Should I be scared of my CBR6RR?

[tiger777]

Should I be scared of my CBR6RR?

I had an SV650S for 3 yrs, it was my first bike after passing my DAS.
We had a few teething problems but generally i got on ok with it but never really felt like we clicked.

All in all I probably only clocked up 18 months experience as only rode in the summer and even then only occasionally. I wasen't very confident with my riding so often put off going out, although once on the bike I loved it.

Anyway, at the begining of the summer I decided I wanted a change. A CBR6RR became available at the right price and we bought it! Looking back I think both my husband and I must have been a little insane, there wasen't much thought put into it, one day the SV was gone and there stood the CBR!!

Again I had a few problems, mainly dropping it twice!
I have had to completly change my style of riding as it was like getting off a carthorse onto a thoroughbred!

But I love it!! I'm out on it at every opportunity (still fair weather rider though!) and feel that my riding has come on leaps and bounds. I look forward to my days off and pray for good weather. I'm still not great with the corners but feel so much more confident than I did on the SV.

I read various posts on forums about the pit falls of bikes like mine, how 'focused' they are, what does that mean? how people have scared themselves on them and promptly sold them.

I had a wobble/tankslapper the other day, first ever and it certainly scared me but I got right back on the next day and had one of my best rides ever.

Am I missing something? Is this bike going to bite me on the arse one day? I mean if there are grown men out there that won't ride one! makes me wonder if I should start worrying!

[colin1]

If you dont push it too hard, it wont be to hairy.

Its people who push it harder than they can cope with who have problems.

Riding slower tends to reduce potential problems, but riding faster is often more fun.

Most of the time i probably only use 30 of my 100 bhp, and its probably fairly rare that i use more than 50. The extra is there for when I am ready for it.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[LUXY DJ]

Some can ride bikes, some cant, some can only ride CERTAIN bikes,....but if your not feeling that confident on it then it sounds like its the wrong bike tbh maybe it you just havent had enough time to adapt to it/style of riding,etc

or maybe its......

[Zimbo]

No need to be scared of it at all, just go out and keep riding it, it's very unlikely to bite you I'd say! I wouldn't recommend one for an absolute newbie perhaps, but I do feel this 600 thing is often blown out of proportion, they're not that torquey and only ham fisted riders will get it that wrong on the road that they crash it. A litre bike is far more tricky.

[G]

If you're worried about it going to 'bite you in the arse', then you should be fine.

It's the people that get on one and try and go very fast straight away that are the problem. 600cc bikes can be very, very fast - pretty much keeping up with litre bikes on the road if properly thrashed.
However providing you increase your speed slowly, rather than trying to beat the TT lap record on your second day, you should be fine .

[dainesefreak]

Right, I'm not sure if this is going to make sense but . . .

Other than the power I'm sure that the 600RR is going to feel very similar to ride to my Blade. I went from the previous 954 Blade to the 1000RR and I've found that it seems to feel very front end biased in comparison, even though they are supposed to be something like 49 rear 51 front. It sort of feels like you sit to the front on top of the bike and get stretched out over the tank and that there's loads of bike behind you. For quite a neutral handling bike if you're giving it some it can feel like it's starting to dominate you rather than you it. I'm not suggesting that you start giving it plenty of wrist and getting all aggressive, but I've found that almost treating it with too much respect and pansying it can make you start feeling loose and you let the bike run away too much. I find that it responds best to firm smooth input and almost bitching it at times makes it feel more reassuring. I've also found that it's worth keeping an eye on tyre pressures, a few psi can make a big difference, especially to the front end feeling vague.

On the whole though I'd say that the RR's are probably the most civil of the latest batch of supersports and behave themselves. It's mostly a confidence/experience/time thing. After experiencing various different bikes in different situations you sort of get a feeling for what's right and what's wrong and how well one bike behaves itself compared to another.

Good luck and take it as it comes.

[Psychonaut]

Ive just bought a 600rr (5 days ago) from a 125. All I can say is it doesnt matter what bike you buy its the rider that counts. The bike will only get you into trouble if you make it, smoothness is the key. So no I dont think getting a supersports bike is ever a mistake UNLESS you don't have the self discipline to not push it too far.
I'm not using a quarter of its power most of the time, I have the rest of my life to use the rest (which I intend it being a long life)
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Prev CBR600RR (06) Orange/Black
CBR1000RR (09) Repsol
Now Ducati 1199 Panigale

[Slickfish]

Yeah agree with the above, just build it up slow.
The RR's are very forgiving bikes, so you should be ok with it.

Once you feel at home then you can think about pushing it alittle.

[jonboy22]

[Bendy]

[G]

[Slickfish]

Focused to me means hard seat, low bars, high pegs.

They arn't a motoGP bike any more than any other sportsbike.

I moved from a CB600 to the RR and it was a shock to they system, for you it will be more so as you are moving from a twin to a 4.
You'll soon get used to it.

[jonboy22]

[Dark]

You'll be ok, take it steady and restrain the urge to thrash it straight away and you won't get yourself into situations you can't handle.

Build up your experience on the bike, before long you'll start to gel with it and not long after that you'll feel at one with it. Then it'll be time to explore the bikes limits.

The longer the learning process takes the better because there if it happens too quickly you may get bored and be looking for another bike and another challenge.

I hope i never get bored of my ZX10R as i'm not sure what i'd get that could be more challenging to ride fast
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My Bikes in order:- Yamaha RXS100 / Suzuki X7 250 / Yamaha RD350LC / Kawasaki
KR1S 250 / Kawasaki ZXR750 H2 / Honda C50 / Kawasaki ZX7R P5 / Kawasaki ZX10R / Suzuki GSXR 400 / Honda CBR1100 Blackbird & Yamaha FZR 600

[G]

Well, me, I'd prefer to be on a decent bike. But then I've only once recently been told I don't know how to ride .

However there are cases where the novice rider may be better off on that Honda cub - they have to do an emergency stop on the RR, panic, pull the brake hard and end up flipping the bike, using up the distance in mid air, rather than the cub which is slowing, gently maybe but still a lot better with both wheels on the ground.

Overtaking a truck? Well, the sensible novice knows that they can make it on the RR, so they accelerate hard, only to find the truck pulling further out as it overtakes a cyclist the novice rider hasn't noticed.
The sensible novice on the cub knows they'll have to plan their overtake very well or be patient.

However, what I'm mostly talking about is not so much about being sensible, but when someone attempts something they think is safe and finds that they are actually way out of their depth - in this case a 'sharp' bike can cause more problems than it can solve.
While this is less likely the more 'sensible' the rider, it can still happen easily enough.

I don't actually believe it's a massively bad thing, but nor do I think it's a particularly good thing. Some situations it may be either.


The other thing I have to think, is if you're going to be sensible and only use your bike to 50% or less of it's abilities, why not get a cheaper one to start with, that will devalue less and will let you use more of it's abilities?
Yes, it can be nice to have a bike way beyond your abilities, but the problem comes if you do manage to push the bike past it's limit - which puts you suddenly way, way past your own limits, rather than just a little past them.

So, if you're a sensible kind of person, you won't get a really powerful bike as your first big bike. Therefore only those that aren't so sensible would get such a bike for their first bike.
Therfore anyone that gets a fast bike for their first bike will kill themselves .
(Yes, the smiley is to indicate this is a joke ).

Dark: Well, you can always get an MOT for this lower powered track bike you're getting .
Going from a 143hp zx9 I found a 53hp RS250 much more fun to ride on the road!

[jonboy22]

Well I reckon this is one of those points that could be argued till the cows come home on their various Honda cubs and RR's .

I still think it's a matter of perspective and you can put spin on a situation to reflect it in what ever light you want.

eg the emergency stop, the novice rider reacts late panics, but he's a 18 stone championship pie eater and the RR's great brakes stop him well short of danger (I know they exist but I don't personally know anyone who's endo flipped) .

Or the novice rider being a novice doesn't react in time on the cub, slams the breaks, nothing much happens, he does a superman impression as he goes through the back window of the bus, slides down the aisle and stops by the driver asking for a single to the nearest hospital

So spin it how you like but I do take on board your point and accept that there is a reason for "novice bikes", however I don't think a "sensible" (there's that word again) novice on a focused bike is a guaranteed disaster.

(could do a poll actually....but then we would argue over the phrasing of the question )

[frogmella]

[Dark]

[craigs23]

As what's probably already been mentioned - it's a Jap inline 4 - it only goes as fast as you want it to. Build up speed progressively until you feel confident on how the bike feels at different rates of knots. I did the same with the Blade (which was a bit of a jump power wise in comparison to my previous 400) - limiting myself to 7k, then 9, and so on. Also it allowed me to guage how the bike felt on carving into corners at different speeds. I'm still surprised at how much power can be laid down with no complaints from the rear (front gets oh-so-flappy though).

[G]

I haven't said it's a guarenteed disaster. It's just that I don't think a 'sharp' bike is, all things considered, necessarily of great benefit to the novice rider.
I've known of quite a few people some more experienced and some not manage to flip a 'sharp' sports bike when put into an 'emergency' situation - also similar but more so with sliding the front when the surface is dodgy.

For the record, I didn't find the RR amazingly 'sharp' compared to some other modern ikes, I'd more describe is as 'neutral'. However it's definitely still got plenty of go and stop to catch out an inexperienced rider with a bit of lack of concentration.
(Or a more 'experienced' rider like me )

[Misc]

Some learn faster then others, everyday you go out on it you will grow more confident, just ride at a comfatable speed.

[Annabella]

[jonboy22]

Yeah I didn't quite get the 400cc thing either but I think its a ref to not having a litre bike??

Anyway, Annabella very valid what you said about having no reason to be scared and relaxing and enjoying your ride.

But I've just thought of something, those of you out there who have in fact jumped straight onto a sports 600 or bigger, basically an "extreme" bike, do you consider all the aspects of the bike as the "norm" so to speak. As you haven't experienced the gradual ascension through the CC's I assume that you just get used to the bike as you know no different?? (does that make sense?)

Would be iterested to hear from any straight to 600+ novices....

[Annabella]

[Dark]

I'm also interested as i've progressed through the cc's from 100 to 1000 over the years
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My Bikes in order:- Yamaha RXS100 / Suzuki X7 250 / Yamaha RD350LC / Kawasaki
KR1S 250 / Kawasaki ZXR750 H2 / Honda C50 / Kawasaki ZX7R P5 / Kawasaki ZX10R / Suzuki GSXR 400 / Honda CBR1100 Blackbird & Yamaha FZR 600