Help me make up my mind..

[crazyjoyce]

Well i've passed my A2 (2 minors with no formal training in a month!!!) so whatever i end up getting will be 33bhp'd.

Now i never thought choosing a bike would be so bloody difficult, the short list is, CB600F, regular hornet, or a Versys. Im a tall guy (6' 4'') and i've ruled out pretty much everything else out due to size/being comfortable on it

Can anyone offer any opinion about those bikes or think of a bike i've missed along the same sort of lines as the above.

Budget between 3-4k

Sat on just about everything, bandit, sv650, er-6, dl650, mt-03, xj6, fz6, speed four....

I'm tearing my hair out!

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Out of those three, the hornet.

The CBF600 is booooorringg(think a hornet, but slower and with all the fun removed), and the Versys is bloody ugly.
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[crazyjoyce]

keep the opinions coming, and yes i know the cbf is soul destroyingly boring, but hugely practical at the same time?

any 6foot plus ers on hornets, how do you find them?

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

I'm about 6ft and found my 99 hornet fine, my dad's a bit taller than me and also found it fine. And he has creakey bones.
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[crazyjoyce]

think i might get my creaky boned dad whos the same height to take one out on a test ride to see how he finds it fit/comfy wise, bloody A2 license so nowhere will let me out

[ttr]

Tried a Z750? Cheaper to insure for me than a hornet so may be worth a try from that PoV, I'm 6' and find it comfy as you like (Although the seat is a bit hard, but easy to fix), and it's a pretty big machine, worth sitting on one.
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[crazyjoyce]

[craigs23]

I prefer my ER6 to the Hornet I had a couple of years ago. I'd opt fot a Versys.

I guess you can't see it when riding.

Try and test ride before you buy though. Other people's opinions are always biased.

[gazzeh]

im 6ft 1 - a sv650 is perffect for me!

[Pie-Roe]

I'm 6'2 and have ridden a lot of bikes, being that I too am on a restricted license, I've ridden a lot of the beginner styley 600s as well as a few 750s

I'd say get a naked bike for fuck all money, stick some engine bars on it. Whatever bandit/hornet/cb500/er5 comes up for 700 quid, then your looking to insure it for another 300 ish, so a grand to get you OTR. Theres a few things about these bikes which stand out to me, and helped me out.

1) heavy and high up. Sounds bad, but teaches you a lot of slow speed control quickly
2) relativly slow and bland delivery, again sounds bad, but if you play catchup a lot with other riders on faster bikes, sure you might not be able to go very fast in a straight line (although any 500cc+ bike is going to seem like a rocket compared to anything you've ridden before) but it teaches you to make the most of the revs, keep it at optimum revs, and brake later
3) Crashing is cheap. Some engine bars on one of these bikes and the most you'll have to pay for is some indicators and a set of renthals, £40 for a crash.
4) they all restrict pretty well, and take abuse

When you've got your silly inexperienced crashes and drops and mechanical ineptitudes out the way you won't have lost so much money, and will be a better rider for it.

I realise I haven't addressed the question properly, but to be fair, you won't be that comfy on any kind of sports bike, might as well start off uncomfy
Pyro
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[ttr]