edzx6
Well-known member
I had an interesting conversation with my boss today. He raced dirt bikes when he was a kid in Southern California and was asking me about my bike I commute on to work. I have a GSXS1000F and I was telling him how it is a midrange tuned version of the GSXR race bike. He asked me the normal questions people ask about bikes, "how fast does it go" etc.
I told him I have had it at a track day and on the short straight at Streets of Willow I had it up to about 120 and there was plenty more to go. He asked what top speed was and I stated I haven't taken it to top speed but would imagine it is around 160. He was stunned. He couldnt believe that some kid could go out and buy a bike that was capable of 160 without proving he actually knows how to ride the bike. I told him it happens all the time. I have been riding for over 45 years and 35 of those are on the street. My first bike I bought was a Honda 750 and now I guess the horsepower would be compared to a 600 class bike. I think the 600's now actually put out more power and handle better for sure. He asked if there was any moral code from the sales people to not sell a bike like that to a beginner. I told him all people are different. Some (Most) would advise against it but that others will sell you what you want as long as you can pay for it. I worked in the motorcycle industry when I was young and sold plenty of bikes to kids I thought should not be buying such a bike as a starter but they didn't want the Ninja 250, they wanted the 600 or 1000.
As a salesman you don't go to Safeway and they give you free food because you saved some kid from himself and his ego. So you make the sale because you need to feed your family and let these people figure it out for themselves. This reminded me of a conversation we would have at the shop whenever we sold a bike to someone we thought was just going to get in trouble with it. Tiered licenses. For the first 2 years the largest bike you can buy is a 300cc bike. After that you can between years 2 and 4 buy up to a 600cc bike and then all bets are off. You can buy what you want.
Do you guys think this is a good idea or should people be allowed to buy what they want whether they have the experience or not?
I told him I have had it at a track day and on the short straight at Streets of Willow I had it up to about 120 and there was plenty more to go. He asked what top speed was and I stated I haven't taken it to top speed but would imagine it is around 160. He was stunned. He couldnt believe that some kid could go out and buy a bike that was capable of 160 without proving he actually knows how to ride the bike. I told him it happens all the time. I have been riding for over 45 years and 35 of those are on the street. My first bike I bought was a Honda 750 and now I guess the horsepower would be compared to a 600 class bike. I think the 600's now actually put out more power and handle better for sure. He asked if there was any moral code from the sales people to not sell a bike like that to a beginner. I told him all people are different. Some (Most) would advise against it but that others will sell you what you want as long as you can pay for it. I worked in the motorcycle industry when I was young and sold plenty of bikes to kids I thought should not be buying such a bike as a starter but they didn't want the Ninja 250, they wanted the 600 or 1000.
As a salesman you don't go to Safeway and they give you free food because you saved some kid from himself and his ego. So you make the sale because you need to feed your family and let these people figure it out for themselves. This reminded me of a conversation we would have at the shop whenever we sold a bike to someone we thought was just going to get in trouble with it. Tiered licenses. For the first 2 years the largest bike you can buy is a 300cc bike. After that you can between years 2 and 4 buy up to a 600cc bike and then all bets are off. You can buy what you want.
Do you guys think this is a good idea or should people be allowed to buy what they want whether they have the experience or not?
