06' S3 for first street bike?????

As noted above, what do you guys think about a S3 1050 for a first street bike. I have had friends who have ridden it and said that it is somewhat docile bike for around town and commuting. "Easier to ride than a Monster 1000"??. Just looking for feedback. I plan on growing into this bike and not having to upgrade until the fenders fall off. Am I completely out of my league?

I am 30 years old and intend to respect the hell out of this machine.
What do you guys think??





[ This message was edited by: jbaucom on 2005-11-28 22:26 ]

[xSpeed3x]

Well j,

If your friend thinks yanking the front wheel off the ground with a slight twist of the wrist is Docile, then hell yea Go for it.

It's my opinion (and that's all it is) I don't think someone should start out on a 1000cc bike. Yes the S3 is a easy bike to manuver but that only can get you into more trouble.

You should respect the hell out of all bikes but learn on a smaller bike with less torque is a good idea.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking with it.

[AttackPug]

You'll be fine with an S3, If you don't have any riding experience ( dirt or street ) take a MSF riding course. :wink:

[ELP_JC]

The S3 is incredibly easy to drive smoothly. And no, it's not going to wheelie unless you're intent in doing so. At my 4K' of altitude, the front wheel doesn't go airborne with throttle alone.
You seem mature enough, so I would definitely go for it. Besides, it's not enjoyable to ride this bike above 80 for any length of time, so it'll keep your speeds down.

[rudebwoy85]

I agree, if you are a sensible sorta guy go for it.

Keep your wrists low, your knees tucked in and the balls of your feet on the pegs and do nothing abrupt and it's a great ride around town.

It's got plenty of torque down low but I feel it allows you to ride it in as sedate a manner as you are comfortable with as you dont have to wind the hell out of it and constantly shift to get going.

I know it's wheelie prone but you seriously have to grab a wrist-full of throttle to hike the front and to me strikes me as quite a deliberate act, it's not something I have ever done by accident...ever.

The ergo's are beginner friendly as you are sitting up comfortably though with a slight forward cant, it puts you in the right posture to feel well in control and thus has the bike do exactly what you tell it to. I've never felt as if it was taking me for the ride.

Take it easy until you are familiar with it's character and traits and it'll take good care of you.

For myself, I found it the easiest most enjoyable bike I've had..granted I havent had all the bikes in the world.

[cheapbastard]

jbaucom, I'm usually one to criticize a newbie on a big bike myself, but I'm usually talking about 18 yr olds who have no fear or respect for the machine they've just purchased, and usually winds up in the salvage yard somewhere! But, you're old enough, and sound wise enough, that I actually think a bigger bike is much easier to ride. Especially the Speed3. I'll be 30 in a few months, and I just made the switch from fully plastic wrapped supersport machines over the past 10 years to the Speed3, and I'm loving every minute of it! Take that MC safety course, get you some good gear, and go buy that Speed3 and just respect the hell out of it, you'll be alright. My 2cents!

[kuhlka]

My fiance learned how to ride on my father's SV1000 so you can most definitely learn on the 1050 S3. Just don't get overconfident and grab handfuls of throttle or brake until you've done the MSF and had plenty of seat time to really see how the bike behaves.

Definitely also buy books like Total Control - High Performance Street Riding Techniques by Parks to get an even more in depth idea of what you can do to keep your bike on the road.

I also recommend praticing riding in gravel and rain or at least wet pavement so you know how to adapt your riding when you hit these on the road.

When it all comes down to it, as long as you've got a good brain between your ears, you should stay alive on the street with this bike pretty easily.

[tripletango]

Wow that is one heck of a question. Most of the guys replying have had lots of experience and that may make them confident you can handle it. No offence intended guys.
Personally to me the bike is a very powerful rocket that in inexperienced hands can lead to problems for the new rider. For a newbie no matter how good or calm and deliberate you are this means that you will get yourself into trouble pretty quickly.
The actual riding of a bike on the road is so different than the techniques for driving a car. Different awarnesses, different reactions to inputs etc. That inexperience coupled with injudicious use of the bike's performance leads to disaster.
At the very least take a MSF course, read books and go to a couple of track days, ride in c group and have fun getting to know the bike with good instructors who will make sure you don't kill yourself. Take trips with your cruiser buddies at their speed. Get as much low speed time on the road as you can get before launching the beast! Seriously this bike is magnificent but you need experience to ride it safely.
In the UK you would not be allowed to buy this bike until you had gone through the various tests on smaller displacement bikes. This takes years!!!
You have just read the reasons for that.
We are lucky in the States in that we can buy anything we want.
I guess I am predjudiced by the fact that a friend of mine bought a Kawasaki 900 when they first came out. Had no riding experience and made it a few hundred yards before ending up in a tree.
Just be dam carefull with any sport or 1000cc nekkid bike. They are awesome machines and need to be treated with as you say the utmost respect.
Personally I would start out with a smaller 500cc non sport bike and learn for a year before graduating to an S3, Actually a Bonneville is a great bike to start on. Go Triumph!!!!!

[kuhlka]

All I'm saying is if my 24 year old female fiance can handle the SV1000, which has a very similar riding position except has 100hp/100tq, then anyone can learn on a 1000cc bike. All it takes is starting slow, learning how to countersteer, brake, lean, etc. As long as you're not slamming the throttle and totally disregarding the fact that you're fresh meat for any cager on the road to squish, then you should be fine.

The S3 can actually be a pretty tame bike if you ride it thus. Or, if you're a nutty bastard like me, you can ride it 120 in the rain going around curves on the freeway in a lean with the rear wheel sliding around. Yeah, that'd be a bad idea for a newbie...

I don't recommend track days to new riders due to the speeds involved and how often I see friends wreck on the track. The best thing you can do is take both the beginner and advanced MSF courses. Learning to ride on the track is a BIG problem considering there isn't rain, gravel, oil slicks, CARS, TRUCKS, etc on a track. You don't want to start messing with leaning your bike over and dragging knee until you have some real street experience under your belt to know that leaning+throttle+gravel=BAD.

My fiance learned how to ride the SV a year ago in the fall of 04 and by Daytona bike week 05 she was down there cruising the freeways and back roads pretty nicely. She now has a 1050 Sprint ST and loves it. The only downside is that she's got kind of an ego about how she learned on a 1000cc bike. I get a chuckle when I hear guys asking her how long she's been riding after seeing her ride and then seeing the look on their faces when she says she learned on an SV1000.

Anyway, the nice smooth power curve of the S3 along with the handlebars for steering leverage and comfort AND the relatively tame stock gearing make for an excellent starter bike as well as an excellent all around bike. Just take your time, learn to ride with a certain degree of healthy paranoia about cagers running stop signs, pulling out of driveways, etc and you should do great on that bike. The main keys to staying alive on the street are knowing your bike and keeping it maintained, riding within your limits and especially the legal limits..., and always being watchful for any danger on the road. All it takes is one mistake to become a brain donor to the pavement.

Oh, and wear your gear.

[kuhlka]

Oh, I forgot to mention that the first thing I had my fiance do (and the first thing I learned to do) was drive up and down our long driveway and get her skill up to the point where she could almost lay the handlebars to the tank and ride in a circle before she even took the MSF course. She didn't go on the road until she could ride circles and weave around cones like you have to do for the BMV test to get your endorsement. Most people don't have an 1/8mi long driveway with circles at either end to do that one though. Large deserted empty parking lots are perfect for this kind of practice.