Hey guys. . .
I'm going to be a new rider soon. I've been thinking about riding for years now and I've finally put it in gear. I bought all the essentials for safety (Helmet, jacket, gloves, etc.) and I put a deposit down for a cbr500ra when I finish the PRS course in the next two weeks. I know. . . I'm not exactly following the general guideline for beginners, but for many reasons, the 500ra seems like the best bike for my situation (ABS option, half the power of a 600).
I'd be grateful for any tips you guys can give me for riding in a city like Vancouver or just in general anything that you wish you knew when you first started riding! First thing I want to do to the bike is to put some frame sliders on. Where would I be able to buy ones that fit and have them installed locally? Maybe I'll see you guys in a couple of months when I've built up the confidence in my abilities.

one thing to remember is you're required to shoulder check both ways EVERY SINGLE TIME before you move forward from a stand still. this means even if you're in heavy traffic and you're not moving, every time you budge forward 2 meters you need to shoulder check left and right. Dat from PRS told me once somebody failed coming out of the icbc parking lot because there were 5 cars in front of him stopping and moving and the guy didn't shoulder check left and right lol.


edit: retarded rule imo. seems like all they want you to do is look anywhere except forward.

This has saved me many times (thanks PRS) but even as a bicyclist, I shoulder check every time I stop and go. More often than not, there is a car that will try to creep past me and if I hadn't shoulder checked, the car would have likely crushed me.

It helps when I turn around during my shoulder checks and make eye contact with the driver so there is a mutual understanding that we know our intentions. When I see motorcyclists do shoulder checks in the city before moving, I know they're PRS students. :D

The CBR500RA should be a great bike for a beginner. It's not as race-inspired as a 600RR but with enough oomph to get you around town and the thrill of speed on the highways and twisties.

Happy riding! :)

Nah man, just take it easy! You will be fine especially after prs, you do city rides with them also.

When you are actually out there real world I would recommend you take intersections slower than you would in a car. Left turning cars are scary as fuck and you never know whats going through their brains. cagers will be cagers.

Join the group rides and stuff when its posted! Everyone welcome, good way to learn local routes and such and meet the people of rs.

Anyone familiar with legality of converting a dirtbike just as a drz, crf, or wr into a supermoto for street use? TIA

hey does anyone know if it's safe to stack wheel spacers? Not certain if I want 15 or 20mm so I was hoping to just get a 15 and a 5mm and stack them just in case.
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You can't have spacers on motorcycles.

:suspicious:

lol dafuq

Have you considered the ninja 300 to save even more on insurance?

The new cbr500 looks great. Saw it at the motorcycle show a couple months back, but ninja 300 got it beat in the looks department.

Both great bikes :) though I love twins more.

yaaaaaa passed my road test! see you fellow rs-er's on the road! :fullofwin:

Congratulations. Ride safe out there.

Congrats!

Post up some rides, get yer self out there with some practical experience!

About to purchase some Pazzo Long Levers for my 600rr.

Any opinions from members who have long or short levers on their bike?

Thanks

Short is the way to go!

shorties fo me.

they look better imo and i never use 4 fingers to cover the brakes or the clutch.

2 finger clutch. 1, 2 or 3 fingers on the brake. when using 3 fingers the ball end of the lever feels nice too :nyan:

Congrats and safe riding to ya!
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IMO, long, my friend has a Daytona 675R which he bought short clutch levers for and he was regretting them the first time we got stuck in traffic or went to downtown.

They may feel the same at first but after a long ride (especially in city traffic) your fingers and forearm will/could be hurting

You might want to rethink shorty levers. They look nicer but now your reach is longer to the levers.
I would recommend trying them out if you have a friend with shorty's on their bike already.

Just picked up some Pazzo long brake/clutch levers today :)

Thanks everyone for their input.

You pretty much need to make sure it has fully functional lights/turn signals (for the most part.) There are other odds and ends I'm missing but that's the gist of it.

i thought they stopped allowing dirtbike to supermotard conversions? any that had already been converted were grandfathered, but no new bikes could be registered as conversions... i could be totally wrong on that though.. i'm not really a trail bike kinda guy.

depends how many fingers you use to clutch and brake? i use all 4 for clutch but only 1 or 2 for brakes.

Anyone take the PRS Maintenance course? 101 + 201?

Would you recommend the course? I am thinking of taking it for something to do.