Hey guys, so I decided to pull the trigger this year and decided to buy a sports bike for the late spring/summer/early fall season. I'm not entirely new to riding bikes as I've had mopeds and small dirt bikes back in the day. However, I'm fairly still a newbie when it comes to sports bikes so I decided to do it right and learn properly by taking a Motorcycle Operation and Safety course at SAIT this coming April. I decided to pick up a 2015 Kawasaki Ninja 300 as my first sports bike.
Aside from investing in a good set of Helmets, gloves, jacket and boots, is there anything that any experienced rider would recommend? Coming from an experienced rider, is there something else that you would have done differently if you could do it all over again?
Forgot to mentioned that I bought my bike locally at Blackfoot Motorsports and I'll most likely buy the rest of my gear locally as well, probably Blackfoot as well unless someone can direct me elsewhere to a better shop/online website.
Got any tips or advice or even comments? I'd love to hear from you guys.
needless to say, I'm pretty excited to ride this year. :D
UPDATE: I ended up getting a 2016 FZ-07 Naked Sport Bike instead of the Kawasaki Ninja 300 as my first sports bike.
UPDATE April 10, 2016, Here's my new bike!
02-02-2016, 01:08 PM
killramos
toocool is a better riding school from everything i have heard. If you haven't already booked the sait one i would consider going there instead.
You already bought a bike? Do you have a license?
caveat: I dont own a bike or have a license lol
02-02-2016, 01:13 PM
Disoblige
I prefer GW Cycle if you're going to buy locally. Better pricing, and better discounts (especially if you're buying a set of gear).
Revzilla is a pretty good source if you want to check out reviews of the gear you want to buy.
Wear the helmet at the store and walk around in it for a long period of time. Maybe 15 minutes+ to get a feel of it. A helmet might feel fine for the first few minutes, but might give you a headache 15 minutes down the road. You may see a difference from the cheaper brands to a higher quality brand like Shoei for example.
Also, I know you mentioned you used to ride dirt bikes, but street bikes are a bit different. Basic operating techniques could be learned from dirt bike experience, but you'll find you'll be learning a lot of other techniques as well as good habits in school for you to ride on the street safe.
02-02-2016, 01:26 PM
shakalaka
The only thing I would do differently is wear full gear at all times regardless of how hot it is. I would have avoided the permanent discoloration of my arm and knee when I laid my bike down in 2014 hadI been wearing full leather gear. Other than that be sensible on a bike, it's not a toy. Don't do stupid things or get carried away by other stupid riders. Take it easy on corners especially when gravel is present. Gravel was the reason I went down. Even at slow speeds when turning it can be hard to control on top of lose gravel.
02-02-2016, 01:28 PM
pf0sh0
Quote:
Originally posted by killramos toocool is a better riding school from everything i have heard. If you haven't already booked the sait one i would consider going there instead.
You already bought a bike? Do you have a license?
caveat: I dont own a bike or have a license lol
I went to toocool a long time ago, pretty good school. I would reccomend too cool for sure, but I know they book pretty far in advance.
02-02-2016, 01:49 PM
killramos
Quote:
Originally posted by shakalaka Take it easy on corners especially when gravel is present. Gravel was the reason I went down. Even at slow speeds when turning it can be hard to control on top of lose gravel.
Little patch of gravel killed a guy i went to high school with. He was just test driving a bike to buy too...
Little kick and straight into a light pole. So quick. :(
02-02-2016, 02:03 PM
LilDrunkenSmurf
Good thing you guys aren't trying to scare him away or anything.
02-02-2016, 02:09 PM
pf0sh0
Quote:
Originally posted by LilDrunkenSmurf Good thing you guys aren't trying to scare him away or anything.
LOL
02-02-2016, 02:12 PM
revelations
Honestly, for a somwhat experienced rider, a 300cc bike will be found lacking, especially if youre a bigger rider trying to merge onto Deerfoot northbound around memorial.
Get a used, older 500 Ninja. Why get a shiny new bike (that youll likely drop) for a first unless you have money to spare :dunno:
Also, frame sliders are a must have.
02-02-2016, 02:22 PM
JordanAndrew
Quote:
Originally posted by killramos toocool is a better riding school from everything i have heard. If you haven't already booked the sait one i would consider going there instead.
You already bought a bike? Do you have a license?
caveat: I dont own a bike or have a license lol
Haha, yeah I already bought a bike. Don't get me wrong, I did a lot of research before buying one. It came down to an R3 or a Ninja but I definitely wanted to stick to the 300 CC category because I wanted to hone in my riding skills. I don't have the license yet because I didn't really ride on the streets all that much.
02-02-2016, 02:25 PM
Rocket1k78
Congrats!
GW gets my vote too and tbh its the only place locally that deserves your money for gear.
I went to toocool a long time ago, pretty good school. I would reccomend too cool for sure, but I know they book pretty far in advance.
A lot of people are saying really good things about too cool as well and I definitely considered them as the school to go to for the motorcycling course.
Again though, like what I said earlier, I do have some riding experience already so I just need somewhat of a refresher/more tips. SAIT was offering an early bird admission and I ended up only paying for $420 or so for the course. This works out perfect for me and I get some more extra spending money on better gear.
02-02-2016, 02:27 PM
JordanAndrew
Quote:
Originally posted by LilDrunkenSmurf Good thing you guys aren't trying to scare him away or anything.
LOL it's all good, I'm not scared off quite just yet.. but almost! haha!
02-02-2016, 02:29 PM
JordanAndrew
Quote:
Originally posted by revelations Honestly, for a somwhat experienced rider, a 300cc bike will be found lacking, especially if youre a bigger rider trying to merge onto Deerfoot northbound around memorial.
Get a used, older 500 Ninja. Why get a shiny new bike (that youll likely drop) for a first unless you have money to spare :dunno:
Also, frame sliders are a must have.
Luckily I'm not a bigger guy at all, I'm only 5'7 weighing about 160 lbs.
As for the bike, I got a really good deal on a brand new 2015 bike so it was really hard to turn it down, especially considering it's brand new. I also really wanted to avoid faster bikes in the meantime to avoid being a dumbass and go speeding every where I go.
02-02-2016, 02:34 PM
Mibz
You're doing everything right so far. Go to school, wear your gear, take it easy.
When it comes to motorcycles, my only regret is living in Calgary.
02-02-2016, 02:38 PM
revelations
Quote:
Originally posted by JordanAndrew
Luckily I'm not a bigger guy at all, I'm only 5'7 weighing about 160 lbs.
As for the bike, I got a really good deal on a brand new 2015 bike so it was really hard to turn it down, especially considering it's brand new. I also really wanted to avoid faster bikes in the meantime to avoid being a dumbass and go speeding every where I go.
How much for a 300cc Ninja from last year ?
02-02-2016, 02:40 PM
samo147
If I'd had done it again. I probably would have spent less on my first bike. I bought a Ninja 250 that was in almost mint and low kms so I paid a bit extra for that. I let my friend learn on my bike and he laid it down. Sold it after a few seasons when I upgraded bikes.
I think the suggestion for a ninja 500 or cbr 500 is a good one. Something not too difficult to handle and something that you won't outgrow too fast.
02-02-2016, 03:11 PM
Maximoose
I've trained a lot of newbies on my spare time. Used to run a kijiji Ad about helping newbies with class 5s and trying for class 6 and always spent my summer weekends giving tips and doing ride alongs.
Here's my 2 cents
-Nothing compares to Too Cool, you get what you pay for and that school is known nationally for how good it is.
-www.canadasmotorcycle.ca/ has always been a great place to order equipment, there return policy is great and you usually get free shipping.
-try to look for a late 90's 600cc sportbike (cbr, gsxr, r6). they'll be cheap and cheap to fix. It also has enough power so you won't be bored in 3 months of riding it.
-Make sure you purchase good gear before you buy the bike. Including boots and pants.
02-02-2016, 03:17 PM
shakalaka
Quote:
Originally posted by killramos
Little patch of gravel killed a guy i went to high school with. He was just test driving a bike to buy too...
Little kick and straight into a light pole. So quick. :(
I think I heard about that happening over in NW last year? It's sad and it sucks that we get shitty winters and they take forever to clean the gravel, but yea it can be super dangerous.
Another tip I thought of, don't get too big of a bike too soon. I rode my R6 for a couple of seasons and it was more than sufficient to last me a few more. But then I got bored and sold it and picked up a GSXR 1000. Big mistake as I think I jumped the gun on getting that big of a bike too soon. Not that I did anything stupid on it, but just the weight of it and not being used a litre bike can be hard if you're not super experienced. I wanted a 750 but saw a good deal and got it without thinking much about it. I wouldn't do that again. If the wife ever lets me get another bike I probably won't go bigger than 750. Haha.
02-02-2016, 03:23 PM
JordanAndrew
Quote:
Originally posted by shakalaka
I think I heard about that happening over in NW last year? It's sad and it sucks that we get shitty winters and they take forever to clean the gravel, but yea it can be super dangerous.
Another tip I thought of, don't get too big of a bike too soon. I rode my R6 for a couple of seasons and it was more than sufficient to last me a few more. But then I got bored and sold it and picked up a GSXR 1000. Big mistake as I think I jumped the gun on getting that big of a bike too soon. Not that I did anything stupid on it, but just the weight of it and not being used a litre bike can be hard if you're not super experienced. I wanted a 750 but saw a good deal and got it without thinking much about it. I wouldn't do that again. If the wife ever lets me get another bike I probably won't go bigger than 750. Haha.
yeah I don't intend to get into bigger bikes until I'm absolutely basically a pro riding my 300, definitely one of the reasons why I wanted to start on the Ninja 300 since it's not overly powerful. Powerful enough to keep up in the highway, but nothing too crazy. It can still do 180km/hr and I've seen some videos where it does 190km, so definitely enough power for me. I don't even think I'd want to do 180km/hr on a bike anyways.