How do you know if you outgrow your bike?

[rice_rocket]

Hehe.. I think most of you hit it on the spot.. It certainly was the idea to get a very low cost and not too powerful/fancy seeing as it is my first bike. I knew at some point I'd drop it or ditch it and didn't want to have a big investment to cry about. At least the 98+ Katanas all really look the same.. but at the same time, they are more cruisers than supersports. If I can, I'd love to keep this as a track day bike, but living in a condo means lack of space. It looks like I'll just have to try to perfect my driving on the street as much as I can, and wait for track days! I think at the MSF course we had a nice huuge parking lot and cones so I could practice tighter turns and a little faster... maybe if I were to find a nice parking lot here I could do it. Too bad they are cluttered with obstacles that would make it too dangerous at the mall... that and mall cops!

[OreoGaborio]

Are you saying you can't do track days w/o buying another bike? Hogwash! I'd guess about 75% of our customers ride their one & only street bike at our track day events. There's absolutely no NEED for a 2nd bike.

BTW, if you can swing doing 2 days back-to-back, you'd be floored by how much you'll get out of it. Day 1 = information overload... Day 2 = application. It all starts falling together. If you were to do two days spread out, you really don't get as much out of it.

[rice_rocket]

Oh no I'm not saying that.. I'm saying that I'd love to keep the katana until I break it.. But I can't, so that means I'd have to sell and keep on upgrading and just bring my "daily driver" all the time.

[Fitz]

Go to a track day. Run a 1:55 lap. Give bike to Pete. Have him run a 1:21 lap. Continue to work on those bike handling skills.

Fitz

[SVRACER01]

my first 3 bikes were 600s (97 F3, 93 GSXR600, 93 F2) then i bought the SV. it was essentially a downgrade in performance but made me a much better rider.

[OreoGaborio]

I went from a ZX6R to an EX500. "Good" times

[taxonomy]

my first 3 bikes were 600s (97 F3, 93 GSXR600, 93 F2) then i bought the SV. it was essentially a downgrade in performance but made me a much better rider.

Listen to this. I have no idea what to do with more than 65 HP with the bike leaned over on the street. It's plenty of bike for everything you need. I ride an SV as well.

I was out about a month ago with a bunch of Guzzi guys. There were dudes just railing these old 850T bikes through the twisties up near Heath and Rowe. These bikes used 30 year old technology. I was astonished.

Luckily, I mostly rode with people that were a lot better riders than I was, and I still do. I have no illusions about being fast but I am competent, which means I am probably a better faster rider than Joe average.

The track will expose you to people that are a lot faster than you, and it will change you. A lot of times older guys that ride BMWs and the like will be surprisingly fast. You're just not riding with the right people.

[richw]

Don't forget it is the END of the Season

When you crank her up in Late March some of the magic will be there

[Doc]

I love the stories about the old fast guys on old slow bikes riding better than the young Rossi wannabe's.
Kinda puts stuff in perspective.

(To be old and fast you must first be young and stupid)

[Kenn157]

I love the stories about the old fast guys on old slow bikes riding better than the young Rossi wannabe's.
Kinda puts stuff in perspective.

(To be old and fast you must first be young and stupid)

That was me!!

[rice_rocket]

Well.. I am certainly not getting any younger.. and I hope to be getting better I just need to find the ways!

[Chippertheripper]

Well.. I am certainly not getting any younger.. and I hope to be getting better I just need to find the ways!

two ways: get on some group rides, you'll be sure to find better riders who'll want nothing more than to make sure you do the right things...it will save their butt too, ie:you won't take them out during the ride.

and get to the track. those dudes get paid to help you become better. and you get to go as fast as you can push yourself.

[FireboltEric_MA]

ie:you won't take them out during the ride.

Haha..You must ride with the NEBO group.....

[Stegosaurous]

I find that when I find nice stretches of slow/fast paces I'm redlining the bike into 1-2-3 and sometimes 4th gear. I remember when I first started off it would give me this nice pull and I was like.. woaaah this is cool. Now I'm like.. darn that redline comes up too fast and I feel like I'm not moving.

Not to be negative but you reminded me of this A war story

Ride safe.

[Chippertheripper]

Neebs, yup. Some more squidly dudes on cbrs and such, every now and again. This actually comes from an experience I had long before I met you jerkoffs. Hh5?

[Lxpony]

First bike was a 04 Katana 600- i loved that bike and thought it handled fine and had plenty of juice but when I got the GSXR750 I realized how boring and comparatively slowthe Katana was as compared to the 750... I definitely didnt "outgrow" that bike but I got rid of it as it was boring compared to a larger CC'd GSXR.

The thing happened with my first car- 1984 4cyl Mustang.. 88 horsepower didnt hold my attention too long.

[rice_rocket]

Well.. I put the bike up for sale, if I can break even before the end of the season and pick up something with a little more cc.. cool. If not, I'm not going to be unhappy with keeping it for now. What a beautiful day to ride in today.. still having fun at least! I still have this problem with backing the bike around into spots.. me and my short legs really suck. I'm 5'6" and when you have to back that bike up a small incline to a spot it feels soooooooo heavy when only my tip toes can push the bike back. I lowered the front about .5 inches and it helps a bit. I noticed on my friends GSXR600 it's even higher on the seat. Are all supersports going to be this big/tall? I know they can only be lighter than my big can-o-tuna .. but seat height seemed to be all "similar"

[drop]

There's a difference between becoming "bored" with a bike and "outgrowing" it, and like I said... there's not really any such thing as outgrowing a bike... and if there is, it takes a LONG time.... certainly more than whatever experience you gain in just a few months of street riding.

If you think someone can "outgrow" a bike, come up to the track & watch an Expert Production Twins race Those guys will do a lap around Loudon on essentially a stock EX500 upwards of 10 seconds faster than a lot of fast track day guys can do a lap on a race replica.

i was about to say the same thing. lately i've been having the same "bored" feeling with my bike too, but there's no way i've outgrown it. i just want something different...and there's nothing wrong with that!

[richw]

One thing over the winter you can make real mods and really change character of the bike

New rear shock
Fork mods
Steering damper
Good Tires

This will make it feel like a new better bike... may not be worth it on a 500 but 650 Twin or 600 and above has all the power

Of course
Airbox
Injector mapping or jets
Full Pipe

This ain't cheap but if you get 3 more seasons out of the old girl its worth it.

In my life it used to take almost 7 years before the "NEW" bike was obviously way better than the old for the street at least. Usually just a collection of little changes each year made it hard to notice regardless of what magazines say.

[RyanNicholson]

yea most supersports sit relatively tall (600cc+) for ground clearance when leaned over and whatnot. the GSXR's have a pretty narrow seat, that usually helps make them more short guy friendly. Definitely see if you can borrow bikes, ride a variety, and decide what you want. As already stated most people think "hey my 600 doesn't feel fast anymore, I need a 1000"... which makes sense if you don't have all that much experience.

Every bike I've owned (and most that I've ridden) have been 600s, and I still can't jump on one without learning a shitload about riding them. Try a trackday, and watch a shitty little ex500 blow your doors off down the main straight while you've got a bike with 50 more horsepower pinned and figure out how they do it.

That said, I'm not saying don't upgrade... bikes have come a LONG way... just don't confuse the fun of RIDING with twisting a throttle.

[gixxersixxer]

Well.. I put the bike up for sale, if I can break even before the end of the season and pick up something with a little more cc.. cool. If not, I'm not going to be unhappy with keeping it for now. What a beautiful day to ride in today.. still having fun at least! I still have this problem with backing the bike around into spots.. me and my short legs really suck. I'm 5'6" and when you have to back that bike up a small incline to a spot it feels soooooooo heavy when only my tip toes can push the bike back. I lowered the front about .5 inches and it helps a bit. I noticed on my friends GSXR600 it's even higher on the seat. Are all supersports going to be this big/tall? I know they can only be lighter than my big can-o-tuna .. but seat height seemed to be all "similar"

Out of all the 600s the GSXR is the shortest in seat height I believe. I'm 5 foot 2 so I I would kill for your extra 4 inches on height...would make everything much simpler!

[FAST GSXR750]

Yeah but you probably look good in heels,i'm betting he doesn't.

[gixxersixxer]

Haha I don't even wear heels on the GSXR. I can barely reach but I've gotten good enough that it doesn't bother me anywhere. It's a big work out backing it in uphills though!

[rice_rocket]

Yup.. even with my boots on and the extra height, it's a chore to get the motorcycle moving. In a few cases I actually just got off the bike and pushed it a bit myself

[daviid]

If you think someone can "outgrow" a bike, come up to the track & watch an Expert Production Twins race Those guys will do a lap around Loudon on essentially a stock EX500 upwards of 10 seconds faster than a lot of fast track day guys can do a lap on a race replica.

this reminds me of the last track day i did on the Shitbox-EX500. i will never forget this story and will tell it as long as i can. But I remember passing 3 600s and a 1000 in T9 in advanced (blue) at the same time. Granted, I got passed again half way down the front straight, but that was to be expected.