Another "search for a new ride" thread...

[Renegade]

So i sold the hyobag, thank god!! two years on that 250cc and that was more than enough.

So im after a new set of wheels, im looking for some thing new to try and have tried to keep an open mind now that i have heaps of options.

test rides so far:

triumph daytona 675, what a sweet bike, loved it from the day i saw it, the motor was amazing in everyway but i just cant live with the riding position, arse in the air and face hanging over the front - not for me.

ER6N, cool bike, really easy to ride, sounds good,goes like stink, naked tho so wind at 120km is gettin up there, top speed of over 200km they reckon, and cheap, looks great in the green and the blue, 2yr unlimited kms warranty.

buell XB12R, i thought this was the bike for me and had my heart set on it but nah not for me, way to ruff, worse than a tractor,no clutch throttle feel, just clunked and rattled and felt old. oh well.

suzi GSX650F, what a nice bike, easy to ride, had a fuel gauge and gear indicator, inline 4, smooth as power delivery, could ride it all day, just looks like is from the early 90's is all.

honda vtr1000, sounds good, plenty of grunt, just not useable grunt for what i want and old technolgy.

honda VFR800,great bike, got the power the looks the handling the sound of a V4, didnt like the vtec kicking in with a sudden power burst at all tho, still its a honda and its expensive but you do get a lot of bike for ya $$.

So where to from here? well the er6n is probably at the top of my list purely cos of the way it rode and the good price however i wanted to take out a sv650, street triple and maybe a monster.

Still i think a monster, street triple and vfr800 are all out of the price range at $16k.
as you can see i have stayed away from the pure sports bikes mainly due to wanting to try something different like a naked bike etc, i would buy a second hand bike but it would have to be 05+

So what else should i be looking at? or is the er6n just a good buy for the $$ compared to the other bikes ive tested?

if i had the cash i would buy a street triple with all the belly pan and sreen, but i dont

[shingo]

Cant help you too much with your search as im still stick on two fiddies, but have you had a look at an er6f? They are the faired version of the er6n, should help reduce the wind issues at higher speeds, worth a look at least.

[Gubb]

Street Triple is $15K new.

[Squiggles]

TLS :P

but more seriously, perhaps something like the older schooled GSXR's if you're after something sporty and inline-4ish

edit: see you want to stay more naked, perhaps the er6/sv would fit... try em both

[HornetBoy]

Go for a sv650s/1000s i reckon ,and with the spare cash go buy a front end from a 05 gsxr750 and swap that in ,then youll have an absolutely awesome bike for relatively little money (even if you got the front end done by a pro).

[gsp0702]

Well as alternatives, you could also look at the Kwaka Z750, in your price range as is the Suzuki GSR600, both naked inline fours, You could also look at the Aprilia Shiver 750 (although probably over budget)

Also Kawasaki Versys (ER6 Motor) all rounder set up, also XT660R and Aprilia Pegaso 650.

Used if you could find a late model I would recommend test riding a Triumph Speed Four, good fun bike, great engine, and when I had one on loan for a few weeks was great fun to ride.

[zeocen]

I can vouch for the ER6, I've come back to earth from owning 2 litre bikes, don't miss the IL4 power at all because I'm just having too much fun on the ER6.

I have the ER6F, and while it does have wind protection, if you are around 6 foot you may need a tours windscreen and/or lower bars, as the wind buffets on my chest and neck right now and can make it quite windy at 120kmph plus (and yep, she'll see you through to 220ish, may need a bit of road to get there from 180ish hehe). The wind deal isn't an issue for me since I wear earplugs everywhere, so I don't notice it anyway.

Just ride as many bikes as you can, then through process of elimination, ride the finalists and then decide on what suits you! We can only offer 2nd hand advice Good luck!

/edit +1 for Z750, I had that for a few days as a loan bike, I thought it was hard turning but I just needed to put some air into the tyres, and after that it was great !

[Renegade]

had a look at the gsr600 but it did nothing for me, the Z750 is also an option but i reckon the exhuast had to be an after thought cos its so ugly.

the street triple with the belly pan and screen would be over $16k so out of the question really.

I was hoping to stay away fromthe litre bike if possible but only cos i would like to do the in between thing.

Id go an older Z1000 tho with those cool exhuasts they had, in silver

[Renegade]

I can vouch for the ER6, I've come back to earth from owning 2 litre bikes, don't miss the IL4 power at all because I'm just having too much fun on the ER6.

I have the ER6F, and while it does have wind protection, if you are around 6 foot you may need a tours windscreen and/or lower bars, as the wind buffets on my chest and neck right now and can make it quite windy at 120kmph plus (and yep, she'll see you through to 220ish, may need a bit of road to get there from 180ish hehe). The wind deal isn't an issue for me since I wear earplugs everywhere, so I don't notice it anyway.

Just ride as many bikes as you can, then through process of elimination, ride the finalists and then decide on what suits you! We can only offer 2nd hand advice Good luck!

/edit +1 for Z750, I had that for a few days as a loan bike, I thought it was hard turning but I just needed to put some air into the tyres, and after that it was great !

Why did you go the er6f over the er6n, was it purely a fairing thing? i really am swingn towards the er6n because i dont usually ride that quick anyway.

[Burger]

I have an ER6F, and love it to bits.

Its main competition is obviously the SV650 so I suggest taking that for a ride. I just wanted a decent faired bike, 600cc+ that wasn't too fancy and would be good for riding to work every day.

The screen really helps with the wind, and it doesn't have any trouble going over 200.

My ONLY complaint is the seat is a fucken bitch on a long journey. I have family in Turangi, and a 4 hour ride from Wellington becomes pure agony after 2 hours in the seat. Maybe I have a funny arse though

[zeocen]

Why did you go the er6f over the er6n, was it purely a fairing thing? i really am swingn towards the er6n because i dont usually ride that quick anyway.

Honestly? It reminded me of my first bike, GPX 250. It felt nostalgic, honestly there isn't much weather protection difference if you put a decent screen on the 6n. I did toss up on which one I wanted, the lower price on the 6n was definitely tempting but at the end of the day I am a fairing man and that's the only reason I chose the 6f over the 6n.

I tried the SV650, but it didn't click with me, I won't say anything bad about it.. I just felt more accustomed to the ER6F.


/edit: I also agree re. the seat, it's like sitting on plastic, much like the z750/z750s. Coming from a custom trimit.co.nz Rider seat on my 'bird, it was a bit of a bummer, but it's nothing a few mins rest at the petrol station won't fix (Longest I've done is something like 2 - 3 hours on constant winding roads and my ass was pretty sore after that! But as soon as I was off it was all good).

[Renegade]

yeah i tried to take out a sv650 but they didnt have a demo available, i was wondering that because they are fading out the sv1000 that the sv650 may be about to meet the same feat and asking myself what suzuki have up their sleeve or maybe thats where the gsx650f comes to the party.

[Cr1MiNaL]

R6











see below!

[Burger]

yeah i tried to take out a sv650 but they didnt have a demo available, i was wondering that because they are fading out the sv1000 that the sv650 may be about to meet the same feat and asking myself what suzuki have up their sleeve or maybe thats where the gsx650f comes to the party.

I looked at the GSX650F but that was back when it was still an old carburetted air cooled 1980's piece of crap. I wanted something a bit more modern.

Looks like they've updated it to a fuel injected engine, but I'm still not sold on the looks. Mind you I might have got everything all mixed up.

I'm sure the 650F is a decent machine, but it's a little plain no ?

[Neon]

If you are interested in the VFR800, maybe look at the 98-02 model with the nice gear-driven cams and no V-Tec. There are some nice examples around at the moment. That's certainly top of my list to check out once I move up, but I'm not sure now having seen the ER6N...