Congratulations! And now please say after me: “All the gear, all the time!”
Oh don’t worry! I will never go ride without my gear.
And thank you!
It’s a Kawasaki ER-6n from 2015. I’m quite enjoying it so far, for as long as the good weather lasts.
Hey that’s the same model as my first, except like 20 years newer. Great machine.
Did they make these 20 years ago?
Not quite, it turns out. Quick Google got me the ER-5, built from 1997-2006. Mine was the 1998 model, if I recall correctly.
I just googled it. That’s also a nice looking bike. I think my uncle used to ride one of those back in the day.
Good choice, I’ve had a 2014 ER6f for about 6 years now and apart from the fit and finish being a bit crap it’s been a fab bike … lots more fun than the faster bikes I had before and if you have good form it can go well on the track too (the frame geometry really responds to rider weight movement). Also the ER6n was used by one of the former European Moto Gymkhana champions, too :-)
Protip: if there’s no record of the forks being rebuilt it’s a worthwhile thing to have done on any bike that’s over 10 years old!
Good brake pads, braided lines, and aftermarket handlebars all made noticeable improvements for me, too.
Jesus that’s quite a first motorcycle. In the UK you have to ride a 125 until you pass an extra test. Although I suppose there are certain “intensive training programmes” where you can ride the school’s bike until you get your A-license and then buy your own afterwards.
Ah, I see. I did take classes though. Those are mandatory in Belgium.
We’re only limited by your age. I’m 35, so I was allowed to go for my full A licence from the get-go.
I learnt to ride on the school’s Z650.Haha I always love Europeans take on Americans first motorcycle!
I know people tend to say “that wouldn’t work in America” for things but I genuinely think that wouldn’t work out in America with our speed limits and distances outside of cities. My brother and I took a course together where we learned on a 125 bike, he bought a 250, and I bought a 750 (a cruiser though, not a sport bike so I’m not going crazy fast) and he struggles on some roads we go on. Something like a throughway is pretty much out of the cards for him.
Yeah I kind of get that. I honestly don’t feel safe on a highway on something less then 400, especially in southwest America. You might be able to pull it off south east America considering how flat it is and highway speeds tend not to exceed 55mph.
To be fair, I wouldn’t want to ride motorways here on a 125 either, although entirely legal and possible.
A 35kw bike might be okay though.
It’s like 600cc so yeah that makes more sense now.
I’m not American though. I’m from Belgium, but I’m 35 so I immediately went for my full A licence which allows me to ride any motorcycle.
The way I got my full A was… interesting.
So, in Italy (where I’m from) they changed the law two months before I got my B licence, in 1991.
Before then, a B would allow you to drive any bike, whereas after the change you had to take a written and driving test for the first A (125cc I believe?) then another for 600cc etc.
Long story short, I couldn’t drive bikes above 50cc with my B.
Fast forward many years, I moved to the UK, converted my B to its British version, stayed there 12 years, then moved back to Italy and made the conversion again.
I didn’t pay any attention to it, until a couple of years later when I walked to a shop to buy a scooter.
They needed a copy of my licence, so I picked it up, turned it around and noticed that it included the A as well.
“Hold on a second, what can I drive with this?”
"The guy has and look and went “EVERYTHING”, so I said to forget about the scooter and bought my first bike instead:)
Basically someone at the licence office fucked up when they converted from British to Italian, I never took any test. Oh well.
Oh damn. What a rollercoaster that was. :D
Oh damn nice! I didn’t even know that was an option!
Yeah, the way it works around here is that every licence is age-limited. So you can get an A1 at 18, which allows you to ride a 125. A2 at 20, which allows you to ride up to 35kw I believe, and full A at 24 (or 22, and owner of an A2 licence for 2 years).
Is this just for Belgium or all of Europe?
How new is this? Was this reformed after brexit?
35kw is a very strange limitation I wonder how they came to that number.
It is generally standardised across Europe as far as I know, although the age limits can differ across countries.
No idea when this was introduced as I never really looked into it. And I don’t really know why they chose 35kw either, but they had to draw the line somewhere, I suppose. :)
SWEET!
Cheers! I’m quite happy with it.
Congrats! May you ride forever!
Thank you!
Great first bike! Have fun and stay safe. Take your MSF course!
Thank you!
And I’m not from the US, so I had mandatory classes. :)
As makes sense
