Right, so I’m doing DAS hopefully sometime soon and my eyes started to wonder towards the big boy bikes. What is a good way to start? I think by the time I do the DAS I will have clocked up about 800 - 1000 miles on baby Vara. I was looking at some 600ccs like Honda Hornet which is my favourite at the moment. Is there any bike that you definitely wouldn’t recommend or any bike that you would?
Also should I stick to around 600ccs or how much difference does larger engine make, except insurance-wise?
Hornets are pretty good bikes. I wouldn’t buy a naked bike as I do a lot of high speed, long distance riding.
Go for what your comfortable with. Get something you’d happily keep for a couple of years until your NCB comes through. Fazer 6, Hornet, Bandit, GSX650F, even the older sports bikes make pretty good first bikes as they are more tame but still watch the throttle hand ;).
i bought the fz6, less torque the the suzzies but better top end, great handling 1/2 fairings so fine on the motorway.
also supposed to be bullet proof but its only got 7k on the clock so i cant confirm that.
You don’t want to be doing anymore than 90mph (on a track of course) and when it rains be prepared for the power shower effect (this can be helped by buying a belly pan though).
Yeah the SV is definitely one of the final candidates I would pick from, Honda and Suzuki are my favorite brands so far, I would eventually like to end up with a B-King but I think that might be too much to start with and would cost about £1.7k to insure
I sort of like the look of the new Hornet, SV is too stock for me.
I understand the rain effect but why wouldn’t I want to do more than 90? Is that an aerodynamics issue?
Oh ok. Thanks for that I would’ve probably never figured this out on a test ride I’ll take that into consideration, I have to think about what I’m gonna use the bike for, too.
If your using it just for the city and the rare motorway then a naked will be a good idea as there will be a lot less damage when you drop it. Its commonly known people drop their first bike at least once (or twice in my case).
Yamaha FJ1200, classic insurance, cheap parts, biiiig fairing. Powerful enough, smooth torque. Goes very fast if you require it to, reliable. Bit heavy, but a fabulous bike. I started on one myself after my DAS and loved it.
But, best ones so far are the CB500 or CBF600’s that are very reliable and cracking good bikes.
I definitely recommend the SV650 or if you want a fairing SV650S
It’s such a forgiving easy bike to ride, ideal for a first bike
and it’s a sensible 170kg or there abouts.
And it’s also great fun on a track and I’ve been round the
IOM TT course on one, it was super there too, ran rings
round most of the bigger bikes but couldn’t stay with the
R6, R1, GSX1000s, etc on Haliwoods rise unless they
were being ridden by girls :w00t:
I’m on my 3rd SV, currently SV650 K8 and it’s a superb
commuting bike. MetalRed has a SV650S K8 as she does
more motorway miles.
You can’t beat them for value for money in that class.
It’s not that bad imo. Nakeds can be fine but it does depend a bit on the ergonomics of the individual bike. Mines fine right up to it’s maximum speed but I’ve got a quality good fitting lid that doesn’t move in a breeze. I’m not one for much motorway riding but if I have to (in Germany…) I find it fine for cruising around 80-90 and quite bearable for short squirts above that. Of course it’s true that Nakeds (…well all bikes come to think of it) are more fun on the smaller roads and again imo most of the time you’re not going at a speed where a fairing makes much difference. Anyway I like the feel of the wind when it’s windy and the rain when it rains. The only time I sometimes wish I had a fairing is in deep mid-winter when I’d give anything to take the windchill away. Of course, on a track the aerodynamics of the fairing are going to improve your times so yeah fine for race bikes…and for tourers doing lots of motorway miles…but other than that fairings aren’t really all that…imo
In my opinion twins are easier than inline fours to get to grips with when you are just starting out as there is a more even power band. Everybody also says don’t get something too fancy because you’ll drop it, whether it’s in a carpark or somewhere else that usually happens. It may not happen to you but it happens.
Having said that bikes like the ER6F survive being dropped farily well. Whatever you get just take your time with it and remember smooth = fast. Power, CC and Torque don’t = fast.
