Hey kawans,

Here's the situation, I've been driving back and forth between my workplace and it's been taking a toll on me. Driving a manual kinda exacerbates the stress. I spend roughly 3.5 to 4 hours on average driving back and forth from work which is 60km in total back and forth.

I'm currently in the midst of getting a B full license with the idea of getting an MT07 to ease my commute. Hopefully I'll be able to cut down on the travel and perhaps find a little thrill and joy in the journey. Don't worry, I've already set aside the budget for a full face helmet, riding jacket and gloves. That said, if anyone has shop recommendations, I'm all ears. Would prefer a shop that can advise on helmet sizings with test fitting.

Would the sifus here be able to advise on the MT07? How is it in terms of maintenance cost and are there any issues I should be looking out for?

Much appreciated

Went with a Leoncino to get my feet wet first and to experience riding on the roads. Easier to manage and with a profile that allows me to cut and work my way around traffic. Can't see myself developing those skills on a bigger, heavier bike. So it's really thanks to all the sifus here on the sound advice.

But of course, I'm already looking towards upgrading to something a bit bigger in the pipeline. A few more months down the line or if I come across something that tickles my fancy with the right price point. Hahah, who knows? I'm excited being the greenhorn that I am.

So far, motorcycling has been everything I wanted it to be.
- Excitement during commute back and forth
- Time Efficiency
- Cost Savings (Fuel, Parking, Tolls)

And this has translated to better quality of life for me and my family.

I'll be taking my Motorcycle license test on the 18th of April so wish me luck  Hopefully I can remove the 'L' sticker after...hahah

I was looking at it! And it's really tempting. Has the Ducati Monster-ish sillhoutte that I like too.. at RM 30k NEW, sounds like a steal.

But kinda phobia with Suzuki. You see, I used to own a Suzuki SX4 and damn, the spare parts are crazy pricey. Some parts are on par with continental cars. Like why the heck am I even paying Continental sparepart prices to drive a Suzuki? Not only that, the spare parts are scarce.. 

That experience really taught me to study maintenance and spare part prices before committing to my next vehicle.. hahah

suzuki bikes are bulletproof.. you can find hayabusa from 2009 that is still running in mint-like condition.
you can even find sv650 from 10 years ago in used market that have no problem and still in running condition.

ordering spare parts pretty easy too. either order direct from suzuki malaysia website or japan website like webike.
sv650 bike is probably the next best thing to get next to cfmoto 800nk since mt-07 isnt available in our country.
of course there's z650 too but that bike is kinda boring 

get it while you still can 

Super tempting! Been doing a bit of research from my end and it is true Suzuki bikes are reliable. Unfortunately, the starting price for their newer offerings are quite high, except for the SV650 which is very very very very veryyyy tempting.. new, to boot! Hahah

Will have to check around for a test ride. But I wonder if they'll allow an L license rider to test ride.

Wasn't at my best today as it was an eventful day yesterday. My bike refused to start when I wanted to head back yesterday and I ended up having to take the train home from PJ. Sampai rumah pukul 10pm.

Woke up this morning and it was raining cats and dogs since last night. More of a bummer when I reached the driving school for the test and found puddles of water all along the test track  Sat down to compose myself while I got sorted out with registration and the number vest.. guess what my number was, Nombor 1!

Certainly did not help my nerves that there were 5 other B Full license doing their retest as they failed the last one while there was only 2 of us taking our B Full amongst the 20 or so B2 calons.

After the JPJ officer taklimat, he pointed at me and said, B Full Nombor 1 camne? nak start dulu atau tunggu hujan stop? Hujan kecik kecik je, apa ada masalah? 

So there I go, going through RSM and RPM. FINALLY, the moment of truth... I lined up the Titi and summoned all the prayers and well wishes I could muster. Rev-ed and went up without a hitch, steady as she goes. Eyes forward, feathering the clutch, tapping back brakes and I before I know it, made it to the end without a hitch. And for some reason, my bike decided now is a good time to die on me the moment my bike came down the Titi. Quickly restarted the bike and moved on to the next test.

Everything else went without well as my confidence grew doing the routine drills. After going through Bahagian 2, I started on Bahagian 3 pulak. All was going well but as I was approaching the JPJ officer pondok to continue the rest of Bahagian 3, the officer pointed at me and asked me to go park my bike, you're done. Tak payah continue lagi 

GABRA wei... I was thinking, where did I go wrong, as I replayed the scenario in my head on the possible mistakes I could have done during the course. Talk about having a downer on a rainy day. As I went to the office to get my keputusan, the counter said 'Tahniah, dah lulus!'   

So TLDR, I passed! and I want to thank you all for being part of this journey from Page 1 of this thread when I have no prior riding experience! You are all MVPs and part of what makes this community awesome!!

care to share how its worth every single penny for the premium pricing compared to other helmets such as scorpion, nexx, shark,etc?

Comparing premium lines to other premium lines, its only the difference of branding.

If you compare the GT Air (a sport touring helmet), with a Scorpion EXO1400, HJC Rpha 71, Shark Spartan or others equivalent in its class, the difference would be minimal. Some find Shoei's Asian fit shape better for our asian heads.

The only outlier would be Arai, where they tend to do things uniquely thier way and no one follows them.
Once you go into the ~2-3K plus helmets, there is not much separating them in terms of performance save for a few unique USPs and features exclusive to the brand.

for daily, i am using a Givi (cant remember the model)

but i get sore spots after an hour of riding. - someone advised me to get the padding but not told me where to buy it hahahaha

I agree with Jaycee. I use my full face and gear up daily even if only going around my neighborhood on my little 125 riding 2 up. Sure it is a bit troublesome but most accidents happen around 10 km from your home. Not risking anything after 2 accidents.

Why not? I daily on a full face.

Don't feel secure leaving the front of my face unprotected. Just open the visor at stoplights. Or sometimes at low speed, I just leave the visor open and use the inner sunshade.

the level of protection is really depends on preference
the preference, is also mindset

some times, some ppl quite contradictory
one minute say "ride like everybody is out to kill you"
next minute ride like a squid (helmet only)

No offense, I do it too - open face, textile jacket...

preference and decision based on your own opinion and risk appetite
I personally don't want to experience road rash as much as possible
especially where hair grows... once you have a scar there, it stops growing
and other cosmetic reasons

scars, are not cool, when they're not needed

Should be the 30.3 then

By chance, do you know where to get the inner lining to reduce sore sports?

My take on this is if you cant afford top tier protective wear, just get what you can afford. Something is always better than nothing. A entry level 22.06 full face will always protect more than that fancy J cruise.

I know a lot of people say a full face is hot. So is any other riding gear. I rather be hot than having to deal with road rash or more serious injuries that any protective gear can prevent. Sure I am aware protective gear wont protect against everything but im banking on the fact it actually can prevent some.

Riding aids like ABS and TC helps especially on daily rides, where we dont ride with full 100% concentration and something may surprise you leading to grab a handful of throttle or brake suddenly. This is why you often see kapchai accidents them locking up the rear and sliding into the car in front. Kapchai riders have been "trained" not to jam the front brake and locking up. Just using the rear brake wont slow you down. With ABS, you can just let the system handle it and use your most powerful brakes to stop you.

What gloves do you wear for commute?

I'm also contemplating upgrading, but those really protective ones are leather which is not only not breathable but also makes handling the bike less enjoyable

i like this pair too but the color bleeds like mad during wash...after several wash, some area turns white.

After 7 months of extensive riding, I've been slowly upgrading my gears as I felt more confident being on the bike. I've upgraded my jacket and gone for full leather gloves from my first cheap RM20 mesh gloves. Yes, read the reviews for gloves on this thread and went for it... heheh

Gosh, the leather glove is a game changer. Night and day in terms of comfort and feel. It's a full glove but not gauntlet gloves as I think I'll save that for when I 'graduate' to the next stage. Not sure if I need gauntlet gloves though because it seems a bit excessive.

I'm also looking at upgrading to a streetfighter style helmet soon but from what I can see, the streetfighter style helmets are mostly considered half helmets because the chin protectors are removable plastic pieces and not considered protection. I'm looking at you MT Helmet Streetfighter and Scorpion Exo Combat 2.

The Bell Boozer looks too rounded for my liking pulak and Simpson helmets are way outta budget for now...

Also to update on riding, my early jitters are still there each time I get on the bike but at least I don't feel my heart thumping wanting to jump out of my chest when I start the bike. Not from the excitement, mind you, more from the anxiety.. hahah

If there is one thing I'm never going to downgrade, it's nothing less than a full face. That's why the MT Streetfighter SV, Scorpion Exo 2 are out of my list as the chin part is just that, a plastic cover.

Even the Boozer with the certified protection detachable chin part is a 50/50 for me because I don't know how the 'detachable' part will react under the stresses of a crash. Would have preferred it to be a one-piece helmet.

The Scorpion Covert FX does look good though. Just the look I like. might just go check it out over the long weekend. Hahah.

I legit didn't know peaks from ADV helmets are removable.. cause the last time I tested one, my head was 'primed for lift-off' whenever I accelerated and I think it's the peak that exacerbated that feeling. But I do like that ADV helmets have a wider visor area allowing a better FOV. Will look around and test it out.

Noise isn't really an issue for me as I wear earplugs whenever I ride so not too concerned about sound insulation.

bro, i dunno who you're, but i don't suggest you driving bike, not safe, really when you don't have much experience. All my co-workers that ride bike, nearly most of them had accidents throughout my 4 year work at my company.

Instead, use public transport, rent nearer or leave earlier, or later, find something to do at office or near office to burn time to allow traffic to clear up.

just my 2 cents, ok thks bye, GG

I would encourage more ppl to ride, so when they drive, they know better

I cannot la. Tried riding without few days without earplugs and my ears were ringing when I reached the office. A bit hard for me as my ears are very important in my line of work.

The earplugs I got doesn't isolate all sound though, it just brings everything down to more manageable levels for my ear. I still can hear car horns or if they are speeding past me.

Congratulation, so what led you to the Benelli BN600 (if Google was accurate)?

And I remember you commute via federal right? How do you find the experience given such drastic change in motorcycle weight and size?