What makes driving sport bikes so difficult?

[Franny]

I am asking this question out of interest to see how each person feels the difference between sport bikes and what makes sum harder to ride then others. I would like to get people with person experience on the different types of "sport bikes". To clarify I want you to say what separates driving the 600cc from others like the 1000cc to the 1400cc. What may differentiate each from each other and what would make them harder to drive over others. Remember this is all on personal experience and like all things, different people can have different experiences.This question is not limited to just the ones listed it for all sports, and super sports.

[Aggie65]

Common sense and stupidity! Just like anything, you have to learn to crawl before you can walk. That and if you can afford the insurance. I rode a 600cc bike for 7yrs without out-growing it, not many people will even come close to outgrowing or exceeding the capabilities of a modern day 600cc sportbike.

[Pippa]

if you are talking crotch rockets.. they are harder to drive because of the way you lean forward to drive them

[Mamie]

If the rider is the same, then the difference would be the weight of the bike, and the center of gravity. Another factor would be the handlebar width, and also different riding positions between large and small sportbikes.
For someone trying sportbikes after riding cruisers or standards, the fixed fairings on a sportbike can seem a bit strange at first, but you get used to that fast.

[Fritzie]

I have been on many different sport bikes from 600's 750's 954's and 1000's. I would not say one is harder to ride than the other but what I would say is that the 600 is more forgiving then the rest. Although even today’s 600's aren't the most forgiving bikes. With a 600 nine times out of ten you can give it all she’s got and she will do it with out many negative reaction. When you get on a liter bike you can't just grab that throttle and pull all the way back on it because it will just flip right out from underneath of you. You have to learn the limitations of the bike and know when and how much throttles to give it. That’s really the only main distinction between different sized bikes. Any other differences are normally brand or style specific.

[Fritzie]

Sports bikes are difficult because they are ADVANCED level bikes. Basically factory racing bikes. A sport bike from today taken back just a few years would be beating full on race bikes. You have to be fit to even ride more than a short time in the lay down riding position. Until you are going fast enough for the rush of air to hold you up you are basically holding half a push-up.

A 600cc bike is no wimp it still has an outrageous power to weight ratio is begging to wheelie most of the time. 1000 to 1400cc bikes are just stupid powerful. Just hold the HP numbers up next to a cruiser...Harley 1450cc around 80 HP Yamaha R1 180 HP and that is nowhere near the fastest or most powerful bike out there. That should really say it all. These bikes are in no way polite or user friendly, they are rockets.

I'm basing my opinion on how fast a squid will end up road kill. I think insurance rates back me up. For the experienced rider, a very sweet ride.

[Cassie78]

I don't find Suzuki GSXR's(my faveorite fared sport) or Honda CBR's all that difficult. Yamaha R's and kawasaki ninja's are very uncomfortable to me and that make them harder for me to ride. Ducati superbike are torture racks but i love them anyway. Naked sports on the other hand are super easy and comfortable ride even more than most cruisers for me such as the Honda 599 and 919 or the yamaha FZ1 even the Ducati monster (my favorite naked) series is pretty comfortable even though more aggresive than other naked bikes which is exactly why I like it more.

[Liv]

ninebadthings: you should keep your mouth shut when you don't know what you are talking about. you have obviously never ridden any sportbike before, 600cc or otherwise.

Riding a sportbike isn't difficult, though riding a sportbike well takes a great deal of skill. 600cc is more manageable for track or twisties riding... the front isnt going to come up on you as easily and you don't have to always worry about giving it too much gas in the corners like on a 1000cc. 1000cc is better for cruising around town because the gears are so tall and you have more torque. People greatly exaggerate the difficulty of riding sportbikes... they are not going to go 150mph unless you intentionally make them go that fast, and if you just drive around at normal city speeds you will never see the front come up even on a literbike.

[Evie98]

Power curve, suspension, riding position,engine placement, rider weight and experience all make for different levels of difficulty.

[Josie]

I own 3 bikes, a cruiser, dual sport and a sport bike, and in my opinion the sport bike is the easiest bike to ride. a cruiser bike is heavy and handles like a semi truck, the sport bike is easy, lightweight, comfortable and holds the road like the tires are glued to the road.
Any 600 cc sport bike is big and fast enough to keep up with any other bike out there.

[Katie3]

They are faster, lighter and more capable than any other type of motorcycle on the planet, and take VERY little input from the rider to do anything.

Just a slight push on the handlebars will toss a sportbike over sideways in an instant, and when the speeds involved are SO much higher than what you'd get in a car your reactions must be more finely tuned.

For example, when I first started riding I figured it takes about 1/3 throttle to get my big, heavy Jeep to accelerate at a reasonable pace, so a tiny 650cc engine would take about the same, right?

I let the clutch out and twisted the throttle, and promptly proceeded down the street faster than I had EVER taken off in my life! It was all I could do to ease off the throttle and slow down, but that same panic could have easily thrown me into a ditch at 40mph. I learned INSTANT respect for the power-to-weight ratio of motorcycles that day!

So you get a newbie on a fast sportbike with NO experience, and there are many opportunities to reach that "panic" state and freeze up instead of doing the correct actions to keep themselves safe. It is NOT intuitive, and takes time to learn; often years. And all that a bigger engine will get you is into that panic zone faster.

[Katie3]

Let's define "difficult"... for instance, as compared to a cruiser of similar engine displacement.
If it means hard to move around with your feet while in neutral, a sport bike generally has a shorter wheelbase, and should be easier to maneuver than a big cruiser.
If it means handling the bike at high speed through curved roads, the higher power-to-weight-ratio, better suspension, and superior brakes again give a sportbike the edge over the cruiser.
Yet riding position and ergonomics are the most important factors to many riders, as a modern sportbike's lay-on-your-belly position and board-hard seat don't really lend themselves to comfort. And when you're uncomfortable, you can be distracted, which can make riding difficult. As others said, you can't have a big gut and stretch yourself over a sportbike tank. And you can't have stiff joints either.