What ever happened to ‘building up’?

I'm taking it easy and building myself up; scooter, to restricted sv, to full power sv, then onto an aprilia tuono

Matt

[tigersaw]

I 'built up' from the humble FS1E; through the manic 2 strokes of the late 70`s; discovered 4 strokes in the mid 80`s up to a bandit 1200 about 8 years ago. From then on its been a gradual 'build down' as age sets in, now its all about fun and convenience; all thoughts of improving my competitive edge are replaced with those of simply enjoying the moment. As the bikes I ride get smaller and lighter, the rewards I get from them increase proportionally.
Not sure how I would have coped with such a fantastic bike as the SV back in the late 70`s though - half the traffic, no speed traps, that invunerobility that comes with youth..

well your all gonna laugh at me, i had a 50cc motorhispania rx then got my car drove for about 2 years still having my 50 then did my test and got onto a fzr400, although i have had experience on bigger bikes so wasnt too fazed but still shocked me, now im going to get a sv650s and then god knows what after that

[Rich]

Originally Posted by rs_tubby

well your all gonna laugh at me, i had a 50cc motorhispania rx then got my car drove for about 2 years still having my 50 then did my test and got onto a fzr400, although i have had experience on bigger bikes so wasnt too fazed but still shocked me, now im going to get a sv650s and then god knows what after that

Don't worry i went straight from a Motorhispania RYZ 50cc to my Suzuki SV650s, all be it restricted was still quite a jump . Had ridden a GS500 quiet a few times before though, weighs more than the SV so broke me in nicely!

If I'd had an SV650 at 17, I'd of killed myself. Not saying everyone would/that all 17 year olds would, but what I was like (which wasn't unusual), I would have. At 22 (when I got one) I was much more responsible. I was still a lot more reckless than I am now, but I was certainly vastly better than I was at 17.

As an aside, I don't think people who buy big bikes straight away are that dangerous. They tend not to be very quick/good though at least until they get some miles under their belts. I was out with a lad today, first bike, R6. Slower than me on an SV (and I'm not especially fast and I certainly wasn't pushing it/riding anywhere near my limits today).

[lukemillar]

Hmmm, interesting thread!

I went from 50cc scooters (2 and 4 stroke! <- now that was gutless, but what else could you ride where 4 pounds of fuel would last you 2 weeks!) to a brief spell on 4-stroke 125s, before DAS and the SV650. Had that for just a year before getting an 06 R6.

I like the idea of the Blue training method, but then again, my whole biking has changed quite a lot over the past year. When I had the SV, I would be commuting on it, out at the weekends, evenings, fun - any opportunity. That was until I did my first trackday. Loved it so much, that I when I got back on the road - I tried to ride the same way but couldn't. This has now pretty much killed my road riding. I traded up the SV for the R6 purely for the track and haven't regretted it for one moment. I would say my riding has improved so much from trackdays and track training schools, but since I hardly ever ride for fun on the road anymore, it's hard to compare.

Bought Tigersaw's DR350 now to get around town on which is great fun - completely different to the R6 in every way and I have learnt to adapt. So while I can see the 'building it up' arguement, I actually think it's more to do with gaining experience on different bikes, rather than which order you do it in.

Well I had off-road bike progression but no road bike progression. Started driving a battered CB50 off-road when I was 11, progressed through a Montessa 125, Honda XL185 then rebuilt a friends CR500 engine and had access to that all summer at the tender age of 16. The CR was amazing, never crashed it and was doing plenty of jumps. Even had a friend who had only ridden a bike once before driving it around a field perfectly fine.

Learning bikes is all about the riders mental attitude and someone to tell them about throttle control. Unfortunatly theres loads of riders out there who simply can't be bothered to learn properly, these poeple are dangerous on any size bike and a 350/400 screamer wouldn't be any safer for them, actually they would probably be more likely to hammer the thing around as they beg you to do with them.

Personally I think the SV is an excellent first bike and know quite a few poeple who have done the CG125 > SV. The SV is pretty soft in every way, very forgiving, nice n torquey, low seat height, perfect for building up confidence quickly so ideal for a newbie.

[Balky001]

As I was 35 the first time I rode a bike I didn't want to go too low capacity but I thought buying the SV was building up as everyone else I know went to 600 SS or 1000 V2/750 IL4. However, you have to respect whatever you are on.

you definatekt get a new and more vunerable perception on bikes as opposed to bikes but 18 years or driving on the road gives you a massive advantage to someone who hasn't even if they have ridden since they were 7 years old. Road position, danger awareness and looking for morons is good practise whatever you are driving/riding. Of course, you still need to build up bikecraft gradually but I'm not sure a smaller capacity bike is always the answer for someone like me, mileage and learning gradually was more important. That said, if I'd been riding 125's at 17 I'm sure I'd be better rider today if I had survived (which I very much doubt given my teenage 'no fear' driving experiences)

Originally Posted by lukemillar

Hmmm, interesting thread!

I went from 50cc scooters (2 and 4 stroke! <- now that was gutless, but what else could you ride where 4 pounds of fuel would last you 2 weeks!) to a brief spell on 4-stroke 125s, before DAS and the SV650. Had that for just a year before getting an 06 R6.

I like the idea of the Blue training method, but then again, my whole biking has changed quite a lot over the past year. When I had the SV, I would be commuting on it, out at the weekends, evenings, fun - any opportunity. That was until I did my first trackday. Loved it so much, that I when I got back on the road - I tried to ride the same way but couldn't. This has now pretty much killed my road riding. I traded up the SV for the R6 purely for the track and haven't regretted it for one moment. I would say my riding has improved so much from trackdays and track training schools, but since I hardly ever ride for fun on the road anymore, it's hard to compare.

Bought Tigersaw's DR350 now to get around town on which is great fun - completely different to the R6 in every way and I have learnt to adapt. So while I can see the 'building it up' arguement, I actually think it's more to do with gaining experience on different bikes, rather than which order you do it in.

I hear what you say about track riding ruining 'pleasure' road riding ... I commute on my SV every day as it is practical, and I like to ride bikes ... but I have NO interest in 'Sunday blasts' any more ... I haven't been on a 'Sunday jaunt' for years and years!! The fear of losing my licensee is another factor as I always ended up riding like a t1t!!

I really REALLY can't see the NEED for anything more than an SV on the road. Its comfortable round town and at motorway speeds. It can be fun to flick about a bit too ... anyone who says its not enough is just a genitally challenged {connection terminated}

i think that the main aspect of the riding skills of new riders on bigger bikes is they dont show the bike any respect, you have to remember that your average joe will have at 17 a 1.3 or something which normally have around the same hp as the sv and they then think o well my car is slow so it wont make any difference on the bike and bang there they slide down the road on their arses, now im not saying all people ride like this but we all have to start somewhere and being young myself i know what they think!!! At the end of the day if you give the bike respect it will respect you and as your confidence grows so will your skills and most of the time speed.