Amen, you Cannot justify buying a bike financially, especially in the northeast. Even a new 250 ninja assuming you bought proper gear will take nearly half a century just to break even on the the initial “investment” by the gas savings. You are going to be riding more as well, so your yearly mileage traveled will increase. Do not try to fool yourself into thinking it’s a smart financial decision.
Now with that said you also can’t justify buying that specific bike as your first bike until you openly admit to
- Wanting to be a showboat.
- You want to defy logical decision making.
If you admit to those two and accept the risks (which you don’t even realize at the moment) then go ahead and buy it, I will look the other way.
If you want to do it the right way, you’ll know where to find me.
It’s kind of like asking advise about sleeping with a gorgeous girl who has STD’s but doesn’t like to use protection. You really want to do it, even though deep inside you know it’s a really bad idea.
Some posts I’ve found
I’ll go on record to say that its a terrible idea. This is an extremely powerful motorcycle and the consequences of you loosing control could cost you your life. My insurance guy told me the mortality rate on GSXR600’s within 12 months for new riders is 20%. Plus as someone already said, new riders WILL drop their bikes (usually in low speed manuevers or at stop lights). My strong advice is to start out on something like a Ninja 250 or something like that which is less powerful so you’ll learn how to control the motorcycle, the weight distribution, etc etc. For example, the riding position of the 848 does not lend itself to either comfort or learning. I would think this one though thoroughly my friend…
The sound advice is wait a bit to get the Ducati or even a Jap 600. Get something used and smaller in cc you can thrash and learn on. Chances are good you’ll drop it. Drop a Ducati and if your dealer doesn’t stock parts your probably waiting a month to have it fixed. Chances are also good you’ll want to squeeze that throttle off a bit to see what it’s like. With a smaller bike you won’t get in as much trouble.
+1 on ALL OF THE NO ANSWERS ABOVE!
Get an older 600cc which can be had cheap. Take some lessons beyond the MSF such as Code or Spencer. (they’re not cheap but the best money you can spend is modding your brain before the bad habits settle in!) Do track days to gain confidence on your cheap easy to fix bike.
THEN get your dream bike.
I believe it’s the responsibility of any experienced rider to suggest against purchasing such a powerful and narrow focus bike as a first motorcycle. It would be irresponsible otherwise to suggest anything else without knowing first hand the skill of the rider.
Money factor aside you don’t get a second chance at safety. So it’s better to gain real world experience on a more forgiving bike. You will acquire the skills to enjoy a long healthy life and long riding history.
You will ride better, smarter and safer.
Ultimately you will appreciate your future Ducati more.
That is coming from a Ducati forum
There is a reason why all these experienced riders say you should go that route… think about it.
There is a million more responses like that as well, I’m not going to post them all.