Another what bike thread

[rpsmith79]

Yes sorry, apologise for yet another "what bike thread", but hopefully this is sufficiently different to the other one running at present

My biggest problem is that i don't really know "bikes" very well, so don't really know what i'm looking for

So lets start at the beginning with a list of wants

Something around the 600cc mark (will hopefully have a full licence in the next few weeks)
Something with a more upright riding position than a sports bike (slightly iffy back, and prefer to have good vision being new to riding)
Naked ideally, i much prefer the naked look, plus less to fix if i do happen to drop it
4 cylinder, but open to options on this, the only 2 bike bikes i have ridden are a Kawasaki ER6N (parrellel twin i believe) and a 600 Fazer, this was during my first day of DAS training, and i much preferred the Fazers power delivery (seems smoother than the twin), i have now ridden the Fazer half a dozen times or so and feel quite comfortable on it

So with that in mind, and a budget of around £1500, what options are out there

And also, am i right in assuming that anything fully fared will have a low down/leaning forward riding position

My shortlist so far is as follows

Yamaha 600 Fazer/FZS600
Honda Hornet 600/CBF600
Suzuki Bandit 600

Am i missing any other obvious bikes?
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Current Bike: Honda CG125 ES4 // Honda CB600FS Hornet // Triumph Street Triple R

[Rogerborg]

[rpsmith79]

Reason i ask about fully fared bikes, is am i discounting something that could fit my bill (upright, 600ish), albeit at the expense of not buying a naked bike

I have discounted them more on the basis of riding position, but the added bonus of less to fix/repair if i do bin it

And yes you are quite right, i don't want rare/random suggestions that are harder to find then hens teeth, but as i don't know a great deal about what bikes are what, i was just hoping to expand my search criteria

I'm more used to buying 2nd hand cars, where generally there are loads of examples about, slight different beast buying used bikes as there just aren't the numbers out there (that i am used to anyway)

Also, am i right in my thinking that a 4 cylinder will have smoother power delivery than a twin, as my only experience is on riding one of each, and could be down to being a quirk of the bike itself, rather than the engine configuration

Will certainly add those other 2 to my shortlist, cheers
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Current Bike: Honda CG125 ES4 // Honda CB600FS Hornet // Triumph Street Triple R

[Rogerborg]

Sure, IL4s are much smootherer. I personally prefer twins, but it is just that - a personal preference. You'll be fine with any of those bikes that you've listed.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[rpsmith79]

[arry]

[rpsmith79]

[arry]

[Andy_Pagin]

When I passed DAS I also knew bugger-all about bikes, so I went to a bike shop, sat on a silver one that felt comfortable and bought it. Turned out to be a 2003 Fazer.
Five years and 48000 miles later I still have the same bike. I too have a bit of an iffy back, bizarrely when my back's playing up badly the only time it doesn't hurt is when I'm on the Fazer. I've generally found the bike to be reliable, cheap and easy to work on and a great all-rounder.

Issues I've had with it are:

Downpipes rot badly at the collector box (where the pipes join under the bike), so look for one with a stainless exhaust or factor it into your budget. Even if it looks perfect the pipes can go from a teeny-weeny pin hole to Swiss cheese in a couple of weeks, I kid you not.

Speedometer suddenly failed because the sender rotor on the front axle disintegrated. Luckily these only cost about £20 and if you're capable of pulling a front wheel off then you're capable of fixing it yourself.

Front wheel bearing wore out at about 20,000 miles, again cheap to replace but for me anyway it was a 'pay a mechanic' job, but not expensive.

Had to fit new spark plug caps last week, cost £12 and took five minutes per plug.

All in all not bad for an old bike with a ton of mileage dumped on it in a short time.
____________________
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[Andy_Pagin]

This is brilliant for checking out riding positions https://cycle-ergo.com/
____________________
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[el_oso]

One to consider, although it doesn't tick the naked box is the YZF600R Thundercat.

Are you a woman or a man? (or alternatively a short weak man). I ask because the cat is quite lardy when pedalling, and may be difficult if you're reversing through a small gate etc. Other than that, it's a soft sports bike, and is quite upright and not hard on the wrists. For an IL4, the engine feels like it pulls more easily than the fazer (also an IL4) and street triple at lower revs. When moving it's stable at speed, but will turn in easily and predictably more like the fazer than an all out sportsbike like my old gixxer.

having ridden all your other choices, except for the bandit (which was the bandit 400) I preferred the Thundercat, followed quite closely by the fazer. The extra torque (at least perceived) and the protective fairing made it a great all round bike that could hoon-it, or be a relaxed and comfortable commuter.
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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

[Andy_Pagin]

Following up on el_osos' comment. The Haynes manual describes the Thundercat as Yamahas' attempt to provide a supersports you can live with, and the Fazer as a Thundercat you can live with. The two bikes are quite similar mechanically.
____________________
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[Rogerborg]

[Baffler186]

You won't make a "bad" choice with any of the aforementioned 600's, as long as you end up with a nice clean bike which has been well maintained, and have not paid over the odds for it.

Your main concern should be refraining from buying the first thing you see, and making sure you check the bike and it's history out thoroughly. If you pay over the odds for a clean bike then it's not too bad, you can always change bikes and stand to not lose much if you advertise in the right way.

The worst scenario is if you buy a bike with many or recurring problems, and you've paid top dollar for it. Then it really gets you down and you may have to spend £££s on it, or lose a great deal by selling cheap.

So, priority for me would be:

Sit on as many different bikes as you can and try to get a test ride (sometimes difficult).
Don't rule out larger bikes unless you know they will be uninsurable.
Buy a clean, close to standard example if you can. Don't fret too much if they are not on the unofficial "good first bike" list.
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Current: 2009 SV650 S, 1990 Kawasaki GT550
Previous: 2009 CBF125, 1998 GSF600, 2004 FZ6 Fazer, 1978 CB400a Hondamatic

[rpsmith79]

[Andy_Pagin]

Go to a bike shop and try some for size. My local shop was very helpful, the bloke held bikes upright wile I sat on them so I could get a feel for the real riding position.
____________________
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[M.C]

The Bandit and CBF600 are slightly heavier, closer to 220kg than the ~200 of the Fazer and Hornet. It makes a difference IMO.

[el_oso]

[rpsmith79]

Cheers el_oso, i will certainly look into the Thundercat if that image is anything to go by, does look much more upright than most supersports
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Current Bike: Honda CG125 ES4 // Honda CB600FS Hornet // Triumph Street Triple R

[rpsmith79]

[el_oso]

Worth sitting on one to see.

For my uses it was the most suitable bike. Did a fair amount of motorway travelling on it, so the fairing did make a huge difference. Also did a lot of city centre commuting and a few spirited rides. So a very good all rounder. Cheap too.
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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

[Baffler186]

[rpsmith79]

[thx1138]

get a hornet

[rpsmith79]