07-15-2006, 04:28 PM
This is great news! The Dark Side has you now!
I think the Blast is a cool bike, first off. I took my MSF course on one and I've got a lot of the pushrod blood in me, but I don't think it's a very good choice for much of anything except your first month on a motorcycle.
I feel that it doesn't have enough Go to get out of it's own way if you get into a hairy situation the requires liberal use of the right grip. I can tolerate the lack of locomotion in a car, visibility is higher as is the error-tolerability-factor, but it only takes one cager to shift lanes into you before you're in a wheel chair, or worse. It's good to have real power there when you need it. When you're comfortable on a bike you're also going to want something more powerful; twisting the throttle is a lot more entertaining than you might imagine... after a short while the lackluster bang from the Blast will get very uninspiring. Which brings me to the track ability you queried. I think it's out of place there.... it's not entirely inappropriate, it's just not a gofast piece of metal.
It's lean angles aren't the most impressive in the world. You'll run into rubber availability issues (call me crazy... but I like being able to use the tire truck at the track). None of the hardware is up to the kind of serious use that Riding Fast [on track] is up to. There won't be any spares for you in the pits if anything goes wrong (although, apparently riding the world's most popular bike doesn't assure this, either). Soo.. what would I choose? A 2 stroke is going to be a bear for a new rider and will be 100% out of place anywhere but the track (especially the Aprilias)
You want something that's beginner friendly, but has room to grow. Something track capable, but street worthy. Reliability, parts availability, and a large network of know how for to fall back on are all factors... I think a GREAT decision would be an SV650. They're cheap, all over the place, more than at home on the track, dead nuts reliable, twins, and just pretty durn cool. I'd rock one.... maybe I should. Would be a nice additio... I should stop this. I think, to say that they're the E30's of the bike world would be a good comparison.
I'd be more than happy to help you out finding one and going to look at it and all that garbage.
One more thing - I've got to say it, although I'm sure you've thought of it, because it's such an important safety decision to make. Take the MSF Course! I don't know if you'll have much of a wait, but it's a good idea to get it out of the way now. Getting everything done in a hurry is a recipe for for disaster.. plus, if you take it now you'll want a bike even sooner!
I think the Blast is a cool bike, first off. I took my MSF course on one and I've got a lot of the pushrod blood in me, but I don't think it's a very good choice for much of anything except your first month on a motorcycle.
I feel that it doesn't have enough Go to get out of it's own way if you get into a hairy situation the requires liberal use of the right grip. I can tolerate the lack of locomotion in a car, visibility is higher as is the error-tolerability-factor, but it only takes one cager to shift lanes into you before you're in a wheel chair, or worse. It's good to have real power there when you need it. When you're comfortable on a bike you're also going to want something more powerful; twisting the throttle is a lot more entertaining than you might imagine... after a short while the lackluster bang from the Blast will get very uninspiring. Which brings me to the track ability you queried. I think it's out of place there.... it's not entirely inappropriate, it's just not a gofast piece of metal.
It's lean angles aren't the most impressive in the world. You'll run into rubber availability issues (call me crazy... but I like being able to use the tire truck at the track). None of the hardware is up to the kind of serious use that Riding Fast [on track] is up to. There won't be any spares for you in the pits if anything goes wrong (although, apparently riding the world's most popular bike doesn't assure this, either). Soo.. what would I choose? A 2 stroke is going to be a bear for a new rider and will be 100% out of place anywhere but the track (especially the Aprilias)
You want something that's beginner friendly, but has room to grow. Something track capable, but street worthy. Reliability, parts availability, and a large network of know how for to fall back on are all factors... I think a GREAT decision would be an SV650. They're cheap, all over the place, more than at home on the track, dead nuts reliable, twins, and just pretty durn cool. I'd rock one.... maybe I should. Would be a nice additio... I should stop this. I think, to say that they're the E30's of the bike world would be a good comparison.
I'd be more than happy to help you out finding one and going to look at it and all that garbage.
One more thing - I've got to say it, although I'm sure you've thought of it, because it's such an important safety decision to make. Take the MSF Course! I don't know if you'll have much of a wait, but it's a good idea to get it out of the way now. Getting everything done in a hurry is a recipe for for disaster.. plus, if you take it now you'll want a bike even sooner!
When it comes to Ryan Jenkins, the story ends with me putting him in the wall.
2009 Speed Triple | 2006 DR-Z400SM | 1999 CBR600F4 | 1998 Jeep Cherokee
-Ginger
2009 Speed Triple | 2006 DR-Z400SM | 1999 CBR600F4 | 1998 Jeep Cherokee
-Ginger