Im after a budget bike for commuting to work, 14miles round trip in Central London.
Ideal bikes - CBR600F, Hornet 600, Kawasaki ZR750 and maybe other bikes in this range
Other bikes I may consider are CBF250, CB500 and maybe other bikes like these
Most importantly budget - Not much 
Let me know if you or anyone has one for sale.
i will be selling a suzuki sv650… will post it up later…
Haha beat me to it - http://londonbikers.com/forums/1055948/suzuki-sv650
cbr 600fy - cheap for what you get. Better suspension and brakes that the SV650, but the sv650 is light and has good torque, might be more nippy in london.
Cbr’s a honda though, I’ve had no probs with it. Keep the original exhaust on it for london. (quieter -plod!, better/smoother bottom end, it can take a crash or three)
You could take off the plastics and street fighter it with a stunt cage and loads of crash bungs then it would be like a tank.
Sv has better engine braking tho… 
SV for town, CBR for the weekends.
Strange thing is I was told never to use engine breaking when I was doing my DAS. The instructor was adamant it could get you into a whole heap of trouble if the road is wet…
When I was looking in Spring last year I don’t think I saw a single SV (not the curvy ones) that didn’t have horrible corrosion on the engine casings! That goes for the 650 and the 1000. Looks like the finish on them is 100% budget bike territory. The Bandits I’ve seen seem to hold up much much better (apart from the exhaust that is!).
Suzikis generally aren’t well known for their corrosion protection. Nothing keeping it clean and applying ACF50 wouldn’t cure though. Any bike will rot if you don’t look after it.
I find the engine breaking helps in the wet, unless of course you rely on it and the engine konks out…
Each to their own I guess. But yes I agree, corrosion on the SV’s is a big problem! The guy before me defo looked after mine as it hardly has any corrosion for its age.
Triumphs fair quite well in the winter weather they most of the bolts are stainless steel
& my 955i does 10miles to the litre roughly
Cheers for the heads-up on the SV, its a nice bike and def’ in the right price range, and I know beggars can’t be choosers but I will pass on it, mainly cos I prefer the squarer version of the SV bike.
The CBR600f is the bike I really want, I went to see one over the weekend, typically when I spoke to the owner on the phone he said ‘no no, it’s all good except for the indicator housing’ When I got there the front fairing was split in two!
Not having much luck with sellers recently, I also went to see a Yamaha FZ6 on the weekend, the owner said he owned it for 7months, later he said he owned it for 6months, later he said he owned for 4 months - WTF?! I walked away after I noticed the fuel tank was loose!
i have a square version frame could put on if make ya happy 
LOL, that was a polite way from me to say Im not interested, but thanks anyway 
CBR 600fy (look on ebay and buy one the same colour as has the most spare fairings in that colour available!!!) will make you happy.
Spend your time looking at them and you’ll be amazed at what you get for you money when you find a good one.
What sort of budget ? Loads of them on at around £1800 This ones look ok and has new tyres http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-Honda-CBR-600-F-Sports-Bike-New-Tyres-Fully-Serviced-NOW-Only-1995-/300882207100?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item460dfa217c
