For The Father...
 

Hey guys!

Well, my father rode a motorcycle when he was my age and rode for maybe 10 years or so. About 5 years back he started getting back into motorcycles and that is where I got my influence from. Now, he wants a bike for himself. Can yeah blame him? ;) Anywho, he seems to have his heart set on a 2005 Suzuki GSX-R 750. Sure this is a great bike, but I am not so sure he will like it. I am pretty suyre the stretch on the SV is gonna be less and more comfortable than a Gixxer. Even with my young back, I find I tense up after a little bit of riding. He does have back problems when he drives his company truck at work (~500-1000 km/day). So I couldn't imagine him on a Gixxer. It also seems odd to see an older fellow (:-$ SHHH, he's 50+, don't let him see that... :shock:) on a super sport... :oops: Maybe that is just my jealousy? I am trying to push him more towards the Yamaha FZ6/FZ1 (Fazer). I think it will be more upright sit for him. It's down side is the carboration, I do think. Anyways, I am sure he will be happy with whatever bike he owns down the road, I just want some advice. I don't want to tell him do or don't get this bike, cause it's his decision. I just want him to... know what he's getting into kinda thing. I know there are guys on here around his age that have 'agressive' bikes and I just want everyones honest opinion. Thanks alot guys!

Mitch

Re: For The Father...
 

Providing he test rides ones first (a decent 2/3 hr test) he should find out for himself if it's 'right for him'.

There's a couple I met last year, both in their 60's who decided to buy 'his 'n' hers' GSXR 1000's as their retirement presents to each other & they have no problems !! :D



Why :shock: :shock:

What about either a Naked SV650 or even better a Naked SV Thou :D :D

Mitch, next you'll be telling him that he ought to buy trousers with elasticated waist bands, shirts with velcro instead of buttons, and to wrap up warmly and always wear a scarf in winter....... Oh, and be home by 10.00 and in bed by 11.00 (as opposed to the other way round).

Growing old ain't too bad, and most of us can cope with it....as long as your kids don't force it on you!

Im sure they wouldnt dream of putting you in a home.... :-dd

Mitch, you really are a cheeky young pup. When you get to your fathers age, you will look back and think my dad was far more energetic/active than I am at this age. I know because I have reached that point.

As far as having a bad back is concerned. Reasonable distance on a sports bike can be benificial. In my case by taking my weight on my hips/knees like I use to do in my younger horsey days, it enables me to adopt a theraputic concave profile to my back. Try that on an upright sit up and beg fazer,

My concern woult be that the gixxer 750 would be more bike than he is used to and would suggest he gets a couple of days in with a riding school before his return to biking.

I had a layup of 20 years between bikes. My last bike before my return was a 1980 cbx so I thought I could handle big bikes. 5 minutes on a mates blade convinced me I needed to learn to ride from scratch.

Yup. Tim's right*... Someone of us gerries manage to get from our beds via our zimmer frames, use our specialised hydraulic chair lifts to get on our bikes, polish our thickest lens spectacles and then drive, often quite safely(!) at ridiculously fast speeds... Those of us who had a bit of a gap in our biking careers (20+ years in my case) did get some training in before we leapt (sorry, hobbled) back on, tho'...

* What's this 'not in Yorkshire' stuff which somehow I've not noticed before??

think you need Jelsters advice here.

IIRC, back problems were why he has sold the gixxer and got a new bike.

So would possibly suggest that a gixxer would not be the best long term bike for someone with back problems...

prob the worse bike for a back complaint :shock:

Hey,

Thanks everyone. I am seeing both sides of it here. I appreciate all the comments. I am sure he will research the bikes even further down the road. He 'tends to do that, which is good. :)

Mitch

OK, Doctor Jelster here..... Back problems and K4/K5 Gixxers are my speciality... :lol:

The GSXR600/750 are not as focused as people think, however my problem is that I do have a back complaint, and when my back was OK the bike was fine. But, when my back was playing up, the bike made it worse. The reach for the bars combined with the height of the pegs was a combination I couldn't deal with on a bad day.

Saying that, I did 6 days in France last year on the GSXR without any problems, but I had to ride Topcat's Fireblade back from Magny Cours because my back was bad. If he wants a sports bike and wants to be able to ride all day I would stongly sugest he looks at the 2002/2003 954 Fireblade.

I went down this route because of the experience of riding Richards, and I have to say that the pegs are lower, but the seating position is much closer to the bars, so you can sit almost upright. The bike has around 130+ BHP at the rear, handles like a dream, and is very comfortable. If he wants to go for a new machine, the latest R1 is similar but with bags more power.

He needs to try a few bikes, but let him make his own decision, he's got to live with it.

.