What is alluring about a sports bike?

[bugjuice]

For me, sports bikes sound like a great bike waste of time, but I found they inspired more confidence in me.
I've been reading that Honda and Triumph have been trying to bring better mid range power to their 600's. Do you think that in about, say, half a year, they'll realease a vtwin in sportsbike guise? A down sized VTR SP?

one word - nope. There's a few 600/650 Vs around. The SV650 is a popular good choice. There's a Yama FZ600 (?) too, amongst a few others. They are good for poppin round town, and do have fun at the weekends. They're a bit more of an upright position than most sprotbikes too, so it makes it easier on the bits.

The best thing (imho), would be for you to probably start savin (if you haven't already) and concentrate on getting your full, then go have a ride of a few different bikes and styles of bikes. The only person to know what's best is to ride it yourself and see. Once you look past the power increase, you'll start to 'feel' the bike, and see if it fits how you want. Try a few different bikes before you settle. And even then, you're never stuck with whatcha got.. you could always sell it 6 months down the track and try something else

[Spaz]

Amen to that,
At the price these are going for, http://www.loot.co.nz/Main/ListDispl...ert_id=1367399 I'll be rather well equiped by the time I get my fool.
Cheers guys, have a good weekend.

[SPman]

I ride a sprots bike because, strangely enough, I feel most comfortable on one! Not physically - I'm old and bent these days, but mentally, its where my head has always been. I've tried all the other styles and, great as Z1000's, Falcos, etc are, I found myself gravitating back to sprots. Hence, the Gixxer!
The nearest I've come to a regular bike was the GT750 Ducati in 1973!

[Fordy]

then go have a ride of a few different bikes and styles of bikes. The only person to know what's best is to ride it yourself and see

Good advice. There's a heap of difference, even between sprotsbikes (sp: when in Rome ) My friends CBR600FS2 shared gargre space with my gixer for years. I rode it to keep the battery topped up. It's armchair comfy compared with the gixer, not that I'm complaining...as said you sit right and get used to it and I've done many 400km+ days. The geometry between seat, pegs and bars determines how you sit and this varies between different manufacturers and different types of bikes.

I ride a sprotsbike because it's a toy and it gives me the biggest grin. It's not all out speed for me, it's the acceleration....warp speed, engage. And handling, setting yourself up for a series of bends and getting the lines perfect, great when it comes together. There's too many hazards to push it to the limit on the road, and my (lack of) skills limit how far I can push it on a track. Great fun though, and you can always slow down and enjoy the scenery

[madmal64]

Well I ride RF900 which is supposably a "Sports Tourer". Ive found it the best combo for me, and me alone (The wife wants me to get something more comfortable for her) I agree that you should try as any different styles/ types before you buy. This is excatly what I did when buying the RF. Now its starting to get to the stage where Im thinking of replacing it and Im struggling to find the same sort of new bike out there. I love the sports style and riding postion but the big fat arse of a seat on mine and the slightly larger body does make the touring a bit more comfortable... for me! Different strokes for different folks.

[Sniper]

Personal preference

[stevedee]

I ride a Zed, it's just a big arse motocross bike, no finesse like a sports bike. I like sports bikes, the speeds are nuts/great. With the Zed the wind keeps me in check and I don't get sucked into the 260Km/h thing. Though the 260Km/h+ thing looks real nice........on the track.

spd ;-)

[Pixie]

Seems that the answers arn't as broad as I first figured. Obviously a sports bike is the safest bike to travel at high speeds through corners on. but would you buy one if the only time you would do that was on the weekend? Is the allure of fast sweeping corners on the week end enough for you to put up with the painful wrists (edit) for the rest of the week?

Nah,A conventional or a adventure bike is much more controllable.

[Posh Tourer :P]

I like an upright bike for commuting - you can see more over the top of cars. As for worrying about mid-range grunt, forget about it. Most 600s since the early 90s have plenty of mid-range grunt for commuting, especially compared to the 250s you appear to be riding. Hell, even my R65 has enough mid-range grunt.

Comfort I find is a factor, but then I think I shouldnt have to get used to a bike, it ought to be comfy (enough) straight off. I'm in favour of mid-size nakeds or semi-nakeds, as plastics are expensive, and I'm not planning to do so much speed that I'd need a full fairing. The XJ600 Divvy is pretty good, if a little boring. I'm gonna have to try an SV650s, or maybe Z750.

You can have fun on the weekends on almost any bike, although I think that once you have gone to sprotsbikes, going back would be a disappointment. I had a ball of a time to Scotland on my XJ, through some stunning roads, and never found that anyone actually passed me/kept up with me for long, so I can't have been going slowly.

Ride what you can afford/what you like/what you feel comfortable on, and make it fun.

If you are worried about power, I dont stretch my XJ commuting in any way at all, and when I was pushing it on my Scotland trip I was doing illegal speeds anyway. So even the XJ could get you into serious trouble (ie the ton) without much complaining and that isnt a sports 600, or even modern...

[Lou Girardin]

I like the look of sprotbikes, the speed, OK to ride for 30 mins, but I wouldn't own one.Too uncomfortable, poor vis in traffic and tight twisty roads, too much plastic to replace when it goes down. And, since Sunday, I've found you can have even more fun on a nekid bike.

[madboy]

So what I gather is, the power a 600cc sports bike engine is designed to produce is out of reach for most of the week, the weekends rock (or if you're like madboy, everyday does (cops involved?)) and discomfort is not a factor.
Right?

No cops involved, well in those particular examples anyway.

The way the traffic works down here is that you can sometimes get long clear patches of mway without any cars on them, even in rush hour - blame the traffic lights on the mway (good traffic planning). Hence I can crack 260 during rush hour without actually being anywhere near any cars.

On a more regular basis, though, I'm tootling at 80-120k in 6th between cars.

[MSTRS:Me]

In case you weren't aware, sprotsbike and crusier are accepted spellings on this site. You prak them in a gargre...

....and can communte on them.

[Coyote]

one word - nope. There's a few 600/650 Vs around. The SV650 is a popular good choice. There's a Yama FZ600 (?) too, amongst a few others.

Isn't the FZ6 a inline 4? This pic would suggest it is:

Nice looking bike, the FZ1 is better though

The SV650S is also a very nice looking bike:

[bugjuice]

Isn't the FZ6 a inline 4? This pic would suggest it is:

Nice looking bike, the FZ1 is better though

The SV650S is also a very nice looking bike:

tis so.. my bad.. was thinking of the style of the bike compared with the SV, rather than the engine config.. at least someone's awake..

[vifferman]

Why do/did you (presuming that you own or have owned a sports bike) own a sports bike?

The vifferbabe made me do it.

Oh - do you mean this sprotsbike, or sprotsbikes in general?

Hmmmm...
I'm allowed only one bike, otherwise I'd be divorced. I mean - otherwise I'd have all kindza bikes: a super-retard, mebbe a crusier, a brace of dirt bikes or four, a communter, a lithe and agile stuntworthy v-twin, a trackday bike, a classic, and maybe even one of those two-wheeled car thingos.

But I can't. So, I have the VifFerraRi, which is a communter, sprotsbike, touring bike, and hooligan machine, all rolled into one.