07-02-2017, 06:56 PM
Just chipping in regarding a big bike as a 1st bike ( if still relevant to this thread). When I started riding many moons ago I was licenseless and skint as an unfunded student, But being a twin with a working other I used to borrow his bike (and license) for short rides. it was a very lovely GPz550A1 (I still search ebay for those occasionally but have never seen one yet). So I effectively learned to ride on a IL4 with some reasonable HP and heft. When I accrued some cash with my 1st job, I bought a cheap honda CB100n ( that kept breaking down) I road that many miles as a commuter and whilst a nice little bike it felt very flighty and vulnerable in traffic that wizzed past on major roads whilst I was flat out at a piddling 60mph (downhill with a following wind or 50mph in the opposite direction), I then flashed some cash and bought an unfaired TZR125, restricted in the UK to 12bhp so I promptly deristricted it and trashed it every where like a loon (it needed it as it was flat below x thou revs without its powervalve working). It was a less flighty bike than the cb100 adn could nearly hit a ton (again down hill flat on tank with a strong following wind) but overall there is something to be said for the stability a larger bike provides when learning, as your awkward movements (as a learner) are less liable to influence the bike (given rider weight is less of a percentage of total with a larger bike).. That all said HP is a consideration too as too much would be a bad thing, I think my brothers GPz would have had around 75hp on a good day and probably weight close to 200kgs as well. The old UK 250cc learner law was probably about right though perhaps they should have added a HP rating back then, as the Yam RD250LC killed that law (and many learners) off. (one more off my newbie post list ;p)