rider fast. Basically, a lot of riding technique is counter-intuitive and requires more than simply "knowing" how to do something. You need the right learning tool and the right coach. Reading and knowing is much different than learning from a qualified professional instructor...best example I can think of is sports. You can read all day on the best swimming technique and know everything about it, but without an instructor you won't beat Michael Phelps on technique. You can read all you want on the best pitching technique, but you're going to be crap without a coach fine tuning your technique.

And a 600cc supersport is a terrible tool for learning. Mostly because throttle is much more important for cornering technique on a bike than a car. 600cc i-4 bikes are quite powerful and it's easy to give too much or too little throttle...again, knowing how much to give is different than having the skill to do it. Also, the bike's suspension is so good on a supersport that you can make mistakes and get away with it without even knowing about it. In essence, it encourages you to develop bad habits because when you make a mistake it covers it up for you. If you have a bike with only a decent suspension that's good enough to keep you on two wheels, but poor enough to communicate errors to the beginner rider then rider errors will be discouraged rather than hidden.

But again, it's all about risk management. Getting on a bike carries more risk than a car anyway, so it's really all about personal risk acceptance. You can settle on a Hayabusa is you don't care at all about skill and risk.

Personal opinion, I think the 600-800cc twin cylinder sportbikes (sv650, Ninja 650r, Ducati Monster, etc) are ideal for the average person that doesn't want to become a track star but still wants to learn how to ride the twisties and do 1 to 6 track days a year.

600cc supersports should be a fine first bike if you don't really care about proper technique and don't plan on pushing it hard...but then that doesn't make sense to me. Why would someone choose the more uncomfortable bike style (for most people) only to cruise around!?!?! I'd rather take leisure rides on something comfy like that Kawasaki 500, SV650, VFR, FZ-6, etc than be cramped on a super sport to cruise highways and suburbs.

If you want to be a track star and really learn about riding technique, the Ninja 250 and 500 are great bikes for your first 2-3 years.

Just to end on a non-verbatim quote from a guest ex-professional AMA racer instructor from Penguin Racing school at Loudon "it will takes about 3 years of regular track instruction and a few racing seasons before a first time rider can outride a stock Ninja 250...most people that do regular track days here could really benefit from trading their 600cc sportbikes for a track prepped SV650".

To make a long post short, get what you want depending on what you want out of the bike. The more safety and skill you want to attain, go towards the 250/500 range...the more risk you're willing to accept and if you don't care so much about learning sport riding techniques, then you'll probably prefer a 600cc inline 4...mostly because they look better.

On a last note, ever notice how the guys that start off on 600cc bikes seem to think it's "normal to drop your first bike, so buy used because you're going to drop it"? Stupid concept. I rode my first street bike in 1996 and have only ever had an accident on the track. 5 of 6 friends I know that started on a 500 or 250 never dropped their first bike outside of the track. 3 of 4 friends I know that started on 600-750cc sport bikes dropped or "laid down" (another stupid concept) their first bike...food for thought.

 

am I at school again?

 

Yeah, sorry about the long post.

I'm very passionate about riding and I'm also very passionate about new riders...mostly because one of my good friends who was very intelligent and responsible had a crippling accident as a new rider. He thought he was fine on a 600 for a first bike because he was a regular (12-24 times a year) at the track on 4 wheels.

We, as his friends and not wanting to insult or push our opinions too hard, did not discourage him very much.

To make a long story short, he made an error that would not have been an issue on a less powerful bike. And his bike was not communicating his poor technique, leading him to continue riding poorly.

He has made a 99% recovery but it took several years, a lot of emotion, a lot of time, and a ton of money.

So again, I apologize about the long post. But it really is a personal issue for me.

I'd like to add that 600cc bike is fine for a first bike if the new rider is honest with himself in having no interest in riding hard. But I hesitate to give that advice because most riders eventually start to push it once they feel comfortable on the bike (an on-ramp here, maybe trying to get a knee down there, etc).

Another point that I didn't emphasize as much in the original post is that training is much more important than the first bike choice. Training is NOT the same as education. You can read all the books, articles, online forums, and it doesn't make a huge difference. Guys that have been on the track with an instructor can attest to that.

Get training that fits the type of riding you want to do. From Lee Parks Total Control for twisties to the California Superbike School for track days, to Cornerspin for something in the middle.

edit: I edited this second post of mine a little shorter because my posts are apparently too long.

 

Plenty of good information!!

 

just get a Ruckus and call it a day

 

Wheelies are cool...

Always buy used for your first bike, you will likely drop it at some point.

Use the thousands saved to buy all the other stuff you need, good riding gear, tools, riding lessons etc.

Used bikes usually can be sold in the same range they were purchased for, unless you crash it.

 

I beg to differ. They lose value really fast unless you put on a bunch of add ons.