Honestly I think even new 600cc sport bikes are too much bike for new riders. Most new 600s are on par with with slightly older 1000s as far as speed is concerned, they bust out the 1/4 in the 10s most of the time. I would look into either older 600s, like yzf600r, fzr600, cbr600f2/f3, etc. Or SV650s or what is probably the most common starter bike, the ninja 250...
I started on a built 1994 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-9R and I am still here. I had ridden dirt bikes and a few spins on 4 wheelers and E36 M3ty low powered street bikes before that.
Let him get what he wants, make sure he gets decent gear and wears it, and tell him to be careful. Any more than that and you are just being an overprotective doucher.
As I seem to often begin comments on bike related posts - I've ridden since I was little, have been licensed about 25 years, road raced a good while and worked in the industry as a parts manager and vehicle salesman....
My take on modern sport bikes for beginners is that the problem occurs when the skills and ability are exceeded by the ability to look through the corner. This is the number one cause of totalled sport bikes.
Skippy buys a new "R" bike. (CBR600 - GSXR600 - ZX600R -YZF600R) and it's not too hard to "operate" on the street at something approaching normal speeds. He becomes more familiar with how it works and gets a taste of the intoxicating rush of acceleration these bikes are capable of.
There's a road on his way home from work or school with a decreasing radius right at the end of a 1/2 mile straight - he holds it open a little longer every day. Finally one day there's no traffic and he tucks behind the bubble and holds it WFO - grabbing gears at 13,000 RPM.
He arrives at said corner carrying 135 mph, and has absolutely no idea how much brake the bike has, if the tires will stick, where to sit up or brake, what trail braking is, and how to countersteer. he has zero concept of what sort of grip and lean angle the bike is capable of, and about keeping your eyes up and looking where you want to go.
So he panics - pushes ever harder on the rear brake pedal - and watches in horror (if there's time to process horror) as the guardrail on the outside, which he's staring at VERY INTENTLY, rushes right up to him.
If he's very fortunate it's a left turn and he runs off the outside into a field where the front tucks when grabs the front brake. He has a broken collarbone and needs a set of bodywork. If he's 1-in-1,000,000 he buys the totalled bike back from the insurance company, puts on fiberglass and goes to the racetrack.
If he's not so lucky he imbeds himself in the front of the SUV in the oncoming lane and his parents get a very unpleasant and memorable visit from the cops.
Anyone who'd done a single track day or had worked up to the bike's limits gradually would have popped up and grabbed a big handful of brakes, looked through, turned in, apex, and tried to get a good drive out. Easy. Modern sport bike has limits that are nearly incomprehensible in the context of street riding.
I'm not trying to be melodramatic. I sold sport bikes, and a couple of times I refused 'til I'd discussed the ramifications of the purchase w/ the buyers parents. Once I said "I'm not going to sell you this motorcycle - I'm not going to enable your getting hurt or killed".
The percentage of new sport bikes which are written off in the first couple months is staggering. If the rider can make it to where the talent catches up with the performance potential, then they only have to figure out how to negotiate cell-phoning, texting, sleeping, dazed and homicidal drivers. Once they make it past that they're motorcyclists for life.
But that first bit is tricky.
You just described how my brother killed his CBR1000.
motomoron wrote: So he panics - pushes ever harder on the rear brake pedal - and watches in horror (if there's time to process horror) as the guardrail on the outside, which he's staring at VERY INTENTLY, rushes right up to him.
Yes, target-fixation is VERY real, and it WILL mess you up in a hurry.
(first post for me here, been riding 35 years. Start on DIRT!!!)
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