New old guy rider lol / NE Florida.

Welcome to the forum from another old guy. I got the R3 for the same reasons, I never really rode a sport bike seriously and I wasn't sure I'd like it. When I was younger I raced motocross and wanted to try sport bikes. I knew nothing about street bikes, and still know very little, but now I know I really like riding them.

The R3 is a great bike and I love my bike, but beware because if you are like me , you will soon realize that you want more power. I usually ride a YZ450 motocross bike and the R3's power just doesn't give you the same thrill of power. It handles great, but the WOW factor isn't there in the power dept.

After 6 months of weekend rides and a few track days I am already thinking of getting an R6. If you've ridden and raced in the past, you may end up like me, wanting more power. I think if I did it again, I would have started with a 600. The lower power probably kept me from getting into trouble and saved my bacon a few times, but within 3 days of riding I felt like I would have no problem handling more power, it was the braking and cornering that took time to get used to. That would be the same on either bike.

I noticed your avatar has a mini cooper, The R3 is like a base model Mini cooper, light weight, handles great but not the fastest thing out there. For a little more money you can get double the power, excellent handling and lots of:

Raptor2002 said:

thanks brother, yeah i had debated going a little bigger.
But My goal long term was to get a smaller bike that would be fun and i could keep, then eventually get like a 650 etc. What i enjoy the most out of bikes is the turning and ease tossing it. lol I also live in the Jacksonville Fl area, so very few turns lol, and really crappy traffic so def want to stick to something very forgiving on response right now. But good traffic bike.

Will def bring it to JenningsGP once i get up to speed on it.

First thing I planned to do was change the tires, read a lot of horror stories about the stocks, and our roads get really slick really quick around here. Suggestions? Was looking at the Pirelli Diablo lines?

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Welcome!

As sort of a reference, I rode in San Diego before getting stationed somewhere else. They say SoCal roads get slick in the rain, so I am not sure who has slicker roads, San Diego or Florida. I have ridden that stock tire in the rain without problems, but yes I do like the S20s much more. I have taken the stock tires and gotten my knee down on them, if that is any reference on how they stick. People make it sound s if you will be riding on ice or something. As a commuting tire they should do just fine, but either way, put some miles on them and if you dont like them, get new ones and sell the OEMs.

If you really have no twisties at all to ride on, the 650 might be a better ride. I owned one. I only started riding in 2013. First bike was an EX 500, a few months later got the itch for a new bike, and got a 650. Moved to a ZX6R and switched it up to an R3. If you have all those years of 4 wheeling then you probably have some kind of throttle control and the 650 should be fine. I really like the R3 more than the 650 for my type of riding, which includes 20 mile daily commutes through SoCal traffic, 150ish mile canyon runs on the weekend, and the occasional track day. The 650 was a good bike and is great for commuting, and probably capable of doing all my R3 can do, but for me, its just not as nimble as the R3, its not as easy to throw around, jsut doesnt want to lean over as much. Maybe for a bigger person, it would react differently. I am 5' 11" 138 if that means anything. That bike weighs in at 465. The R3 is almost 100lbs lighter.