www.zxrworld.co.uk

rene wrote:how many 30 year olds do you see on 125s? they all make the 0 bike experiance to 600cc super sports.

Well I am one of them. As you can expect I have to totally disagree with your statement. Let me ask you this one question. Are you telling me that someone who is old enough to buy 600cc ss as a first bike wouldn't benefit in any way starting on something like CBR125?? Many times people who started on these bikes are much stronger in fundamentals than people who start on inappropriately bigger chosen bikes. Anyways, I've test ridden bikes all the way to 690cc and I felt just fine, no problems here, but most of the power I couldn't even use in off-track riding.

At any rate, for me it's all about usability. You have to have a right bike for certain purpose. If I need to commute on roads where I don't even get to push the 125 to its limits, why in the world would I get something like 600 which I would use to 25% of its potential?

I'd love straight 4 250cc sports bike, but that will never be manufactured again, so 400cc would do nicely.

I don't know how you guys have it as far police is concerned in UK, but the strong push towards eliminating street racing (broad term covering anything from doing 50 over limit, or making unsafe lane change, accelerating too fast etc ) in Ontario makes 600cc next to useless and a big magnet for the cops ..... any of those infractions can lead to bike being impounded and license suspended for 7 days and fine between 2K-10K.

So, you probably understand why I'd love a smaller, less powerful sports bike than 600cc.


Cheers,

Marek

i dont value fun over my life but yea i have my bike for fun purposes mainly thoe, an i done my das last yr done a year on the 4 now im on the 6 an iv never had an accident fair doos iv had some near misses but thats down to stupid drivers. in fact id say the 6 i have is safer than me 4 in terms of managability an brakes etc. but id say 0 to 60 there aint a front wheel between em. so take this into account and a new 4 would probly keep up till about 120 an, if you fluff it at that speed its "nots so good" (in the words of borat).
i think its all about reading the road, and tryin to guess what others are gona do, i think a restriction all round is a pretty good idea thoe even if you made the restriction a little bit less for over 21's just till you find your feet.

people jumping from 0 experience to a top end machine doesnt bother me at all, i'm a great follower of darwin and dont feel the slightest twinges of regret when humanity loses another idiot from the gene pool. I'm not heartless, accidents happen and those are tragic. Anyone getting onto a bike without a decent amount of experience while ignoring the advice of those more experienced are doomed to a sticky end usually and really i have no sympathy there.

At the end of the day a lot of 125's will get to 80mph and above and falling off at 80mph is the same regardless of the machine your riding. 80mph is a lot faster than people realise and 150mph if you really think your way through some speed/distance times would make you scared to blink at anything over that. We all as bikers acknowledge a greater amount of personal risk to ourselves when we ride our bikes and most of us although generally riding in the not so legal end of most speedlimits temper our riding to the conditions of the road and experience we have with the bike underneath us.

mxs wrote:
I don't know how you guys have it as far police is concerned in UK, but the strong push towards eliminating street racing (broad term covering anything from doing 50 over limit, or making unsafe lane change, accelerating too fast etc ) in Ontario makes 600cc next to useless and a big magnet for the cops ..... any of those infractions can lead to bike being impounded and license suspended for 7 days and fine between 2K-10K.

So, you probably understand why I'd love a smaller, less powerful sports bike than 600cc.


Cheers,

Marek

You can have your license revoked for accelerating too fast? i'd love to hear a cop try explain to me in the uk why that would be unsafe.
Still you dont have to have a sportsbike to have fun, i like trailies and pan-euro's. They still go fast and if your a good rider you'd have to find someone a little better than you who could take a sportsbike around those twisties faster, they also cruise quite comfortably at legal speeds without that hunting i find with most sportsbikes. Never underestimate those tourers just a shame they dont look quite as sleek.

rene wrote:how many 30 year olds do you see on 125s? they all make the 0 bike experiance to 600cc super sports. Personaly i think they need to get rid of direct accesss and everyone is resitricted at first, end of the day stats prove over and over again that older riders are far more likely to hurt themself/others than the 17 year olds are (not that insurance or the gov will take them into acount). Every rider i know who has worked there way up the power's is a far better rider than the people who jumped on a fast bike from the word off, and i dont mean in just a fast term they are also far safer on the road and actually understand how a bike works.

Any who like said there wont be 400's again anytime soon unless laws change in there favor

I would have though if you're over 21 that's the perfect time to pick up a 125!

All you have to do is your CBT and you can ride it. Even if you keep if for a few months before putting in for your full test.

I totally agree people shouldn't really be allowed to jump straight on bigger bikes, though. The fact is that a 125 (sports) is faster than most cars anyone will have driven up to that point, so that's what you should have to do to get used to bikes.

The problem I have is with how long you should be restricted and to what cc.

Some people will be fine jumping straight on a 1000cc bike, while others will ride a 125 like a Frothy-Mouthed Gaa-Gaa.

How the hell can you legislate for both of these?

And 'training' won't cut it, either, because nobody rides like they do on their test.

Jamz wrote:

rene wrote:how many 30 year olds do you see on 125s? they all make the 0 bike experiance to 600cc super sports. Personaly i think they need to get rid of direct accesss and everyone is resitricted at first, end of the day stats prove over and over again that older riders are far more likely to hurt themself/others than the 17 year olds are (not that insurance or the gov will take them into acount). Every rider i know who has worked there way up the power's is a far better rider than the people who jumped on a fast bike from the word off, and i dont mean in just a fast term they are also far safer on the road and actually understand how a bike works.

Any who like said there wont be 400's again anytime soon unless laws change in there favor

I would have though if you're over 21 that's the perfect time to pick up a 125!

All you have to do is your CBT and you can ride it. Even if you keep if for a few months before putting in for your full test.

I totally agree people shouldn't really be allowed to jump straight on bigger bikes, though. The fact is that a 125 (sports) is faster than most cars anyone will have driven up to that point, so that's what you should have to do to get used to bikes.

The problem I have is with how long you should be restricted and to what cc.

Some people will be fine jumping straight on a 1000cc bike, while others will ride a 125 like a Frothy-Mouthed Gaa-Gaa.

How the hell can you legislate for both of these?

And 'training' won't cut it, either, because nobody rides like they do on their test.

#

spot on jamz, some people ride in a way that will get them killed/injured on whatever size bike they have.

ive seen plenty of 16yo knobs on mopeds come/almost come a cropper.

its unfair to say no new rider is capable of handling a 1000cc machine as thats simply untrue.

the truth of the matter is thoe you certainly calm down the older you get but if im hones anyone jumping right on a thou is really goin at the bit, but its all about the person in general. i would have loved a thou right away but i know id have probly killed myself so i didnt bother even now i dont think i could fully appreciate a modern thou but in a few years i cant wait, plust theres that whole new feelin of gettin used to it again. its all good. i dont think an over 21 yr old should be restricted to a 125 tho its not enough. but then like you say what is enough. its a real um an ahh subject but they are makin the test harder so thats 1 thing. maybe they should take into consideration car years to cos that helps as you get road experience and thats half the problem. typical case, oh i thought he was goin left cos he was indicating but he turned right (even thoe the van is tucked up to the white line in the centre of the road).

Xphyral wrote:people jumping from 0 experience to a top end machine doesnt bother me at all, i'm a great follower of darwin and dont feel the slightest twinges of regret when humanity loses another idiot from the gene pool. I'm not heartless, accidents happen and those are tragic. Anyone getting onto a bike without a decent amount of experience while ignoring the advice of those more experienced are doomed to a sticky end usually and really i have no sympathy there.

I am not worried about such riders killing themselves, I am worried that these inexperienced people will kill me or some other innocent rider participating in traffic!!

You can have your license revoked for accelerating too fast? i'd love to hear a cop try explain to me in the uk why that would be unsafe.

Yep. It's a part of a new anti-street racing law hysteria. You goose it, pull away from a vehicle too fast and you are done, assuming a cop saw you etc. It's has nothing to do with safe, unsafe, at that point you look like you are racing on a street, because you don't need to accelerate as fast as the bike can, the law thinks ...


Cheers,

Marek

That's a bit harsh when your average bike does 0-60 in 3 or 4 seconds and your average car does it in 9 or 10!!!

Even taking it really easy you're going to pull away much faster than a car!

As for slowing down when you get older... I don't know. I'm 31 now and still love mad moments. The thing is as my bikes have got faster I've had to respect them more, rather than pushing the bike to it's limits.

I actually think I've got much faster, but I'm better at knowing when to do it.

exactly. its all about knowing when an where. im not as bad anymore, i recently discovered i only have to put 20 quid in me car every 4 days instead of every 2 days. lol also me bike can do a fair few to the gallon.

My TL is far worse on fuel (22mpg) than my car (31mpg), but then i drive like a granny and ride none stop on the limiter..

mxs wrote:
I am not worried about such riders killing themselves, I am worried that these inexperienced people will kill me or some other innocent rider participating in traffic!!


Yep. It's a part of a new anti-street racing law hysteria. You goose it, pull away from a vehicle too fast and you are done, assuming a cop saw you etc. It's has nothing to do with safe, unsafe, at that point you look like you are racing on a street, because you don't need to accelerate as fast as the bike can, the law thinks ...

Cheers,

Marek

ahh, i dont usually worry too much about inexperienced riders killing me. that would be a really really unlucky day to have stepped out of the house. those dangerous old people who think a mercedes doesnt need to indicate, check mirrors or even drive in a straight line is a far larger concern for me.

So it's just another bandwagon for the local authorities to gather more support from the masses of retarded anti-biker fanatics who really dont have a clue about why that there biker just overtook their sorry asses because their doing 45mph in a national speedlimit zone. fkn arsebiscuits.



My main sentiment is i dont think inexperienced riders should be let loose on 150bhp yet i dont agree with having limitations imposed upon people, i think most people would be just fine jumping on a bike sportsbike and scaring the toad out of themselves and then taking it a bit easier it's just a shame we're let down by the idiots who cant figure out why 100mph filtering is bad, yo? or why when they were doing 160mph down an A road that car pulled out in front of em. But these tossers usually drive cars aswell so how come they dont limit power outputs on 4 wheels too?

Xphyral wrote:how come they dont limit power outputs on 4 wheels too?

It is daft, isn't it? Restricted on bike to 33bhp, and yet I can simply jump straight off the bike, take off my helmet and straight into my car, which is 200break, or as near as to make no difference. Ok, the power to weight is not even a comparison, but it just makes you look and boggle.

Vard66 wrote:

Xphyral wrote:how come they dont limit power outputs on 4 wheels too?

It is daft, isn't it? Restricted on bike to 33bhp, and yet I can simply jump straight off the bike, take off my helmet and straight into my car, which is 200break, or as near as to make no difference. Ok, the power to weight is not even a comparison, but it just makes you look and boggle.

If you can get insured on it, there's absolutely nothing to stop you having driving lessons in a McLaren F1 Longtail... or an Ariel Atom with a 6.2 Chevy smallblock V8 and quad-turbo supercharger.

In fact, I think insurance companies do more to regulate what cars and bikes learner drivers can have than any legislation! Surely there's something wrong there???

And if you have the money to pay... the sky is your limit (especially if you buy a Mercedes CLR).

who needs the cash up front though when insurance companies offer pay monthly for insurance cover.

and the atom is a supercharged 2.0l civic type-r k20 engine, wonder how much insurance cover on that would be. it's a bargain sportscar for 20k.

thought the atom was nerarer 30k, that must be for a higher spec motor?

Stunning cars, as fast as some 100k cars at a quarter of the price.