Bike Upgrade

[Olids07]

Hi all,

I've had a RS 125 for 3 years now, I passed my test over two years ago and I'm now thinking of upgrading to a sports 600.

I have up to £3,000 to spend, and have been mainly looking at CBR 600fs just for their comfort, style and Honda reliability. I was wondering if you guys had any other bikes to suggest for me to have a look at?

Also, apart from throttle response and weight, what would the main differences be on a 600?

Cheers

[Glenben92]

as for the differences.. usability of power with a 4stroke will improve massively to waht you're used to. alot less changing gear for you my friend oh and more smoothness compared to a single cylinder
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57 Huoniao HN125-8 - , 97 Kawasaki GPZ500S -
99 Yamaha FZS 600 -
Mod 2 Passed - 01/10/2010

[imanupstart]

Great choice mate. Upgraded my bandit to a cbr600f and I'm loving it to pieces. Not as focused as the other sports 600's and like you said, comfortable, but it sure has some go in it

[Alexio]

I think you're looking along the lines of a Honda CBF600, CBR600F / FX, Suzuki GSX600F, Kawasaki ER6F or Yamaha FZS600 Fazer?
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will never give up his CG. I look at my fuel gauge more as a progress bar than a fuel gauge.
G: With my GSXR I do often effectively use it as a scooter with a clutch in town.
ms51ves3: why does it need 500 miles? Are you teaching it how to be a piston?

[Frost]

Throttle response with regards to revs will be about the same. With regards to road speed it is obviously much higher. Gears are also spaced out a lot more. Expect torque to be much higher so you can actually use low revs without it feeling like it's about the stall. On that note remember that you can set off perfectly well at 1.5k rpm, don't do what i did and rev it to 5k and slip the clutch forever as first gear is longer You will also not need to keep it int he power band so much to make good progress, for a while it will feel like any speed in any gear will do.

Direction change will require more counter steering as its heavier and has fatter tires. Taking pillions is a shit load easier. Brakes are as powerful as your current bike, but building up speed is loads easier, so the brakes may feel not so great as stopping distances will appear to have increased with regards to acceleration distances.

Basically just don't go thrashing the nuts off it for a bit, get used to the brakes, weight handling and grip levels before you start doing 120mph

[el_oso]

fazer is another good choice. very comfortable
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Duke 390
Previous: '05 XR125L | '96 XJ600S Diversion |'05 Suzuki GSXR1000 | '05 Honda CBR125-R | '97 YZF 600R Thundercat | '11 Honda CBR250
Car: Jeep Wrangler 4.0L

[Olids07]

Ah that's something that I'm certainly looking forward to, at the moment I do have to change gear a lot and the RS has an annoying tendancy to judder between 5and 6,000 revs!

[Olids07]

Whilst reading reviews etc that's what did it for me really, its sporty yet you can commute with it and comfortably take a pillion. Would you recommend a certain year/model? I'm looking at '01s and newer as they have digital clocks.

[Olids07]

I had a (slight) look at the GSX600F and the ER6F, but I was mainly looking at the sport 600s as I've always been drawn to the sporty bikes (Dad has a 'blade) but looking at the '01 and '02 models they all seemed a bit raw unlike the CBRf. Would you recommend having a read-up/view a few of the bikes that you suggested or stick with the CBRf?

[Olids07]

That's good to hear, I'm glad that you mentioned not to rev it to 5k as the Aprilia loves the high revs for pulling away in first gear! I think that will be one of the hardest things to adapt to, realising that I don't have to slip the clutch and keep the revs high at low speeds then as I've gotten so used to it after the past 3 years.

With regards to direction change and weight; will the difference in weight be very noticable in both low speeds and high speeds? I believe the difference in kg between the RS and CBRf is 60kg. I'm looking forward to having the better pillion performance, I weigh 13 stone and having someone on the back of the RS is hell!

Haha I planned to take it out early every morning and have a ride down the local backroads to get used to pulling away, gear changing and braking etc. Although I can't wait to give it a spin down the local A roads after I've gotten used to it!

Thanks for all the advice

[imanupstart]

[Alexio]

[Olids07]

Sounds like a good shout, after 3 years with the Aprilia's clocks I couldn't stand having analogue clocks!

I have an 01 myself, I would say 01 and on would be your best bet, digital clocks and fuel injection [/quote]

[0l0dom0l0]

go for a daytona 600 . bit different and are lovely bikes. a firend of mine picked and 04 model with 10000 miles on the clock for £2500. well worth looking at!

[Frost]

[Olids07]

I would describe myself as a "sensible" town rider, with experience on A roads. One of the main reasons for me to get a 600 was the fact that I'll be doing a lot of motorway riding soon, and the RS (or any other 125 I presume) simply can't handle the cruising speeds (mine especially likes to vibrate!) and cross winds on a motorway. I keep going over the pros and cons of upgrading, but all the reasons you're giving me would be immensely helpful to me (especially the crosswind stability), so thank you for reinforcing my pro list!

Ah I had the same with the RS, I did my CBT and test on one of those old reliable yamahas, and the clutch was so much easier to control and pulling away with low revs was easier, completely unlike the RS, so I've kinda had the experience before of buggering up pulling away!

[Olids07]

Cheers for the suggestion, I would love to get one for that price and mileage! The only problem for me with the Daytona is the pillion seat, the pillion seat on my current bike is tiny and I get a lot of complaints for the oh about it and so was looking for something sporty yet comfortable.