A serious question for the more experienced riders amongst you.

[McJim]

I feel like an old broken record. The phrase that best sums up this whole issue is "Fitness for purpose".

[Number One]

I feel like an old broken record. The phrase that best sums up this whole issue is "Fitness for purpose".

Really? Come here and let me FEEL you...then I shall confirm or deny your claim

[Swoop]

yes, I commute every single day to and from work through auckland traffic so it's commutability is an issue.

How do you think a thou' would behave as a commuter bike?

[BM-GS]

What Gremlin said in post #50. I had a mid-90s sporty 600 and managed to score an early R1 as a loaner at service time. I had to ride it lots to be REALLY sure, but it needed way too much concentration to ride. There was no bimble-mode, as the thing would shoot for the horizon if a bump tweaked my throtle hand a degree. On the way home from the dealer, I got stuck behind a cage on a twisty road I didn't know well and sat for a bit until we came to a straight - starting the overtake at 50mph in 3rd (used to the revvy 600, see) I was doing 120mph by the time I passed the front bumper.

There seems to be a sweet spot at about 75-90bhp where you have enough oomph to be getting on with, but not enough to spit you off for inattention, and God knows there's enough else to worry about in Aucks on a bike. A GSXR/R1/ZX10R/Blade will do the commuting, touring or whatever, but there are a hundred other bikes which won't bite you so hard. Softer, heavier, etc can be good. And 75bhp still isn't slow. You also save on tyres, chains, etc...

Of course, given a bigger garage and bank balance I'd have a litre sportsbike, as well as a giant trailie, a middleweight runabout (SV/ER) and a scoot, and change them every year or 2, but I don't.

What are you going to do with it, and how much do you want to spend? If you're not sure, go small & learn.

[98tls]

I feel like an old broken record. The phrase that best sums up this whole issue is "Fitness for purpose".

So Jimmy in your case whats on the outside is actually a reflection of the inner.

[piston broke]

mom had a great point back there <<
get a bike that fits you,and your purpose

[beyond]

If you have sensibility and ride well within your known limits you will be ok. You can wipe yourself on a 250 anyway but a litre bike super sport is a lot of power.

You have to be super smooth on the throttle when coming out of corners and especially so in the wet.

I had a 25 year absence from bikes and when I got back into biking three years ago went for the biggest bike on the floor for a sports...GSX1400.

I'm now on my second after trading it and have done 60,000kms in that time and yep, I'm still here.

I'll say it again.... it takes at least 5000kms and more like 10,000kms before you can get to know a bike inside and out, know it's limits and what you can expect of it. Until that point, you do not ride any bike of any size if your right hand gets in the way of brain wisdom and experience.

Buy what you want but respect it till you know it and once you know it always remember the potential and ride accordingly.

[Oscar]

yep. Take a shop thou out for a run. Then if you break it at least it wasnt yours. The excess on most demos are under what real insurance usually is and it doesnt technically fuck up your personal insurance record for the future.

Win win situation.

Not only is it technically non-disclosure, it's actual non-disclosure if you fail to mention a crash like that. Do you know what ab initio cancellation is?

[Mom]

Really? Come here and let me FEEL you...then I shall confirm or deny your claim

Be careful there Number One, broken records have sharp edges, you might get a vinyl cut, them is nasty buggers

[madbikeboy]

What Gremlin said in post #50. I had a mid-90s sporty 600 and managed to score an early R1 as a loaner at service time. I had to ride it lots to be REALLY sure, but it needed way too much concentration to ride. There was no bimble-mode, as the thing would shoot for the horizon if a bump tweaked my throtle hand a degree. On the way home from the dealer, I got stuck behind a cage on a twisty road I didn't know well and sat for a bit until we came to a straight - starting the overtake at 50mph in 3rd (used to the revvy 600, see) I was doing 120mph by the time I passed the front bumper.

There seems to be a sweet spot at about 75-90bhp where you have enough oomph to be getting on with, but not enough to spit you off for inattention, and God knows there's enough else to worry about in Aucks on a bike. A GSXR/R1/ZX10R/Blade will do the commuting, touring or whatever, but there are a hundred other bikes which won't bite you so hard. Softer, heavier, etc can be good. And 75bhp still isn't slow. You also save on tyres, chains, etc...

Of course, given a bigger garage and bank balance I'd have a litre sportsbike, as well as a giant trailie, a middleweight runabout (SV/ER) and a scoot, and change them every year or 2, but I don't.

What are you going to do with it, and how much do you want to spend? If you're not sure, go small & learn.

What Gremlin said and what BM-GS just said.

x 10.

So, a while ago, I was following a van, good distance, well to the left as it was my escape route, when the bitch in the legacy two lanes to my left swerved (she was texting) towards me. Being a reasonable alert sort of fellow, (I was in second doing about 75kph), I gassed it and shot past the van - front wheel came up (you can steer a bike without the front btw), and didn't go down until I was well past - when I got out of the throttle, I was doing about 160kph. And it took much less time to do it than to read it. I ride an IL4 GSXR1000 with some work. Do you get the point of what we're trying to write here? If you think the RSV is any less of an animal on the limit, then you're probably kidding yourself.

Another thing, as bikes get larger, you need to be more physical with them, this is due to the actual forces involved - this is something that you don't notice until you need to do something in a hurry, if the bike is starting to slide, or you need to push the bike down into a corner harder to change line.

Further, a SV650 with a good pilot will be in the fast group at a trackday, no worries. So, I wouldn't be worried about buying something too slow.

Okay, stuck record.

Oh, to answer Swoop, commuting on a 1000 is neat, but not a long term plan. Nor is it cheap, tires, chains, wing mirrors... And gas. My car is cheaper to run, and that's before a new tire every month or two.

[toycollector10]

You know yourself, that a 50cc Chinese scooter can kill you just as quick as a Hayabusa.

As someone here said, TRACK DAYS are the key. Whatever you buy, kit yourself out and get down to a track day(s) and find out what you and the bike are capable of. If you bin it, at least there won't be a truck or 4WD to slide under or a lamp post to slide into!

Good luck!

[cowboyz]

Why's that cowboyz?
I've never had any problem commuting on a 1000.

well, technically I dont have a thou BUT..


50k for my bike is about 3000rpm in 2nd. 5000 in 1st. Bike gets very hot very fast in traffic. Apart from the constant 1st/2nd gear changes when some hot chicks are standing on the side of the road the temptation to lift the front wheel can be overwhelming and "I was trying to look cool" is not a good defence (apparently)

[The Stranger:Me]

well, technically I dont have a thou BUT..


50k for my bike is about 3000rpm in 2nd. 5000 in 1st. Bike gets very hot very fast in traffic. Apart from the constant 1st/2nd gear changes when some hot chicks are standing on the side of the road the temptation to lift the front wheel can be overwhelming and "I was trying to look cool" is not a good defence (apparently)

Yeah - I bet you could ride in 3rd or 4th if you didn't have to be cool though.
I'm not and I can.

[cowboyz]

Yeah - I bet you could ride in 3rd or 4th if you didn't have to be cool though.
I'm not and I can.

taking the piss aside. No. I cant. definitely not 4th. Clunky as shit and it is just turning over and if you want to zip past something it bogs down big time. 3rd. well if I had to I could. I think the stock gearing on my bike is way too high. Often thought about gearing it down but meh, I dont have to take it through town so I dont.

[cowboyz]

Not only is it technically non-disclosure, it's actual non-disclosure if you fail to mention a crash like that. Do you know what ab initio cancellation is?

To be quite honest. I couldnt give a fuck about insurance companies. They seem to have an art of bullshit and slight of hand. If anyone can get one over on them then good on em.

PS. If you think I am sour about an insurance claim that went wrong bear in mind that in 25yrs of riding I have NEVER had an at-fault claim.