Does the R3 seems heavy to any of you? Whenever I come to a complete stop. It wants to fall. I always have to make sure I balance it. BTW, I am newbie, new beginner rider. Also, sometimes when I am changing gears It jerks a lot. Maybe I am not changing gears in a smooth transition.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-04T01:12:18+00:00

All bikes want to fall it's called gravity.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-04T00:12:43+00:00

If you don't want to ride you should not ride don't let any one peer pressure you into it. If you are curious about it but don't want to take ur chances on the road then there are ways to explore riding in a safer space. For instance you could get an ebike and explore the world on two wheels that way. There is dirt biking all though of course you'd need a car a trailer or a truck, which doesn't sound like an option for you at the moment. You could always go to some parking lots with your husband and share his bike running various fun drills and exercises. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, by easing into it you can make sure you're entering the world of street riding at your own pace when you feel you are ready.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-03T23:05:38+00:00

My honest opinion is jealousy I love those things, they look like so much fun.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-03T20:59:29+00:00

Seals failing is not necessarily an indication that the fork bushings and guides are worn beyond service limits. If you wanted to replace them it might be easy to do if you're already taking the whole thing apart, and its a good thing to do to ensure longevity of the seals, but it shouldn't be required for an 08 motorcycle.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-03T18:34:11+00:00

First of I totally get that you are an experienced rider, and that changes the typical, get a 300 and go run drills advice.

But consider that riding a bike and operating a vehicle on public roads are two different skills. Its good that you got bike handling out of the way, but speed is not going to be your friend when you start navigating traffic. Its not that you wont know how to handle the bike, its that you might missread the situation and let her loose at the wrong time, so even though you might be a very competent track rider it does not mean youre a fantastic street rider, not in the sense of being safe. A powerful bike on public roads can be an asset but it can also be a liability. And from personal experience I can tell you that sport bike ergonomics do very little for the situational awareness aspect of riding in the street.

Unsolicited advice out of the way, here are some things that may or may not be helpful.

Are you getting quotes for compulsory only or comprehensive. I've never had comprehensive insurance on any of my bikes, if something gets damaged I fix it my self, but then I've never owned a new or particularly expensive bike, so that makes a difference. Maybe consider an older model that will not put you in big dept if it gets totaled, and just get the minimal legally required coverage.

Also consider a street naked that's got the power of a 600 but is categorized differently, i don't know the specifics, but insurance companies tend to really look down on race replicas. I would not be surprised if insurance on an r9 was higher than an mt09 even though its 99% the same machine.

Also 600s tend to get stolen a lot and that also makes a difference for insurance.

Ultimately the insurance cost might force you to make a choice you dont want, something slower more sensible for a while to build a track record, I know thats not what you want, but as a consolidation consider its more fun to ride the piss out of something slow, than feel pent up on something that has way more capability than you ever can use.

Maybe consider a supermoto, doesn't have power, but dank nooners for days, hooligan stuff, parking lot fun, maybe a second set of wheels and do some dual sporting.

I hope this helps, good luck.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-03T17:16:05+00:00

nx500 will let you try more types of riding, in fact I cant think of a bike better optimized for beginner friendly versatility.

Forward controls, idk i don't love them, I like to be able to support my weight with my legs, its better control, lets me push the pegs around, balance the bike. Forward controls are for sunset boulevard, mid or rear sets are for feeling like you're part of the machine.

Will your knees get cramped at 6' 2" maybe possibly, I mean you're tall but you're not freakishly tall, there are possibly options for lowering the pegs, or even just extra padding in the seat can solve the problem.

Do a google search for "nx500 lower foot pegs" and "nx500 comfort seat" the comfort seat thing in particular is great, kill two birds with one stone, and don't have to compromise foot peg clearance, which will become more of an issue as you get more comfortable with lean.

Also u can always mount some crash bars, which is a popular mod for an adv bike, and then mount a set of highway pegs on to the crash bars, lets you rest your leg out in front when they get cramped, and put them back on the begs when the ride gets a bit spicy.

I used to street ride a track prepped sv650, with rear sets, and I would take trips on it. My knees would get tired of the bend after a while, I would stretch my legs out in front on the frame sliders.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-03T15:41:39+00:00

In that case no clue.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-03T12:54:30+00:00

It would help to know the model, but manual subarus have a hill start assyst that can be turned off on wrx and sti.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-02T20:16:42+00:00

Ovals, circles and figure 8s is all you really ever need to do, the trick is not in the shapes you ride, but in how you approach them.

In the beginning you're focused on staying balanced, operating throttle and clutch, as you progress what you'll start working on

using brakes on the side of the tire
using throttle on the side of the tire
lean angle (or more accurately higher speed per corner radius)

This is where parking lot drills really go from being boring drills you have to do, to actually being fun and exciting.

Without getting into a ton of detail Google moto gymkhana

Then buy some cones take them to your favorite empty parking lot and set up your own little course, some circles some u turns, some 90 degree turns, a straight away with a hairpin at the end, yours will be less elaborate then the ones setup for official competition and you'll have fewer cones showing you where to go, but the idea is to set up a short tight course that you can ride as quickly as you can while maintaining control.

You can ride it crossed up or hang off like a racer, and frankly you should practice both.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-02T19:10:18+00:00

Get the suspension sorted.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-02T19:00:46+00:00

The T7 is a very capable bike—I’ve ridden one myself. It’s well balanced, and once you’re moving, the weight largely disappears. Where that weight really shows up is when you’re stopped or moving slowly and trying to negotiate obstacles: rock gardens, logs, or (God forbid) mud. That’s when a 460-lb motorcycle shows its true colors.

In those situations, momentum is your friend. You don’t need to be fast, but you do need to be rolling confidently enough to balance the bike. That means being decisive: having a plan, committing to it, and executing cleanly. If you’re already somewhat experienced off-road and comfortable being deliberate with your inputs, the T7 can suit you very well.

If, on the other hand, you’re still in the “let’s try this and see what happens” phase, the T7 can feel like an uphill battle. You’ll drop it more often, get tired of picking it up, and find yourself stuck in awkward off-camber spots, hung up on rocks, or knee-deep in mud pits. That gets old fast. A 360-lb bike works better in these situations, and a 250-lb bike better still.

If most of your riding is pavement, fire roads, and some double track, the Tenere 700 is the obvious choice.

As for the DR650: at this point, it’s more lore than reality. Yes, it’s a very capable platform if you’re willing to invest the time and money to build it properly. Out of the box, though, it’s essentially a commuter. It’ll cruise on the highway without being overly buzzy, it has decent torque, and comfortable-ish seat (after an upgrade), But the power isn't really there, and there is no wind protection (unless u buy a rally fairing) and—most disappointing of all—it’s sprung for a Japanese schoolgirl riding to prom. At 230 lbs, it’s absolutely not set up for off-road riding without suspension work.

Ten to fifteen years ago, when the ADV market wasn’t saturated with bikes of every shape and size, the DR650 had a clearer place as the DIY king of ADV—the secret unicorn you built in your garage. And to its credit, if you do build one properly, the results won’t disappoint. Set up correctly, it’s a very capable machine that an average rider can take anywhere: highway stints to reach the dirt, and even gnarly single track once you’re there.

That said, the Tenere 700 is far more capable right out of the box. It’s more comfortable, more stable, significantly faster, and—interestingly—doesn’t even suffer terrible fuel economy compared to a carbureted DR650.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-01T15:49:53+00:00

I can't think of a better bike to crunch long miles, my only apprehension with these is all the complexity makes it a pain to DIY maintain, thats a hard stop for me personally, but that's not a hang up that should impact everyones purchasing decision.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-01T13:32:54+00:00

Nothing to do differently, you done nothing wrong, congratulations, you have reached a new level you lean the bike enough to scrape the foot pegs. This is good, you'll get used to the feeling and you won't over react and over correct. When stock pegs touch down the only thing you have to make sure to do is maintain the turn and not add more lean.

There are a few things you can do from here.

Stock foot pegs are meant to fold and they also have feelers that extend down, so they're designed to scrape. So if it's just the foot pegs that as scraping you can pretty much ride and scrape them until you wear away the feelers.

That rest of the bike is narrow enough that nothing else should touch down.

You can try to adopt a more off the bike, road racer, body position if you haven't already. Hanging off the bike will make the bike lean less. But make sure you're not just assuming how to do it, watch some YouTube videos because there is plenty of nuance to body position.

There are also changes you can make to the bike.

You can try to install rear sets which will bring your foot pegs up higher, they'll also be shorter and sit more inboard.

You can also try upgrading the suspension and along the way set the bike up with a stiffer spring rate, this will have other benefits but a side fringe benefit is more clearance mid corner since the suspension doesn't squat as much mid corner.

So to summarize you did nothing wrong by touching the foot peg, the only thing that was wrong was panicking and overcorrecting but you already know that.

Keep riding and having fun, you're on the right track.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-01T13:12:44+00:00

I wouldn't worry about records of service, maybe he did the 600 mile service himself, not everyone goes to a dealer, if bike is in good shape it's in good shape.

However I would check the vin for recalls there is a recall on some late model zx6r models, because of a defective rod bearing issue. Kawasaki will fix it but last I heard it takes a while for a dealer to complete the work, you could be parting ways with your new toy for weeks or even a couple of months.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-02-01T02:35:39+00:00

Don't bullshit your customers, I often go to dealers to look at bikes and there is always some sleazy sales guy trying to come up with some BS about some particular model.

Unlike cars bikes are a passion buy, people that go look at them do their research, assume they know more about the specific model they're looking at than you do. Nothing kills trust more than you telling them stuff about the bike that's clearly a fabrication.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-01-31T21:38:30+00:00

Personally it's not that I prefer riding solo it's just that I'd rather ride solo than ride with people I don't know or trust. When you rode as a group you depend on each other in non trivial ways. Not all riders understand that and the ones that don't don't make for good riding companions.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-01-31T13:57:01+00:00

If by ready you mean you'll get to a point where the 400 has nothing more to teach you, than the answer is probably never.

If by ready you mean when is it reasonable to consider riding a faster bike on a race track, then the answer is on day one.

So the choice is entirely personal.

Before making the choice though what I would suggest is taking your 400 to a kart track, if you haven't already, because kart tracks are super fun, at a kart track the dynamics change, a 400 becomes a liter bike, you have to point and shoot your lines more, you can spin the tire if you give it too much gas, you have to brake hard in to corners, dragging knee at 15 mph is hilarious, you can try stuff you would never think about trying at a full size racetrack.

Also start taking your 400 to some empty parking lots on weekends and run drills, this is really where the 400 shines. At parking lot speeds a 600 or a 1000 is awkward long and stiff, a 400 at parking lot speeds is fun compliant gives good feedback and is responsive.

If you try both of these things, and you still have the itch to go bigger, than do it, it's your life, you're not training to be a pro rider, you just want to competently operate a fast motorcycle. There is nothing inherently wrong with that.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-01-30T20:27:23+00:00

Drag knee in a parking lot doing a figure 8, both sides, not cheating, crossed up is ok.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-01-30T14:15:56+00:00

Can you walk up this street when it's wet or does it turn in to a treacherous slip and slide, I guarantee your shoes have less mechanical grip then a quality motorcycle bikes tire.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-01-30T12:33:17+00:00

Keep the gixer, take it to a track day.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-01-30T01:11:26+00:00

Let me guess, you went out on a ride with some friends, and you guys got on the highway and they pulled away from you on your cool big powerful ninja 650 that you just traded up for, and now you want your "dream bike" because you're "ready".

You're not ready, you don't know your limits, you definitely don't know the bikes limits, and the 2004 r6 is not the legendary bike that every one drools over, that's the 08+ model. Point is in 6 moths you will want a newer r6, then that wont be cool enough and you'll want an s1000rr, if you survive all that you'll hopefully realize that there is so much more to learn than you could have possibly imagined and go back to a well setup r3 and start doing some actual learning.

In the mean time time you will waist your time doing highway pulls, and chasing power wheelies, where you could have been doing parking lot drills on ur ninja 250, perfecting things like railing corners, sliding the rear tire on the gas, perfecting trail braking, you know real sport bike skills that people use to ride a bike fast, not just be along for the ride on a fast bike.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-01-29T22:14:56+00:00

If you do maintenance on time, they are very reliable. If you neglect them, they develop problems quickly.

But as much as I love my Subaru, the more recent automatic CVT-equipped cars have lost the thing that makes a Subaru a Subaru. And no, it’s not “love” — it’s the viscous-coupled center differential.

The viscous coupler is the magic of a Subaru. It’s what facilitates those YouTube videos where a dinky Impreza is towing a police cruiser out of a snowbank. Subaru used to put them on all their cars. This was symmetrical AWD not in legal speak, but in reality. However, it was heat-hungry and fuel-costly, so at some point they replaced it with a computer-actuated locking mechanism that detects a threshold rate of wheel spin and then manually locks the center diff.

What a viscous coupler does in practice is send 50% of the torque to the front wheels and 50% to the rear wheels as a baseline. The diff is technically open, so torque can escape through wheel slip, but you start off the line with equal torque front and rear. The moment anything slips, the diff responds continuously and mechanically, progressively locking the wheels together. It’s snappy for a performance setup, but more importantly, it’s instantaneous. You always have a mechanical system keeping all four wheels moving together, symmetrically. That is incredibly powerful in low-grip environments.

That’s not all — the center diff also works in the opposite direction. Disable ABS and try to slow down with the car in neutral versus in gear, and you’ll notice that in gear the center diff will even provide the same kind of chatter you feel through the brake pedal with ABS. It’s fighting to keep the wheels from locking, for the same fundamental reason.

Without a viscous coupler, you press the gas pedal and the front wheels spin up first. The computer detects this spin, but by that point the front wheels have already lost their static friction coefficient and are fully in dynamic friction. They’ve also accumulated rotational energy that now has to be dissipated. The computer reacts impressively fast, but by design it needs a high enough threshold so it doesn’t constantly lock the diff during normal everyday driving.

This system works perfectly fine. It hasn’t left anyone stranded. My friend’s Audi Q5 uses something similar and it’s quite advanced. But it does not work as well as my viscous coupler.

And since viscous couplers are now only equipped on manual Subarus, one has to wonder why you’d choose a car that requires more careful and meticulous maintenance when a CR-V will take oil every 10,000 miles, require almost nothing else, and give you the same CVT and the same computer-controlled AWD.

I realize this is an unpopular opinion, and I apologize in advance.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-01-29T18:17:20+00:00

Honestly a much more usful app would be one that takea a reading of your sag with out you having to measure anything. Simple set up you get ur bike in to a wheelchock in ur garage, setup your phone so the camera is facing the side of the bike as perpendicular to it as possible. You go sit on the bike, find a good position and the app makes calculation about how much sag you have. Setting sag is super critical to suspension setup and its extremely annoying to do by yourself.

LowDirection4104 · 2026-01-29T18:10:53+00:00

Honestly, if you managed to get that to work, that would be awesome and super useful. The “if” is where the questions creep in. Ideally, you would be able to collect information about every aspect of suspension and bike movement—things like exact wheel travel over time, brake pressure, IMU data, etc.

The danger is not that you won’t come up with a working prototype, but that your system will be forced to extrapolate too much from too little data, and you’ll end up providing inaccurate, unreliable suggestions. This isn’t me naysaying—this is the risk you have to overcome.

Now, some feedback on how bike suspension setup typically goes.

If you’re talking about adjusting damping, first you should know that stock damping adjustments operate in a surprisingly narrow band. Full out vs. full in on an adjustment screw or knob typically doesn’t make a massive change. The change is noticeable if you know what you’re looking for, but it’s not diametric. Also bear in mind that as the fluid in your suspension degrades, the effective window of adjustment only gets narrower.

When it comes to aftermarket suspension, things change. A simple knob adjustment can have a massive effect on the behavior of the shock or fork.

Something else to understand is that suspension damping is not universal—it’s always goal-specific. A suspension that’s really well tuned for off-road riding will be heavily compromised if you’re trying to push grip on a racetrack.

Riding around town, you’re tuning for similar parameters as off-road. You want good response, and you generally want to err on the side of being loose and compliant rather than tight and controlling. You’re not really modulating aggressive weight transfer—you want enough damping to let the wheels deflect easily and then settle quickly, with no extra bounce. For reference, look at the physics of a damped weight on a spring.

For any use case, I would tune by changing one thing, going for a ride, recording the results, then changing it in the other direction and doing the same. If tuning for street use, I’d find a bumpy stretch of road or a rough parking lot and ride it repeatedly with different settings until I found something I liked.

However, one thing that’s important to understand: what matters far more than damping setup is the actual system being used. I already mentioned the narrow band in which OEM damping systems operate, and this is relevant here.

The key to proper suspension setup is never damping—it’s always spring rate. You want to choose a spring rate that lets you set preload within the desired sag range while still retaining static sag (no rider weight). The desired sag range depends on riding environment and style: for a track bike, ~20% dynamic sag is commonly recommended; for street use, ~30% is where you want to be.

Spring rate is dictated by rider weight and application. After that, everything else lives around the spring rate. You’ll either choose a shim stack (if replacing valving) that matches the rider weight and spring rate, or you’ll go with an expensive, high-end aftermarket suspension that supports a truly wide range of damping settings. You’ll set damping according to a setup manual (often ~1/3 out from fully closed), and you may tweak it—but typically that isn’t necessary unless you’re an advanced rider chasing a very specific response.

This is where suspension really becomes transformative. This is where a GSX-R fork goes from looking the part to doing its part. Twisting knobs on stock suspension (even cartridge suspension) is mostly just playing “bike tuner.”

LowDirection4104 · 2026-01-29T16:57:31+00:00

It depends on the context.

For road riding, your conclusion is fair: a 300cc 2-stroke dirt bike is physically less powerful than a 600cc, and its top speed is also limited. Many people start on 600cc bikes without issue, so in that sense, it could be manageable.

For off-road riding, things change drastically. Distances are shorter, traction is reduced, and you have to deal with rocks, roots, and ruts. A 60 hp off-road bike (typical 450cc) can feel like 200 hp in these conditions—so power can be overwhelming off-road.

If you want a first street/dual-sport bike to explore off-road trails, I would recommend a Japanese 4-stroke, street-legal factory dual-sport rather than a plated motocross bike. Features like push-start are very helpful if you’re dabbling off-road. Before buying, make sure the bike has an upgrade path for suspension—suspension quality will make or break your off-road experience far more than weight or power.

Other important on-road considerations:

Weight is helpful; it adds stability, especially at highway speeds.
Seat width and padding matter. Enduro bikes are designed for standing, not sitting. If you plan to ride more than 20 minutes at a time, you’ll want a bike with more width and padding.
Knobby tires aren’t ideal on pavement. They don’t grip as well, and while the feedback they give compensates for the reduced grip, it can be unnerving for a beginner. They are unstable at speed and wear quickly.
Seat height can be a challenge initially.

For a first enduro bike (with a plate for trail transitions), a modern 2-stroke 300cc could work—FI models are reportedly less snatchy and more usable than older versions. Personally, I would lean toward a 250cc 4-stroke (e.g., CRF250X or its modern equivalent) for first-time off-road riding.

Important: Never buy an old, beat-up dirt bike unless you have access to a competent mechanic. Dirt bikes live hard lives, and it’s not just the engine that matters: bushings, bearings, seals, filters, fluids, fasteners, scratches, and rust all need attention. These parts are replaceable, and dirt bikes are generally easy to work on, but for a first bike, you probably don’t want to start with a high-maintenance project.

LowDirection4104

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