z750 vs FZ6 vs CB900 vs GSR600

[Gremlin]

CB900: loads of torque, price is right, has hard luggage, bullet proof engine, put some mx bars on and setup the suspension its then like a 900cc motard... abit heavy one.

what you MEAN to say is: its capable of carrying luggage (ie, has racks and fittings). Everything else, yep, I would agree.

Lets see, I've pretty much topped it out (200, with top box, didn't really seem like it would ever go faster), wheelied it, carried an entire computer (tower, screen, keyboard etc), a large tower several times, a large screen, pillions, wheelied some more, two wheel drift in the wet (NOT deliberate!), stepped the rear out heaps, pegged it heaps... you really cannot fault it. It then goes for a nice minor service every 6k, costs a couple of hundred dollars, and she's sweet for another 6k. All that was needed was the side racks for tie downs, and a top box, which I chuck stuff in when needed.

Only complaint would actually be a little bit lacking in grunt above 120ish... but then, I also ride a modded zx10, so I think my expectation is a little too much. To top it off, its more fun than the zx10.

(shit, its zapf's bike... maybe he doesn't read this)

[nallac]

lacking in grunt above 120ish????????chopit down a few gears.
it'd still be no match 4 a zx10.
I find its a shit load a fun in the 80-180ish zone, 3rd gear is a heap a fun. not good for economy tho.

[wharfy]

Got my Hornet new in Nov 03.
I've done over 87,000 k - ride it to work every day, done sprints ( 229 top speed 11.53 sec standing 1/4 ) . Drag raced it (I'm a crap drag racer :-) , hill climbed it (I'm a crap hill climber :-) and am doing the Vic club winter series (very ordinary clubman's B racer). Toured the south Island 2 up (4000k in 10 days) It has never missed a beat. Only requires oil, filters, and tyres 220 - 300 k's from a tank (depending on how you ride :-) I have been riding for close to 40 years and it is the most fun bike I have ever had.

You should ride them all (more than once) new Hornet's are $10,999 but you could probably get a deal as they are end of life.

[mops]

ah yes.. i'm in similar situation and looking at similar bikes... looking for most fun daily raider...
just got my full license recently, so i don't have that much experience of big bikes...

I test rode z1000... mmm power was nice.... all though i really like the looks, somehow i was not impressed... gearbox was kinda difficult... bike was badly setup.. heaps of slack in on the throttle, uneven leavers.. i hate that....

I like triumph and all BUT it's significantly more expensive....

sv650/1000 are aswell on my list to test ride....
i might be test riding a hornet and maybe a gsr600 this weekend....

fuel consumption is kinda important to me... older z1000's have serious drinking problem.... never ones are better, but then again never ones are expensive... i'm looking for something under 10g....

[Devil]

I like triumph and all BUT it's significantly more expensive.... .

But significantly more fun too. Depends what you want out of a bike.
EDIT: My speed four is for sale too... $7500...

[avgas]

ER6N if i was buying one, either that or a KTM Duke II (or III)
When i test rode all the other bikes they all felt like rubbish, the GSR felt cheap, Z750 felt 'content', FZ6 felt pathetic and the CB900 was a nice bike but nothing WOW.
None of them felt as light as the KTM, or the ER.
At that time there was only speed 4, no baby speed triple......which sounded rubbish and felt as British and exciting as MC Hammer.
I imagine the baby speed is a really nice bike - but at that price i would consider a second hand, proper speed triple (which i have found fantastic) - with the extra HP please. I mean who buys Maccas cos they have nice lettuce?

Anywho that is my completely biased and realist view.

[HenryDorsetCase]

. I mean who buys Maccas cos they have nice lettuce?

the best rhetorical question ever !



also, buy my Hornet. not you, just someone... the thread starter maybe

[JeremyW]

OK after all that I cant argue with 2/3rds of the posts, I bought a hornet. Sweet bike, candy red, got it second hand from AMPS, they did a good deal and I got some sweet micron pipes so it has a little more character than standard.

Thanks for all the responses and advice. I feel like I have made a great decision!

[Zapf]

OK after all that I cant argue with 2/3rds of the posts, I bought a hornet. Sweet bike, candy red, got it second hand from AMPS, they did a good deal and I got some sweet micron pipes so it has a little more character than standard.

Thanks for all the responses and advice. I feel like I have made a great decision!

Now you just need to setup the suspension and put wide bars on it

[2wheeljunkie]

OK after all that I cant argue with 2/3rds of the posts, I bought a hornet. Sweet bike, candy red, got it second hand from AMPS, they did a good deal and I got some sweet micron pipes so it has a little more character than standard.

Thanks for all the responses and advice. I feel like I have made a great decision!

congratz mate..honestly cant expressed how much i love mine..yall learn new things abt it each day and be more and more impressed..i mean its not a gunner in comparision to sport bikes like the gixer 750's and such bt any monkey can pull the throttle and shoot pass at 270 km/hr..its takes more skill to do corners at faster speeds and trust me when i say the hornet loves twisties..in a nutshell its an awesome all round bike...well done..:

[JeremyW]

Now you just need to setup the suspension and put wide bars on it

When you say setup the suspension do you mean aftermarket goodies? I am satisfied with the handling at the moment except for a few minor tweaks but I think I may want a bit more in future (perhaps because I have been spoilt recently with a superduke and a triple). Do you know of any common upgrades? I have seen some people talk about different springs in the front helping. Ideas?

[Gremlin]

How much do you weigh? Zapf's, which I ride, has stock front, but ohlins rear, no complaints with the front at all. Ohlins rear is FANTASTIC

spose I should give credit to Zapf for setting it up well

[Gizzit]

I've just been talking to a guy that owned an 02 Hornet, and he reported that the gearbox was pretty clunky between 1st and 2nd, and would sometimes pop out of gear under power in 2nd (I think he said). He also said that the brakes weren't that great. I was of the opinion that they had really good breaks, being 4 pot up front. Were the 02's 2 pot or something ? His bike had done 20,000K, and he was wondering if the fault showed up after 20,000K ? He aslo felt that the chasis wasn't that stiff and you had to be quite careful abot any change to your line through a corner as you could easily upset it.

Anyone got any responses to that ? Were these issues of 02 or earlier Hornets?
Thanks for any advice as I'm considering one. (No I can't afford a Street Tripple!)

[mops]

yip. basically i'm in same situation.

after further research, i narrowed my choice of bikes to 3 models - sv1000, sv650 or hornet. z1000 new model is too expensive for me to consider.
I can stretch my budget to 10k max, but i want late model with reasonable milage.

anyways, i checked on svportal forums, and the guys have nothing but good things to say about sv.

i could not fins any decent hornet message boards. by decent i mean with alot of members/topics/etc.

i havent test rode neither sv nor hornet, but i sat on sv 1000 and 650 today and sv1000 feels quite heavy. and i'm a reasonably big guy (~100kg), while sv650 felt nice and light. i'll have to test ride them.... i'm not sure whether i'll like v-twin sound.... I'm concerned about vibrations, particularly when cruising long distances....

the search continues...

[Jerry74]

Get the Kawasaki