I've noticed there are a LOT more sub 20 year old riders on this forum than I would have thought. I got my Moto licence in NY before I got my car licence and drove it year round till I was 22. I got my first Modern bike at 24 and it was an older generation YZF600R (pre R6) I had ridden motorcycles for 9 years at that point on and off the street (got my licence at 18, had permit since I was 16 and rode anyway more than I'd care to admit til I got caught and learned my lesson) At 30 the hawk is my first "modern" literbike (I had an 82 Yamaha XS1100, but the horsepower/weight ratio on it was much less than my YZF) and I know that I didn't respect my YZF the first year I had it, I would have turned myself into a buzzsplat with the VTR.


Anyway the story is about one of my buddies kids friends. Kid is 20, been riding dirtbikes since he was 8, this is why that is no reason to think that off-road experience means your ready for a literbike.

Had the bike for 2 days when he ran into a concrete culvert at an estimated by the state patrol 95mph. The bike STOPPED as soon as it made contact. The kid flew 88ft from the bike. He just launched it as hard as it could from the stop sign and when he got to the turn probably didn't judge it properly and couldn't negotiate it (kid has no memory this is all what the cops have decided most likely bassed on witness testimony and evidence on scene). Had he been on a 600 he still may have done the same thing, but he would have been going closer to 60mph than 100mph. No gear, just helmet tennis shoes, gym shorts, and a t-shirt. Got "lucky" there is no rash or cuts on him. But he did get knocked unconscious for 24 hours and has a pretty severe concussion. He doesn't remember anything that happened that day, and doesn't realize how lucky he is to be alive let alone not need skin grafts.

The bikes frame is broken into three pieces (not three breaks in the frame, the frame is literally three separate pieces), the fuel tank is split down the middle from the force of the impact, the engine mounts are broken off the engine and the engine is shifted back a good 2 inches from where its supposed to be, there is literally no usable part left on this bike, even the throttle bodies got damaged

All I'm trying to say, is that even if you think you are respecting the bike, slow down a little more, and if you want to go fast with it, take it to your local drag strip on a $20 motorcycle test night where for $20 you can run the strip to your hearts content or get yourself to a track for a track day.
Remember, the street is not a track. The VTR has pleanty of power to spin the rear tire under good conditions, add some gravel or dust or oil on the road to the mix and if you sneeze on the throttle wrong it can send you into a highside. If the bike starts to come out from under you dont try to save it, let it go, because if your sideways when it gets traction again its going to flip you over it and then it could come back after you and hit you. better to slide under the bike than over the bike. Parts and gear are replaceable and fixable, people aren't.