You start off with a shitty bike like a Dominar then you'd appreciate your new bike more. When I say shitty, it's relative. It's heavy, handles quite top heavy on slow speed, not the quietest nor smoothest bike out there. But what makes it shitty, is good training ground.

To be honest the dominar is a very average bike. But it's cheap and serves as a perfect learners bike. Cheap and easily sourced replacement parts means it's a decent commuter bike if you plan to pile up the mileage.

Yea, I'll just leave the MT07 dream to simmer while I pile on the miles and experience while on the 'starter bike'. I'll just be going with the Dominar 400 for the budget, weight and also maintenance for now. Looking to mod that ugly ass headlights to something more 'garang' as I see quite a few nice 3rd party headlights online.

Hopefully, when it's time for me to move up, the MT07 will be cheaper and comes with ABS too. Hahah

Yea, no euro bikes for me though the ducati monster is sexy as hell (for me at least). Bike price isn't really my concern, it's the maintenance and the 'desmo service' that scares me from what I've been hearing from more experienced riders. Initially thought of the shiver 750 as well but the low prices all around seems to be quite sus. Accessories for it seems to be harder to find as well.

Yea, thanks for sharing that insight and recommending the Dominar. Haven't had the chance to test ride it but I've been eye-ing a few online. Will check them out once I've got my L and gotten a few lessons from the riding school.

Average works for me as I won't be keeping the bike too long (I hope). A year or so but I do intend to ride to work as much as I can to gain that experience. Now I just need to start building that confidence to ride out of my Taman. Hahah

Your bike preference might change the more you ride as you will know what type of riding is more suitable and enjoyable for you

getting a big bike is a big jump for less experience. so my suggestion is try to get 250cc bike first. go get the used one. ride it for a year...then upgrade to bigger cc.
another thing is...u r travelling 60km to work. MT-07 will be tiring for you riding for 40mins. i would like to recommend a sport tourer bike. before i travel s. alam to semenyih everyday by z650. kinda tiring journey. now using vstrom and happy ride. give it a thought

Agreed. I'm sure I'll be able to find my preference once I start riding more. As of now, what I do know is I won't be getting a sports bike for sure.

I used to own a 1996 ZX9R and I learn-to-ride/ rode around without a license more than 15 years back. Around my housing area only, mind you. Thought I could just wing it and learn on the way but dropping the 200+kg bike early on thought me a valuable lesson not to 'mess around and find out' as I could get myself or the people around me killed. Loads of 'fun moments' ensued but I sold off the bike before anything un-towards happened. Fun Fact: As heavy as it is, the bloody bike can give you a nasty shock if you accidentally let go of the clutch.

So this time round, I'm trying a ground up approach and taking steps to learn the right way, hopefully I'll learn to be a rider the right way.

Whoa Shah Alam to Semenyih? That's a lot of awesome open roads to open up that throttle man.. hahah

I'm sure they're more comfy as they are made for touring. The thing with touring bikes are, it'll be quite a waste if I don't plan to take it on road trips and such. Granted I might have to move between traffic during my commute and of course needing to go into the city every once in awhile. And I don't know how easy it is to 'cilok' given that it has fairings vs a naked bike that has none. They look intimidatingly tall too.. hahah

I had a feeling you're not a newbie

It all comes down to how well you know your bike. The more you ride the more confident you are to 'cilok' with panniers. I always ride with panniers cause lazy to keep removing and re-installing. First few times might be a bit cautious but once you get the hang of it it becomes second nature. Once you are used to riding with panniers and when the panniers comes off, you will feel like as though the bike is small or maybe it is just me

The only difference between the faring and naked bike is that when you turn the handle bar the front end doesn't move like a naked. That too will need time to get use to as well.

I'm still a newbie.. TRUST ME. I only owned that bike for 6 months before selling it off as most times, I had to compose myself before taking it off the paddock stand and heading out. The power and sheer weight scared the crap out of me as I didn't have anyone guiding me and mind you, I had no license nor experience riding bikes what more big bikes.

I remember one particular incident where I took the bike out for a test ride around my taman. I fell as I was turning because the handlebars just locked up at an angle, I went down like a bag of bricks. Couldn't even get the bike up, and a few helpful souls at the opposite mamak had to come over and help lift the bike. Lucky I had a fullface on, but 'malu gila' time tu... sold the bike real soon after.

I'm determined to start off on the right foot this time. Proper training, mental preparation, on a bike I can build my confidence on. Hence all these questions. So yea, I'm very much a newbie hoping to learn all I can from all the sifus here

One step at a time la. No panniers for me coz I don't want to be wrecking people's side mirrors for now. Hahaha. But once I've built that confidence, I won't say no to joining long rides but we'll see.. baby steps baby steps.

I'm going to get my L this Sat and starting my lessons too. So as with all great journeys starts with a single step, I'm taking my first step forward.

the ZX9R is a beginner's bike as much as the MT07, with similar torque number at 5~6k RPM
just different numbers after that RPM range, one goes up, the other goes down

Sure didn't feel like it to me especially for someone having never ridden a bike before. It was heavy as hell, with limited turning radius on the handlebars. Most of all, it felt big..WAY TOO BIG for me. Or it could just be my nerves.

And I've only ever went up to 2nd gear.

It took me awhile to figure out left leg controls the gearing and right controls the rear brakes. That's how much or a newbie I was. Even switching gears was a mystery for me with the bike dying a few times as I didn't know which gear I was in and if I am be shifting up or down.

In hindsight, I was lucky I didn't kill myself or anyone else jumping into something so dangerous without the proper preparation.

how did you buy it in the first place?

You're going to laugh at this but... after a bad breakup, I decided to buy a superbike off a nice chap from Mudah and my friend rode it home for me while I drove a car.

Young and Stupid of me. I thought I was invincible. Boy, did I learn quick once I felt the weight of the bike for the first time and doubts started creeping in. You know those moments where you're hit with that sudden realization and question your decision like, what have I done.

I'm laughing because you sold the bike

anyway, you're glad you're still alive
hope you enjoy re-learning to ride

yes. only downside you cannot cilok when riding a tourer. big fairings kinda give it away. but lately managed to get a test ride my buddy's adv350. dem nice wei. cilok also easy. nice ride high and relax. also rempit easily 150kmh++ which enough for me. too lazy to full throttle nowadays. thinking of downgrade

Hi Kawans, in case anyone's wondering, I'm still alive and well. got all my limbs intact too. Hahah

Just to update, I've gotten my bike for a week and had my first class at the driving school yesterday. Ended up with a Leoncino 250 in pretty good condition from a friend (Was a deal I couldn't resist)

And also I want to thank everyone who talked me out of getting an MT07 as my first bike. My driving school uses the MT07 as their practice + test bikes and whoa, the handling and weight is not something I would have been able to handle without any prior experience. So thanks for stopping me from doing something stupid.

By the way, I could go through the riding test motions at the driving school but one thing I seem to be having issues with is the dreaded titi. Kept going off the titi for some reason even when I'm trying to follow through with all the tips given.

- Don't look down
- Look ahead
- Play with clutch and brake

One thing that caught me is always the 'bump' going up the titi and it takes me half a second to steady myself once I'm fully on it. As time in the driving school is always limited, does anyone have any other tips on how else I can practice the skills needed to pass this 'wall'? Hahah

Thanks Kawans!

REAR brake.

Get some speed and throttle to go up. Keep the clutch in the friction zone throughout the titi (don't fully disengage the clutch and cut power). Then use rear brake to slow down and hold steady. Continue to drag the rear brake throughout the run. Don't touch the front brake.

Most people don't get enough speed going up the bump. Remember you can always slow down when you are up.

Look ahead to the first cone for the slalom. Usually they will line it up with the tiri.

Anyway keep practicing slow speed balancing and clutch friction control. <5kmh speeds. youd know you are good enough, when you can do footless stops over and over again.


Actually the titi is a good test. Both for nerves and technique. I got plenty of that going off-road prior so the titi was a breeze.

This post has been edited by jaycee1: Nov 17 2024, 03:45 PM

which driving school is this? usually they use er6n or z650.. mt07 is kinda unusual to be used in driving school here

like jaycee said, give a lil bit of speed before going up the bumb, then its all fine control between rear brake, clutch and throttle.

then you can start counting on the bridge '1001','1002','1003', until seven to since you need to stay on it for 7 seconds minimum.