@amhsraptor
Sign up early for MSF, they book quick. It may cost 200 bucks but the payoff might be that the knowledge saves your life many times over. Seems to me like a good way to spend that money.

@cornandp
Your point about the small displacement CB is right on. You can feel totally in control on a 35HP bike but could have glaring riding faults which are magnified many times on a 110HP bike. Correcting a mistake at 30mph is a bit easier than correcting it at 100mph.

 

Good afternoon everyone, well insider I know it sounds and feels asif everyone is up ur a**, but these guys r like ur brothers, if you messed up, they will rub it in just so you will remember next time, I will not condone you for getting the SH as your 1st bike, hell I'm 42 and this is my 1st street bike, 30 yrs off road but theres too much of a difference in riding styles to consider that I may know what Im doing, I didnt go out and buy the biggest bike to compensate for anything, it just kinda fell in my lap and for $300 i wasn't going to pass it up(im sure none of you would have either, and yes it came with a new tourmaster jacket that fits and a HJC helmet that fits, oh and the title too), lol, I dont even have a motorcycle license yet, but I am signed up for a riding course and I'm supposed to get my license after the course, but I put on about 15-20 miles a week going down my 1.5 mile driveway that is sadly dirt which keeps me slow, but it does have a cpl. turns and elevation changes to practice on, but it is still dirt , I guess where im going with this is dont get defensive, you admited that it was your fault, an like a few already said just let it go and ejoy the forum, you may not be able to ride but if you still have your bike theres alot of know how on these pages and if your not calling them ******** I bet they could talk you thru rebuilding your bike or something else, they really are good guys, hell they bash on me if I say something stupid, now I try(try) to think before I let my fingers go crazy, lol and that was my $.04

 

Not to hijack the thread, but I hate you a little bit.

Back on topic:
Yes, the SH is to much bike to start on. Period. I don't care how safe you are, if you have been riding dirtbikes ect... It is more bike than you need or can handle at this point, obviously.

Displacement magnifies riding faults and the consequences of them. If you want something that looks nice, but will let you develop good skills, look into a SV650, Ninja 500 or something similar. I started riding on an old Suzuki GS, Honda CB and even had a Honda 250 XL Enduro that was a blast.

I don't think anyone is trying to rub it in, but to be honest you are kind of coming off as an asshat. Knowledge comes with experience, and everyone is just trying to keep you out of another similar situation. They are not trying to live you life for you, but hopefully prolong it with some good advice.

It sounds to me like you were lucky for 6 months. Please be careful before you get on a bike again. There are fatalities every day from people who thought they could handle the bike, or that it was to nice outside to wear a helmet or gear. One mental mistake can be very costly on the road, and even more so on a bike. And keep in mind there is more at cost than your life, there are the others you share the road with.

Some interesting stats and photos:
http://home1.gte.net/res0ak9f/bike.htm

 

Ubelievable link...every motorcyclist should see this. Wow...

 

Every time someone asks me why I am wearing leather pants, jacket, gloves, boots and a helmet when it is 100 degrees, I tell them to go to that site. If it doesn't turn you into a atgatt rider, I don't know what will.

 

Wow, that website was horrible.

 

I first rode on the street in 1964, bought my first bike in 1981 at 35 years old, and I've got over 190,000 miles on the street since then. And I think my wife's '07 SV650S is a blast to ride. She has 21,000 miles on it now. Her first bike was an EX500, 5 years ago.

If I had a choice between a 600 I4 and the SV, I'd ride the SV. It's a very fun bike, and a hell of a bargain.

And when I put a Yoshimura slip-on on it, I didn't have to rejet.

 

 

if want some solid crash analysis go here.

http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/fo...splay.php?f=94

If you;re new to that website, you may have mixed feelings about teh responses. But the crash analyses threads are basically dead on. Being defensive in there only gets you shitted on.

good luck.

 

One thing every new rider needs to remember is to avoid all cars like they are the plague!! If one pulls up beside or near me, I change lanes and move forward or shy of it to create a wide buffer for me to watch. I've been riding since 86 and still consider myself a novice with LOTS to learn.

Someone told me when I was first starting out to keep in mind that the only reasonably safe for a motorcycle/rider to be in traffic is in front of it!! Keeping in mind the spirit it was intended, I thought this was great advice.

 

i agree wholeheartedly with the defensive driving getting you shitted on, albeit it's hard to use these terms in a way that's meaningful, esp for the less experienced. For instance, my driving mantra is "aggression with discretion" but since "aggression" has a negative connotation vis a vis signs and add campaigns for safe driving, many shun any suggestion that this discriptor for driving style could be a positive attribute, and this isn't unusual with all the one-liners of shallow thinkers so commonly bantered about today.

Drivers/riders are not of the same persuasion and/or personality types and are not inclined to act similarly, but I prefer aggressive, active, awake, attentive, focused, predictable and skilled as opposed to lethargic, preoccupied, bored, disinterested, unskilled, arrogant, and stupid.

Aggression, tempered with discretion, doesn't mean speeding up or pulling over toward one who is passing, jamming on the brakes when being followed too closely, or any of the other antics so common among the majority of ****-poor drivers I've experienced on American roadways over my five decades of driving/riding.

 

my dad is pretty new to riding still and I have been working with him on "aggressive" road riding safety. See he has been driving his car for his entire life extremely defensively. To me you can get away with that in a car but on a bike where the stakes are higher you can't wait to figure out what the other guy is going to do you need to decide now how to react and it better be right we only have one shot at it sometimes so you can't mess it up. You have to practice you have to study you need to talk about it with riders who have more skill then you, and I think all of us should coach and teach those who know less then us. It should be the cycle of how we teach each other. Actually I find there are a large number of riders who could care less about be a good student of the craft (which riding is) and instead use excuses about their dirt riding experience or the fact the "don't ride like that," as a reason not to become better and study. Have any of you ever tried to sum up everything it takes to be safe out there to a newbie rider? You will find out how hard it is. Telling them about stupid car antics, road conditions, weather, mental attitude. It is more complex then just cars are out to kill you. Anyways my original point is screw the road safety committee and their propaganda about aggressive driving, to me aggressive driving is taking an active role in what happens out there via pre meditated and calculated prevention. Whether that is your lane placement, or whether you accelerate hit the brakes honk the horn, make a pass etc. You are making a decision for safety before the need and to cagers it may seem aggressive but to me it may save my life.

If you don't want to read all that I agree with Nath .^^

 

well said Corn. Twenty years and 2 million miles have proven to me that we who put a premium on riding skills are in a severe minority in America. When i meet new riders or even those that have experience, i offer to teach, share information, discuss, and justify what i have learned. Having witnessed the general lack of enthusiam for persistant honing of skills has brought me to accept that most riders simply aren't interested. I have found that people ride motorcycles for many different reasons which most often precede their interest in rider skills. Yet I still persist initially in comments thereof, however, if one is not interested, it's his/her *** that's gonna suffer.

I'm not so naive to think that all drivers should be aggressive because it has to be in your heart to love riding/driving and to be intense about it. Sometimes i feel it's the italian in me given their passion for driving cars and riding motorcycles, but that's probably a stretch. But maybe not given past and recent studies on evolution. hahaha. It's unexplainable and defies understanding and i used to question why. But when you know unequivocally that something has meaning for you, it is not necessary, and may even be detrimental, to require justification before allowing yourself to continue on for obvious reasons.

If interest in skill development isn't important to oneself, if there are other more motivational reasons for riding a motorcycle, then it's probably better for these individuals to adopt a policy of defensive riding that seeks to avoid the inherent dangers of overexposure/vulenerability inherent in our sport. I guess i look at it like this though: if you choose to climb mountains to satisfy your need to add the feeling of living to your life, you'd better do your homework or stay off the mountain.

Not that being a bit obsessive about improving your skills will prevent disaster, indeed it might in some repects increase the probabilities based on frequency and speed and what you'll do to satisfy the desire. But for some of us, there is no other acceptable alternative.

 

I feel like lots of people do these types of things (climibing mountains, riding bikes, etc etc) because they think it's the thing to do or because, as nath said, you need to "add the feeling of living to your life." I think if you truly enjoy something then you do it for its own sake, and in so doing you explore every avenue of the thing you possibly can. Figuring out which way you ride in order to feel the best about the experience (safety, fun, or otherwise) is just one of the many avenues to be explored when doing something you truly enjoy.

 

I sincerly feel your pain dude. I just laid down my dream hawk a few days ago (after waiting and obsessing for years over this bike) doing something STUPID, lucky I was going 'slow' and didn't suffer any serious injury.

But my bike, it was in MINT condition and I jack it up in a month, quite sad. front fairing, rear faring, cracked crankcase, dented tank....

The kicker, I had already seen this thread, I thought I learned from your experience....guess not

Afterward I kept thinking of your thread title and how right you are.

Glad you are ok, sincerly sorry about your bike.

 

welcome aboard SS. Sorry it's for this unfortunate reason, but good you're OK. This is why i always try to keep the appearance obsession thing in check.

I remember buying my first new truck in Indianapolis, a beautiful long nose 1984 Autocar with a 400 cummins and a 13 speed. Two days later, on its virgin voyage, some ******* supertrucker pulled out and let his trailer drag across my driver's side fender leaving a big gouge about 8" long in the pristine fiberglass. When i came out and saw what happened, I was livid, pissed and ready to kick some ***, but the ******** was long gone.

After a couple days of boiling, I figured out that this is merely a truck and it is to be used for a purpose, and my obsessing over a scratch will only punish me with anxiety, effectively subtracting from my ability to enjoy my wonderful new machine. Intentionally, so I would always remember this lesson, I didn't have it repaired until I upgraded it with a bigger sleeper and new paint.

My SH has been down twice during the past ten years, which is thankfully a better record than the previous 10, and bears some scars on the cases and tank albeit the plastics have been replaced. Yes i enjoy the appearance of immaculate bikes like many on this forum possess, but I don't allow minor detractions lessen my ability to thoroughly enjoy riding this marvelous machine, and/or even just looking at it.

No need to obsess on this so enough of my bullshit. What caused you to lay your pride and joy down? tell us about your stupidity(lol ) so we might learn and possibly benefit from your experience. And again, welcome to the forum.

 

Good Day , Insider - I have read everyone's input . And you asked for it(remember that) Yet. you can build the bike back cheaper, than getting a new one. (I have 3 S-hawks in rebuild, R&D) bought cheap from riders with similar stories, with the same decision.. If you need parts or direction in the fix.. You have taken the abuse after opening yourself up to it.. Now show the "ELDERS of KNOWLEDGE" you got what it takes to correct your mistakes.. Besides- Could you really blame the machine?