$7k for my first big boy bike

[Disrespective]

Well, now that i've passed the 6F test i'm going to be in the market for a big boy bike i can use to tour the country and also putt around town when needed. Just need to sell the Hornet and i'll be away and laughing... anyone in the market for a 250 heh?

I'm thinking something like a Speed Four, FZ6, SV650, VFR800, Hornet/Bandit 600. I'm not interested in anything over the 800cc size and would prefer smaller (600ish as i want to tour two up at some point) as i don't want to kill myself too quickly.

My only problem is that i'm pretty much a full on motorbike greenhorn. So have no real clue about what a decent bike in this category is and would appreciate any input on bikes i might have missed due to ignorance and generally not having a big enough clue.

Thanks in advance.

I would prefer something more upright if i can, but am open to any and all suggestions as i really don't know. I'm about 180cm and 90ish kgs so i'm not small, but not big either.

[Pussy]

Bandit 650 would do the trick. They're liquid cooled, and go REAL nice!

[sil3nt]

VFR800. Go find a bad review! Pretty sure there aren't any :bleh: Would love to own one. A few on TM in your price range. Bulletproof as well i hear.

[blackdog]

this is what you really want. like a hornet only BIGGER

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/118444-naked-1200-bandit

[pc220]

this is what you really want. like a hornet only BIGGER

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/118444-naked-1200-bandit

+1 I find my 600 fine for one up but if two up touring is on the cards a 1200/1250 Bandit would be a better choice.

[Disrespective]

VFR800. Go find a bad review! Pretty sure there aren't any :bleh: Would love to own one. A few on TM in your price range. Bulletproof as well i hear.Yeah i've noticed those but should i steer clear of anything that's done over 100,000k's? Ex rental options also don't really appeal, but they'd have been serviced properly right?

[blackdog]

+1 I find my 600 fine for one up but if two up touring is on the cards a 1200/1250 Bandit would be a better choice.

yup, no need to be afraid of the cubes, its only fast if you want to ride it that way

[Disrespective]

this is what you really want. like a hornet only BIGGER

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/118444-naked-1200-bandit1200cc's just gives me shudders thinking about the torque that thing must have. Both in good and bad ways heh. I wouldn't call myself scared, but i'd be pretty damned aprehensive riding something that big to be honest. Especially around town.

[blackdog]

1200cc's just gives me shudders thinking about the torque that thing must have. Both in good and bad ways heh. I wouldn't call myself scared, but i'd be pretty damned aprehensive riding something that big to be honest. Especially around town.

yup, torquey as all hell but you get used to it pretty quickly. c'mon....back yerself man :) (and its mint)

[Ender EnZed]

yup, torquey as all hell but you get used to it pretty quickly. c'mon....back yerself man :) (and its mint)

And it's no faster than a VFR800.

[sil3nt]

Yeah i've noticed those but should i steer clear of anything that's done over 100,000k's? Ex rental options also don't really appeal, but they'd have been serviced properly right?I wouldn't go for that unless i could see it. As it is Christchurch i probably wouldn't bother. I bet 100,000ks on a VFR engine is nothing. Especially if a hyosung can do that and keep going :bleh:

[blackdog]

And it's no faster than a VFR800.

what a dork. they are completely different bikes. go find someone else to have a pissing contest with

[Ender EnZed]

what a dork. they are completely different bikes. go find someone else to have a pissing contest with

I assure you: no urine was flowing. It seemed like the OP was concerned about your bike being too big/powerful/fast when in fact it's not going to launch the inexperienced into the back of a cage any quicker than a VFR will. FWIW I'd take your bike over any VFR thats topped 100000km, it's a nice looking Bandit.

[blackdog]

I assure you: no urine was flowing. It seemed like the OP was concerned about your bike being too big/powerful/fast when in fact it's not going to launch the inexperienced into the back of a cage any quicker than a VFR will. FWIW I'd take your bike over any VFR thats topped 100000km, it's a nice looking Bandit.

apologies. in that case you're exactly right. i'd certainly prefer the service/maintenance costs on the bandit over the viffer too

[Bikemad]

a mate of mine approaching 50 recently got into biking...........he started on a dr250 a little over a year ago............done heaps of miles and completed his licence in feb.............picked up an 05bandit 1200 with karcher pipe 19000 ks for 5k bargin and he loves it

[FJRider]

Bandit 650 would do the trick. They're liquid cooled, and go REAL nice!

I would agree ... if you can find one the owner wants to part with ...

[blackdog]

a mate of mine approaching 50 recently got into biking...........he started on a dr250 a little over a year ago............done heaps of miles and completed his licence in feb.............picked up an 05bandit 1200 with karcher pipe 19000 ks for 5k bargin and he loves it

find me a deal like that! i'll have 2 pls

[Pussy]

I would agree ... if you can find one the owner wants to part with ...

I had a ride on PrincessBandit's GSF650 a few months ago... I was well impressed with it.
Of particular note, the fuelling from it's fuel injection system was extremely smooth.
I'd have one

[owner]

I rode around western Europe 2 up on a FZ6 04 great bike, get one for 8 I think

Hondas and yamahas are the best at making bikes now you only get a Suzi or a kwaka if your trying to be cool

Stick with the lastest model of the bike you want of the big four Jap companies that you can afford and you'll be sweet

FZ6 VFR ZR GSXF even an er650 ?

[R6_kid]

Checkout a TRX850. Less HP than a 600 but about 20% more torque. Geared for having fun anywhere between 30kmh and 200kmh. It's a 5 speed gearbox but is happy doing 4000rpm at 100kmh (8500rpm is redline) in top gear and I get up to 300km a tank on mine when commuting, that's with flat slide race carbs, 2-1 race pipe and a whole lot of other mods. Also in standard tune, and even after being opened up a little bit, they are still a very learner friendly bike.

As a standard bike they are pretty good, but with a few tweaks to the suspension and brakes they can be made into an exceptionally under-rated package. This one ain't a bad deal (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Sports/auction-268302019.htm) or maybe this one without the gear thrown in (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Sports/auction-264913552.htm), the motors go well past 100,000km without any major problems. They are known to use a bit of oil, but we just call that character. For less than $6k you'll have a nice bike that is designed to eat up the miles and still have mad fun in the corners while doing so. Spend the difference on getting the suspension setup to your weight and riding style, making it sound a bit gruntier and have a bit more kick.

All up it's probably quite comparable to the Hornet 600/Bandit 600 or 650/FZ6 etc in terms of overall performance, the only difference being that the big twin makes you feel a lot more connected to the engine and you don't have to rev the shit out of the engine for it to feel like it's working properly - you get torque (what you really need) from 2500rpm right through to redline.

It's hard to find a person that's owned one that didn't enjoy it.

Try one. You'll thank me.

[Disrespective]

I rode around western Europe 2 up on a FZ6 04 great bike, get one for 8 I think

Hondas and yamahas are the best at making bikes now you only get a Suzi or a kwaka if your trying to be cool

Stick with the lastest model of the bike you want of the big four Jap companies that you can afford and you'll be sweet

FZ6 VFR ZR GSXF even an er650 ?I did look at an er650 and thought it looked half decent. I'm not a fanboi of any particular brand of mahcine so have no specific requirements in that area. In saying that, i'm pretty happy with the Honda Hornet heh.

[Disrespective]

Checkout a TRX850. Less HP than a 600 but about 20% more torque. Geared for having fun anywhere between 30kmh and 200kmh. It's a 5 speed gearbox but is happy doing 4000rpm at 100kmh (8500rpm is redline) in top gear and I get up to 300km a tank on mine when commuting, that's with flat slide race carbs, 2-1 race pipe and a whole lot of other mods. Also in standard tune, and even after being opened up a little bit, they are still a very learner friendly bike.

As a standard bike they are pretty good, but with a few tweaks to the suspension and brakes they can be made into an exceptionally under-rated package. This one ain't a bad deal (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Sports/auction-268302019.htm) or maybe this one without the gear thrown in (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Sports/auction-264913552.htm), the motors go well past 100,000km without any major problems. They are known to use a bit of oil, but we just call that character. For less than $6k you'll have a nice bike that is designed to eat up the miles and still have mad fun in the corners while doing so. Spend the difference on getting the suspension setup to your weight and riding style, making it sound a bit gruntier and have a bit more kick.

All up it's probably quite comparable to the Hornet 600/Bandit 600 or 650/FZ6 etc in terms of overall performance, the only difference being that the big twin makes you feel a lot more connected to the engine and you don't have to rev the shit out of the engine for it to feel like it's working properly - you get torque (what you really need) from 2500rpm right through to redline.

It's hard to find a person that's owned one that didn't enjoy it.

Try one. You'll thank me.Thanks for the pointers, will have a look around at some TRX's as well as all the others.

[disenfranchised]

Checkout a TRX850. Less HP than a 600 but about 20% more torque.

I can concur with this....I've just been through the same situation, and ended up getting a TRX.
I wrote up my thoughts on the test rides in another thread here (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/119095-Big-Bike-test-rides-first-impressions)

I recommend you just try everything you can though....it was a load of fun.
And don't be intimidated by the cc size....I found the big bikes to be much easier to use than I thought they'd be.

[avgas]

Buy a Harley bro - should go mint aye

[gijoe1313]

Well if you loved your lil'ol'hornet (and who doesn't? :msn-wink:), consider the 900 Hornet! It's basically the lil'ol'hornet on steroids and the transition from the chewfiddy to the bigger beasty is not as hard as you would imagine. And there are plenty of keen deals on 900 Hornets, plenty of fruit and bling and loved by their riders (seems to be a common trait for Hornet owners! :yes:)

But as everyone has said, go and ride plenty, you may be pleasantly surprised by what you might find! :scooter:

[Disrespective]

Buy a Harley bro - should go mint ayeThanks for the quality reply... but i did say i wanted upright, not laid back. In saying that, a guy in my building sometimes brings home an XR1200 from work and i like the look of them heh.