- This topic has 10 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 11 months ago by Jeff in Kentucky.
Most comfortable/upright 600cc
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May 16, 2011 at 3:25 pm #4385ncBikerParticipant
I want a 600cc sport bike as my next bike but I don’t want to be hunched over slot bc I like to go on long rides. I really won’t the triumph daytona 675 bc of the looks and the amazing engine. The only problem is I read a review on them and it said they have a really aggressive ridin position. I was thinkin bout getin one and putin some clip ons with rise on it. Would this make enough of a difference? Should I get the daytona and put the different bars on or just start off with a more upright bike? I don’t want to go any bigger then a 600. That’s plent of power for me and I want a light bike. Thanks
May 17, 2011 at 8:34 pm #29566Jeff in KentuckyParticipantTriumph and the big Japanese four sell a version of their 600 to 675cc bikes with higher handlebars and the power tuned more for the midrange for street use. The highest rated are the Kawasaki Versys, the Triumph Street Triple, and the Suzuki V-Strom 650 or SV-650. The Yamaha FZ6R and Honda 599, and Suzuki Gladius are other similar bikes. Also sit on the 2005 to 2008 Kawasaki ZZR-600 with its older and more comfortable year 2000 sportbike design, now considered a sport-tourer.
Note that 4-cylinder bikes are considered less beginner friendly, with the power coming on more all at once, and with enough power to suddenly lift the front wheel or spin the back tire in the lower gears with someone not used to the throttle and clutch.
You can raise the handlebars on the faster on the track replica racers, but you pay extra for their track lap time ability, then reduce the lap times by raising the handlebars. Also, the high footpegs bend your knees more and their seats are very thin, more things that you might need to change to make them more comfortable for longer trips. I saw a video about a guy that went around the world on a Yamaha R1 sportbike- it is possible to take the time to get used to the head down and feet up riding position- grip the tank tightly with your legs, and hold up your chest with your legs and back instead of with your arms.
May 18, 2011 at 3:41 am #29569madjak30ParticipantKawasaki Ninja 650R, Yamaha FZ6R, Suzuki GSX650F & Honda CBF600SA (I don’t think the Honda is available in the States though)
They are all more of an intermediate bike…more of a standard riding position and enough power to be fun, but still realatively friendly bikes…but they should all be pretty good for longer rides. The Suzuki will have the most room for taller riders, but any of them will do fine…there are more adventure friendly bikes like the Versys & V-Strom, but you said that you wanted a sport bike…these aren’t full on super sport bikes, but are a step down the sport bike path…
Later.
May 18, 2011 at 12:36 pm #29571AParticipantWhat do you consider a ‘long ride’ that you like to go on?
2-3 hours non-stop or 500-800 miles in a day?
May 18, 2011 at 8:47 pm #29572Jeff in KentuckyParticipantI saw an interview with this guy on Two Wheel Tuesday on the cable Speed Channel- he said the only failure besides tires was a fuel pump, when he sucked water into the engine while crossing a deep stream:
May 19, 2011 at 3:38 am #29574BrahmsParticipantI highly recommend the V-Strom 650, from personal experience, and the FZ-6 from my sister’s experience. Both are pretty tame below half throttle, have actual handlebars that can be cheaply and easily raised/swapped to improve ergos, and are relatively light. My Wee, an ’09 ABS model, is about 430 pounds, and maybe 65 horsepower. With 200 pounds of me and gear, this gives a power-to-weight ratio below 10 pounds per horsepower. That’s Mustang GT range.
Yes, the Wee looks like one of those Transformers toys – not as bad as my brother-in-law’s KTM Superduke, or the new Gladius – but I do get seen by the cages.
As far as the upright seating position goes, as long as I remember to be tight below and loose above, my carpal tunnel doesn’t bother me on the Wee. I just sold my 1990 Honda VTR250, the Baby Interceptor, a nominal sport bike. It was a blast to ride, but my hands went numb after only about ten minutes of riding.
May 19, 2011 at 12:06 pm #29575Jeff in KentuckyParticipantMy favorite Suzuki V-Strom 650 review- they have a strange look, but a lot of comfort:
May 21, 2011 at 8:29 pm #29586RabParticipantI’ve had my black GSX650F for almost 3 trouble-free years now (35,000+ miles).
I like it a lot as it’s fast enough to be entertaining without being crazy fast (will do 130+ mph I’m told). It feels very stable and safe at speed, nice, almost upright seating position, but has a long seat so’s you can crouch sport-bike like if conditions dictate. It’s heavy enough not to get blown around in high winds, has twin-like torque (which means that you’re not constantly changing gears to keep the engine within a narrow power band (like on the now obsolete FZ6)), and it won’t go into unintentional wheelie’s on you. Looks like a GSX-R too if you’re into that sort of thing.
I actually went to the dealer ready to buy a V-Strom 650, but I ended up with this instead after having sat on them both. This was just more comfortable (and doesn’t make you look like you’re sitting on a carousel horse).
For perspective, this was the third motorcycle I’ve owned after a Nighthawk 250 and a 2006 Triumph Bonneville. I primarily use it for my daily commute (~32 miles each way); much of it on the freeway.
May 21, 2011 at 11:35 pm #29587Jeff in KentuckyParticipantHere is a review for some of the light and sporty street-oriented bikes with higher handlebars:
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/features/122_0804_650cc_motorcycles/index.html
May 22, 2011 at 6:34 pm #29588RabParticipantNo offence intended Jeff, but reviews like the one above (motorcyclistonline) are why I stopped taking that magazine (Motor Cyclist) even though they were virtually giving away subscriptions for free. In fact, one of the dealers actually were giving away subscriptions to this mag for free; I still passed.
They, like many of the glossy motorcycle magazines, are all about pushing the biggest, baddest, fastest, and ultimately, most dangerous motorcycles, making anything less (i.e. practical every day motorcycles) seem like they’re only for losers.
They are probably the main factor in so many young guys buying bikes which are way beyond their capabilities to control, some of them winding up paralyzed for life or even dead. Where I work, we’ve currently got a young guy hobbling around on crutches with a broken leg from a super-sport crash.
Here is a more balanced review of mid-range practical sport-bike style motorcycles which are probably a lot less likely to get the novice motorcycle rider into trouble than a super-sport or hooligan bike.
May 23, 2011 at 10:45 pm #29589Jeff in KentuckyParticipantI have prescriptions (subscriptions are for those not addicted to the riding drug) to Motorcyclist and Sport Rider magazines, and skim a few others at the stores.
The newest sportbikes are really for someone who does track days, with a trade of more speed for less comfort, and the smartest people start with a 250cc Ninja track bike for at least a year, then a 600, then maybe the Suzuki 750, then a 1000+. Most of the writers at Motorcyclist magazine have years of racing experience, and it is a racing oriented or fast street oriented magazine. They review all types of bikes but mostly sportbikes, since other magazines specialize in cruisers, tourers, show bikes, antiques, drag racers and dirt bikes.
When they write that a bike is heavier, I see a bike that has more comfort at street legal speeds, but is not capable of making a racing or street emergency turn as fast or stop as quickly. When they write that a bike has an engine map setting for rain (mostly Suzukis), I see that someone who insists on ignoring all good advice and buying too much bike should stay in that rain setting for the first few months, and stay out of the top of the tach for even longer.
Most of my generation (I was born in 1959) started by racing bicycles then riding dirt bikes- many of us went to see On Any Sunday at the theaters when it first came out. I started on a minibike at 8 years old. I went from a 3.5 horsepower Briggs and Stratton engine for a year, to a 65cc 2-stroke for 2 years, to a 100cc 2-stroke for 2 years, to a 650cc 4-stroke with 45 horsepower for 5 years, then a long break for college and raising two young children, to a 600cc with 30 horsepower for 9 years, to a 600cc with 95 horsepower three days ago.
Everything I have seen in all of the magazines tells beginners to START SMALL. The dream bikes should stay a dream for beginners, but sometimes they have more money than sense and buy too much power, raising their safety risks and raising the insurance costs for all motorcyclists, especially squids who skimp on safety gear because it is not cool, both for temperature and peer pressure. I am guessing that cave families told their youngsters to slow down and be more careful, or they might get hurt, and to not try to throw the spear designed for the experienced warrior hunting big bears- to start with the smaller beginner spear for rabbits.
If I could afford it, I would subscribe to one or more of the British bike magazines- I think they are higher quality for their writing and reviews. I sometimes go to bookstores to skim them, and will buy an issue once in a great while. I think Motorcyclist writers are honest, but I keep in mind that their advertisers do not want too many negative comments, and they have years of experience riding very fast bikes on race tracks. The cruiser magazines are more for slower more antique looking bikes, or the thicker Cycle World magazine that covers a wider variety of types of motorcycles. I like the Motorcycle.com articles, but some people are going to be attracted to the sexier, lighter, faster Triumph Street Triple and its R version with more expensive suspension parts, instead of a bike that is heavier and slower, hopefully not as their first motorcycle.
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