Hi all. New to this site and looking for some help please.
I’ve been riding a Marauder 125 (on my CBT) for the last year and have been really enjoying it. However, I’m getting tired of the underpowered Marauder - but it’s been a perfect ride for the first road bike. I’m arranging to take the BAS and looking to upgrade to my first mid size bike. Which bike is the difficuly bit. I’ve riden lots of dirt bikes over the years but have only been riding on the road for the last year.
I am not a boy racer (but I understand there are lots of people who love the speed). I want a bullet proof ride that I can use to commute most of the time and on occasion, take on longer rides (perhaps a jaunt to France). I prefer the more upright seated position and when required want to be able to get away from the traffic or trouble, whichever comes first.
All recommendations gratefully received. Any opinions on the BMW F650, Kawasaki ZZR 600, Honda CBF 500/600? Worried maybe the ZZR would be over powered for my experience??? other bikes?
I had a CBF500 and it never missed a beat, spent 17 days on it last year doing the Lake District and part of Western Scotland, no complaints from me for comfort, also been camping on it and managed to get a fair bit of luggage on it. Have just upgraded to the 600 and love it to bits as am back to an inline four. They are certainly all round bikes … but then i guess i am biased
whats your budget? And you don’t have to look at less power machines just because you don’t want to ride flat out all the time.
I would consider a fazer600? slightly less power than the usual super sports machines, but enough get up and go, decent handling and faired enough for touring etc.
As always depends what type of riding you do town/mway here are 3 faired sports tourers that would fit your bill
Honda cbr600f, yamaha diversionf, Suzuki gsx650f all can be picked up for around 3k or less at the moment and all have good supply of spares. I personally own the suzuki but thats personal preference
Fazer are the most reliable bike according to my mechanic, personally I hate the swing arm but love the under seat exhausts.
Lots of value to be had with older bikes eg the fazers and cbr600’s. Just take your time to search out a private sale and a bike thats obviously been looked after with non of the “its a ten year old bike” excuses. Nices ones are out there to be had, just take your time to look and look at loads so you get to know what your looking at.
The Marauder is giving me grief - been a good bike to learn on but having difficulty finding neutral and sometimes when I’m in neutral it slips into gear. Has a bloody mind of it’s own!!! Embarrassing when you’re sitting at a set of lights watching the world go by. The shop has had the clutch basket off for a looksee and says that the trouble is in the gearbox and not worth pulling apart and spending money on. Anyway, it’s 7 years old and I’m thinking that buying a second hand bike would have the potential of taking on some other wonderful little problems.
You’re right, I don’t know what I’m looking at. May be better to buy new and get what I can for a part exchange?
I had to make the decision of second hand vs new bike recently. I came to the conclusion of going for a second hand bike. I made my decision based on the fact that I live in central London and unfortunately don’t have a secure parking area, which means my bike (CG atm, but hopefully soon to be an ER6) is parked outside my flat, on the road, almaxed to a fence! It’s not worth me risking buying a brand new bike, only for some London scooter scroate to steal it. So I guess what i’m trying to say is when you do upgrade, think about where your going to keep your bike, would you be happy to park a new “big” bike where ever you are going to?There are some deacent 2nd hand bikes out there, just a question of hunting them down!I hope this helps/has given you something else to think about! Good luck
i had a cbf600s for some unknown reason it caused me agony- pinching nerves in my shoulders , sold it after a month of pain. That said, not a common problem and im a bit gutted as it had more than enough speed (both 0-60 and top end), excellent brakes and handled exceptionally (my point of refferance was a 125cc honda shadow). Even with 33bhp restrictor it would cruise happily at very respectable speeds and just eat up the miles the stock screen is good even on motorway and the build quality down to all the buttons was miles above any other bike i’ve ridden. Combined ABS as standard too. 3 seat heights available really help make sure it fits the legs. and a pretty comfy seat.
I did drive this bike like an idiot though because it could easily handle everything i threw at it. was only getting very low 40’s mpg in city and mid 50’s on motorway so fuel consumption on 1000ish miles a month hurt my pocket plus its just isnt have any sex appeal. That said if it didnt cause much extreme pain in my back then i would of kept it and had loads of fun on it across europe or until i lost my life/license. a doddle to clean too and decent tank about 20L if i remeber correctly.
+1… I own the Suzuki GSX650F as well. Has been good so far. No major problems. I’ve seen them on Ebay for cheap with around 10K miles.I got mine with the restrictor kit fitted and some extras. 2008 model only 2400 miles on the clock for £3400. Also if your doing a restricted licence the restrictor kit costs £200.
I owned a BMW F650GS for two years (the single cylinder model). Mine was bought from Vines of Guildford, who handle all the ex-offroad school bikes…which mine was. I bought a six month old BMW for £2,200, which had new brakes, tyres, chain and sprockets fitted, and was still under warranty. Due to it being ex-offroad school almost every panel had a scratch, or indeed was held together with cable ties, so it looked rough and nasty. However it was mechanically sound, and once I’d fitted a Scorpion silencer, tractable from tickover to the limiter, whilst making a lovely ‘braaap’ noise!
OK, it wasn’t very quick - 103mph flat out and a highest cruising speed of 80mph. It was however exceptionally economical and cost little in parts. I went two up touring on it to Dartmoor with camping gear, commuted to uni, and all sorts. Metzler Tourance tyres last forever and provide good grip, and the long travel suspension is idea for London’s roads - you don’t need to slow down for speed bumps!
