I commute from Oxford to London every day on a Fazer but have an urge to change my bike to R6 or R1. What are your thoughts about the suitability of supersports bikes for regular commuting? Would they be heavy on the wrists, especially in slow traffic/filtering, is the longish-term comfort compromised (i don’t mean that hot water in jacuzzi runs out, I mean that my bum doesn’t get extremely numb when cruising for 1hr on a m-way), is the slow-traffic mobility impaired, etc?
In short, do you think it is feasible to get a supersports and use it (also) for a regular 60mi commute?
I commute everyday on an R1 from Fulham to Heathrow, no problem at all. Not as long as your journey but no probs as far as I’m concerned - and my commute is all in traffic till I hit the M4.
Used to do the same…In fact every bike I’ve owned has been a sports bike pretty much and besides them getting a bit hot in summer with the fans kicking in in traffic, there were no problems.
One of the bikes was even a little Aprilia RS125 2 stroke that I rode to work everyday through to the west end from north London.
If your really concerned, why not go for a sports tourer? like a big ol zx12r or a busa bit easier on the bottie. Or even real comfort like a xjr1300 or the honda big 13? Or even the ZZR14? Maybe not as much fun as an R1 or Gixxer but does the job none the less?
If I was commuting into London every day I’d not want to use a sports bike, there are better bikes for the job, would like an ER6f perhaps, gives you much better visibility and easier to filter, or an SV650 like Gabs, much higher bars and less focused.
Used to do an 80 mile commute on my CCM…supermoto seats are no good (not meant) for commuting…
so I bought an old NTV and joined the V-Twin club for a bit…
The idea of supermoto doesn’t appeal for some reason. What I ideally would like to have is a bike that is good for commuting and phun and reasonably quick on track.
As for sports tourers I once took a VFR for a spin and found the seat to be one of most uncomfortable surfaces my bum has sat on. I really liked Sprint but it is a bit high for me, especially for filtering when one may want to put a foot down more than occasionally; I wasn’t also convinced by its gabarits, it looked too wide but this might be my chronic paranoia. I’ve seen a discussion in Tourers about Sprint’s finish quality and it doesn’t seem to be too bad for British winters. Hwat I’ve never heared is a feedback from someone who took Sprint out for a track day.
I thought about Busa & Co, especially about the Blackbird. The impression I have is that they are quite heavy; straight line stability is superb but how about maneurability which I’d need in traffic? I don’t think they are as fun on track as R6… Is there anyone on the forum who rides one (Busa, Blackbird, ZX12) and could comment on this?
If you want a track/road bike then how about a GSXR750 K4 or K5 ? My track bike is a K4 and is superb on track, I do prefer my ZX6R but the 750 is easy to ride fast, very smooth and well planted in corners and still very flickable. On the road it would be awesome, being slightly bigger than the modern 600’s there’s a bit more room, it’s more comfortable than my 07 ZX6R, less buzzy and I think I could even tour on it, could probably commute on it too where the 07 ZX6R would just give me a sore arse, back, knees and wrists.
Thanks to everyone for an input. I’d like to gather as many opinions as possible.
The ideas about GSXR750 is a good one, I have to try one. Steve, why exactly K4 or K5, not newer models? Just beacuse the power is 146 vs 125 bhp, or are there any other considerations?
As about naked bikes, they are good in town but 2/3 of my everyday journey is on M40. I had an unfaired FZ1 as a loan bike while my bike was in service, and didn’t like the buffeting that gets even worse when you pass a lorry. I also found FZ1 very susceptable to side winds, big time. There is a place on M40 going north, just after J5, when you descend into the valley and you are almost always hit by a very strong gust of wind. Usually it is not a problem but I felt really uncomfortable on the FZ1 when it moved sideways almost into the path of a lorry. This didn’t happen with any other bikes I rode on that route.
What I definitely need to do is to have a spin on a Busa; this is for sure.
I’ve never ridden a k6 750 so can’t comment, I need to, want to buy either a k4/5 or k6/7 for the road and use the ZX6 on track. Would be interested to know if they are smaller or sharper than the K4.
There was a busa at Silverstone yesterday, at least it had the stickers on it but I never saw it on track, either he never caught me or I never caught him.
There are opinions expressed on various web sites that 750 build quality would revent a sensible owner from riding this bike in winter. Steve, can you comment on this one? I currently can find time to wash my bike not more often than once per 10 days, if not two weeks (in winter I will do my best to cut it to 5-7 days if the life will be absolutely ideal), so the build quality is kind of important.
You’ve been listening to Honda owners again ;) I can’t see anything wrong with many of the Suzuki’s I’ve seen, for example GSXRAng used her bike (K7) all though last winter and it doesn’t look any different to most of the summer use bikes that only come out in May and get tucked up again in September. I rode my Kwasaski through winter and some of the brake unions furred up but that was before I found ACF50 and all bikes seem to have the same brake parts, probably supplied as an assembly by the brake caliper manufacturer.
Can’t see a gsxr750 being any different from most bikes, bit of ACF50 along the way and a proper clean every week or two should see them fine.
If you get one new enough, you can always take it back under guarantee. It occasionally varies by dealer, but looking after it is the key. Cleaning the bike gives you the opportunity to find those loose bolts and nuts that are not model or make specific but a part of general wear and tear.
The great thing about bikes over cars in terms of indecision, is that you can chop and change without any real loss to you. Try it. See what you think. If you dont like it, change it (you have fourteen days at the start of any insurance policy to cancel the policy with only minor cost to you).
Gixxer 750 is a great bike: power to weight ratio it’s the best in the Gixxer series in my opinion Just make sure you can look after it security wise!
I think that 750 will be the best option. Are there any common faults and not very visible defects I should be noticing when looking at bikes, and are there any particular models/setups which you wouldn’t recommend to look at at all?
I’d also like to hear about decent dealers you’ve been satisfied with.
I can’t see anything wrong with many of the Suzuki’s I’ve seen, for example GSXRAng used her bike (K7) all though last winter and it doesn’t look any different to most of the summer use bikes that only come out in May and get tucked up again in September. I rode my Kwasaski through winter and some of the brake unions furred up but that was before I found ACF50 and all bikes seem to have the same brake parts, probably supplied as an assembly by the brake caliper manufacturer.
Just make sure you can look after it security wise! 