i guess my opinion will differ from the typical opinion on the boards of 'start on a low powered older bike that way it wont be too much for you to handle, and wont matter when you drop it' .. and i will admit i would rather see an older worn out bike sliding across the pavement, than a brand new one.. so +1 for that piece of advice. my disagreement comes from the power/performance aspect. a brand new R1 makes the exact same power at partial throttle as a Honda Express 50cc does. infact the Honda RC211V makes the exact same power at partial throttle as any 125cc bike on the market ever produced. you cant find me any turbo'd hayabusa on the market that wont make the same HP as any 250cc bike.. really and truely it boils down (power wise) to how intelligent you are and how much self preservation you have, because in the end the ground hurts all the same and the only accident where power/cc matters is the one that you controlled (or lack of) yourself. if a car pulls out infront of you then the power isnt going to matter, and you'll impact the car just as hard on a 125 as you would a 1000. now would i suggest a 1000 to the average person who goes out to buy a motorcycle? surely not.. but would i lecture the beginner with good common sense and self preservation for buying a 1000?.. not likely... my opinion is this, if you're intelligent.. truely intelligent, have above average ability to read traffic, have lots of self control and belief that your brand new 180hp motorcycle really will make it near 200mph without the desire to test it for yourself, then apply your far-above-average abilities to buying the bike you find yourself most happy with, and ride whatever you buy as if it were a 50/125/250/500, sorry for the long winded response
Brandon
Aprilia RSV1000 Mille
