Bikes..

[red]

Not as yet. Looking to spend between 800-1400 max really.

I like the retro and sports bikes like the GS but i've heard Suzuki aren't renowned for long term ownership i.e. a bike 3/4 years old will already be showing ageing signs with rust etc

So I guess it will be Honda or Yamaha etc due to the age of what I will be looking for for my price.

It has to be reliable and relatively comfortable as I will more than likely use it for commuting.

Probably looking at 500-600cc due to height etc I think 400 might be a bit uncomfortable.

 

[RED IMPACT]

An R6 in lovely Yamaha blue?!

 

[red]

I don't think that falls into any of my requirement brackets <_<

 

[mort666]

if you want to go with yamaha how about the fazer or diversion 600?

I had a later model fazer (02 model) as my previous bike and they are cracking little machines.
not sure if the links will work OK, but will give them a try for examples from the bike trader website:

fazer 600

XJ600 (diversion)

For Honda in that price range I guess you would be looking at either something like the CB500:

CB500s

or for something a bit more sporty, but not too extreme, and early CBR600, although you would be looking at something with probably higher mileage than some of the others:

CBR600

if you did want to go the suzuki route and didn't fancy the bandit, you could try an RF600:

RF600

not the best image wise, but nothing wrong with them as such. I believe they use a similar engine to the bandit , but I may well be wrong about that as I'm not an expert on those ones.

 

[red]

SOme very nice suggestions there Mort, I don't think I will be ruling any of those out when I come to looking for one!

 

[melinamotor]

Honda VFR 400 can pick up a 1994 model nice guttsy little bike and reliable still the sporty racer too?

Seconded, I once owned one, reliable twin headlights awesome brakes.

 

[mort666]

I think personally out of the suggestions I made, I would go with the fazer 600 but that might be me being biased due to owning one (although it was the second generation version I had - they updated the model in 2002 I think). They have a very good owners club too (http://www.foc-u.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

 

[RED IMPACT]

Fazers are pretty good too...again in lovely Yamaha blue!!

 

[mort666]

They do look good in blue, but I was tempted by the yellow one they had introduced that year when I got mine.

There it is in all it's glory on the way to a bike show in scotland, loaded up for camping

 

[kinky]

i dont know i have a CBR600F ridden a fair few bikes including a bandit a fazer an R1 and a fireblade and i can safely say i love my CBR although if i was to upgrade to a thou it would be the R1 not the fireblade its way to twitchy

 

[red]

What are the opinions of the Bandit 600? I am quite attracted to these atm.

 

[kinky]

as a first bike they are decent, forgiving and in my opinion mid range perfection although if i was going to spend the money on one personally i would try to opt for the new 650 rather than the 600.......but there is a but with this bike most people who opt for a bandit as their first bike tend to get bored very quickly as once you know the bike and your comfortable with riding it doenst do much, personally i went for a sports tourer as its tame enough for a new biker but also has that little extra to prevent bordom setting in within a few months! its a shame i didnt know you were interested in these last week one of my riding buddies who passed last october got a mint bandit but got bored and sold it for pennies last week to jump up to a gixxer

 

[kinky]

i did my lessons on the 600 and a further 5000 miles in a month on a 650 which is where my opinion between the 2 comes from

 

[red]

Well I was looking at the GS500 but I assumed this was 'tame' in comparison to a 600 bandit heh

I also have to be careful as im not made of money and can't afford to insure a supersport etc.

 

[kinky]

take a look about at the older CBR's they aint in the supersport category and they not overly expensive to insure! like Most said you will end up with a higher milage one compared to a bandit but if you looking for one to keep for a while its a lot more rounded

Ive personally not ridden the GS500 but i have heard they tend to show their age and dont stand up to all weather riding unlike some but if you maintain your bike correctly this shouldnt be as much of an issue the

The main thing you need to do is go out and try test riding some as each bike has its own ride and what may be comfy to me and Mort may be totally different to you, such as i couldnt get along with a Fazer and as such i didnt feel very confident on it but got on an R1 and was fine within a mile of setting off

 

[red]

Yeah I was looking at the older 600 CBR, looks like a maybe also!

 

[kinky]

After riding this its deffo my bike to aim for

my riding buddie with the bandit he just sold

 

[kinky]

http://www.ianbellmotorcycles.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; take a look on that site they have a really nice CBR600F in at the moment dont knwo how far it is from you though

 

[red]

I was looking at a similar bandit priced at £850 on autotrader. Shame I didnt have the funds to invest in it at that time!

 

[kinky]

like i said Bandits are good first bikes as long as you dont expect too much or you will get bored x