Looking at getting my second bike, novice rider, litre bike?

You know, I could accept that some people could get a litre bike that soon and survive the experience. The reasoning that you yourself are using to get there, however, is seriously flawed. No, you are not a good rider with a month under your belt. No, you seriously are overestimating the capabilities of even the best of the rider aids available and they will not cushion the learning curve. It goes like this: The main reason why people are advised not to start out on fast bikes is not because they are actually harder to ride, but the potential mistakes you can make are more expensive. Blowing a turn at +10 might be more survivable than blowing it at +70. You might say, well, I would never ride that fast over the speed limit... but it's hard to understand how quickly a 1000ss can go from "speed limit" to "holy sheesus" until you've ridden one.

I can still remember "Tony" disintegrating his TL1000R on Elephant Lake Rd... he washed out on gravel covering the road. Until we have the smartwheels from Snow Crash no currently available rider aid would have helped him in that situation. He emerged relatively unscathed by being one of the luckiest bastards on the planet. Maybe you're banking on similarly having a horseshoe up your ***?
 
The very thought that a BMW S1000R could be a "comfortable" bike is hopelessly at variance with reality IMO. It's not far removed from a sport bike, the seat on it is ridiculous, it's loaded with hopelessly unreliable electronics and you get BMW's not so famous bloody awful frequency of repair record (btw, if you think you'll ever read about that reliability in the glossy magazines you're crazy).

The OP sounds pretty young. Complaining about comfort on a 390 and pretending you're going to solve it with a 1000R sounds like a complete affair of the heart, with logic thrown to the wolves. "Sport" bikes make great rides for racing around a track. They're fun for the first 45 minutes or so on public highways when there are no police around. But if you want comfort they are horrible things, beating up your kidneys on bumpy roads, guaranteeing hemorrhoids on long trips and seemingly hastening a journey towards prostate impotence. I think the OP bought the wrong bike from the outset, a nice Japanese dual-sport street/track bike might have been more fun for a beginner. But I get the impression, as is often the case with young riders, that practicality is taking a back seat to heart-felt desire here.
 
my scooter is sexier than your bike now

always was a better bike - Vstrom guy and I finished the ride :D.....sexy ...motorcycles???
...that's so 60s.... ;)

My kid learned the expensive way how uncomfortable full sports position is....some Quebec trips convinced him....now he just came all the way across North America on his FZ-08 ....still can be a hooligan ( and was ) but can do the distance.

FZ-07 for OP....perhaps with training wheels.

••••

But I get the impression, as is often the case with young riders, that practicality is taking a back seat to heart-felt desire here.

one wonders where the coin comes from to even consider it.
 
Noob gets a small displacement bike, instantly thinks he needs a liter bike. How typical lol.

Do it, because then you'll sell it with like 5000 km and put it on Kijiji for more than you financed it for.
 
Look at the 500 Honda adventure bike thing or maybe a vstrom if you want comfort and a power upgrade. Both also have abs, if you want all day comfort the adventure bikes are the way to go there is a reason they have all but replaced sport touring bikes.

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Thanks guys for the responses, some good points.

some of you though with your "master of the universe" crap, come on... your putting words in my mouth, when did I say ANYTHING along those lines? because I said I thought I was a good rider? you think its impossible to be a good rider in a month? really? I never said I mastered my 390.. I said I still have alot to learn and nobody ever stops learning... I'v done the safety course, I go out 2-3 times every day... and I ride decently... people putting words in my mouth cause it makes it easier to bash me, which I expected because this is the internet and you really cant post anything on here without being bashed by someone... I honestly don't mind if they make good sense like some people are... but putting words in my mouth is exactly what I meant by mischaracterizing what I said. Ah well... lol...

Honestly I think I could handle a liter bike if I got the right one... your right I have made my mind up about that... but I don't think I'll get one because its just to easy to speed with them, your right its hard to use them on the street because your already going over the speed limit on most streets just in first or second gear. Most of the arguments I'm hearing really apply to all bikes though, but speeding is alot easier the bigger you go because that power is so tempting.

I do plan on taking track courses and doing track btw..

lol the guys posting the link about the stunting trying to make it sound like I'm asking about places to stunt... you guys crack me up... I posted in someone else's thread who was asking where to stunt, saying I have a 600' driveway so I could learn on my driveway off public roads if I had to, which is an ideal location for anyone who was gonna learn wheelies or whatever... never said I do stunting or if I wanted to... just because I think wheelies are cool and what some stunters do is cool and I"m checking out what people are doing in the stunt forum.... some guys really trying to find something they can throw in my face.. thats the internet for ya..

I can afford buying any bike I want, and the insurance, I don't finance anything.. but if it makes you feel better you can make any kinda scenario you want hehe :)

Yes I'v looked the vstroms, they are definitely an option... that site that someone posted "http://cycle-ergo.com/" is actually very good, really goes to show you what kind of riding position each bike has... kinda disproves what some people are saying that bigger bikes all have aggresive riding positions which is kinda mind boggling that they would say that.. I mean you honestly think that the bigger the displacement the more aggressive the riding position? lol...

Other people saying I'm stupid for buying a track bike then complaining about the riding position... tell me, how do you really know what bike you want as a new rider? its not like you can go around test riding all these different bikes, no where is going to let you test ride a bike, and your not going to learn if you like a bike siting on a bike in a showroom for a few minutes, you can only tell by riding it for awhile.. so how is a new rider suppose to know what he likes untill he just commits to buying a bike he likes and rides it for awhile? Secondly, your making it out like I hate my bike and am saying I made the biggest mistake of my life, when I never said anything like that... I love my bike but its only that good for riding like 1 hour... 2 hours if I push it... it can be ridden alot more but by that time your getting sore and its starting to ruin the experience... thats not something you can know as a new rider until you just go and do it. I have a good life and can afford another bike if I want its not an issue, the issue is not financial only what bike is a good safe choice.

The real point of my thread which a few people(not everyone, most people are actually being very reasonable) are mischaracterizing what I'm saying, is that I want a bike with an upright riding position as my second bike, and if I"m going to get a second bike it makes sense for me to get something that is more powerful as I got a smaller bike to learn on, I'm still learning will never stop learning but Im now not intimidated by the bike and I know I could handle more power... whether that is only 50% more power or alot more I couldn't say until I actually rode them and knew for sure... the question I was asking and its been answered already with some good answers, is could some of the liter bikes be as safe as the next logical step which is the 600cc bikes, because of the electronics... why upgrade every few years if I could buy the bike that will last me most of the rest of my life right now? I think thats a reasonable question to ask, I know some people will chew my *** out for asking but honestly whats the point of me not asking cause I'm scared some people are gonna flame me cause its fun? I don't have any rider friends that I can ask IRL different questions about what they have gone through riding and all the different questions that come up when you start any new hobby.

Some people can make it out that I"m power hungry and just want to drive like a hooligan if they want but your just putting words in my mouth and making assumptions based on what others have done.

Sorry for my long-*** responses, but responding to alot of different comments

Thanks
 
I think honestly a good choice would be something in the 100hp range, the fz6 as someone else mentioned looks good.. I'm checking out some of the other 600cc bikes that have good upright positions... the vstrom 650... 100hp will be about double what the rc 390 has which seems plenty.
 
FZ-07 or

FZ-09 if you think you can handle it.
Some here would wince

We've seen "i'm a good rider" noobs get in trouble as the pic shows.
Your posts sounded like a repeat with the same attitude...at least he had 3 months of riding.

You want to try different bikes....go to demo days.
Want to do better yet since money is no object, take the motocross course at Motopark in Chatsworth ....then you'll be much better prepared to move up.

1,000 km days are tough to achieve, even 500 km days can be a chore under some conditions.
My assessment is it's too early to know where your interests lie.
If you are really interested in track then get a track bike and go for it.
Keep the 390 for fun.

I don't think the Vstrom 650 is a good choice - you'll be bored.
FZ-06 is tame but fun, FZ-09 not tame and as with my son can be a long term bike that you can farkle up nicely.
He has the FZ-08 - different characteristics but similar upright seating but still very much a "spirited riding" machine.

He and I were worried about doing the cross country tour we did in June but with a good seat and some money spent he did fine, had fun, played hooligan at times and handled two back to back 800 km days easily.

You have loads of terific roads 4 hours from here in Pennsylvania.
FZ-06 or something similar would be a hoot there.

100 hp is meaningless without knowing the weight of the bike. On an ST1100 its pleasant.
On a featherweight machine....tricky to handle.
At this point something you can flip in a year is a good idea.
In that range Vstrom is practical and if you want tour it's terrific..and some casual off pavement it's excellent.

You won't lose much owning one for a year. There is a nice one in Hamilton for $5,500
 
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Okay OP... Since everybody has harped on you for getting a bigger bike yada yada... I will give you a realistic option (if you have the money)

Ignore all the suggestions in this thread (except mine of course)


Stay in the orange family!!! KTM 1190 Adventure

Positives:

* It has 150HP... it will keep you entertained for awhile...
* Traction Control, ABS
* Super comfortable
* Great wind protection
* Sounds amazing, V-Twin yum
* Various riding modes like offroad, rain etc
* Electronic suspension
* Good fuel range (23L IIRC)

Realistically it's not hard to ride at all... Very smooth.

Negatives:

It might be hard to wipe the **** eating grin off your face.


2014-KTM-1190-Adventure-Left.jpg



or there is always the 1290 SuperDuke....


ktm-superduke-1290-black-13.jpg


heh heh heh
 
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I don't think the Vstrom 650 is a good choice - you'll be bored.

You can ride them surprising hard. Fork brace and some suspension tweaks and you are good. Lots of low end grunt from the v-twin. I mange to drag hard bits on my wee. Also great for longer distances, did a 1700km run last weekend (took an extended weekend). Not a track bike but I have my demonic 2-stroke for that.
 
Negatives:

It might be hard to wipe the **** eating grin off your face.

You forgot one:

It's twenty ****ing thousand dollars
 
You forgot one:

It's twenty ****ing thousand dollars


OP said something along the lines of $$ is not a problem. Is $20k really that much? I mean, compared to the other options? What's the BMW 1000R going for?
 
You forgot one:

It's twenty ****ing thousand dollars

He said money is no concern, so that's not technically a negative for him....... ;)

Also there was a 2014 KTM 1190 Adventure with 500KM for 17K + tax... definitely doable.
 
He said money is no concern, so that's not technically a negative for him....... ;)


Problems that I would love to have ?
 
Problems that I would love to have 

From what I have seen you have a beautiful house and a nice family... You have no problems ;) (something something sappy...)

Okay we can both wallow together... I really want the 1190.
 
This thread is brutal. The S1000R is a perfectly manageable bike even for a novice - I rode one for a day after less than 3k kms experience and it wasn't even intimidating with the aids on.

The thing with such a powerful bike is that it's kind of boring to ride in regular street conditions. 1st & 2nd gear are sufficient 90% of the time.

Street Triple R is a nice sensible suggestion, as are both FZs.

YMMV but I think any modern naked bike can be tamed by most riders. The upright ergos are a huge plus.
 
From what I have seen you have a beautiful house and a nice family... You have no problems ;) (something something sappy...)

Okay we can both wallow together... I really want the 1190.


Thank you Chase, very kind words, and much appreciated. We have worked hard and sacrificed things like $20k motorcycles, to get where we are. ?
No shot at the OP.
Here's a suggestion, how about pick two of the suggested bikes, and pick them up used? Cheaper to start, and cover different riding conditions.
 
Go get a brand new Ducati Scrambler. Any flavour will do. 10Gs or so, upright seating position, and a ton of fun.

[/end thread]

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FYI, after a month of riding you most likely will not buy a bike that will last forever, your needs and wants usually change over time.

If money wasn't an issue though, definitely get a new BMW R1200GS or KTM 1290 Super Adventure and keep the RC390 as a track bike.
 
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