$7k for my first big boy bike

[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:Me]

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 or maybe this one without the gear thrown in, 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 or maybe this one without the gear thrown in, 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

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? ), 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! )

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

[Disrespective]

Buy a Harley bro - should go mint aye

Thanks 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.