2k budget, light and fun

[bacon]

Bit of background, I had a VFR800fi for 2 years now, bought to fill a space in the garage after I sold the MT09. Good bike, reliable, sounds pretty good when on the throttle and on the overun dgoing into bends, not a fan of the brakes.

It ticks most boxes except it is a bit on the lardy side and I would prefer to stay away from sport bikes.

I had considered a Speed Four before purchasing the VFR, would like a mk1 Street triple but they are upwards of £3000 it seems.

Any other suggestions of something light and fun but not too far off 2k?

Cheers

[ThunderGuts]

The way prices have gone, you're going to struggle to get much bike of any kind for £2k now unfortunately, at least one in reasonable condition. I would imagine something fairly humdrum like a Hornet, maybe a Fazer, are going to be the sorts of bikes you'll get for that budget (a bit of a jump from a Striple though) and even then, probably a bit scruffy unless you get lucky.
____________________
TG.

[redeem ouzzer]

^^^Pretty much this

I spent an hour or two with a mate looking for bikes on the internet, she's looking for stuff in the 4-600cc range outside of race reps, there's stuff doing £1500 that a couple of years ago would be a 6-800 quid fixer upper. She ended up going to see an unfaired SV650 that was up for £2250, looked good from 20ft away but get close and see the tatty wheels, engine paint suffering from leprosy and suspension linkages that sound like Dracula's coffin lid. Ran OK but you'd probably be looking at maybe 3-500 quid to get it right mechanically and it would still be a slightly tatty SV. The era of bargains is long gone.
____________________
Be a REAL MAN!

[chickenstrip]

[Zen Dog]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Imo at the moment a two grand bike will only be two grand until the first hundred miles, when you'll find it needs x, y and z - and becomes a £2750 bike or similar.
____________________
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Rob Fzs]

Just bought a 2013 Yam XJ6N on ebay with 18k miles for 2k , mint little bike for the money

keep an eye out
____________________
'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30> Yamaha RD350 YPVS F2 > Kawasaki ZZR 600 D1 > Yamaha TZR 250 2MA >Suzuki TL1000R > Yamaha TDR250 > Honda 929 blade > Suzuki SV1000 > Honda H100
Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

[Polarbear]

[andys675]

fazer fzs600 or if not an FZ6
____________________
Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.

[Rob Fzs]

[Easy-X]

[Rob Fzs]

[Feasty]

I bought my 2001 FZS600 at the beginning of the year in excellent condition. Needed nothing, still needs nothing. It's now at 32k and I'm loving riding it, and I know I'll get a good sum for it when I come to sell.

Previous to that I've had a 1998 BMW F650, had it for a couple of years. Again cosmetically it had a few scrapes of age, but engine was great and again needed nothing and general maintenance kept it going with no prob's.

In-between I've had an Aprilia ETV 1000, again no problems and ran great. All below the £2k mark, and bought/sold for the same or very similar price.

You need to know what to look for on adverts, I've found plenty of description shows the owner cared for the bike. Don't buy anything with missing documents, V5 etc. And when visiting have a chat to the owner and ask questions, if they're helpful and honest I'd buy - if they're cagey and quiet I walk away.
____________________
Previous: Aprilia Habana Retro 50cc (beauty), Yamaha SR125 (fell apart), Honda XR125 (nippy little commuter), Honda SLR650 (Geewhizz), Yamaha Diversion 900S (Smoooooth) written off courtesy of a stupid escaped horse.
(7 year gap), BMW F650 (Relaxing ride). Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 (Big and bold). Yamaha FZS600 (got me in trouble too quick!).
Current: Yamaha TDM 900 (Comfy, light but big, power when needed).

[to v or not to v]

you can pick up a Yamaha Thunderace in good nick from about £1500.
____________________
current bike Yamaha Thunderace.
Moto Guzzi V7.

[chickenstrip]

[redeem ouzzer]

[ThatDippyTwat]

Buy my Fireblade. I cant get on with the ergonomics (6'3", back issues), but it's a gem of a motor and arguably has better manners in town then my VFR, despite making scenery go blurry at 7K+.
____________________
'98 VFR800 (touring) - '12 VFR800 Crosrunner (Commuting) - '01 KDX220 (Big Green Antisocial Machine)

[MarJay]

I keep seeing ZX6Rs around that price, but they are pretty old now.
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[chickenstrip]

[Zen Dog]

[bacon]

Thanks for the replies.

I know the vfr is a great all rounder, I didn't pay a lot for it, it's why it's in the garage in the first place as a cheap place holder to make sure I'm never without a bike! But I'm getting the itch for something else.

I know whatever I get is unlikely be as good an all rounder as the vfr.
The vfr could probably do with a new rear shock at some stage, it's on 36k, and I want to refresh the oil in the forks, I've been meaning to do it for 2 years.... But spending £500+ on a nitron/maxton doesn't feel right on a £1500 bike. Then you're down to YSS and I can't get my head around £300+ for a Thai made shock and it being any good, though apparently they are fine.

Anyway I spotted a nice speed four, which got me thinking in the first place. As it's an unfaired tt600 with great handling it sounds ideal, relatively light (38kg lighter than the vfr, 170kh Vs 208kg). I made a thread when I was looking for the mt09 replacement and we discussed the speed four and I was tempted then.

Engine wise, I like twins, triples and fours, so I'm not going to limit myself on any particular configuration.

Cheers for the suggestions so far

[ThunderGuts]

TBH half the battle with buying a "budget" bike is getting something that's in good order with no hidden surprises. Your VFR is presumably in this category now you've owned it for a bit and as mentioned, it's probably at the bottom of the depreciation curve. Keep the stock shock then sell the used uprated one if you ever get sick of the bike; I'd imagine you'd get up to half back for it depending on how well used it is.

I have a bit of bias as I like VFRs; I just think you'll really struggle to get anything as good quality for the money. They're good bikes.
____________________
TG.

[chickenstrip]

I'm getting the impression that the "light and fun" part of the question is very much subordinate to the "budget" bit
____________________
Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[bacon]

[Zen Dog]

I'll just leave this here, but I imagine you'll need to be quick (or there's something wrong with it) - https://www.gumtree.com/p/triumph-motorbikes/triumph-street-triple-low-mileage-/1444860037

I've been trying think of alternatives. Not "sporty", 2k price limit and lighter than a VFR -

SV650 - naked version, faired version is definitely sporty
ER6F/N - neither version has a sporty position. Engine is a little vibey, but it really loves to be thrashed, handling is surprisingly good.
Thundercat - Sports tourer so very much the same idea as the VFR, but should be lighter as it's a 600.
Hornet 600 - I always liked them, but they still come across as slightly flavourless, in a way that has become standard for modern Hondas.
Bandit - The 600s had a reputation for hooliganism, but my brother had the 650, and I wasn't impressed. Bland and top heavy.

Not sure how much lighter many of these are than a VFR in all honesty but there you go.
____________________
Current - '94 VFR750FR (Dead), '00 VFR800FI, 2011 CBF125 Previous - '10 Street Triple R, '92 MZ ETZ301, '05 TTR250, NSR125R, KMX125, "Honda" Win (chinese copy of an old Honda design with a C90 engine)
My bike trip around S.E. Asia 2010/2011