Are you scared to ride? (sport bike)

MSF and Advanced MSF.
The advance course really shows you how to use your front brake.
I did those courses a long time ago & did a refresher AMSF a couple of years ago.
This summer will be a track course in Loudon, NH.
I can't wait because I always am looking to improve on my skills.

 

One thing I love about the older bikes is they made the seats with thick cushion and they were comfortable! The new bikes have seat cushions as thin as paper!
Everybody is forced to spend $500 on some type of aftermarket seat for their bike

 

depends on the bike you get. If you want a race style bike i agree with you. 1/4" of foam is not comfy for more than 30 minutes...

get something like the ninja 650r or sv650, or yam fz6/1 they are all pretty comfortable...

 

SV650 & 1000 seats are about as comfortable as riding a park bench after about 30 minutes. The foam is there, but the density is pretty weak IMO. Before you make it halfway through a tank of gas you'll most likely have gone through the foams support and pretty much find yourself on the plastic seat pan.

 

A Sargent seat for just about any sport bike is the best $350 mod you can spend your money on. I had one on my '99 Ducati 900SS and it was a huge improvement over stock. Since my current 999 gets about as much track time as street time I haven't broken down and bought one for it, yet.

 

i thought the sv was pretty comfy. i did a 300 mile ride on one. Not as comfy as my hayabusa but pretty comfy. my r6 and gsxr1000 are the worst. 1/4" of foam pressure point directly on the taint...

 

I went from an '03 SV650S to a '03SV1000S (totaled by oncoming, left-turning car), to a '05 SV1000S, then my CBR, then my R6. The R6 is the best, CBR a second...then the SV's.

I tried Suzuki's gel seat on the '05 and it did help but the gel was way too hard in cooler months.

 

You can a ship a seat to Spencers or use a local reputable upolstery business & get your seat customized w/ gel inserts, trimmed down for less than $100.
He has been doing it for years & has all types of tricks & techniques for making it right for you.
I had my seat done by Spencer's turn around less than 10 days ~ *80 bucks. No reason to pay $500 nowadays.
Others take the staples off the back & do their own.

 

Cannot agree more, back in the day when you could stand a street bike up on its back wheel through 3 or 4 gears it meant something. Now all they do is stand on the back pegs and pull with throttle, the bikes are so well balanced its not the same.

BTW I rode new yammies back in the '70's and one of them was a 400 Enduro, I think it was in '75. The Z-1 was a monster back then.

RD350 (clubmans and bassani)
RD400 (flats and bassani)
ST500 (stock)
DT400 (stock)

 

FOR THE SO CAL RIDERS THAT DON'T WANT TO RIDE B/C IT'S SO CAL: Stop being little babies!!! I commute 50 miles daily on my GSXR 600. Yah, it's scary at times and there are always close calls especially with retards on their cell, texting or updating their FB status... but it's still a fun sport. Just stay defensive and alert at all times and you should be fine.