slap upside his head!

[DEXSPEED]

what is the best way to explain to a co-worker/friend that buying a 2011 triumph speed tripple (1050cc) for a first bike is f'in insane!he is 27 y/o,having peer pressure issue,other friends laughing at him if he even thinks of getting a 250cc.

[want1sobad]

good luck with that one.... he'll learn the hard way like everyone else after he drops his new 12K bike (hopefully not getting hurt in the process). then he can sell it and follow your advice (wishful thinking).

[DEXSPEED]

true that!

[sombo]

Sorry to say but those "friends" laughing at him for even considering the thought of a 250 are not his friends. A friend accepts you for who you are, what you like and dislike, and supports you when you need it. They don't laugh at you for trying to be sensible and safe. That idea of friendship is what gets people hurt or killed.

Make a compromise with him. Make him agree to taking the MSF and at least dropping down to say the Ninja 650R at minimum if he won't go all the way down to the Ninja 250R. That way you both might benefit, he'll get on a bike more suited to beginners than the one he's looking at, he'll get the basic training to help him on the road to being a safe rider, and he won't get quite as much hassle from those he chooses to hang out with (I can't really call them friends at this point) for going with the 650 vs the 250.

It's not a perfect plan, but this isn't a perfect world.

[kkim]

buy a life insurance policy for him w/ you as the beneficiary.

[Bols]

Originally Posted by kkim

buy a life insurance policy for him w/ you as the beneficiary.

Tell him exactly that. If he is really lucky, he ends up like this dude

Link to original page on YouTube.

Gotta love toughguys with too much engine!

[want1sobad]

i'll go back to what i've stated before. why spend 10 grand or more to ride a fast bike slow? he'll only use half the gears available to him as opposed to flogging the hell out of a 250r and loving every minute of it for 4k.......

[DAKINECHICk]

Well I can tell you this much....He will DEFINITELY learn a lesson from this if he does get that bike.

For example: About 6 years ago, a VERY good friend of mine who was BRAND new at riding...never EVER been riding decided he wanted a motorcycle. All his so called "friends" told him to get a hyabusa cause it was the coolest bike ever and was SUPER fast and so on and so forth. All of his real friends who actually OWN/OWNED motorcycles told him NO WAY, please get a smaller bike for your first bike.

Well he bought the hyabusa. Brought it home in the back of the truck go figure. Got it down from the bed of the truck to drive it in the garage which was about 100 ft away...couldn't exactly find the friction zone and the bike went forward, he went backward, bike ended up being...well....no more.

Waste of money! And now those so called "friends" of his, laughed and made fun of him, etc.

SOOOOoooOOo, my advice. Tell him to "do with it what you will...you will find out very quickly how dumb of a decision that is. Oh! And good luck!"

[Blackwidow]

Originally Posted by sombo

Sorry to say but those "friends" laughing at him for even considering the thought of a 250 are not his friends. A friend accepts you for who you are, what you like and dislike, and supports you when you need it. They don't laugh at you for trying to be sensible and safe. That idea of friendship is what gets people hurt or killed.

Make a compromise with him. Make him agree to taking the MSF and at least dropping down to say the Ninja 650R at minimum if he won't go all the way down to the Ninja 250R. That way you both might benefit, he'll get on a bike more suited to beginners than the one he's looking at, he'll get the basic training to help him on the road to being a safe rider, and he won't get quite as much hassle from those he chooses to hang out with (I can't really call them friends at this point) for going with the 650 vs the 250.

It's not a perfect plan, but this isn't a perfect world.

+100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Pretty sad for the guy having such jerks as friends.

[Hadyn]

If he just wants something naked, point him towards the Duc Monster 696. Or the ER6-n, if he likes something funky. Or, if he doesn't absolutely despise the looks, the Suzuki Gladius. Or even an old SV650.

There are lots of perfectly good naked bikes with more reasonable 'starter bike' power levels.
Although I have ridden with a guy who has a speed triple, and that is one of the best sounding bikes I've ever heard.

Edit #2:
hurp durp, there's also the Triumph street triple as Flashmonkey pointed out.

[rockNroll]

I have friends who started on liter bikes and they're doing fine... you sure he won't manage?

[Flashmonkey]

lol he knows that thing comes in a 675cc variety, right? The street triple looks EXACTLY like the speed triple with some minor differences to the discerning eye, and the street triple isn't that bad a bike to start out on.

Speed triple however...that thing will wheelie and endo by accident. If he isn't careful he'll be wearing it like a hat

Street Triple - 675cc



Speed Triple - 1050cc

[addy126]

Originally Posted by Bols

Tell him exactly that. If he is really lucky, he ends up like this dude



Gotta love toughguys with too much engine!

Love that video and soooooooooo true! lol

[Reswob]

Originally Posted by Hadyn

If he just wants something naked, point him towards the Duc Monster 696. Or the ER6-n, if he likes something funky. Or, if he doesn't absolutely despise the looks, the Suzuki Gladius. Or even an old SV650.

The power:weight ratio of that Duc isn't much lower than the Speed Triple.

Originally Posted by Flashmonkey

lol he knows that thing comes in a 675cc variety, right? The street triple looks EXACTLY like the speed triple with some minor differences to the discerning eye, and the street triple isn't that bad a bike to start out on.

Speed triple however...that thing will wheelie and endo by accident. If he isn't careful he'll be wearing it like a hat

Again, the power:weight ratio of the Street Triple is almost identical to that of the Speed Triple (heavier and only slightly more power).


To the OP, if he's set on the Speed Triple, there's no way you're changing his mind into a Ninja 250R (or any variety of Ninja). Does anyone make a lower powered naked that isn't painful to look at?

[Flashmonkey]

Originally Posted by Reswob

The power:weight ratio of that Duc isn't much lower than the Speed Triple.

Again, the power:weight ratio of the Street Triple is almost identical to that of the Speed Triple (heavier and only slightly more power).

There's more to it than just power to weight....of particular importance is the amount of torque the speed triple puts out vs the street triple (78 ft-lbs vs 44 ft-lbs). Starting off on a speed triple is probably more manageable than starting off on a zx-10r, or even a 600cc supersport, but the fact remains that the amount of torque the speed triple can spit out at low rpm combined with that bike's tiny, TINY wheel base makes accidental wheelies a guarantee.

I put some seat time on the street triple and even that bike is shockingly quick, but like most lower cc bikes you have to rev it out in order to get into trouble. The speed triple is known for it's torque. It's the muscle car of street fighters. The street has closer ties to the supersport crowd, being a derivative of the Daytona 675 bike. If I were to choose one of those as a noob, it would be the lower torque, slightly more "traditional to ride" street triple.

Not that he won't get in trouble on that bike if he's an idiot...and he may be...but at least he won't be wrecking a speed triple. More for me to ride when I get the money together.....

[KJohnson21]

Originally Posted by rockNroll

I have friends who started on liter bikes and they're doing fine... you sure he won't manage?

There are so-o-o-o many stories of new riders that got big bikes and trashed them, crippled them, crippled themselves or killed themselves, it's not even funny. Can it be done? Sure. Is it a good thing to bet on? Probably not.

Has this guy even done the MSF training or anything?

[ninjabrewer]

I can't really add anything to what has already been said, so if you can, take him aside and have a talk with him one on one. I get teased almost on a daily basis about riding a 250, but I take it stride, esp after I tell them it is my first bike and that I am happy with it. Other than that, there really isn't not much you can do, unless you can follow kkim's idea.

nb

[karlosdajackal]

put him in your bitch seat and go scare him silly

[Rayme]

...or maybe he'll do just fine if he has a head on his shoulders?

[Blackwidow]

so whats the outcome? did he get the bike or what?

[revstriker]

Lots of people have had large displacement bikes as their first bike and have not had any issues. While I would never recommend someone to buy such a bike for a first bike, he could be fine if he's very careful while he learns to ride.

But to answer your question; one avenue you might take is not so much the likelihood of him getting hurt, but rather the likelihood of him getting into a low speed crash, or even just dropping the bike. That is why a used bike, or a less expensive bike is a good way to start.

[Talonne]

If he's the kind of guy that can be peer pressured into buying an overpowered bike for his first, he's probably going to be the kind of guy that gets peer pressured into riding beyond his skill level and he'll end up hurt. I'm sure people can start out on big bikes and be fine, but it will depend on their skill and personality.

[TygaUSA.com]

Try and find some videos on youtube of a Ninja 250 smoking much bigger bikes on the track, I am SURE they are out there!