Girlfriends Nephew wants Busa for his first bike.

[zx3vfr]

You should really put an end to it. If not it would be like handing a loaded gun to someone who is suicidal.

My first bike was a 75 cb550k. 55hp and weighed as much as a fat boy. It was probably still to much of a first bike. (Be like s 600-750cc supersport of its day) But I was always careful never went down on it, nor wanted to because it leaked gas one day, ate through the asphault and fell on its side breaking a turn signal and cutch lever. And after having to pick that beast up I didn't want to do it again.

I had it for 6 months before I decided I was responsible enough to own a 97 vfr that was modded all to hell. Good lord t hat bike was fast. Too fast, too heavy. I dropped it in a parking lot the second day I had it. I dropped a freaking perfect and I when I say perfect I mean its plastics were in better shape than the 2011's sitting on a showroom floor. It only took about 6 months after that to wreck the first time. Going way to fast in an entrance ramp. And my inexperience told me to let off the throttle instead of push harder on the handle bars, well.... The bike stood up and sent me straight into the grass just to the left off it and I missed a metal guard rail by less than 2". I walked away from that one luckily. Stood the bike up and rode away. The next 2 times were slow speed crap that I should have known better.

Most of you know the final wreck that made me sell her. I was tore the hell up. Thank God I put my full face on that day because I love(d) wearing my open face... Because I would probably be blind from road garbage and needed facial reconstruction. As the visor, well you couldn't even see out it. Yeah, I skidded a good 15-25 feet on my visor farther the initial hit.

I got lucky. Lucky I didn't get run over. Lucky I didn't need skin graphs. Lucky only surface scrapes and bruises.

I still blame that accident on other issues, but I truly feel if I had more experience or wasn't on a 100+ hp bike nothing would have happend.

I took owning her for less than 2 years to destroy a 100% perfect 14 year old bike. All because I thought I had enough experience after 6-8 months on a vintage jap middle weight bike.

[magley64]

I'd say the cost is probably prohibitive enough...

Unless he's been saving and has cash to buy one, he'll have to carry full coverage, so you got the bike payment, another 300/month in insurance, and finally storage cost unless he wants it stolen from the driveway.

[KZ900]

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Edited November 13, 2012 by KZ900

[20thGix]

At that age i think they only thing that will stop him will be if he cant afford it......mainly insurance. Please tell me his parents wont be adding him and that bike to their ins policy.

A basic policy thru Progressive i just did for a 17yo with basic coverage is $337 a mo. on a 09busa. Thats only giving you their lowest bodily injury/property damage coverage.

If that doesnt stop him, nothing will.

Hell a 05 600cc sportbike bike is still $200 a month with the same crap coverage per progressives website!

[jester3681]

I'd suggest maybe a dirt bike or even a track bike - let him wipe out a few times in a controlled environment. Then if he wants to smear himself over the pavement, more power to him. I was three bikes in when I got my VTR, still wiped out. Still have a bit of a limp ten years later.

[BadTrainDriver]

The first street bike I rode with any frequency was my neighbors 1985 Yamaha V-Max, I was 17, and I lived(barely once).

His results may vary.

[TheBrown57]

My advice would be to take him a step up from a quad to a dirt bike. A small displacement, torque-y dirt bike can make him feel like he is going to loop it once he hops on it and ham-fists the first time. Teach him basic safety and some parking lot drills to see if he is actually ready to ride a bike by himself. If all else fails and he buys a busa against your wishes, pick it up for him and make him show you that he can actually ride it in a parking lot (lay out the endorsement test in cones) before he rides it on the street. Dollars to doughnuts the bike will be wrapped around a lamp post by the end of the day if he truly has the reckless abandon that it sounds like.

I got a friend with a CR250 that might be willing to allow him to stare at the sky for a moment or 2. This guy loves throwing our friends that have never ridden on that thing just to watch em eat it in the backyard.

[conn-e-rot]

I would agree that he might be better off on a busa than if he got liter bike. The big couches can be a bit more forgiving than liter bike. Maybe check with the busa forums and see if there is a way to lock it in "C" mode then he would have the busa but not all the power. On the other hand if he truly has no respect for the law or speed it isn't going to matter what bike he is on eventually he'll either get arrested or hurt or worse yet hurt some innocent person.

[TRMN8TR]

Maybe you should bring him on this forum and show him that it's not just you that thinks this is a bad idea? Countless stories of people starting out on too big of bikes and realizing later it was a bad idea.

I'm 28 and know what it's like to be his age thinking he needs to get a cool bike so his friends will think he's cool. I grew up on quads, dirt bikes, etc and I too insisted that my first bike be a rocket. Luckily I decided on a 675 instead of a 1000 or Busa, but I admit now that it was too much bike for me at the time. I actually think it's a bad thing to have experience on a quad or dirt bike and jump on a street bike. You "know how" to ride it as far as controls, the layout is familiar. It gives you a false sense of security and you feel like you know how to ride the thing. You DON'T! It handles totally different than 4 wheels, and even way different than a dirtbike. It doesn't take much to mess up and be on the wrong side of the center line headed into oncoming traffic, or into the grass/rocks/trees/guard rail/cliff.

Bring him on here, show him tons of experienced riders think it's a bad idea and we are concerned for his safety. Let him know you aren't just trying to piss in his Cheerios.

[Disclaimer]

Live and let live, or die.

[magley64]

i started on a kaw 550 LTD, then went to a honda CB750, and when I got the XX, it was still too much bike for me at the time... difference was that i already had a few drops and goofs under my belt so I knew what to expect, and some of the right instincts to correct problems before they got bad....

there is also a slim chance it will work out fine...

[ScubaCinci]

I am not so sure a spirited ride will scare him. Just be careful that it might actually have the opposite effect and make him desire it even more. If he is a lowly passenger, he will see the skill of an experienced rider and think that he will be able to perform those maneuvers just as easily.

^^^This.

Unfortunately, being a teenager, the more you try to talk him out of it, the more he's going to gravitate to it. Hopefully he doesn't have the $ to buy, insure and maintain such a bike. I rode a lot of dirt bikes as a kid and my first street bike was a CBR600F4 and it scared the hell out of me. I was a pretty mature 20 at the time...if I had gotten a 'busa back then, I wouldn't be here to type this.

[Mary#17]

I would think the insurance costs would be scary enough. If his parents didn't teach him any common sense in the first 17 years of his life, you won't be able to now. He might just be interested in the name (aka a poser) and being able to tell all his buds he's got a fast bike and may not ever get on it. But who knows. Hopefully he scares the crap out of himself before he does too much damage to himself or others.

Mary

[KZ900]

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Edited November 13, 2012 by KZ900

[Reimbrandt]

I think the only chance is convincing the parents how bad a idea it is. I got to the local jvs most every week for the past 8+years. Ive had this talk with more than a handful of kids who wanted to start on a powerful bike. I started on a 77 gs550 that was given to me....... A year n a half later i got a 89 hurricane and thought " no biggy... Only 50 more cc's. holy crap, it was so much faster than the gs........ Huge difference in gearing. Now i have a 91 CBR.... Pretty much same bike... But i didnt start riding will i was 40 so though i still have the stupid man issues that makes us adreniline junkies im old enough to not do the dumb shit..... Other than straight line acceleration for a few miles here n there. The other thing is with my age and the age of the bike my ins. Is only $108 a year.

That being said i think the only other thing is him getn the bike.... Scaring the crap outta himself hopefully without killn himself.... Or someone else.

[NinjaNick]

He can't afford it. Unless he lives at home forever with no other bills. Insurance would cost more than bike is worth. I would've killed myself on any bike at 17 though. I was a nut!

Now a long time ago I started on a stupid fast bike and sold it after 2 months because I was mature enough to realize it was too much for me to learn on so I downsized 70hp less and I found I was way more comfortable and learning was easier. I am very glad I sold my 1st purchase and downsized. I can ride any bike well these days because of it.

Busa is a bad idea for any teenager or a beginner. Plus crazy expensive!

Edited October 11, 2012 by NinjaNick

[magley64]

I'd say armor him up and put him on an ass-kicker dirt bike, 600cc thumper or something, take him trail riding, let him crash a few times...

quads are cheating

[Cheech]

It's not your concern, he's not your kid. He thinks he's an adult and is competent to make mature decisions, and his parents are so stupid as to "get talked into it", then wash your hands of it.

Hopefully he survives but if not, that'll be by his own doing.

Bingo. You've done your due diligence and then some, Brian. If this has his heart set on a Busa, and he has the means to get one, a Busa is probably what he'll end up with.

I am not so sure a spirited ride will scare him. Just be careful that it might actually have the opposite effect and make him desire it even more. If he is a lowly passenger, he will see the skill of an experienced rider and think that he will be able to perform those maneuvers just as easily. Why do you think he wants one?

This is why a "spirited ride" as a rear won't work. He'll immediately equate his riding "ability" on a quad to the guy in the front who's driving the bike. It always looks easy until you try and do it yourself.

I would think a young rider on a Busa will paying a boatload for insurance. Young riders, plus the word "sport" anything ( car, bike) hopefully will realize it is expensive to insure. Will he have money left for riding gear?

See if you can point out to start out smaller, and then after some experience riding, ( either seasons riding or mileage? not sure) then he can move up the motorcycle food chain.

This would be the preferred method of deterrence, I know I wouldn't have been able to shoulder a 3K/yr insurance bill at 17. However, if he doesn't have any respect for the law, who's to say he's going to carry insurance at all? And if he blows his wad on the bike, who's to say he's planning to buy gear at all?

Bottom line, Brian, is that you've done all you can for him. You can try to have his parents take control of his finances to the point where he couldn't move around the 5K necessary to buy one, but all you can do is make the consequences of his decision known to him.

[InyaAzz]

^This

[Tpoppa]

According to the comparo I read, the ZX14 seems like a better choice

[Uncle Punk]

Make him buy all the gear first.

Make him buy a track bike 600cc flavor or even 650 twin

Tell him that you will pay for two track days & buy the track bike from him if he doesn't wreck it so he can go buy the bike of his choice.

If he is young & dumb he will not listen to what is being taught & will wreck most likely not hurt but hopefully with a new direction. If he is smart he will figure out that a little bike can out run a big bike like the Busa on a track & he now is as safe as anyone starting out riding with some track time and now you have a track bike.

[attentiongetter92]

I started out on a cbr600rr and it never really scared me acceleration wise. Then I went to a Moto gp race and figured out what I'm going to try and do with my life, so I bought a 1993 cr250 with hopes to supermoto it for cheaper track days/parts. Unfortunately I never got around to that(sold it for a Barrett .50, worth every penny btw), but that 250 2 stroke put the fear of god into me the first time I though "it's just a 250" and went WOT. Get him on one of those and maybe explain to him that it is more fun to ride a gear out instead of being in the "aggravated speeding" section of that speeding ticket by 2nd gear.

[TheBrown57]

but that 250 2 stroke put the fear of god into me the first time I though "it's just a 250" and went WOT. Get him on one of those and maybe explain to him that it is more fun to ride a gear out instead of being in the "aggravated speeding" section of that speeding ticket by 2nd gear.

Those were my exact thought when my friend first threw me on his CR250 :wheeliezx10:

My possible offer still stands

[magley64]

I gree with cheech in that you've met your responsibility and done your due diligence, that doesn't mean you can't do more. It just means that you shouldn't be expected to do more.

I still think an off-roading expedition would be fun for you guys.

[Pokey]

It's not your concern, he's not your kid. He thinks he's an adult and is competent to make mature decisions, and his parents are so stupid as to "get talked into it", then wash your hands of it.

Hopefully he survives but if not, that'll be by his own doing.

Pretty much my thoughts.