250 to RS...too much too soon?

[david6849]

Greetings all...thanks in advance for your advice. I have just about 3000 miles under my belt on a little ol Honda Rebel 250. Needless to say, that got boring real quick. Let alone, I could hardly merge onto the freeway for the work commute. After borrowing a friends gsxr I fell in love with the riding position, etc...did my research and am crazy about the RS. BUT- I've got people telling me I'm too inexperienced, too small (5'6" 150) and have a death wish moving up to this bike. You agree? I never had any probs on the "mini cruiser", felt right at home riding (MSF instructors called me a natural and feel confident enough to handle it. They just jealous? lol

[iceman]

I would never suggest that a beginner gets started on a Sprint - but with your experience and some commonsense you should be OK.

The triple is a beautiful smooth linear engine that behaves itself.

But remember it has a lot of grunt so if you are inclined to give it a handful - hang on.

Grant

[Shovelstrokeed]

Sorry about this, but I say NO.

A 1000 cc sports or sport touring bike is a bike for an experienced rider. At 3000 miles lifetime, you are not. Oh, you'll probably survive and may certainly enjoy the experience. The problem is that this bike is heavy, relative to your Rebel, and has far more of everything else. More motor, more brakes and it is much less forgiving of rider errors.

As I'm sure you are already aware, the MSF course taught you to ride a small, light bike with very little power and very forgiving brakes around a parking lot with no traffic to speak of. Once you got your own Rebel, you still had to learn much more about street survival skills and controling the bike out in the real world. Natural or not, you still have bunches to learn and that big bike is going to impede your learning process.

Take your time. I understand the Rebel can be boring by now, but you will be far better served taking an intermediate step before you move up to a Sprint. Take a look around at the used bike market, or even new. Look in the 600 cc range and get a twin, not a 4. Even an FZ6 would be a lot of bike for you. Look at thinkes like SV650, Versys, Gladius., etc. These bikes have PLENTY of power, decent brakes and decent handling and are very controlable.

You will progress far faster as a rider on the smaller, lighter bike and still realize all the performance you are capable of handling. Even the smaller 500 class twins would be good choices. You won't have any trouble keeping up with traffic or getting on the freeway with something like an EX500 or whatever Suzuki is calling theirs these days. The beauty of these bikes is they are available on the used market quite cheaply and you, when you are finally ready to move up, can probably sell it for what you paid for it. Not so this Sprint, especially if you drop it (a likely occurance) and rash the plastic and/or cases.

Remeber this, back when dirt and I were both young, a 650 cc bike, with around 40 HP, was considered a big bike and only for expert riders. Today's 650's make 50% more power, have better brakes, tires and suspension and will out perform, in the hands of a good rider, a poorly ridden liter bike all day long.

[steventhechef]

You don't say how long you've been riding but it is a big step up to the 955i from an light and underpowered cruiser.

The RS is quite a weighty (200kg) bike and top heavy to boot. Combine that with the gobs of torque and top speed and you have a great bike but not really one for a novice IMHO

I am as brave a man as you would find but if one of my mates asked me I'd say no. If you've been riding for a couple of years - no issues but the 955i can be a handful especially with the stock BT020's tyres on.

If you think that you could behave yourself it wouldn't be an issue but they do have a lot to offer in the power department and a beginner could easily get themselves in to trouble.

As SSed has said look for an SV650 or the like.

Good luck with your choice.

[KitNYC]

Hmmm.... A bit of a tough call in my mind, but I got the Sprint RS as my 3rd bike and I'm pretty happy about that. I still managed to whack the throttle open too hard and drop it coming off a stop sign about 2 weeks after I bought it, despite ~3 years and 30,000 miles in other bikes.

If you were bored with a Ninja 250 after 3,000 miles, I'd say you were doing it wrong. The Rebel, though, I can actually see. I'm going to emphasize something Ed said, or maybe rephrase it.... Avoid most of the inline 4-cylinder bikes. Even the 600s make crazy power. I'm also going to say that the SV650 makes a good beginner bike on paper, but it's got a freakin' twitchy throttle. (I have heard that the GSX650F is beginner-friendly, though.)

I really like Kawasaki for beginner and second bikes. Ninja 250s and 500s make great starters you can stick with for more than 3k miles, and their entire 650 twin lineup is great for second bikes. Ninja 650 if you want a sporty standard, Versys if you want a real all-rounder, and ER-6N if you want something just as ugly as a Ducati Street Fighter for a third of the price. Suzuki GS500s are decent little twins too. They top out right around 100MPH, and it's a whole lot of fun getting them there.

Cheers, HTH,
-Kit

[brockway]

If he's 5'6", chances are he ain't gonna be comfortable on a Versys, cool bike it may be. The seat heights the same as the Tiger. Do they still sell the Bandit 650? I've always liked the old air cooled Suzuki engines, and its got a half fairing like the RS.

[uniqueadventures]

I would highly recommend going for a 600 or thereabouts as a stepping stone. As Ed says buy yourself one secondhand for a good price and you should be able to sell it for pretty much the same when you decide to move on - and that's where some of the fun of riding comes in, progressing through a variety of bikes to find what you really like. If you go straight for a litre bike you have missed out on a whole world of fantastic bikes in between.

I had an '04 bandit 600 and loved it. It was a very capable bike, and not nearly as heavy as the sprint - much easier to get used to the weight and "save" the bike from the embarrassing topples at a standstill.

The 600's are great value and will be much easier on the pocket in terms of insurance too (well, in the UK they are. Not sure where you are I but I would imagine it's the same everywhere)

Whatever you choose there is always a chance of having an accident minor or major, so be careful and consider extra training.

Enjoy whatever you choose!

[DaveM]

Hi and welcome to the forum david6849

I am also of the start small and work your way up camp for all the reasons already stated.

If I was to make a suggestion it would be get some more miles and or training under your belt on a something like an SV 650 Suzuki that is light and has plenty of power, before stepping up to a heavy litre sports tourer.

Good luck.

cheers
DaveM

[CalSprintster]

Were you comfortable riding the Gixer? If so, I think you are ready. Be sure to take it EZ at first, and .... ENJOY.

[david6849]

Thanks for all the excellent and honest opinions...any more, keep em coming! I am thinking I might toss a ninja around first...they are a dime a dozen around here. I dont mind the way they look at all, just that all the kids have them...