First Bike being delivered Friday

[Muzz]

Hi Everyone , just thought i'd introduce myself, i passed my DAS a couple of months ago and bought my first bike which is being delivered this Friday. It's a 2005 Model R6 with the upside down forks etc. I bought it from Infinity Motorcycles in Clapham for £4995, it's black (Raven i believe) and has covered 4000 miles it was first registed at the end of May 2006 so still has one years warranty.

I could have spent more and bought a newer model but decided that the extra money was best spent on decent leathers, boots, gloves, back protector etc. I already had a HJC Helmet that i use for trackdays in my Lotus Elise but i'll probably upgrade this soon enough (is this necessary?)

I must admit i'm both excited and a tad nervous about the proposition as i realise it's quite fast for a first bike.

[YamaHead]

to the forum Muzz

Another 1st timer on an R6?.......again?

Just remember that seat time & experience are the best teachers

Ride Safe mate

[FJ12SP]

Great choice (Yamaha) as for it being quick , theres no such thing as a slow bike !. Do you need a new helmet ? it's your head and only you can decide, but its your life insurance.

Enjoy the buzz and as Yamhead says time in the saddle is what counts.

Adam.

[Guest Tantalus]

Congratulations!

Enjoy your new machine, but as was mentioned above "Ride Safe". It's just so easy to let it all go when the 'red-mist' comes down and we are being pestered by some git of a boy-racer in his Punto into doing something daft.

After all the hours of riding tuition and advanced techniques courses I have done, there is one piece of advice that always sticks in my mind when considering an overtake:

Ask yourself this - If I overtake now, am I able to safely complete this manoeuvre in a third of the distance I can see to be clear?

If you doubt it, I'd advise you hold back until you can.. there is nothing worse than running out of space as it usually results in an accident or death!

This 1/3rd rule allows plenty of thinking time should anything 'untoward' happen. Note I also said SEE to be clear, don't let your brain complete the picture for you, when there is a hedegrow/trees etc., just because the road appears to be clear before the obstrucion and is clear after it, that doesn't mean that the bushes/trees aren't hiding something just waiting to bite yer ass! I used to find myself saying out loud in my helmet "Don't complete the picture.."

I wish you well in your riding. Enjoy the freedom, there is nothing else quite like it!

[Muzz]

Hi Everyone, thankyou for you responses. In all honesty i didn't set out to get an R6 but with the money in my pocket i got a bit carried away and with the encouragement of the dealer i went this way.

I am very aware of the fact that i haven't any experience and am not the sort of person to over rate my ability, it probably won't make any difference but hopefully the driver training in the car i have done may help in some ways. I am fully aware that i am riding a serious piece of kit.

As for the 1/3 rule Tantalus, thank you for that advice and i will take this into account on every overtaking manouver.

My initial intentions are just to get the bike out early weekend mornings and ride round the local countryside but as you say time in the saddle is what counts so maybe i should use it in different situations.

My point about the helmet is, is it worthwhile me spending £400 on an Arai one, if it is then i'll spend the money, are they that much better.

Another question, the dealer advised me to get myself on the Ron Haslam race school after 6 months as he said this will be the best way to improve my skills and become confortable on the bike, do you agree?

Thaks again everyone!

[FJ12SP]

Hi

The Ron Haslam race school is an excelent way of learning about your bikes capabilitys (and yours). It will certainly increase your confidence/ability.

As for the Crash helmet differant helmets suit differant peeps, but as I said before it,s your HEAD.

Enjoy.

Adam.

[yanto]

Hi Everyone, thankyou for you responses. In all honesty i didn't set out to get an R6 but with the money in my pocket i got a bit carried away and with the encouragement of the dealer i went this way.

I am very aware of the fact that i haven't any experience and am not the sort of person to over rate my ability, it probably won't make any difference but hopefully the driver training in the car i have done may help in some ways. I am fully aware that i am riding a serious piece of kit.

As for the 1/3 rule Tantalus, thank you for that advice and i will take this into account on every overtaking manouver.

My initial intentions are just to get the bike out early weekend mornings and ride round the local countryside but as you say time in the saddle is what counts so maybe i should use it in different situations.

My point about the helmet is, is it worthwhile me spending £400 on an Arai one, if it is then i'll spend the money, are they that much better.

Another question, the dealer advised me to get myself on the Ron Haslam race school after 6 months as he said this will be the best way to improve my skills and become confortable on the bike, do you agree?

Thaks again everyone!

Hi m8 welcome. I was in very similar situation as you,passed test,bought bike few months later(nice choice by the way,i've got 2000 R6-great first bike). Bit worried bout performance of bike when really thinkin about it,was i ready for such a bike when i hadn't riden for a while but as long as you REPECT THE BIKE you'll be fine. Go out a few times on your own to get use to it,ridin with your mates on a new bike when your not use to it might be recipy for disater-you might ride alittle faster than you would on your own,egg each other on so to speak. Give it few weeks of finding yourself on the bike then go out with your m8s and try to ride to your abilities NOT theirs. Hope this sounds ok,guess what im saying is take your time ,get use to it,ride safe! Then give it the beans!!!!

PS goin on track school(not track day) at end of month-through RIDE MAG. Everyone i've spoken to said its worth payin-you can never learn enough, and if it helps me to become better rider,which wont be hard! Then its the best 200 quid i've spent.

[Guest Tantalus]

My point about the helmet is, is it worthwhile me spending £400 on an Arai one, if it is then i'll spend the money, are they that much better.

The thing about helmets is that it's all very well thinking I'll buy an X or a Y because they are meant to be the best or that they offer the best value, but the fact of the matter is that it needs to (a.) protect you adequately and (b.) feel comfortable.

Believe me, a couple of hours in the wrong helmet can be quite painful. Over the last 12 months I have bought five different helmets and tried out dozens of others.

I dearly wanted a 'shark' because some of the paint jobs were so cool but I found them so narrow that my head hurt. Sold it on eBay.

I bought a Caberg Justissimo because I thought the dual visor thing was cool. It was one of the heaviest & noisiest flip-front helmets I have worn. Sold it on eBay.

I bought an HJC 'custom' paint job. Couldn't even get the medium over my head due to their 'pinhead' like sizing so had to go to large.. Still felt tight and ended up being left in my cupboard. Sold it on eBay.

I bought an Airoh Mathisse. Absolute rubbish. Sold it on eBay.

Thought, okay, I give in, I'll try a relatively expensive one on... Fitted like a glove and was as light as a feather. I left the shop and found the same one online for a lot less. A Shoei XR1000 Diabolic 3.

I now also have a Shoei Multitech (flip-front) which has the same comfortable fit.

I will probably never buy anything else other than a Shoei lid nowadays. Why? Because they are right for ME.

It may take you some time to find the right helmet because trying it on is not the same as doing 70mph in it, when you find it's just a bit more 'wobbly' than you thought. Don't despair, the right helmet will come along soon enough!

By the way, my £70 HJC had the same Gold sticker on it and matched all the safety requirements of my £300 Shoei: Some of these mid-range helmets are more than enough should you be working on not unlimited budget! Get out there and try some on mate... it's the only way.

[Guest Tomg]

hi and welcome. r6 is a brilliant bike! like i say to everyone who joins f i could have afforded the insurance on one i would have got one myself!! just take it easy (i know everyone says that) for the first few days. really jsut find the biteing point is the main one in my opinion.

im going on the ron haslam track school as well, that should be fun!! i think the 15th of August. so looking forward to it.

with regards to helmets, i tried shoie's, arai's and the whatevers good lids but the arai was a pain in the arse to get on and off i found. but for the money thought they were a bit overpriced at the time. i brought an agv, brilliant lid and 120 quid, same one as rossi used to use back in the day. now ive totally fell in love with my rst cobra vent. its basically the same design as my old agv one but with all the niggaly featers like the front vent made better, brilliantly comfy, light as a feather, good visor (quick release) and everything. all for 70 quid. gold rated as well. don;t discount them in my opinion. however if i had the money i would have brought a simpson bandit. so cool!!

[Muzz]

hi and welcome. r6 is a brilliant bike! like i say to everyone who joins f i could have afforded the insurance on one i would have got one myself!! just take it easy (i know everyone says that) for the first few days. really jsut find the biteing point is the main one in my opinion.

I'm posting another post with a few piccies, the insurance was £313 with £250 excess, i'm 31 and it's garaged in Essex which probably helped.

Thanks everyone for the Helmet advice

[Rascally]

Hi, great bike choice, hope you're enjoying it. Only thing I'd say is be mindful of the brakes.. They're extreemly good so practise haevy breaking somewhere quiet and get used to it. I've heard many a tale of quite experienced riders grabbing toomuch brake on an R6 and ending up over the bars. Also the tail end goes very light under heavy braking so be careful with the back brake, stamp on it and the rear end will squirm all over the shop..

[Matt Hillyard]

Very nice bike to choose!!!!

I must admit if i could i would have gone for the model with the USD forks etc but either way they are lovely bikes and great fun down country lanes or on a commuter blast!!!

Have fun and ride safe!!!

[Papillon]

Hi Everyone , just thought i'd introduce myself, i passed my DAS a couple of months ago and bought my first bike which is being delivered this Friday. It's a 2005 Model R6 with the upside down forks etc. I bought it from Infinity Motorcycles in Clapham for £4995, it's black (Raven i believe) and has covered 4000 miles it was first registed at the end of May 2006 so still has one years warranty.

I could have spent more and bought a newer model but decided that the extra money was best spent on decent leathers, boots, gloves, back protector etc. I already had a HJC Helmet that i use for trackdays in my Lotus Elise but i'll probably upgrade this soon enough (is this necessary?)

I must admit i'm both excited and a tad nervous about the proposition as i realise it's quite fast for a first bike.

Hi - just joined the site. Sounds like you did exactly what i did - i did my CBT on the sunday, DAS monday to Wednesday and passed my test on the thursday. And thanks to the stunning looks of the 2008 R6 (and coupled with 0% finance) i ordered one on the friday) - that was back in May and haven't looked back - love it. Have done around 3k miles now but most is motorway or short trips in London so need to get on some nice country roads.

A question for anyone who can help - i have just bought an Evotech tail tidy and after reading the instructions, thought it looked easy to fit - but when i tried to get to the bolts at the weekend to undo the existing lot, i couldn't get near to it (big black plastic cover which seemed to then continue under the seat and be a nightmare to move. Any helpful tips??

[ShoKz]

a lotus is a nice car mate

but a r6 is better and quicker

go easy with it for a while. You will find you aint used to the riding position etc so dont push it to hard to begin with.

well played buying a r6

[square box]

Great bike the R6 go easy on it especially this time of year, damp roads, leaves and although the sun is out the tarmac is not that warm so the grip from your rubber won't be as good.

Look up your local Institute of Advanced Motorcycle group join up on the Skills for Life you will meet up with loads of bikers for rideouts and gathering plus get lot of training for a very small price.

http://www.neleiam.co.uk/

or get to a bike safe

http://www.essex.police.uk/bikesafe/links.htm

What ever enjoy the bike.

Cheers Square Box

[Dufferz]

Hey, just one more day to go, eh

Well, i hope you RIDE SAFE; theres nothing worse than trashing the bike after your first propper outing

Also, Just make sure 100% that you remember all of the good bits from the highway code, as i know that some of it can just get skipped accidentally

Also, don't think that just cause your saving money not buying the new model, that you should buy more stuff than necesarry, because thats what the shop wants you to do

Either way, i reccomend Lazer helmets, they are very comfy and snug, but not obtrusive. Shoei is also VERY good, I had one of these when i was a young lad on the back of my dad's Z650