So just put my Kwaka in for a service, took the new Ninja SX (1100cc) for a spin, then on returning it I ended up on a 650 Versys as the garage hadn’t got the tyres in…
So got to ride the two bikes on the same roads/conditions an hour apart - which got me thinking. Obviously the big Ninja is a better and more capable bike - quicker to accelerate for sure, fck load of torque - but the way the gearing works - you find yerself in 2nd or 3rd most of the time, whilst with the Versys you have to work the gear box much more - so was using more gears and defo changing more often,
What surprised me what that the Versys (being smaller) was almost the more engaging to ride - rather than just sit in 3rd all day…
I can’t see many roads where the smaller Versys would let me down - and how often in the real world do you get close to red lining a litre bike? I did have one gripe - the faring around yer feet - my toes were fooking freezing and on the Ninja no issues.
Anyhow - thoughts? Given what we actually use our bikes for - is the 1% of riding where a bigger bike is handy - worth the 50-100% price premium for the larger bike?
I’ve had this thought for a while now, and have decided that the 600 class is best.
I’ve had the SV1000 for a decade now, and its a great bike. Is happy touring or doing flowing back roads, but the CBR600 is excellent on those back roads.
Recently (last Friday) I bought a street triple 675 to replace the SV. I know it’s going to be worse on motorways, but i don’t do that often anyway. So far it’s amazing fun just riding around. Feels lighter and easier to turn than the SV, going to take a while to make me miss the big bike.
Though i now need to sell the SV, so need to say that a liter twin is exactly the bike you want, in Red.
Probably one of the reasons I’ve kept my FZ6 for so long, it does everything very well bar the big grunt of power my Speed Triple gives and has tons of torque so you can be very lazy if you want to be in riding it. It’ll pull from most gears even at slow speeds.
Whereas the FZ6 you’ve got to earn them power thrills and a 600cc inline 4 screams for days and revs to the moon lol
I’m still riding my 600 and it’s still more capable than I am. I usually ride with people on 1000s and they all say they miss their previous 600s because you actually had to ride them.
I still miss my old 500 (a bit), You could crack the throttle wide open pretty much anywhere and it didn’t have enough power to get you into too much trouble. You could also leave it anywhere and not worry too much about it.
One of the few things I didn’t like about my old tuono was how effortless it was to gain speed. Made it too easy to break the limit and like Gav says, I didn’t have to work it.
A 10 year old (or older) ZX10 will do 109 in 1st gear. You’ve got to wonder what the other 5 gears are for and how fast you’ll be going if you redline.
Preaching to the converted… 600 all the way, although you tend to get better stock features on the bigger engines v the smaller ones, so that’s one to compare when you buy. Other than that, 600s ride better on the roads in many ways.
