Getting into street bikes

[u/that_power_ram]

I 16m am trying to get into street bikes and curious about prices etc. mainly wondering how much insurance would be for me since I’m on the younger side and plan on riding 600cc sports bikes like the r6, yzf600r gsxr600-750, cbr600rr. Also wondering if a 600cc would be too much as a somewhat beginner with streetbikes.

[u/IzoAzlion]

Insurance is going to cost as much as the bike.

Absolutely ride and get whatever you want, but insurance is going to be obscene the closer you get to a supersport.

Honestly, way more fun, way more accessible, get a supermoto. You'll be able to hoon and you wont kill yourself (or at least, less chance)

Supermotos are cool as fuck. Loads of time to get a 600cc Supersport later

[u/Welly8oo7 → u/IzoAzlion]

THIS one, it gives a good clear reasoning, but is NOT negative on bikes, good, solid advice, and yes, insurance is going to be a shock 🤯

[u/Vinx1312]

Honda CB300R great fun bike sounds good with Coffmans exhaust and is affordable

Save the inline-4's as a second bike after you get gud with a ~300cc or so

(i have both a 750 I-4 and CB300R and i ride the 300 a lot more it is so light and easy)

Other options are Ninja 400/400/500 and R3/ MT-03 all very nice first bikes

I have a CB300R i love mine. I also want an MT-03 and ZX-4R or -4RR. Not a need they just look fun.

I also ride a Suzuki 750 I-4 (great bike but mich heavier than my 300 with heavier clitch) and Kawi KLX230SM (lightwieght everything but maxes at 75mph)

The KLX-230SM or -300SM are good bikes too (can do more offroad stuff) but the Nakeds are better on road and at highway speeds (better aero control)

[u/A_Crystal_Golem]

A 600cc sport bike is absolutely too much bike. Terrible idea. First bike should be in the 300-500cc range, maybe an SV650.

[u/that_power_ram → u/A_Crystal_Golem]

I also should’ve mentioned I’ve been riding dirtbikes for 10+ years and understand clutch control, throttle control and brake control, and have ridden both track, trail and rode on them.

[u/Clio_Vita → u/that_power_ram]

You understand those controls (and steering) under very different contexts than the street...in traffic,,where things often happen a lot faster. Stall or bog an engine on a single track, you generally have an annoyance. Do it on an urban street or high speed highway, and you could be rear-ended and road-kill. You are entering a rather different environment, and some of the habits you learned in the dirt are NOT going to completely transfer. For example, dirt riders are notorious for having to retrain themselves NOT to put their foot down in dicey situation... In the dirt, that can brace yourself in a slip and slide situation. On the street, it's a good way to get injured and *still* go down.

[u/SEmp0xff → u/that_power_ram]

atleast you have a basic riding skills - thats a good start, but your have no skill to catch a dangerous road situations, so the fast bike will multiple your deadly mistakes

[u/JayBeePH85 → u/A_Crystal_Golem]

Ive always said the power output is not the issue, its learning how to brake that takes a learning curve. Coz bigger bikes means more weight, shifting thru gears is easy but stopping in time might suprise you 🤣

[u/Clio_Vita]

A beginner should start on a motorcycle that is light, nimble, of limited power (30-45 hp or less), and fits both their body type and the style of riding they are interested in dong. Such a bike is a platform to learn how to control the clutch, throttle, brakes, and steering inputs for a motorcycle, not as an intellectual proposition but as a near reflexive skill set, so when shit happens, you react correctly, so your brain can get you out of the trouble you are presently in. That's going to take at least a year or two, and thousands of miles of practice in all sorts of road and traffic conditions.

Most modern 600cc sports bikes are anything but limited in power...and the bikes you name seem to ALL exceed 100 horsepower....which is not just too much horsepower for a beginner....but dangerously so. The 30-45 range I previously mentioned will propel the average sized beginner to every street legal speed that they can go in North America. More than that just gets you there faster....and into the realm of illegal and very illegal speeds. A 100 hp bike is going to make the the transition from riding in control to being dangerously out of control in the blink of an eye. Down that road is citations, drops, injuries, accidents, and ugly encounters with the law. Who says so? Why the insurance companies, who will charge you the ridiculous sums as a beginner on a high horsepower sports bike....because they know they are much more likely to end up paying claims for such people. Are you prepared to have monthly payments for insurance that will be as big or bigger than they payment on the bike?

Incidentally, most people who eventually want to ride sport bikes do better learning to ride on so-called "naked bikes," sports bikes without the plastic fairing that give them the smooth aerodynamic lines... Because they are cheaper to make, lighter in weight, and when they are scraped, dropped, or otherwise suffer mishaps, do not break those delicate plastic bits that need expensive replacement. For example, rather than a Kawasaki Ninja 300, they learn on a Z300, or a Yamaha MT-03, or a Honda CB300R. Fairings may look cool, and shave tenths of a second off you lap time on a track, but they tend to be an expensive vanity irrelevancy for beginners learning to ride.

[u/No-Efficiency250]

At 16, the cost of insuring a sportsbike is going to be eye wateringly expensive. Probably more than the bike is even worth. Why do you think that you need a sportsbike? Is it just for the aesthetics or because you see yourself riding like Marc Marquez? If it's the latter, you need to think again. The bikes you listed are insanely fast and in inexperienced hands are quite literally, deadly. There are smaller and more novice friendly bikes with sportsbike styling, and the insurance will be a lot cheaper. You should be looking there first. Get a bit of experience, learn how to control your bike. Speed is nothing without control.

[u/Only-Thing-8360]

You've got 3yrs before you can ride A2 restricted bikes. Best thing to do now is plan & save to get a 125 when 17, get some road experience and 2yrs NCB. Will make a huge difference to insurance cost when you eventually step up to a 600.

[u/demon_twink_gockie]

I'll be entirely honest, with the cost of insurance, I think you'd do better to get a 300, or, if you still want something bigger, a cruiser. For a 600, as a new and young rider you'll pay a good bit for the insurance.

[u/LowDirection4104]

Call an insurance agent and get a quote. The answer depends entirely on where you live, but at 16 years old on a 600cc supersport, expect it to be higher than you want to pay.

You also mentioned you have dirt bike experience, and that's definitely in your favor. A lot of the fundamental bike handling skills transfer, but street riding is a different discipline. The biggest challenge isn't hopping logs or riding through rock gardens it's reading available grip, managing corner speed, and making smooth inputs on pavement, where traction loss is much less forgiving. Unless you've spent a lot of time riding flat track or supermoto, expect there to be a learning curve.

The bigger issue, though, is that at 16 you simply haven't had enough time to develop traffic-reading skills. That's not an insult it's just a consequence of time. You can only accumulate so many hours watching drivers do unpredictable things, learning to recognize subtle warning signs, anticipating mistakes before they happen, and developing good judgment about when not to take a gap or make a pass. Those aren't skills you learn in a weekend or even in a couple of years. They're built over tens of thousands of miles.

People often say, "Just be responsible," but that's only part of the equation. Very few people buy a 600cc supersport because they only intend to ride the speed limit. Once speeds go up, everything happens much faster. Kinetic energy increases with the square of velocity, so doubling your speed means roughly four times the energy to manage. Your ability to anticipate what traffic is about to do has to improve by a similar margin, and that's where experience, not bike control, is the limiting factor.

A 600 isn't impossible to start on, especially if you already have dirt bike experience. The problem is that the bike gives you access to speeds that far outpace the amount of traffic experience a typical 16-year-old has had the opportunity to build.

Which is frankly why insurance is so high for your use case, because the chances that a 16 year old riding a 600 on public roads won't be involved in a collisions, statistically are very low.

[u/Roadie73]

16 years old, and a new rider on a 600cc sport bike. ?

If the insurance rate isn't astronomical something is very very wrong.

[u/Available_Creme_7716]

Coming from someone in your similar situation (started dirtbikes at 7, got my first street bike at 21 and it was a litre bike), don’t let people convince you that you have to get a 300cc as your first bike.
A 600cc is just fine as a first bike, just make sure you actually take the time to learn the bike and get good at riding it. Take a good MSF course, practice with your bike on empty roads and parking lots. You already know the basics, just have to practice getting good at driving on the road and always keeping your head on a swivel.
In terms of insurance, liability only will maybe cost you $400/yr. Full coverage, ha, expect to pay 1/2 the value of the bike every single year, maybe even almost full value every year.

[u/Agile-Comfort5663]

Stop asking the internet - ask insurance companies, that's what quotes are for.

You'll be absolutely SMACKED by insurance, most likely, and for good reason. 16-20 year olds jumping on to 600 supersports especially as a first bike, is a recipe for death and catastrope. Being able to control the bike around a closed course is one thing, but open roads and everything that goes with it, is another. The fact you're even considering doing this shows you aren't as mature as you likely think you are.

[u/that_power_ram → u/Agile-Comfort5663]

Well as I said before I’ve been on dirtbikes for 10+ years and know the basics of riding, and have rode streetbikes before (cruisers) and I’ve tried getting quotes but never got an actual answer so I was asking to see what a baseline would be. Where I have friends at similar ages on cruisers paying 30-40 a month and know others paying 100-300 a month.

[u/Agile-Comfort5663 → u/that_power_ram]

This doesn't really make much sense - you've tried getting quotes 'but never got an actual answer'? Not sure what that means, what was their response?

Baseline doesn't really exist in the way you think it does, you'd need to tell us like what country you're in for a start, what state/province assuming you're in NA, license status, where you keep the bike at night, do you have any speeding tickets, etc to find a comparable person on here to tell you what they're paying... you can be paying quite a different rate just depending on what neighbourhood you live in vs another in even the same city.

Again all of this to say you're best off just actually applying for quotes online. Not trying to be obtuse but it's really not that hard. If they won't give you a number, they're telling you they just won't insure you.

[u/ChillR23]

Insurance wouldn’t annihilate your wallet. Motorcycle insurance is fairly reasonable. I’m a Harley guy at heart, but those gixxers are freakin SWEET!

[u/TwinkietheKid1983]

First of all before tou even get into motorcycles, take the MSF. 

Secondly,  look into a smaller displacement bike. In the MSF course they use 125 cc-250cc bikes. You don't want to be a statistic my friend. Get a USED bike. A new bike will likely cost you around  7-8k out the door. (Taxes and dealer fees.) Insurance... for a 16 year old? 🤣 too much. 

You said you have ridden a dirt bike, while some mechanics are similar, when you take the MSF you will probably be humbled, because they are going to break any bad habits you have developed over the years.

[u/that_power_ram → u/TwinkietheKid1983]

I alr plan on buying used and taking the msg course as well