Would this be a dumb idea?

[azm50]

Well I bought a M50 about 4 months ago. This was my first bike ever and I had never ridden before. So I went with a cruiser instead of a sports bike, just to play it safe and I heard sports bikes wasn't the best things to start out with. I've been riding my m50 pretty often, and it just doesn't give me the pleasure that I thought it would, i just need that sports feel. I bought the m50 brand new and its the special edition 2009 black and white. I owe $6500 on it. My question is, should I trade it for a used R6, or just wait a little longer? R6 is pretty much the bike I want. And if I get a used one, the debt should almost be the same as what I owe on the M50 now anyway. What's your input on this?

[Motorcycle Forum]

[wookie]

In terms of going from a cruiser to a sportbike, hey, whatever that floats your boat. You're going to enjoy the bike differently. (I'm personally now looking at adding a cruiser to my fleet of sportbikes).

Financially, more than likely your trade-in value will be less than $4K (at best, less if you have a lot of miles on it). So say you still owe $6500. That means you're going to be $2500 in the hole, before you even buy the R6. what year of R6 are you looking at ?

[azm50]

Looking for a 2005 and up. I have 700 miles on the bike.

[wookie]

In that case, you might be able to swing $5k on your cruiser.

You're probably going to get some flames on this board for what you're planning to do. So I'm not going to add to that.

Just read this and think about it some more. Whatever your decision is, it's yours to make. Just make sure you carefully weigh the trade-offs.

http://www.motorcycle-journal.com/fo...ease-read.html

[Water Warrior]

Looking for a 2005 and up. I have 700 miles on the bike.

Keep the M. With your riding experience you will only get into trouble with a sport bike. Learn to ride your bike and learn it's capabilities, you will be surprised how well it will perform in the twisties and how sweet it is in a straight line on a long tour. Keep your bike for a year and learn to drag hard parts with confidence before stepping up to a sport bike.

[MCSC]

I have had heaps of bikes, had my license for over 25 years, and yet I recently traded my 2006 1200 Bandit on an M50, because I was tired of only using a fraction of the power most of the time.

Your M50 is still new and the performance will improve markedly as it frees up. A fuel controller will improve your M50's responsiveness, even with the stock exhaust. (well, mine did)

If you have the skills, experience & opportunity to do fast laps at track days, a sportsbike is great.

In my experience, once you get used to any bike's performance, you always want more. Hence the huge market in performance goodies.

Just enjoy riding your bike, while you gain valuable experience. And remember - more power does not always equal more fun.

Cheers

[Clint]

If it's not the right bike for you, it's not the right bike for you. Also, no one here knows what you'll do on the sportbike. Only you do. Some people like to project their fears on others, not realizing that we are individuals.

IMO, it wouldn't be a mistake to change bikes, but it certainly was a mistake to buy brand new not knowing what you really wanted. Lesson learned. Consider something in between your cruiser and a full-on race replica, though. Check the sporty light standards and the supermotos as well.

If you do go sportbike, go slowly. Get training if you haven't.

Oh, and more power is almost always more fun. I passed a left-lane camper in a turn lane this morning, easily and with room to spare. It was really quite invigorating. YMMV, and your risk is your own.

*flame suit securely zipped, blast shield lowered*

[omegajim]

time to go to the m90 or is it the m109, I can't keep'em straight.

[tricker]

time to go to the m90 or is it the m109, I can't keep'em straight.

to quote mister geoff simpson off of facebook about his M109

Geoff Simpson spent the whole morning wrenching on the bike and all afternoon tuning it in. End result...HOLYCRAPHOLYCRAPHOLYCRAP!!!!

[omegajim]

I think that answers that question - right model line, just need to go to the bigger engine.

what did Geoff all do anyway?

[azm50]

Yeah, I know I made a mistake on buying a new bike for a first bike, but I got excited when i knew I could get it. I did take the safety class and all, I don't want a sports bike to stunt or anything like that. At most I would want to track it, once I would feel comfortable on it. I know my limits on the bike and know when to stop pushing them. I agree, 700 miles isn't nearly enough. You can go your entire life and never encounter some things that the road might throw at you. I think I'll just hold on to it a bit longer, then make my way into a sports bike, That's the bike I want, from riding my friend's bike, just is more of a thrill to me than a cruiser.

[omegajim]

I will never blame anybody for buying a new bike as their first bike - provided it isn't something insanely fast.

the m50, is not.

now you either have to

bite the bullet and realize you are going to "take it" on the trade in, or

drive the bike another year or two and then wait for another deal (maybe used this time?) for something bigger and more in line with what you want.

plan b requires dealing with a bunch of schmoes who are going to try to low ball you, though.

[tricker]

I think that answers that question - right model line, just need to go to the bigger engine.

what did Geoff all do anyway?

didn't say.. but i guess it gave it a whole lotta power

[Davecm203]

Some people just are not cruiser people and some people are not sport bike people. Many years ago, I purchased a cruiser and owned it for a year and hated every minute of it. Well, not exactly every minute, but, I was not happy with it overall. I did keep it for about a year and ended up selling it for only $500 less than I paid for it and went back to a sport bike.

To me, a motorcycle is not a rational purchase on any level. It is an emotional purchase and must be something that you would enjoy and fits your style. One thing to remember is that it is going to be hard to put the long miles on an R6 that you put on the M. I sport-tour on my Gixxer which usually means 500 to 1,000 mile days. But it is comfortable by sport bike standards which means not very. If it is going to be your only motorcycle, then you should take a look at the type of ridding that you will be doing.

[tigerdude77]

I had the same situation until this year. I had (at one time) a 2003 Suzuki Intruder vs800, a 2005 Kawa Meanstreak 1600, and my last purchase was the 2006 Kawa Ninja 650R. I finally decided to sell my cruisers, since I loved the sport bike way better. That worked great for me, but I've run across people doing the opposite of what I did. So it's "to each, his own" I guess. For me personally, I wouldn't make the quantim leap from an M50 to an R6. The R6 is a very powerful bike (~120HP?). That's a freakin' lot of HP IMO.

Anyway - you're hosed anytime you want to trade in a vehicle so quickly. You're going to be way upside-down, and must cover that when you trade it in or sell it yourself. If it were me - I'd be patient, ride the M50 for awhile (maybe ~12-18 months), and then try to sell it myself. You're going to lose money, but you knew that going in. Now if money is no object - then do whatever.

Good luck with all that.