Winter Hack!

[superman]

forget that ill stick with sports bikes till my back cant take the pain no more. why not go for suzuki 650 with faring they are pretty good. my mate has one cant think what its called theo somet 650 its far to sensible i think but that maybe sounds like somet you might consider.

[rene]

SV650 twin or the new bandit 650?

both are to expensive for what your getting lol.

Sports bikes on track = real men
Sports bikes on road = posser

[superman]

lol poser my eye ....
chap on bandit you have just blown past an he cant catch up... gutted
althoe i like bandits would love to try one out specially the new ones, but my next bike is defo either a respol fireblede or an R1. cant be beaten.

yea thats an SV650 my mate has. i think you could get one in that price range i think its good for 130 but he hardley fills it up a good all round commuter i think. just no fun to ride

[RedexRobB]

the SV 650 is slower than the ZXR400 upto about 90. I know ive raced my mate.

[superman]

yea iv done my mate on his an all all the way up to 130. but they aint bad for the commute.

[zimm]

get an sv650, down-gear it and wheelie everywhere !

on that tack ...


streetfighter the 750 .. job done

[masterofinsanity]

the SV 650 is slower than the ZXR400 upto about 90. I know ive raced my mate.

sv650 is slower than the zxr400 upto about 90. i know i ridden one! they are pants!!

[wonderpupp]

I think a sillysensible option would be a VTR1000FW Firestorm honda.

Bulletproof. Fairings are pretty good.

Suzuki TL1000 - but harder to find full fairings

OR YZF1000R Thunderace.

whaddyareckon?

[rene]

i like the VTR's alot and there grate fun to ride once you've updated the suspention (find youself bottoming out the pipes every were tho!). There just a tad to expensive for me on insurance at about 600 a year..and problem with the TL plus you'll never get one of them to handel well!

Forgot all about the Thunderace i'll do some research

[Jamz]

cheers for the offer jamz and im sure someone who hasent read about your love affair with cable tie's, riding it though 9ft of water and brakes binded on will take your arm off!

That's my other one!

VTR1000's can be had for a bargain price - although just as reliable but a shitload faster you could have yourself a ZX9-R for the same money!

[Jamz]

On a slight side-note, I rode my mates new KTM Duke 650 the other day.

To be honest, I was expecting to be bitten by this irrestable 'supermoto bug', and be converted against my will.

Now, bear in mind this KTM is the dogs danglies - WP forks and shocks, Brembo brakes etc...

It was ok.

I mean, I was a bit nervous of riding the damn bike, as I haven't even sat on a non-sportsbike for about 2 years, and had to do a u-turn outside a busy pub as my very first manouevre!

I found 1st gear was a bit weak. It pulled like a bugger in 2nd... but compared to a 750cc V4 it was pretty obvious to me that there wasn't much horsepower there! I didn't expect that!

The clutch also felt a bit spongey - but that could be because it's cable and I'm used to hydraulics.

Sure, it felt nice and smooth over the bumpy roads, and it did get my adrenaline up, but I just don't think I could cope without that top-end speed. It would get boring.

Cornering could be more fun with some practise (I wobbled around a bit, still trying to adjust), but they're not for me.

I suspect I may be the only person in the world ever to think like this though - if you listen to how SM riders bang on about it all, anyway...

[rene]

the Duke is abit of a girly SM really more aimed at reliablity, try somthing like the KTM 520 (every 8 hour rebuild job) you'll have the front wheel in the air in 5th gear and power sliding into the bends!

admitiadly its not the type of bike you can just jump onto and enjoy though give it a week or so and you'll change your mind!

Also what do you think of the VFR's comapired to somthing more race rep like? from what i've read their ment to be almost as good as a race rep but nice to plod about one as well? not sure if the older ones have the linked brakes but if so how do you get along with them?

[Jamz]

Bugger linked brakes!!! I consider them a blasphemy, and thankfully none of the 750's have them!

Compared to a race rep?

The older FG's ('86-'88) are a bit more twitchy than the later ones, but still pretty damn good in the twisties (first bike I got my knee down on properly)...

The FM ('90-'94) feels much more stable in the corners - fairly similar to the ZXR but obviously feels heavier. They're supposed to be slightly heavier and less powerful than the FG (and later ones even heavier), but even if there is a difference I think you'd get it back in the twisties. Bloody great chassis, really!

Anyone who's ridden with me on a more spirited ride will probably tell you I can easily get it to perform as well as theirs - but the truth is the ground clearance becomes a huge issue, and it's very easy to ride it fast because I'm riding wayyyy below the limits I reached on the ZXR400!

Give me a race rep and I'd whup my VFR times on any road I knew.

[rene]

well im keeping the 750 for track days / funn weekend rides but i just wanted to make sure i could have fun on the VFR if i happen to be out on a niceish day!

think i'll give it a bash and see what happens! so anyone want to buy a CRM? sadly she needs to go £1,800 and shes yours!

[wonderpupp]

Nah mate, just got a Mk3 for £1065.